Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa : Environmental Transformation along the Des Moines River

Iowa’s story of change, from removing Indigenous nations and farming its prairies and wetlands to the growth of a lively conservation movement, comes alive in this definitive human and environmental history that shows how the land and its people have constantly influenced each other.

In Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa, historian Kevin T. Mason presents a vivid and deeply researched account of Iowa’s evolving landscape, beginning with the 1835 expedition of the First U.S. Dragoons. Drawing from archival records, maps, government surveys, Indigenous histories, and ecological data, Mason explores how Iowa’s prairies and wetlands gave way to farms, towns, and transportation networks. He situates these environmental shifts within the broader forces of Manifest Destiny, military expansion, and settler colonialism, while amplifying the voices of the Sauk, Meskwaki, Dakota, and other Indigenous nations whose histories are often marginalized. But Mason doesn’t just write about history—he walks it. His 371-mile journey retracing the original dragoon route across Iowa blends scholarship with storytelling, captured through video essays, photography, and writing. This modern-day trek, featured on Iowa PBS’s Iowa Life and Iowa Public Radio’s Talk of Iowa, brings the past into the present, offering a compelling look at how landscapes remember. The result is a powerful contribution to environmental history, regional studies, and Indigenous scholarship—one that reveals the layered interactions between land use, policy, and historical change.