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"Tales from Viennia Woods",
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Notes about this site

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge lies on the wide plain formed by prehistoric flooding and shifting of the Missouri River. Each spring and fall since the end of the last ice age, spectacular flights of ducks and geese have marked the changing season along this traditional waterfowl flyway.

Vast changes have taken place in the Missouri River Valley since settlement in the early 1800's. Land clearing, drainage projects, river channelization, and flood control measures during the past 150 years have transformed the Missouri River floodplain from diverse wildlife habitat to fertile farmland. DeSoto is part of a network of refuges devoted to preserving and restoring increasingly scarce habitat for migratory waterfowl and other wildlife.

One of the first documented expeditions into this section of the Missouri River Valley occurred when Lewis and Clark traveled through the area seeking a land route to the Pacific. The explorers' journal entries dated August 3, 1804, describe the party's historic meeting with Indians at the "council-bluff", after which the party set out in the afternoon and camped five miles upstream. Although the river has changed it's channel many times since, one Lewis and Clark campsite was probably located just below the river loop called DeSoto Bend, on or near the present refuge. Clark's journal notes an abundance of wildlife in the area, including the expeditions's first observation of a badger and "great numbers of wild geese".

By the mid-1800's, the Missouri River had become an artery for trade which opened the West.

Steamboats carried supplies to the early fur-trading posts, frontier settlements and mining towns. But the turbulent, snag-strewn "Big Muddy" took it's toll on the early stern and side-wheelers. During the 19th and 20th centuries, more than 400 steamboats sank or were stranded between St. Louis, Missouri and Ft Benton, Montana.

The 1860 era sternwheeler Bertrand was discovered on the refuge in 1968 and unearthed the following year. Today, Refuge visitors may view the site of this discovery and tour the DeSoto Visitor Center which exhibits the many thousands of artifacts recovered from the hull.

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge's primary wildlife management role is to serve as a stopover for migrating ducks and geese. During typical years, 500,000 snow geese utilize the refuge as a resting and feeding area during their fall migration between the Arctic nesting grounds and the Gulf Coast wintering areas.

Peak populations of 50.000 or more ducks, mostly mallards, are common on the refuge during the fall migration. October and November are the months of peak waterfowl use, with less spectacular concentrations of ducks and geese returning in March and early April.



Bald eagles follow the geese into the area, with many wintering here until March. Peak numbers of bald eagles usually occur in late November and December, and again in early March. As many as 120 have been seen here at one time. Bald eagles are often seen perched in cottonwoods along DeSoto Lake when waterfowl are present, and good viewing opportunities are available from the DeSoto Visitor Center. An interesting assortment of warblers, gulls, shorebirds and other bird life also can be observed the on refuge during the fall and spring migration.

In the summer, white-tailed deer with one or two fawns are often seen in the morning and evening hours beside the refuge roads. Cottontails, raccoons, coyotes, opossums and fox squirrels also frequently are observed along refuge roads and in fields.

Backwater areas of DeSoto Lake and several wetlands on the refuge serve as habitat for beaver, muskrat, and an occasional mink.

Desoto Bend National Wildlife Refuge
is located a few miles west of the
Junction of Interstate 29 and US Highway 30
in west central Iowa

Refuge Hours - Daylight
Closed
New Years Day - Easter - Thanksgiving - Christmas

Visitor Opportunities
Wildlife Drive
Bertrand Excavation Site
Bertrand Trail
Cottonwood Trail
Wood Duck Pond Trail
Missouri Meander Trail
Fishing/Boating
Hunting
Mushroom Gathering

Visitor Center
9 am - 4:30 pm

For more information contact:
Refuge Manager
DeSoto National Wildfile Refuge
1434 316th Lane
Missouri Valley, Ia 51555
Phone 712-642-4121

More about
DeSoto National Wildfile Refuge