Recently while doing some work in Siouxland I came across the small community of Lytton. Many times traveling to smaller towns requires an effort simply because they may not be on a major roadway that passes through them. And being a curious sort, I always need to stop and walk about. I especially liked the community’s link to an agricultural industry. The small community of no more that a few hundred individuals is anchored by a grain elevator and a farm dealer displays his wares in the downtown area where the business is located.
I tried finding a bit of history about the community doing an online search, but didn’t find anything that would give a quick cursory look into the community’s past. But it seemed a clean, orderly place to stop and visit and when there is more time, maybe a second look when work doesn’t beckon.
This Siouxland fall has been a bit trying for people. For farmers, some have only started getting their crops out of the field. For others, community celebrations and other events held in the fall have seen cool, wet weather. This was true of Woodbine’s Apple Fest this year.
I did find it interesting for an apple festival there was only one vendor actually selling the fruit, and a church organization selling carmel covered apples. The festival mostly seemed to revolve around the cars people brought to display. A local sheriff’s deputy explained to me on those festival days in past years with sunshine and better weather, they could have been an additional 250 cars sitting around town for people to enjoy.
Of course it wasn’t only the traditional four wheel vehicles that got judged for competition. Being an agricultural area, it was nice to see some tractors and admirers taking in the scene.
The judges seemed to do their best to work with the wet conditions, although I thought wet paper and a bleeding pen would give them “cover” if someone one and someone else complained about it. “I was sure I had written these numbers, but with the wet paper I must have read it wrong.”
This fall I made a trip to Sioux Falls, SD, just outside of what some might consider Siouxland, and again visited the Great Plains Zoo there. It was a cool day, temps somewhere in the 50’s and overcast for the most part. On a visit to the zoo a year ago it was much warmer in the fall and the animals for the most part then stayed indoors. But on this particular day they were out and about, enjoying the sunshine and their confinements as much as they can.
The zoo is educational and is very good at describing its residents and particulars about their individual lives. It also has an area devoted to educational pursuits.
Near the tiger enclosure there was Chinese calligraphy on the walls of a building which blended in nicely with the shadows created by nearby trees. Adding a quiet kind of ambience to that corner of the zoo. It was a peaceful day and even the animals seemed to sense that. Watching and marking time. Tomorrow is yet another day.
While visiting the Calliope Historical Village in September I looked for other ways in making images as I walked about the small historical complex. Visiting places again and again breeds familiarity and comfort and I always keep that in mind when thinking about photographing a place. And many times the kind of day, weather and light plays a part in making those decisions.
It was a stormy kind of day that day and the light was soft and even and so my photographs reflected some of that aspect as I walked among the buildings looking at form and lines and whatever other notions caught my attention. Photography is limitless in subject matter, and highly personal as well. Two persons standing next to one another will see a scene differently and make different kinds of photograph depending on how they personally see and feel, as I sometimes think photography is as much intuitive as it is a thought process. Trying to fore a viewer’s eye to see what you see, sort of walking a quarter mile in someone’s shoes.
A number of communities in Siouxland now have sidewalk adorning their downtown area as does neighboring communities of Siouxland. Sioux Falls is one such place and has had a sculpture walk for a few years. It certainly makes a community come alive with pieces of art sprinkled about. And the community is easily navigated on foot and with space for those who linger to look at the art and those who need to hustle and make their destination.
I personally like smaller communities that bustle but one doesn’t feel like you are in a bowling lane like in a larger metropolis and getting jostled about while trying to enjoy the views around you. Some of us are just born tourists and look the part. The downtown area of the community has a nice urban feel and is a nice way to spend a day before going off to see other attractions and just enjoying the day.
Siouxland is home to a number of a number of historical significance to the region, much like many early settlements in many locations around the country. Calliope Village, according to an official listing at the site of the city of Hawarden where the village is located, came into existence in 1860. “History reports that Sioux County, Iowa was founded January 20, 1860, on the banks of the Big Sioux River on the north edge of what is now Hawarden. Our “founding fathers” were Frederick Hubbell, W.H. Frame, Joseph Bell, and E.L. Stone who founded the settlement of Calliope (Kal’ e ope) for the express purpose of receiving a regulation count salary for organizing a county in Iowa.
In 1869, Calliope consisted of a courthouse, three log homes and about 10 residents. The infant town was driven back to the safety of Sioux City by Indian uprisings. In 1871, the Indians calmed down and the few rugged individuals who were willing to brave the wilderness returned to the settlement to find the original courthouse standing. By 1872 Moses Lewis bought out the remaining initial investors and used the office to issue fraudulent bonds. It wasn’t until 1874 that the settlement of Calliope was actually home to the earliest settlers. Progress came with a hotel, cabins and finally viability was enhanced greatly by the formation of a stage coach line to transport people to and from Sioux City.”
That history and the historical village is all that remains of that early settlement. Fundraising and area residents made the village possible to remind current and future residents of the community’s historical background.
So it’s nice to visit the village on a holiday and see people stroll the grounds and check it out. Or relax and enjoy some music provided by a washtub band whose creation was musician’s Jerry Toft.
I visit the place from time to time. Sometimes with a class I teach and other times during the holidays or when I am passing through the area. The days are always different and so is the light. The village isn’t always open but it’s still nice to stop by and see. Of course the side attractions that come during days like Labor Day are not always present, and are a look back into time itself, and just fun to photograph.
I took another trip to Sioux Falls recently, geographically just outside the boundaries of what many consider Siouxland, but only an hour from Sioux City. I know zoos are educational and provide a glimpse of life many of us would not normally see, but at the same time am sad that these animals can not roam the terrain where originally they come from.
That said, the Great Plains Zoo is a nice facility and this particular visit it struck me that part of the zoo structure reminds me of territorial amy posts or forts built in the Dakota Territory that incorporated both Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, Wyoming and Montana I believe.
This area of the zoo contained animals that were African in origins and the animals roamed about in grassy areas, except for giraffes that day. An employee informed me that with recent rains the grounds area became too muddy and the giraffes were confined to an area deemed safer for them. But on a cool day as temps hovered in the 50’s and 60’s the animals were out and enjoying the sunshine.
It has rained quite a bit it seems for early fall in the region. And created difficulties for all including farmers and area communities where the possibility of flooding from overflowing rivers and creeks pass through many. But it also seemed to create small islands of grazing area for the bison at the zoo as they all stayed in one area to feed during a time when the sun came out.
I know I will return to the zoo again, just to watch the animals and to enjoy the quiet that can be found there and appreciate what is there.
I live in the Siouxland area that encompasses a wide swatch of land in northwest Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. The people that inhabit this area are generous folk and your basic honest, Midwestern people you like to have as neighbors. I explore the area and share observations, mostly photographic, sometimes through video, and and short text. All images and video are copyrighted material of the author.
Jerry Mennenga, Sioux City, Iowa
jerrylmennenga@yahoo.com
