petroglyph investigations at the pilot rock site …archaeological collection, iowa office of the...

Pilot Rock13CK101

PETROGLYPH INVESTIGATIONS AT THE PILOT ROCK SITE(13CK101) Cherokee County, Iowa

David MoyerOffice of the State Archaeologist

University of IowaIowa City, IA 52242

(319) 335-5702david-moyer@uiowa.edu

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The rock was an important local landmark to early explorers and settlers in theregion. Robert Perry, the first settler in the county, remarks on finding the stone whilefollowing an Indian trail en route to Sioux City in 1856, but failed to mention anyevidence of petroglyphs, painting or offerings. In 1882, A.R. Fulton describes hisexperiences regarding Pilot Rock and the Little Sioux River:

Pilot Rock is a large Siouxquartzite boulder located on a highbluff overlooking the Little SiouxRiver valley south of the presenttown of Cherokee, Iowa. Themassive rock measuresapproximately 61 feet long, 40 feetwide and 20 feet high, and isbelieved to be the largest glacialerratic in the state. Early explorersused the stone as a meeting placeand navigational aid, and it was animportant landmark for earlytravelers heading west intoNebraska and the Dakotas.

Petroglyph boulders such asPilot Rock were sacred places toNative people who inhabited theregion before the arrival ofEuropeans. The stone was a focalpoint in the symbolic landscape ofthe valley, as shown by thetraditional Ioway name of the LittleSioux River, ,which can be translated loosely as"River Where the Rock Is." PilotRock is still known to contemporaryNative Americans as an importantand sacred place.

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“The little river called by the French, Petite des Sioux (LittleSioux), was called by the Indians of that nation E-a-ne-ah-wad-e-pon, or Stone River. They applied to it this name from the factthat upon one of the elevations bordering this stream, there liesan immense boulder, from the top of which they could overlookthe country for many miles. This boulder, known to the people ofCherokee county as "Pilot Rock," is in the south part of thatcounty and about a quarter of a mile from the Little Sioux River.It was long a noted landmark and guide to travelers across theprairie. Some years ago the author visited "Pilot Rock" as oneof the noted objects of interest in that part of the State, andupon ascending it to command a view of twenty-five miles of thegrand valley of that little river, could well understand why theIndians should call it "Stone River." This boulder is a reddishgranite, and is sixty feet long, forty feet wide, and lies with abouttwenty feet in height exposed above the surface of the ground.The top is nearly a flat surface, with a small basin near themiddle. Near the south end; on the upper surface, are severalsmall indentations, or depressions, evidently worked out bysome artificial process by the Indians. It is said that the Siouxhave left no monuments, but "Pilot Rock," in Cherokee county,will carry down to coming generations the evidences upon itssurface that the Sioux regarded it as an object of interest, if notof veneration.” (Fulton 1882:176-177).

The rock surface has suffered fromerosion, spalling and vandalism.Blasting of the upper portion of the rocksurface to produce building stoneoccurred in the early part of the 20century (McCulla 1914:44). Aphotograph taken in 1929 shows therock to be considerably larger whencompared to modern photographs.Graffiti is prevalent on all sides of thestone, some of which appears quiterecent. Local informants also stated thatthe rock is occasionally spray-paintedby vandals, and that the surface isperiodically sand blasted to remove thepaint. There is no way of knowing howmany petroglyphs have been destroyeddue to natural decomposition, blastingand vandalism. Early descriptions of theboulder suggest that many more glyphswere likely present, and there is someevidence suggesting that the rock mayhave also been painted, although noevidence of paint remains today.

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In 1934, archaeologist Ellison Orr visited the site and took a photograph of a single"turkey track" petroglyph located on the top of the rock. At the time, no furtherpetroglyphs were noted, and no additional research was conducted at the site for sometime. In the Spring of 2000, additional field and documentary research began on PilotRock. In addition to relocating the original petroglyph photographed in 1934, additionalpetroglyphs were noted, including two additional "turkey tracks," often interpreted byresearchers as depictions of thunderbirds, and a deeply grooved crescent shape whichhas been partially destroyed. All petroglyphs discovered were deeply grooved into the topof the large boulder. Petroglyphs on the rock were divided into two panels on the basis oftheir spatial locations: Panel 1, consisting of the turkey track originally described by Orr,and Panel 2, which consists of a small cluster of glyphs found during a recent survey.

Each panel was initially fieldsketched and photographed usingcolor and black and white 35 mmfilm. Tracings were also made of thepetroglyphs using large sheets ofclear vinyl acetate, which werecarefully taped to the rock surfaceaway from any petroglyphs toprevent damage. After taping theacetate sheets to the rock surface,the petroglyphs were carefullytraced along the edges withpermanent markers. Field noteswere written directly on the acetatesheets, and a life-size scale wasdrawn on the acetate surface to aidin reducing the images.

The largest petroglyphmeasures approximately 19centimeters in length, and is aclassic representation of a"turkey track" thunderbird.Such turkey track glyphs arecommonly found at rock artsites throughout the Midwestfrom Saskatchewan south intoIllinois and Missouri. Thesecond thunderbirdpetroglyph, which appears asa semi-circle with anintersecting line similar to alower case "M," appears tohave a more northerndistribution. Strikingly similarpetroglyphs are found at theJeffers petroglyph site insouthwestern Minnesota(Lothson 1976). The thirdpetroglyph, a crescent shapewhich may be largelydestroyed, is more difficult toidentify due to its incomplete

Pilot Rock is one of three knownpetroglyph boulder sites in Iowa, the othersbeing the Newton Stone, located in JasperCounty and the Radcliffe Sacred Rock inAllamakee County. High numbers ofpetroglyph boulders occur along the bordersof surrounding states, suggesting that otherpetroglyph boulders have yet to be found. Inaddition, cup marked boulders can be foundsouth of Ellicott in Montgomery County andin Blood Run State Park in northwesternIowa. Examination of geologic maps showingthe locations of glacial erratics may be of usein locating other prehistoric boulder sites.

Future work at Pilot Rock willconsist of a detailed examinationof the rock surface to attempt tolocate and identify other survivingglyphs. A detailed study of thetopography surrounding theboulder will also be conducted inhopes of locating aboriginal trails,earthworks, mounds and otherlandscape features. Publicawareness and periodic sitemonitoring should help to preventfurther vandalism and protect thisimportant place for futuregenerations.

References CitedFulton, A.R.

1882 . Mills and Company, Publishers, Des Moines.

Loendorf, Lawrence, Linda A. Olson, Stuart Conner, and J. Claire Dean1998 . Privately printed with support from the National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Lothson, Gordon A.1976 . Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.

McCulla, Thomas1914 . S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago.

Red Men of Iowa

A Manual for Rock Art Documentation

The Jeffers Petroglyph Site: A Survey and Analysis of the Carvings

History of Cherokee County, Iowa

Figure 1. View of the Pilot Rock rest area showing sign placed by thelocal DAR Chapter.

Figure 3. Map showing the locationOf the Pilot Rock Site (13CK101)

Figure 2. View of Pilot Rock facing south.

Figure 4. Photograph on the left shows the “turkey track” petroglyph as photographed by Orr in 1934 while the photoon the right is a view of the same glyph taken during a 2001 field survey. Orr photo courtesy Charles R. KeyesArchaeological Collection, Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist and State Historical Society of Iowa.

charcoal rubbing, both of which have beenshown to damage the rock surface andinterfere with newly developed petroglyphdating methods (Loendorf 1998:34). The fieldnotes, maps, tracings, photographs and otherrelated material are archived at the Iowa Officeof the State Archaeologist, Iowa City.

Figure 5. Photograph showing recording technique used in tracingpetroglyphs. Note placement of tape well away from the petroglyphsurface.

Figure 6. Scanned tracing of “turkey track”petroglyph designated Panel 1.

Figure 7. Photograph of Panel 2 facing southwest.

Figure 8. Scanned tracing of Panel 2.

Figure 9. Map showing the location of petroglyphs on the upperrock surface.

Figure 10. Photograph of vandalism on upper rock surface.The presence of recent graffiti is a good indicator of futuresite destruction.

Figure 11. Photograph of Pilot Rock taken in 1927. Courtesy Charles R.Keyes Archaeological Collection, Iowa Office of the State Archaeologistand State Historical Society of Iowa.

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This recording method is much preferred over traditional techniques, such as

Pilot Rock