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 on October 27 to hear the story of "Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa"!

There will be a small group chat beginning at 5:00pm the Crum Center hosted by Mike Delaney; optional dinner begins at 6:00pm followed by his presentation at 6:45pm.

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 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.