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COL Raymond C Vietzen
5
Sep 1907 - 1 Oct 1995 |
Col. Raymond Charles Vietzen was born in 1907 on West
Ridge Road in Elyria, Ohio on the Vietzen family homestead,
just south of the current intersection of West Ridge
and Fowl Roads. Raymond was the seventh of eight children;
his mother's maiden name was Von Zimmerman. She had
hoped Raymond would become a Lutheran minister; instead
Col. Vietzen's interest in the local history and the
American Indian led him to become an archaeologist,
anthropologist, author, and artist. He also worked
as an auto mechanic for GMC trucks. His original auto
shop was located at 227 Temple Court in Elyria until
it burned. He relocated the business to his home on
West Ridge Road for a time.
Col. Vietzen was very much a student of archaeology
and anthropology. He was also a prominent writer (17
books published on archaeology) and a prolific artist
(executed several hundred paintings).
With the help of Dr. Leon Kramer, LaDow Johnston, Dr.
W. V. Sprague, Hubert Wachtel, and Frank Burdett, Col.
Vietzen founded the Archaeological Society of Ohio
(A.S.O.). At the time of its founding the A. S. O.
was known as the Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society
(O.I.R.C.S.). The society quickly grew to 100 members
and is now the largest state archaeological society
in the United States. Col. Vietzen's wife, Ruth (Bliss)
Vietzen was the first female officer of the society.
They were married in 1931. Col. Vietzen was elected
secretary and treasurer; he also served as president
for a term.
Col. Vietzen later focused his efforts on the Lorain
County Historical Society and his Indian Ridge Museum,
working to preserve local history. The early meetings
of the Archaeological Society were held at the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical Museum (now the
Ohio Historical Society). At that time, it was located
on High Street in Columbus, Ohio. Erwin Zepp was the
curator and a good friend of Col. Vietzen. The Ohio
Historical Society is presently located on Velma Avenue
in Columbus, Ohio.
Col. Vietzen opened Indian Ridge Museum in 1930 on
a corner of the Vietzen family homestead, which he
had purchased from his parents. The Homestead was settled
by his grandparents. The museum was originally part
of the local archaeological society called The Elyria
Archeological Society Museum. His home was on the same
part of the property as the museum, both of which he
and his wife built. The home was of the Western Reserve
Style. They brought in trees and landscaped the property,
as the land was just a plowed field. This property
was located at the corner of West Ridge and Fowl Roads
in Elyria, Ohio. The land itself was actually an American
Indian site, where Col. Vietzen found evidence of the
existence of prehistoric man, dating back at least
12,000 years.
Col. Vietzen opened the museum to house his archaeological
finds and to enlighten others on the people who once
called this land home. The museum boasted having "12,000
Years of History on Parade." The front of the
museum was part of a 1920s filling station which had
been located just down the road. The museum did not
only house prehistoric artifacts, but had several log
structures (furnished with period antiques), a large
collection of antique guns, and the coat Gen. Custer
was purportedly killed in, with his blood stain on
it. Vietzen also had a gun belonging to Geronimo in
the Museum. One of the log houses on the museum grounds
was constructed by Jacob Shupe. Other cabins relocated
to the Museum grounds included: the Honeysuckle Cabin
from Kentucky, Mingo cabin (a stage coach relay station
stop), and Tymochte Cabin (built in 1795).
Over the next sixty-five years, thousands of school
children, college students, and other interested individuals
alike took the opportunity to tour the Museum and grounds.
Congressman Mosher once held his congressional outings
on the beautiful property.
To form his impressive museum, Col. Vietzen worked
on many local archaeological sites. These sites included
The Franks Site in Brownhelm, Ohio; The Engle-Eiden
Site in Sheffield, Ohio; The Riker Site in Tuscarawas
County, Midvale, Ohio; and The Seaman Fort Site near
Milan, Ohio. The Franks Site comprised two large prehistoric
village sites and encompassed about 80 acres of land.
These sites were located on the banks of the Vermilion
River and inhabited by the Erie Indians, the last prehistoric
peoples to live in the area. They called the southern
shores of Lake Erie their home, and the lake still
bears their name. The Franks Site was an Erie Village
where Col. Vietzen conducted much archaeological research
for his Museum and subsequent books. Col. Vietzen served
as site supervisor for Oberlin College when they worked
on the site.
Col. Vietzen also worked on sites out of state as well.
One of the most interesting and fascinating sites was
the Glover's Cave Site in Kentucky. Col. Vietzen worked
on that site on and off from the 1930s to the 1980s.
The site provided information from the Paleo Indian
era through each of the prehistoric eras. The site
was a wealth of information to the field of archaeology
and to Col. Vietzen. As a result of his extensive archaeological
excavations in Kentucky and Tennessee, Governor A.
B. Chandler awarded Col. Vietzen the "Colonel" status
in 1957. This was the same year he published "The
Saga of Glover's Cave," an entire book on the
prehistory of Kentucky and that cave. He was also named
an Honorary Citizen of Tennessee.
Col. Vietzen was not only a student of prehistoric
man, but he was also a friend of the Native Americans
of today. Adopted by two prominent groups of American
Indians whom he lived among, the Sioux and Navajo,
Col. Vietzen gained important knowledge of these people.
His Sioux name was Se-tis-tis-tee or High Flying Eagle,
and his Navajo name was White Horse. His adopted Siouan
father was Chief Iron Tail, one of the composites of
the Buffalo Nickel. Chief Iron Tail was actually in
the Battle of Little Bighorn and fought against Gen.
Custer. Chief Iron Tail was in his nineties when Col.
Vietzen was adopted about 1940.
Besides being an archaeologist, Col. Vietzen was an
artist and author. Throughout his life he had completed
several hundred paintings. He also authored seventeen
books from 1941 to 1995. The first book was "Ancient
Man in Northern Ohio;" his last book was called "Prehistoric
Indians From Darkness Into Light." Ruth, his wife,
actually finished the book for him as he passed away
in 1995. After this, several auctions were held to
sell the contents of Indian Ridge Museum and his personal
collection. The collection was broken up through these
sales to people throughout the United States and the
world. Ruth Vietzen passed away almost four years later
in 1999. The dissolution of his Indian Ridge Museum
was a tragic loss to not only our local history but
regional and even national history.
In 2000, the New Indian Ridge Museum was founded by
Col. Matt Nahorn, as a private endeavor to preserve
the Vietzen history and Amherst's Historic Shupe Homestead.
