Did you know there was once a life-changing line running up the center of Iowa? Many people don't. This line ran north from the Painted Rocks bluffs of what is now Lake Red Rock into Hardin County by Steamboat Rock. The line may not have created a physical barrier, but it did leave an unfortunate mark on American history, effectively dividing Iowa’s inhabitants in the mid-1800s into two separate groups: Native Americans and pioneers.
Iowa’s pioneer settlers were not the original inhabitants of our state, of course. Several Native American tribes lived here first, two of which were the Fox and Sac tribes in south-central Iowa.
The influx of European settlers in the 1800s began to push these tribes further west in search of the game they required for survival. This naturally created tension between the Native Americans and the new settlers, and the government stepped in to make a deal of sorts in 1842, establishing the largely forgotten Red Rock Line.
For the price of $800,000, the United States Government bought around 12 million acres in central Iowa from the Native American tribes. The New Purchase of 1842, as it was called, required Native Americans to vacate their homes and move west of the line by the spring of 1843.
White settlers, in turn, were then allowed to stake a claim in this new territory.
At Marion County’s Red Rock Cemetery along the northern shore of Lake Red Rock, the local community has set up a monument acknowledging this controversial aspect of Iowa’s history.
It’s a large cross set in a pile of rocks, a nod to the original Red Rock Line marker which was also a cross, set in a dirt mound.
On the east side of the cross are the words “United States” (by which it meant the land for the pioneers). And on the west side, “Indian Territory” is written.
The monument and cemetery are located at 318 Hickory Lane in Otley. There’s also a plaque about the Red Rock Line inset in a large boulder on the grounds of the Marion County Courthouse in Knoxville. A roadside sign marks the north end of the line north of Eldora in Hardin County near the intersection of highways D41 and S55.
Did you know about the history of the Red Rock Line? Have you ever seen any of the monuments marking its location? For another little-known bit of history, learn about the oldest soldier in the Civil War - he's buried right here in Iowa.
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