Sioux City, Iowa

Interstate 29 runs beneath the 100-foot tall Floyd Monument at the south edge of
Sioux City, yet the obelisk is still easy to miss from the highway if you're not
looking for it. It's much better appreciated by getting off the interstate at Exit 143
and traveling north on Lewis Boulevard.
Sergeant Charles Floyd was just 22 years old when the Lewis & Clark
Expedition began in May 1804. Just three months into the journey up the
Missouri River from St. Louis, Floyd suddenly became seriously ill. He died on
August 20, 1804. Modern medical authorities believe he died of peritonitis
caused by an inflamed or ruptured appendix. Appendicitis was not a known
condition in Lewis and Clark’s time and would not be recognized by physicians
until later in the 19th Century.
Floyd died a couple of miles downriver from the monument. The expedition
continued upstream to this point, looking for a suitable burial site.
“We Buried him to the top of a high round hill over looking the river & Countrey
for a great distance,” Clark wrote.
Floyd's grave has been moved slightly for various reasons in the past 200 years,
but remains on the same hill. The last time was in 1901, when the monument
was completed and his remains sealed inside it.
His memory also was honored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1932
when a riverboat was built and christened the Sergeant Floyd. It served the
Corps 42 years on the Missouri and was used for surveying and inspection
work, as well as some light towing. The Floyd's last job for the Corps was
serving as a floating bicentennial exhibit. It was then retired and eventually
moored along the Missouri at 1000 Larsen Park Road. This can be reached by
taking Exit 149 off Interstate 29. The Floyd now is home to a museum and
official Iowa Welcome Center. The museum includes the biggest display in the
country of scale models of Missouri River steamboats and keelboats. Hours are
9-5 every day of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, and
Easter.
A short walk from the Sergeant Floyd is the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center,
a modern building constructed with funds provided by Sioux City's riverboat
casino. Several large dioramas inside the center depict "A Day in the Life of the
Expedition," specifically, August 20, 1804, the day Floyd died. One includes
animatronic versions of Lewis and Clark lamenting their inability to save Floyd's
life. Outside the center is the Garden of Discovery, home to almost 200 species
of native plants. most of which Lewis and Clark would have encountered as they
crossed the Plains.
A short distance east on Larson Park Road is the Flight 232 Memorial and the
Anderson Dance Pavilion. The memorial is small and simple, with some
columns arranged in a semi-circle. On the other side of the columns, and below
their level, closer to the river, is a statue showing Colonel Dennis Nielson
cradling a small child, carrying the youngster to safety. The dance pavilion is the
site of annual events like Artsplash and Big Parade Mardi Gras.
A brief drive continuing downstream on Larson Park Road leads to the Argosy
Casino. The riverboat's 35,000 square feet includes 625 slot machines, as well
as tables for games like blackjack, poker, roulette, and craps. It can carry up to
2,000 passengers.
The Sioux City Art Center is near the riverfront at 225 Nebraska Street. It's
housed in a beautiful building of brick and bluish-greenish glass designed by
the renowned Chicago architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Groundbreaking for the $9.2 million project was held on August 24, 1994. It
opened to the public on March 1, 1997. Its central feature is a three-story tall
glass atrium, 50 feet in diameter. The art center's permanent collection includes
works by Salvador Dali, Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, and many other
notable artists. The permanent collection is not always on display; check the
museum's website for information on current exhibitions. Perhaps the most
popular work of art here is not inside the building. Twigamore was created by

North Carolina artist Patrick Dougherty from elm, maple, and willow saplings. It
looks like the whimsical residence of a Dr. Seuss character. Kids enjoy walking
inside it. You'll have to hurry if you want to see it. Its exhibition is scheduled to
end July 2.
A short drive from the art center is the Historic Fourth Street District, between
Virginia and Iowa streets. These two blocks of buildings from the late 19th and
early 20th centuries were placed on National Register of Historic Places in
1995. Many of the early enterprises in the area were owned by people of
Scandinavian heritage, such as the Scandinavian Bakery, the Svenski Monitorer
Swedish newspaper, and the Larsen and Anderson Grocery Store. Fourth Street
was home to most of the city’s initial enterprises. It was part of the original plat
of the city performed by Dr. John Cook, an Oxford-educated English immigrant.
Cook and several prominent Iowans formed a land company and established
Sioux City in 1854.
A few blocks away, at Sixth and Pierce, is the Orpheum Theater, which opened
in 1927. The Orpheum went through several renovations as a movie theater
before closing its doors in 1992. The community rallied behind a major
restoration effort in 2000, and on September 15, 2001, the Orpheum, restored to
its original splendor, reopened.
At 7th and Douglas is the Woodbury County Courthouse, completed in 1918, the
largest Prairie Style public building in the world. Once disdained by local
business leaders, the courthouse is now considered “Sioux City’s architectural
crown jewel.” It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973
and achieved National Historic Landmark designation in 1996.
The War Eagle Monument, near where Interstate 29 exits Sioux City to continue
north, provides a nice counterpoint to the Floyd Monument on the opposite side
of the city. The monument is accessible from the interstate by taking Exit 151
and following War Eagle Drive from Casey's. Despite his name, War Eagle was
a man of peace who befriended Americans. He carried messages for the U.S.
Government during the War of 1812 and traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1837 to
negotiate a peace treaty with President Martin Van Buren on behalf of the
Yankton Sioux. One of War Eagle's friends was a French Canadian fur trader
named Theophile Bruguier. Legend has it that one day Bruguier told War Eagle
about a dream he had of a beautiful place where two rivers came together by a
high bluff. War Eagle said he knew the place in the dream and showed Bruguier
this spot, where the Big Sioux River joins the Missouri. In 1849, Bruguier settled
at the confluence of the two rivers, establishing a farm and trading post. War
Eagle died in 1851 and was buried on this bluff. Bruguier died in 1896 and was
buried in a Catholic cemetery south of Sioux City. In 1926, he was re-interred on
this bluff near War Eagle and his first two wives, who were daughters of War
Eagle.