Joe Artz

Bio: Joe holds an M.A. in Anthropology (University of Kansas, 1983) with approaching 33 years of experience in archaeology and over 16 years in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He has conducted archaeological fieldwork in 11 states as well as Belize and Portugal. A Senior Geoarchaeologist, Joe specializes in the interpretation of stratigraphy and geomorphology at archaeological sites and in the landscapes in which they occur. His research interests include fluvial processes, soil genesis, and buried archaeological site potential. Joe is a Senior GIS Analyst, leading projects in georeferencing historic maps, predictive modeling, analysis of digital elevation models and LiDAR, as well as digital cartographyom.

Using GIS to Rediscover and Re-imagine the 1846-1847 Route of the Mormon Trail across Southern Iowa

From 1846-1847, hundreds of Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, emigrated from Nauvoo, Illinois, on the Mississippi River, to a new home in Salt Lake City, Utah. A collaboration among EarthView Environmental, Inc., Tallgrass Historians, and the Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist created a GIS of all known mapped locations of the trails in Iowa, as well as camp sites, way stations, fords, graves, and other sites. Contemporary maps depict portions of the trail. Wagon ruts are visible in lidar. I have attempted to use least cost analysis and other GIS techniques to more accurately visualize specific pathways that wagon caravans may have followed in making their way across the Iowa wilderness.

Iowa, history, transportation, archaeology, lidar, least cost path analysis, Mormon, migration