Catfish Creek State Preserve

Location & Overview

Catfish Creek Preserve is located in the north half of the 1,300-acre Mines of Spain Recreation Area, on the south side of the city of Dubuque, in Dubuque County. The preserve contains unique historic sites related to the first European settlement of Iowa and geological landforms illustrating stream piracy. The Mines of Spain Recreation Area was purchased by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and later transferred to the Iowa Conservation Commission in 1980. In 1991, approximately 600 acres in the northern half of the recreation area were dedicated as a geological, archaeological, and historical state preserve. 

Directions

1. From the intersection of Highway 151/61 and Highway 52 on the southern edge of Dubuque, take Highway 52 south to Olde Massey Road (watch for Mines of Spain Recreation Area signs). 
2. Turn east (left) and follow road to Mines of Spain Road, which is the entrance to the recreation area.
3. Turn north (left) and follow the road into the preserve, which comprises the northern half of the recreation area. 
4. Parking is available by Horseshoe Quarry, Catfish Creek, and the Julien Dubuque Monument.

Geological Features

Geologically, the preserve lies within the southern portion of the Paleozoic Plateau landform region. Many characteristics of the Paleozoic Plateau can be found here, including scenic rock outcrops of Ordovician (450 million years old) Galena dolomite, high bluffs, narrow ridges, deeply dissected streams and ravines, seeps, caves, and vertical crevices. 

The Mississippi River floodplain borders the entire eastern boundary with its entrenched 200-foot bluffs. Catfish Creek (after which the preserve is named) and Granger Creek flow through narrow valleys in the northern section of the preserve. The valleys were altered or abandoned when the Mississippi River, fed by massive glacial meltwater flows, further cut into the bedrock, leaving these good examples of “stream piracy.” 

Two sections of abandoned valley associated with the former course of Catfish Creek are north of the present-day stream valleys and in the Horseshoe Bluff area. Vertical bedrock outcrops and steep slopes dominate most of the preserve. 

Notable Geological Sites

Many sites within the preserve exhibit geological features, including the Julien Dubuque Monument, Horseshoe Bluff, the Horseshoe Bluff quarry, the abandoned valley west of Horseshoe Bluff, Fessler Mine, the confluence of Catfish and Granger Creeks, and the bluffs along the Mississippi River. 

These unusual examples of Quaternary landscape evolution are seen at only one other site in Iowa, in the Little Maquoketa Mounds State Preserve north of Dubuque. Iowa’s portion of the prominent Silurian Escarpment can be observed from the higher elevations within Mines of Spain as a steep wooded ridge along the southwestern horizon. 

Archaeological Significance

Archaeologically, the preserve contains a nearly continuous record of occupation by aboriginal peoples dating back to the Archaic period, about 8,000 years ago. The Woodland Indian culture (from approximately 2,500 years ago), known for its pottery, cultivated plants, and burial mounds, used this area extensively. The mounds are believed to have been used primarily for religious, ceremonial, and burial purposes. 

By a.d. 1200, these hunters and gatherers (who were Iowa’s original gardeners) had been replaced by groups based primarily on agriculture. Archaeological sites within the preserve related to these earliest occupations include village and campsites at the mouths of Catfish and Granger Creeks, conical and linear burial mound groups, cemeteries, open-air habitation areas, and specialized activity areas such as hunting and plant food processing locales. 

Artifacts that have been found include:

• Projectile points
• End scrapers
• Drill fragments
• Bifaces
• Ceramics. 

Historically, Catfish Creek became a fur-trading center for the Indian-French culture beginning in the mid-1600s. In addition, the bedrock contained much lead and zinc ore (known as Mississippi Valley Type deposits). Mines are found throughout the preserve, including many pit mines. The shallow depths of these ores in vertical crevice and cave systems have contributed to a long history of mining activity and geological investigations. 

Julien Dubuque was one of the first European settlers who came to the area to mine lead. The Meskwaki Indians had occupied this area since the mid1700s, and Du­buque located his lead-mining enterprise near their village in the Catfish Creek valley. His settlement included a sawmill, wharf, blacksmith shop and forge, smelting furnace, and trading post. Dubuque’s petition to the Spanish government, who controlled the region at the time, gave this area its name–the “Mines of Spain.” 

Many lead mines operated in the area, and some wooded areas in the preserve were heavily cut over for timber and firewood for steamboats. Specific historical sites within the preserve include the Julien Dubuque gravesite, the buried remains of the Meskwaki Indian village, a large concentration of pit mines, and the Fessler mine. The Fessler mine was one of the last to be mined, and was active until 1914. 

Mining History

Archaeological evidence for the lumbering and farming activities that replaced lead mining include stone fences, a series of old roads, several historic foundations, and a small historic family cemetery. 

Paul Garvin, in Iowa’s Minerals, provides a history of early mining in the area; information in the following six paragraphs is drawn from his account. American mining interests in the upper Mississippi Valley were slowed by the War of 1812, when the mines were controlled by the British and their Native American confederates. By 1822, however, American companies had begun mining operations on the east side of the Mississippi River. On the west side of the river, the Meskwaki continued working Dubuque’s old claims. 

White settlers were not permitted to work the mines until 1833, but the Meskwaki sold lead and lead ash to American traders. By 1830 American mining companies were well established in Wisconsin and Illinois but not in Iowa, since Iowa lands were still claimed by the Sac and Meskwaki. That year, because of hostilities with the Sioux, the Meskwaki abandoned their mines and sought protection near Rock Island, Illinois. Once their absence was discovered, miners from Illinois and Wisconsin crossed the river. 

Competition for claims was so keen that the miners organized and drafted rules of governance. The federal government considered the miners trespassers on what were still Native American lands, and it sent federal troops to drive the miners out. A short time later, under the protection of U.S. army troops, the Meskwaki returned and took up mining again. Also in 1830, the United States proposed purchasing the Mines of Spain from the Meskwaki, but the asking price was too high. 

In 1831, the Meskwaki were again at war with the Sioux, and again they left the mines. Early in 1832, George Davenport went to Washington, D.C., with a proposal from the Sac and Meskwaki to sell the lead mines, but unfortunately the government acted too slowly. Eighteen thirty-two was the year of the infamous and tragic Black Hawk War. The treaty ending the fighting was signed on September ‑21, 1832; it forced the Sac and Meskwaki to cede trans-Mississippian lands to the United States. These lands included Dubuque’s Mines of Spain. 

The treaty was not to take effect until June -1, 1833, but white settlers and miners refused to wait for the Meskwaki to leave. In September ‑1832, 150 miners and their families invaded, and again the government intervened. The invaders, some sent by Auguste Choteau from St. Louis, were driven out several times during early 1833. On June -1, white settlers and miners raced across the Mississippi to stake their claims. They were still in violation of the 1807 law requiring that lands be surveyed before they were settled, but this law was not enforced. 

The question of ownership of the Mines of Spain was complicated by the fact that Julien Dubuque and Auguste Choteau had a signed document naming Choteau as the grantee upon Dubuque’s death. French claimants, operating from St. Louis, demanded title to the lands. The U.S. government refused to acknowledge Choteau’s document, stating that the original grant merely pertained to Dubuque as an individual and that he did not have legal right to transfer title to the lands. The matter went to court, where the battle was fought for over forty years, up to the Supreme Court. In the end, in 1853, the government won. 

Biological Diversity

Biologically, the preserve is basically an oak forest, dominated by red and white oak. Bur oak groves are found on the highest hilltops and ridges, and a few patches of paper birch and quaking aspen occur on some slopes that were logged in the past. The steepest slopes support maple-basswood forest, juniper groves, and hill prairies. The sugar maple- and basswood-dominated forest is restricted to the northeast-facing bluffs of the Mississippi River. 

In the spring, jack-in-the-pulpit, rattlesnake fern, spring beauty, hepatica, and bloodroot can be found, with wild ginger and false Solomon’s seal also found along the Mississippi River. By summer, a multitude of ferns can be seen among the woody vegetation, including maidenhair fern, ebony spleenwort, lady fern, silvery glade fern, fragile fern, crested wood fern, and spinulose wood fern, along with the unusual Indian pipe. Walking fern, bulblet fern, and cliffbrake fern can be found in the steeper areas. 

Hill prairies occur as small scattered openings on the driest ridges and hillsides. Spring flowers in these areas include pasqueflower, plantain-leaved pussytoes, hoary puccoon, violet wood sorrel, and alumroot, followed by prairie coreopsis, pale-spiked lobelia, round-headed bush clover, and pale purple coneflower in the summer. The fall flora has sky-blue aster and rough blazing star, with sideoats grama, big and little bluestem, and Indian grass. 

The juniper groves, dominated by eastern red cedar, are scattered on limestone outcrops, especially on south-facing slopes and ridges and along the edges of the hill prairies. Forests in the narrow floodplains of Catfish Creek, Granger Creek, and the Mississippi River are dominated by silver maple. Herbs include sedge species, jewe l­weed, and horsetail. Almost 480 vascular plant species are documented in the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, and it is likely that most of these species may be found within the preserve. 

The Julien Dubuque Monument, the landmark for the Mines of Spain Recreation Area, is located in the northeast portion of the preserve. It offers grand views of the Mississippi River valley gorge and blufflands, the city of Dubuque, the Julien Dubuque bridge, and most of the Mines of Spain. Also seen from the monument is Sinsinewa Mound, an isolated erosional remnant of Silurian-age rocks (430 million years old) across the Mississippi River in Illinois. A trail leads to Catfish Creek from the monument. A spectacular view of the Julien Dubuque Monument with the city of Dubuque in the background can be seen from Horseshoe Bluff Quarry. 

Things to Know Before You Go

• The quarry is closed during late winter and early spring when falling rock is most probable. 
• Rock climbing and rappelling are prohibited. 
• The Fessler Mine is also closed to public access. 
• Hunting is permitted. 
• Other natural areas in the vicinity include the Little Maquoketa River Mounds and Turkey River Mounds State Preserves and Swiss Valley Park. 
• The E. B. Lyons Nature Center, which serves as a headquarters for the Mines of Spain, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., year-round; weekends 12 to 4 p.m. from April ‑15 to October ‑15.