Meet Kevin T. Mason, Author of Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa!

Join historian and author Kevin T. Mason at The Des Moines Izaak Walton League October 27 to hear the story of "Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa"! 4343 George Flagg Pkwy (Flagg & Park), with a small group chat at 5 pm the Crum Center hosted by Mike Delaney, then dinner at 6 followed by his presentation at 6:45. Admission is FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Kevin 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. His 371-mile journey walking and retracing the original dragoon route across Iowa blends scholarship with storytelling, captured through video essays, photography, and writing. Kevin T. Mason is an assistant professor of history at the University of Northern Iowa, and is the author of “Inkpaduta in Iowa: Dakota Decline, Dispossession, and Erasure” in The Annals of Iowa, a Mildred Throne & Charles Aldrich Iowa History Award winning article.