The existence of copper in northeast Iowa from the Lake Superior region suggests the practice of long-distance trade.

Archaeologists have located evidence of a wide variety of projectile points from this era, population expansion, exchange of raw materials and finished goods, and galena, which is associated with more complex mortuary rituals.

Evidence from the Woodland period (450 BCE to 1250 CE) are found in pottery, burial mounds, and cultivated plants.

Elements from this era include bison and scapula hoes, triangular projectile points, and manos and metates.

[4] The tribe lived in the lower peninsula of Michigan and possibly in Ohio before 1640 when the Iroquois forced them to the region around Green Bay in Wisconsin.

The Meskwaki's subsistence was primarily based on horticulture and hunting and supplemented with fishing and gathering wild foods.

[7] Human remains were discovered when footings were dug for the monument, but they were not identified and it could not be positively confirmed that this was actually the place Dubuque was buried.

That is not as important as this was the place these people thought was the grave of Julien Dubuque, his wife Potosa, and her father Peosta, a Meskwaki tribal chief.

The monument features narrow windows, grillwork that covers its entrance, and a bronze plaque that reads "Julien Dubuque.

The monument was originally designed to be situated in a rustic setting, but park features such as a roadway, footpaths, benches, and interpretive signs were added during the 20th century.