The earliest known inhabitants of the Mines of Spain State
Recreation Area during historical times were the Mesquakie. Their village
was located at the mouth of Catfish Creek, just south of where the Julien
Dubuque Monument now stands. From this site, the Mesquakie carried on a fur
trade with French voyagers. They also worked the lead mines for many decades
dating back to before the Revolutionary War. There is also evidence of
prehistoric Native American cultures, some dating back as much as 8,000
years. Mounds, village sites, rock shelters, trading post sites, and
campsites dot the landscape.
Julien Dubuque is credited as being the first European to
settle on what is now Iowa soil in 1788. In 1796, Dubuque received a land
grant from the Governor of Spain, who had resided in New Orleans at the
time. The grant gave permission to Julien Dubuque to work the land which was
owned by Spain and specified the 189-square mile area to be named as
"Mines of Spain." Dubuque eventually married Potosa, daughter of
the Mesquakie Indian Chief, Peosta. Dubuque died March 24,1810.
Lead mining was a major part of this area's history, first
by the Native Americans, and in later years (late 1830s through the 1850s)
by European miners and farmers. The Civil War caused renewed lead mining
activity which waned after the war, but continued until 1914.
The Julien Dubuque Monument, built in 1897, sits high
above the Mississippi River and provides the "Landmark" for the
Mines of Spain Area. Julien Dubuque is buried on this
site, which provides a
scenic vista of the 1380-acre Mines of Spain, the city of Dubuque, the
Mississippi River Valley, and Illinois. When Dubuque died, the Mesquakie
buried him with tribal honors beneath a log mausoleum at the site where the
current monument now stands.
Edwin B. Lyons, a Dubuque business man and
conservationist, left provisions in his will to develop an interpretive
center and nature preserve for the city of Dubuque. Two years after his
death, the Lyons Trust Fund purchased the farmland originally known as the
Otto Junkermann farm.
The Mines of Spain State Recreation Area was dedicated in
1981. It was acquired with the assistance of the Iowa Natural Heritage
Foundation. The acquisition helped assure the protection of an important
piece of Iowa's historical and natural heritage. In 1993, the area was
designated as a National Historic Landmark.
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