During the 1830s and 1840s, the Neutral Ground was home to thousands of Ho-Chunk and associated government officials, soldiers, and traders. Archeological traces of these villages, camp sites, battlefields, burial grounds, trading posts, and other sites still exist in northeast Iowa, but are difficult to relocate.

Cynthia Peterson spoke about some of the known Ho-Chunk related sites, efforts to identify more sites, and the nomination of some of these to the National Register of Historic Places. This is a long and difficult process.