PAHS is always adding to their collections and changing up the displays, and donations or gifts of historical items are always appreciated. There’s also variety of items for sale, including books, videos, postcards, and cookbooks, with proceeds supporting the museum or historian Fred South’s book . Refreshments, coffee, and conversations will greet any visitors who come in to explore Prophetstown’s history.
The newest addition to the museum is the Wabokieshiek statue, which was removed from Prophetstown State Park last year and restored by the original woodcarver, Thom Gleich, who initially carved it from a storm-damaged oak tree in 2010. Due to seasonal flooding and the tree’s condition at the park, PAHS decided it was time to remove the statue from the tree base before floodwaters could carry it away. The statue was brought to Walcott earlier this year for restoration, then delivered to the museum in late April.
Another wooden artifact on display is a slice of tree from a 129-year-old Ash that was removed from Prophetstown State Park in 2022. Kim Meyer spent many hours sanding, treating, and finally delivering the slice of wood to the museum, and the tree rings are marked with year tags to correspond with notable events in Prophetstown and around the country, with the first in 1894.
The steel and iron tripod that the ash slice stands on was forged locally, and the two men who worked on that project recently stopped by Around Ptown’s open office hours (held at the museum on the first and third Wednesday of each month), making an opportune moment to get a photo, for posterity.
Daryl Drennen, who has a blacksmith shop in Prophetstown, and Jeff Dever of PAHS, worked on the tripod project a couple years ago. They used coal and gas-powered fire to hand forge in red-hot fire the tripod that now supports a massive slice of wood. It took a few hot and dirty work days to complete the piece that safely upholds a fascinating piece of Prophetstown history.
Daryl Drennen, left, and Jeff Dever stopped by PAHS on Wednesday, June 17th, and Sarah had to get a photo!
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