The Three Rivers Trail • Humboldt County, Iowa

The Three Rivers Trail
Sign System

History of the Three Rivers Trail

The Three Rivers Trail runs along 33 miles of the old Chicago and Northwestern Railroad right of way between Rolfe and Eagle Grove. As the name implies the trail crosses three rivers. These rivers include the West Branch of the Des Moines River, the East Branch of the Des Moines River, and the Boone River. Much of the western portion of the trail parallels the West Branch of the Des Moines River, making travel very scenic. At the end of the Gotch spur the east and west branches of the Des Moines River converge. The trail passes through a diversity of habitat, from woodland to shrubby grasslands, marshy areas and open prairie. A 10 foot, crushed limestone trail has been constructed on the existing railbed. All trestles have wooden decks and guard rails for safety. Trail amenities, such as parking lots, shelter houses, restrooms and picnic tables have been added along the route. Development started in 1991, with continuous improvements being made every since.

The trail sign system is designated with the simplified TRT logo shown on the map below.

TRT Sign System

The sign system in place today was a collaborative effort between Humboldt County Conservation, Humboldt County Historical Museum, and designer Jake Zweibohmer.

More than two years of research, design, and implementation went into this system. It is our focus that the signage along this beautiful trail is not only informative, but is also complementary to the natural beauty around you. Some signs are designated as wayfinding to help orientate you on your journey. Others are meant to direct you back to this website for more information on historical and nature related items which might be of interest to you.

Please scan the QR codes along the trail to access this site at any time.

Bluebird houses

There are 30 bluebird houses along the Three Rivers Trail. The bluebird houses are part of conservation efforts aimed at increasing the population of Eastern Bluebirds and other cavity-nesting birds.

Why are conservation efforts are needed?

Loss of natural nesting sites: Practices like clearcutting have reduced the number of trees with natural cavities that bluebirds use for nesting.

Competition for nesting sites: Invasive species like starlings and house sparrows compete with bluebirds for available nest cavities. House wrens can also be a threat by destroying bluebird nests.

Providing essential habitat: The bluebird houses, designed with specific entryways and cavities, offer suitable nesting locations for Eastern Bluebirds and help deter larger, invasive birds.

Supporting overall biodiversity: The trail passes through diverse habitats, including woodlands, shrubby grasslands, marshy areas, and open prairie, which provides a rich environment for various wildlife, including bluebirds.

By constructing and monitoring these bluebird houses, local conservation groups and volunteers are actively contributing to the preservation and growth of the Eastern Bluebird population in the area.

Train Wrecks!

TERRIBLE WRECK.
From Palo Alto Reporter Emmetsburg Iowa 1920-07-08

M. AND ST. L. TRAIN CRASHES THROUGH BRIDGE NEAR HUMBOLDT LAST SATURDAY.

MRS. T. J. DYRLAND WAS KILLED.

THREE OTHERS FROM THIS CITY WERE AMONG THE INJURED.

One of the worst railroad wrecks that has ever occurred in this state took place about four miles south of Livermore on the M. & St. L. road on Saturday last about noon. The passenger train that goes north to Minneapolis went through a bridge across a creek about a mile north of the Arnold station. The creek has quite a steep bank at this place and is in quite a ravine. A trestle works about 120 feet long spans this ravine. The engine of the passenger train went across the bridge all right but just as it got on the dirt track the bridge gave way and the four coaches of the train plunged into the creek below. It had been raining heavily and this made the bridge unsafe and washed out, it is claimed, some of the dirst and support of the piling. The engineer and firemen felt the engine going over the bank and so jumped and just escaped from being buried in the mud under the engine. There were quite a number of passengers on the train and these were piled up into the end of the car that went down first and covered with seats and chairs and everything else that came crushing in on them. Fortunately the engineer and fireman escaped and these two proceeded to get out the live and injured passengers. After a time some farmers came from near by places and assisted in the work of getting the living and dead from the debris in the water of the creek. It was a difficult and heart rending job for even those who were not seriously injured were so dazed and nervous that they went all to pieces. The first report had it that nine were killed outright and 20 odd seriously injured while others were bruised up pretty badly in one way and another. The seriously injured were taken to the hospital in a special train that was sent up from Fort Dodge while doctors from that place and Livermore did all they could on the scene of the wreck to alleviate the suffering of the wounded.

Emmetsburg had four victims in the wreck. MRS. T. J. DYRLAND and little grandson MARVIN were on the train coming to Emmetsburg from Ft. Dodge. The former was instantly killed. Her forehead was crushed in and the side of her face torn off and her hands and arms injured badly. Her death resulted from the crushing of the forehead. The little boy had a fracture we believe of a leg and badly bruised and cut on the body. C. W. MILLER of this city who was on his way home from Des Moines was injured being badly bruised up. These are in the hospital at Fort Dodge at this writing and it is thought that they will get along all right.

The railroad is being seriously condemned for the wreck as it is declared that the bridge has been reported unsafe and it should have been looked after. Whether there is any truth in this report we do not know but be this as it may the road bed of the M. & St. L. is very poor and the wonder is that any trains get over it at all.

The Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway Co.

Modern day folks could be forgiven for thinking that the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway was one set of tracks that ran from St. Louis, Missouri in the south to Minneapolis, Minnesota in the north. It was actually an entire railway system that was based in Minneapolis.

Our railways evoke great historical interest. Excellent sources of history of the M&StL abound:

Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway Co. Logo

This is a stylized map of the M&StL Railway system circa 1940.

Photo of the old Humboldt Depot on the M&StL.

Steam Train on the M&StL, possibly going over the rat hole.

1978-10-31 Humboldt Brick Depot burning — On Halloween in 1978 the Brick Depot in Humboldt along the M&StL burned. It was a total loss. The Jaycees were using it for a haunted house at the time.

Full-page ad by the M&StL in the February 1953 issue of Trains & Travel. Posted by Jason Leverton on the Industrial History blog.

Frank Gotch State Park

In the late 1980s, I picked up arrowhead fragments and beads from where Concrete Products was mining sand from Gotch Park. When I dropped off these treasures at the County Conservation Board Office, I was informed that in the 1920s or so, archeologists from University of Iowa had excavated portions of Gotch Park. What’s more Gotch Park had served as a trading post not only between early hunters and settlers and the Indians, but between Indian tribes as well.

The Iowa Office of State Archeology replied to my inquiry about this excavation which they have records that date the Gotch Park excavation from the early 1930s:

Our office was not involved in any excavations; the site was recorded by Charles Keyes, one of the first archaeologists working in Iowa, and unfortunately all we have is a brief description of the event in his field notes.

Gotch Park sits at the confluence of the West and East Branches of the Des Moines River. It is easy to see why First Peoples were drawn to this area. Our rivers attract abundant wildlife and provide excellent fishing. Even after decades of mining the uplands and farming the lowlands, Gotch Park retains its beauty.

Paleoindians in Iowa about 13,000 to 8,000 years ago

Caste your mind back to a time 10,000 years ago, a mere couple thousand years after our area was covered in a continental glacier. This part of Iowa was a cooler, wetter forest, where oaks and elms dominated. Archeological evidence of people from this time leads us to believe that they were big-game hunters. Imagine a band of hunters stopping at Gotch Park to butcher a wooly mammoth. Archeologist think it would have been a temporary stop, because these people didn’t leave evidence of dwellings.

Third Largest Cottonwood in Iowa!

Unofficially, there is an eastern cottonwood along the Three Rivers Trail that is the third largest in circumference in Iowa. The two largest ones are listed as 29.83 ft and 29.75 ft. This cotton wood comes in at 27.875 ft (27 ft 10.5 in).

The next largest one listed on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources website is 26.83 ft. We will be submitting our lovely tree for official recognition.

Find this tree in Gotch State Park, 2568 Gotch Park Rd, Humboldt, IA 50548.

To view this magnificent tree, follow the road to the parking lot near the brick shelter house. Walk north, past the wooden shelter house, and onto the Three Rivers Trail. Walk east along the trail over the bridge. Just on the east side of the bridge and the south side of the trail you will find this tree. You can’t miss it!

The tree is growing in the ditch along side the trail which served as borrow pit to build up the railroad bed. This means that tree is no older than the rail line, which was built in 1879.

The circumference of this tree measured 27 ft 10.5 inches on July 21, 2025. The measurement was taken about 4.5 ft from the ground, using the rope shown in the picture.

The Lost Town of Rogerton

Take a couple of anecdotes about a town called Rogerton located at what is now Gotch Park. Add a train timetable listing that stop between Humboldt and Fort Dodge. What we end up with is a mystery. It is a mystery because none of our friends at the Humboldt County Historical Museum have ever heard of it.

You will find Rogerton listed on the Iowa State Government website for railroad abandonments.

If you have any information about a town along the old M&StL Railroad called Rogerton, please email info@threeriverstrail.org.

The Last Battle

History, to turn the old saying around, is not written by the vanquished. No first person account exists from the participants of the “Last Indian Battle in Iowa.” What’s more, other places in Iowa dispute that the battle described here is the “last” battle between the First Peoples in Iowa. What is not in doubt is that we have a huge rock with a plaque commemorating this battle and that the authors of this entry cannot find a battle in Iowa between First Peoples that postdates this battle.

The Setting

The last battle in Iowa between Native American tribes took place near the west end of the Three Rivers Trail. A large boulder with a commemorative plaque marks the location.

The battle took place in 1853 or 1854. For context, Iowa became the 29th state in 1846. Settler accounts of this battle are an interesting glimpse into the white settlers’ mindset at the time, and may even contain the odd fact.

“This map shows the lands assigned to the Potawatomi, Sauk and Fox, and Winnebago peoples in Iowa a year prior to statehood in 1846. Map depicts territorial and county boundaries, Native American lands, several treaty lines devised at the Treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1830, an Indian agency and mission, and Anglo-American settlements.” Library of Congress.

As one may infer from the straight lines on the 1845 map, white settlement probably imposed a greater competition for resources and territory. Although this is not the stated reason for the battle, it may have, at the very least, been a factor.

The Combatants

Like people all over the world, Native American peoples called themselves “the people” in their own language. White settlers termed these combatants the Sioux and Winnebagos.

We have come to appreciate the distinction of all Sioux peoples into Dakota and Lakota. Dakota Sioux or Wahpekute Dakota lived in this part of Iowa. Dakota people ranged from northwestern Iowa to the southwestern half of Minnesota.

The Winnebago, who were the ancestor of the combatants, are now known as Ho-Chunk. The Ho-Chunks were pushed out of southwestern Wisconsin into a diagonal strip of land in Northeast Iowa term “the neutral ground.” It is shown in 1945 map above and labeled “Winnebago.” This area was bound on the west by the West Branch of the Des Moines River.

The Battle

All accounts of this battle seem to written at least a quarter century after the fact. Authors writing in the late nineteenth century impose the sensibilities of their time, not the least of which is unapologetic racism and sexism. The accounts are an interesting window into the prevailing mindset and contain tacit justifications manifest destiny.

Accounts agree that the Pilot Creek battle happened before the Spirit Lake Massacre in 1857. Many describe it as precursor to the Spirit Lake Massacre, but objectively the fight for territory between two first peoples, the best explanation for the last “Indian battle,” has little to do with the murder of a Native American’s family by a white settler, the immediate precursor to the Spirit Lake Massacre.

All accounts agree on the location of the battle, near the west end of the Three Rivers Trail, in the vicinity Pilot Creek. Remains of Native American dead and settler accounts seem to add credibility to the location of the battle.

Read accounts of the battle from settlers and reporters a couple of decades after the event.