WITH A SIDE OF - Over the Top Tours

JUNE 26–28, 2016
TOUR*
*WITH A SIDE OF
Motoring with Imagination
Ou r M i s s i o n :
t o c e l e b r at e t h e
j o y s o f v i n t ag e
vehicle motoring
Road Rules
• We provide both emergency roadside assistance and vehicle hauling services. Disabled vehicles should report their location via cell phone to John.
No more than two vehicles should stop to provide roadside assistance.
• If you encounter problems with your vehicle and must stop,
pull as far off the roadway as possible. If you do not need assistance, please give a “Thumbs Up” signal to passing vehicles, so they know you are “OK”.
• We try to avoid the busier highways, but that can’t always
be the case. Always keep sufficient intervals between
vehicles so an overtaking vehicle can blend.
• In reality it is the second vehicle that bears the responsibility in
passing situations. If you are holding up traffic, please pull over
and give faster vehicles the right of way.
• Rain, shine or worse… we continue to roll and all vehicles are
expected to do the best for themselves under the circumstances.
Open top vehicles may need to seek shelter. Individual judgment will
be the order for the day.
• Get a compass or GPS if you are not always sure
of directions.
• These route instructions serve as a “guide”
only. You are free to deviate and
learn about other parts of the
territory.
• We have purposely refrained
from relying on mileage or time
references in our directions.
• Odometers will vary, so any references
that do occur must be treated as approximate.
For emergencies call John • 319-431-0520
Sunday, June 26
Sunday Highlights
Day 1
• A short drive to Music Man Square, with its 1912 streetscape and to tour the boyhood
home of Meredith Willson. Maybe a mid-afternoon stop at the Ice Cream Parlor or the
Nickelodeon to view the latest Charlie Chaplain silent release.
• An introduction to Prairie School Architecture via a short walking tour of the nearby
Rock Glen — Rock Crest National Historic District.
• Dinner at the Mason City Country Club with a guest speaker (all admissions and
included in your registeration fee).
A Bit About Mason City
Mason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population
was 28,079 in the 2010 census. It is commonly referred to as the "River City", as the city
grew up centered on the
Winnebago River.
The region was a sum-
mer home to the Sioux and
Winnebago natives. The first
settlement was made at Shibboleth in 1853 at the conflu-
ence of the Winnebago River
and Calmus Creek. The town
had several names: Shibbo-
leth, Masonic Grove, and Ma-
sonville, until the name Mason
City was adopted in 1855, in
honor of Mason Long.
In 1854, John McMillin opened the first store, and Dr. Silas Card opened the
first medical practice in the area. Lizzie Thompson established the first schoolhouse in a
log cabin in 1856. The United States Post Office Department started service to the town
in 1857. Mason city was named as the county seat in 1858.
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Day 1
Mason City, above all else, is known for its outstanding musical heritage, consistently pro-
ducing successful performers and educators. Mason City's "favorite son" Meredith Willson
grew up in Mason City, having played in the Mason City Symphonic Band as a student at
Mason City High School.
Willson's crowning achievement was the famous musical The Music Man, which
was first a successful Broadway musical, then a popular film. Many of the characters in it
were taken from people Willson knew
from his childhood in Mason City.
The show first opened on
Broadway in 1957 and became a hit,
with a three-year run at the Majestic
Theatre, followed by an additional
1,375 performances at the Broadway
Theatre. The Music Man garnered
many awards, including 5 Tony
Awards in 1958.
The 1962 film version starred
Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, and
Buddy Hackett. It was both a critical
and commercial success, being
nominated for six Academy Awards
(including Best Picture) and winning
one (Best Musical Score).
Music Man Square and Frank Lloyd Wright Tour
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From the Super 8 Hotel turn left onto Hwy 18 (aka 4th St. west). Continue into town
h
and stay on 4th to the intersection with Federal Street (by Taco John’s)
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Willow Creek
Continue on Federal Str. several blocks, it will jog to the right a little and crosses
Park in the large Southbridge Mall lot to the left in the designated area and cross
Delaware Ave. to Music Man Square and the Meredith Willson boyhood home
•
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The Frank Lloyd Wright walking tour will start/finish at Music Man Square
Day 1
Music Man Square to the Mason City Country Club
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Exit the parking lot to the west and turn left onto South Washington Ave.
•
After crossing Willow Creek follow the long curve to the left, staying in the
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right lane
Exit to the right onto Federal St. and continue to 19th St.
Turn right onto 19th St. and continue 2 miles to the Country Club on the left
Architecture and the
Prairie School
Mason City is widely known for its collection
of Prairie School architecture, the largest concentration of any city in Iowa. At least 32
houses and one commercial building were built in the Prairie Style between 1908 and
1922, 17 of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and eight more
are contributing properties to a historic district.
The first two Prairie structures, the Dr. G.C. Stockman House (1908) and the
Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank Buildings (1909–1910) were both designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright. The hotel and bank, a mixed-use development at the corner of State
and Federal Avenues, was the first to be commissioned by local attorneys James E. E.
Markley and James E. Blythe.
Both the Park Inn Hotel and Stockman House suffered from neglect and unsym-
pathetic alterations before they were saved by community organizations. In 1989, the
Stockman House was moved four blocks to prevent its demolition; it was subsequently
restored and opened to the public by the River City Society for Historic Preservation.
Likewise, Wright on the Park, Inc. began restoration on the Park Inn Hotel in 2005 and
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Day 1
the former City National Bank building in 2007. The Park Inn Hotel is the last remaining
of the few hotels that Wright completed during his career and is considered a prototype
for Wright's Imperial Hotel.
The Rock Glen and Rock Crest
National Historic district is a small
enclave of single-family homes
situated along the banks of Willow
Creek five blocks east of downtown.
It is the largest collection of prairie
style homes in a natural setting in
the world. Five of these houses were
designed by
Walter Burley
Griffin and
Marion Mahony
Griffin, two by
Francis Barry
Byrne, and
others by William
Drummond,
Einar Broaten,
and Curtis
Besinger.
Mason City Country Club to Super8
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From the Country Club, turn right on 19th Street
Turn left onto Taft Avenue
Turn left onto Hwy 18. The Super 8 will be on the right
Monday, June 27
A Circle Tour
Day 2
A Spam Museum Tour and Lunch in Austin, MN with
Pit Stops in St. Ansgar and Charles City
Mason City to St. Ansgar
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From the Super 8 Hotel turn right onto Hwy 18 (aka 4th St. west).
Turn right at the traffic light onto Eisenhower Ave.
At the T intersection turn right onto 300th St (aka B20)
At the T intersection turn left onto Hwy 65
In Manly, turn right onto Hwy 9 for approximately 14 miles
Turn left onto T-26 (aka Foothill Ave.) toward St. Ansgar
In St. Ansgar, Foothill becomes Main St.; turn right onto 4th St. for our pitstop
A Bit About St. Ansgar
St. Ansgar is known as “The Garden Spot of Iowa” be-
cause of the beautiful local gardens, large old trees and
lush farmland around the town.
To honor a man whose influence had much
to do in the shaping of his own life, the Rev. C. J.
Clausen gave to the town the name “Saint Ansgar”
(meaning “God’s Spear”).
St. Ansgar is the only town so named in this
entire United States and even in the entire world.
St. Ansgar is named for the patron saint of Scandinavia, a French Benedictine monk who Christianized much of Denmark, Sweden, and northern
Germany between 830 and 865 A.D.
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Day 2
St. Ansgar to the Austin VFW Club
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Return to Main St. and turn right heading north
Continue out of town where Main St. curves left and becomes County Rd. 105
In a little over 3 miles and a curve to the left around the bright white barn; turn
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right onto Cameo (aka S70) headed north—if you cross the bridge you’ve gone too far
●
When Cameo ends, turn left onto 480th (a continuation of S70)
●
In 2 blocks 480th curves right and becomes Beech Ave. Continue north on Beech
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1st Ave. SW.
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entrance is just beyond the building.
f/g Turn left onto State Line Rd., then quickly right onto MN Hwy 105;
h Continue 12 miles on 105 into Austin; it will jog a few times, follow the 105 signs
g In Austin, just before 105 turns left (overhead sign ahead of you), turn right onto
At the IA/MN border, Beech Ave. T intersects with State Line Rd
Continue on 1st Ave.to Main St. which is about 12 blocks
Turn left onto Main St. and continue to 4th Ave.
Turn right onto 4th Ave NE, the VFW Club is 2 blocks ahead on the right. Parking
The SPAM Museum is in walking distance of the VFW Club
Please don’t eat
the exhibits!
6
A Bit About Charles City
Day 2
Charles City has a population of 7,652 and is the county
seat of Floyd County. Located on the site of a Winnebago
Indian village, Charles City was originally named
“Charlestown” for the son of the first-known white settler
to the area, Joseph Kelly in 1851.
By 1852, twenty-five other settler families had joined Kelly and a community was
born. The town name changed, first to “St. Charles” and then to “Charles City,” to avoid
duplication of other Iowa town names.
Charles City is known for the role it played in the history of the American tractor.
continued
Austin to Charles City
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From the VFW parking return to 4th Ave., turn left crossing Main and possibly
f Turn left onto 4th St. NW and continue south to 1st Ave. SW
f Turn left onto 1st Ave. SW
h Continue on 1st Ave. until it ends
f/g Turn left, then right immediately onto Oakland Ave.
k Follow Oakland to the junction with Freeway I-90 and merge onto I-90
g Stay on I-90 for approximately 3½ miles and exit onto Hwy 56 (Exit 183)
h Continue on Hwy 56 South to Rose Creek
g In Rose Creek turn right onto Cty Rd. 19 (aka 610th Ave.)
h Continue south on 19, which makes a slight jog west and connects with Iowa
visit the Hormel Mansion to the right and St. Augustine church ahead of you
h
f
T36 near the State Line.
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Just after Floyd, cross the median and enter Hwy 18/27, continuing south
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h
toward Charles City
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Our pitstop is adjacent to Dave’s Restaurant at 809 South Grand Ave.
Follow T36 until it ends at Hwy 218
Turn left onto Hwy 218 and continue south
Approaching Charles City, take the Exit 212-Hwy 218 Business Route into town
Stay on Hwy 218 BR (aka Gilbert St. which becomes Grand Ave. near the river)
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Day 2
A native son Charles Walter Hart met Charles H. Parr in college. Hart and Parr developed
a two-cylinder gasoline engine and set up their business in Charles City in 1897. It was
here in 1901 the term "tractor" with Latin roots and a combination of the words traction
and power was first coined by Hart and Parr.
In 1903 the firm built fifteen "tractors", the first successful production-model tractor line in the U.S. The 14,000 pound No. 3 is the oldest surviving internal combustion
engine tractor in the United States and is on display at the
Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In 1929,
Hart-Parr was one of the four companies that merged to form
Oliver Farm Equipment Company and finally the White
Farm-New Idea Equipment Co. At its peak in the mid-1970s,
the sprawling plant complex encompassed 23 acres and
employed nearly 3,000 workers. The 1980s farm crisis and
other economic pressures led to the closing of the plant in 1993.
Although more famously known for producing tractors,
the Hart-Parr company also made some of the first washing
machines. Selling for $155.00 in the 1920s, the buyer had the
option of ordering either an electric or gasoline engine.
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Day 2
Charles City to Mason City
f Take the rear drive from Dave’s and turn left onto 5th St.
g At the first corner turn right onto Beck St.
f Continue one block to 4th St. and turn left
f/g Turn left onto Main, then immediately turn right onto Hwy 14
g Just after Hwy 14 curves to the left, turn right onto Cty B45 toward Rockford
f Continue thru Rockford on Main St. and turn left onto Cty B47 two blocks
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g
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after the railroad tracks.
Continue straight on B47 when T18 turns south
At the T intersection, turn right onto Zinnia Ave.)
In 1½ miles turn left onto B43 (aka 210th St.)
Turn right onto S34 (aka Lark Ave.) to Hwy 18/4th St.
Turn right onto Hwy 18 to the Super 8 on the left shortly after crossing Eisenhower Ave.
The River City Chorus rehearsal begins at 7:30 at Music Man Square. Once
again park in the Southbridge Mall lot and cross Delaware to the Square.
A Bit About Rockford
Rockford is in close proximity to a world-class fossil collecting locale. The Floyd County Fossil and Prairie
Park Center is a nature center located just west of Rockford. Originally a clay pit for the now-defunct Rockford
Brick and Tile Company, Floyd County acquired the
property in 1990 and it is currently open to the public as
a County Park. A great number of fossil marine species
are present within the Devonian strata of the Park, but
the abundance of brachiopods is noteworthy. What
makes this location special is that the calcareous ocean-bottom sediment that was
deposited here never turned to hard stone as it does almost everywhere else in the region. This allows the fossils to weather out as discrete, often complete museum-grade
specimens. Also, this is one of the few geological preserves in the United States where
admission is free and collecting fossils for private use is allowed.
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Day 2
The fossils currently found at the Fossil & Prairie Park Preserve are from the shallow
sea environment and are marine invertebrates (animals without a backbone)
“It’s A Duesy”
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. . . is an expression derived from one of the
most remarkable automobiles ever built in
America, the Duesenberg. Amid the Great
Depression, those immune to the nation's
economic woes could plop down as much as
$25,000 and get a real Duesy. The long, fast
and technologically advanced machine was
built by gifted auto designers, Fred and August
Duesenberg, who were operating under
instructions that cost was no object. It became
the car of choice for Clark Gable, Gary Cooper
and Greta Garbo.
Rockford, Iowa is the American
hometown to Fred & Augie Duesenberg. Born
in Germany, they came with their parents to Rockford in the 1880’s. In the 1890s,
Fred and Augie began building and racing bicycles. In 1900, they began playing with
gasoline engines and began building motorcycles.
In 1906 the brothers got money from Edward Mason, an Iowa lawyer, to manufacture cars. Fred Maytag, Maytag washing machine and appliance magnate, bought 60
percent of the company. The result was the Maytag-Mason Motor Company in Waterloo, Iowa. But neither Maytag nor Mason were experienced in the car business and the
company gradually folded. The Duesenbergs went off to St. Paul, Minnesota to work on
racing car engines.
In 1913 the Duesenberg brothers founded Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company, Inc, in St. Paul to build engines and racing cars. Having raced their bicycles and
motorcycles, it was natural that, as with other automobile builders, Duesenberg would
use the Indianapolis Speedway as a laboratory, and for nearly twenty years their own
Day 2
entries participated in races there.
By World War I their engines had made a good showing in the Indianapolis 500.
Eddie Rickenbacker, World War aviation ace, drove cars powered by those motors before he flew in the war, piloting the first Duesenberg-powered automobile to prize
money in 1914, finishing tenth. The Duesenberg was the first American car to win the famous Grand Prix at Le Mans, France, in 1921. Driven by Jimmy Murphy, the car established a new road record by outdistancing the entire field by fourteen minutes. Other
Duesenbergs won Indianapolis 500 races three times in the 1920s, making the brothers
the first to be three time winners of that race.
Despite being world-class engineers, the Duesenbergs were unable sell their first
mass produced vehicle. Duesenberg was only able to survive to the classic era because
E. L. Cord wanted a "supercar" to round out his automotive duo of Auburn and Cord.
Cord admired the Duesenberg Model A and in 1926 proposed a financial rescue, but it
came with a price — Fred Duesenberg was to design the most extravagant car of its era.
The Duesenberg Model J was the supercar Cord wanted.
Chorus
y
it
C
r
e
iv
R
e
Th
gins
rehearsal be
at 7:30 at
quare.
Music Man S rk in
a
Once again p e Mall
idg
the Southbr oss
lot and cr
the
Delaware to
Square.
Gary Cooper and William Powell in
Cooper's Duesenberg J Derham Tourster.
Another bit of Iowa trivia . . . Gary Cooper
attended Grinnell College.
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Day 3
Tuesday, June 27
Morning Drive to Surf Ballroom
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From the Super 8, turn right onto 4th St.
At the traffic signal turn left onto Eisenhower Ave.
Turn right onto 19th St. and continue into Clear Lake where it’s 4th Ave.
Just before 4th Ave. ends turn left onto South Shore Dr.
Continue on South Shore until it curves south and becomes Dogwood Ave.
At the T intersection, turn right onto 235th St. (aka B35)
When B35 ends turn right onto Balsam Ave. (aka S14)
After passing Ventura Jr. High School, turn right onto Lake St.
Continue on Lake St. as it curves and becomes North Shore Dr. to the Surf Ballroom
A Bit About Clear Lake
The region that would later be called Clear Lake was a summer home to the Dakota and
Winnebago American Indians. During a land survey of northern Iowa done in 1832 by
Nathan Boone, the son of the famous explorer, Daniel Boone, a map was made showing
the lake and other bodies of water in the area. In 1851, Joseph Hewitt and James Dickirson brought their families to camp on the east side of Clear Lake, soon building a cabin,
and began a friendship with the Winnebago natives.
By 1853, many more white settlers had also come to settle in the area. By the year 1855,
the first Clear Lake school was built, a steam sawmill was operating and a hotel opened.
By 1870, the town had 775 residents and by 1871 the streets were graded and sidewalks
were made of raised boards, a sure sign of a
thriving new city. The city of Clear Lake was
incorporated on May 26, 1871.
Surf Ballroom
In 1933, the Surf Ballroom opened on the site
of the old Tom Tom ballroom that had been
destroyed by fire. The opening dance night had
approximately 700 couples attending. In 1947, the Surf Ballroom burned down and a
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new Surf Ballroom was built across the street in 1948.
The Day the Music Died
Day 3
On February 3, 1959, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P.
"The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, to-
gether with the pilot, Roger Peterson. The event later became known as "The Day the
Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean so referred to it in his 1971 song
"American Pie". At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings,
Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across
the Midwest. Rising artists Valens and Richardson had joined the tour as well.
The long journeys between venues on board the cold, uncomfortable tour buses ad-
versely affected the performers, with cases of flu and even frostbite. After stopping at
Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by such conditions, Holly fatefully decided to
charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota. Richardson, who
had flu, swapped places with Jennings, taking the latter's seat on the plane, while
Allsup lost his seat to Valens on a coin toss. Soon after take-off, late at night and in
poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft
Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield, leaving no survivors.
Background
Buddy Holly terminated his association with the Crickets in November 1958. For the
start of the "Winter Dance Party" tour, he assembled a band consisting of Waylon
Jennings (bass), Tommy Allsup (guitar), and Carl Bunch (drums), and the opening
vocals of Frankie Sardo. The tour was set to cover 24 Midwestern cities in as many
days. New hit artist Ritchie Valens, J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Dion
DiMucci (of Dion and the Belmonts fame) joined the tour to promote their recordings
and make an extra profit.
The tour began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 23, 1959. The amount of
travel soon became a logistical problem. The distance between venues had not been
properly considered when the performances were scheduled. Adding to the disarray, the
tour bus was not equipped for the weather. Its heating system broke down shortly after
the tour began. While flu spread among the rest of the performers, drummer Bunch was
hospitalized in Ironwood, Michigan, for severely frostbitten feet. The musicians replaced that bus with a school bus and kept traveling. As Holly's group had been the
backing band for all of the acts, Holly, Valens, and DiMucci took turns playing drums
for each other at the performance in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Clear Lake, Iowa.
On Monday, February 2, the tour arrived in Clear Lake. The town had not been
a scheduled stop, but the tour promoters, hoping to fill an open date, called the manager of the local Surf Ballroom, Carroll Anderson, and offered him the show. He
13
Day 3
accepted, and they set the show for that night. By the time Holly arrived at the venue that
evening, he was frustrated with the tour bus and decided to charter a plane to take him,
after the show, to Fargo, North Dakota. The party would have picked him up for the next
tour stop, in Moorhead, Minnesota, saving him the journey in the bus and leaving him
time to get some rest.
an show
ddy Holly on Ed Sulliv
Bu
Ritchie Valen
s
e Big
“Hello Baby, this is th
Bopper speaking”
Where Were You When the Music Died?
I was 12 years old in February 1959; a 7th grader growing up in Chicago. My memories of
the morning of February 4th linger, much like the ‘Where were you when you got the news
about John Kennedy’, or the generation before us ‘Pearl Harbor’.
The Chicago Sun-Times was the morning newspaper in our house and the headline
stopped me in my tracks, just before walking to my Patrol Boy assignment to help younger
students cross a busy intersection a block from my house. I remember when older students passed-by, they too were dazed
by the news. In our Social Dancing class we’d learned the Box
Waltz to Ritchie Valens hit ‘Donna’ and watched Buddy & the
Crickets deliver ‘That’ll Be the Day’ on Sunday night’s Ed Sullivan Show. The Bopper’s ‘Chantilly Lace’ and his ‘B&W TV plaid’
sport coat had recently been a highlight on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand”. For us, it was our first ‘personal experience’
with a celebrity’s death.
Years later, on our premiere MotorIoway tour in 1996, we
A V-tailed Bonanza similar to
included an overnight in Clear Lake and an evening buffet and
N3794N, the accident aircraft
dance at the Surf. It brought back those 37-year-old memories. In
between, Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ had taken the plane crash to folklore status, but it
fostered more curiosity within me.
While the focus is on the events the night of February 3, 1959, many parts of the story
have emerged over the ensuing years. In fact, one significant aspect occurred as recently as
last year. So, if like me you remember where you were when you got the news in 1959, I’ve
included lots of details. I recognize that not everyone shares that fascination, and if so, simply pass over the following pages.
—
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John
Day 3
Flight arrangements
Manager Anderson called Hubert Dwyer, owner of the Dwyer Flying Service, a company
in Mason City, Iowa, to charter the plane to fly to Hector Airport in Fargo, the closest one
to Moorhead. Flight arrangements were made
with Roger Peterson, a 21-year-old local pilot
described as a "young married man who built
his life around flying".
The flying service charged a fee of $36 per
passenger for the flight on the 1947 single-engined, V-tailed Beechcraft 35 Bonanza (registration N3794N[7]), which could seat three
passengers plus the pilot. A popular miscon-
ception, originating from Don McLean's eponymous song about the crash, was that the
plane was called American Pie. In fact, no record exists of any name ever having been
given to N3794N.
Richardson had contracted flu during the tour and asked Waylon Jennings for his
seat on the plane. When Holly learned that Jennings was not going to fly, he said in jest:
"Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." Jennings responded: "Well, I hope your ol' plane
crashes", a humorous but ill-fated response that haunted him for the rest of his life.
Ritchie Valens, who had once had a fear of flying, asked Tommy Allsup for his seat
on the plane. The two agreed to toss a coin to decide. Bob Hale, a DJ with KRIB-AM, was
working the concert that night and flipped the coin in the ballroom's side-stage room
shortly before the musicians departed for the airport. Valens won the coin toss for the
seat on the flight. Dion had been approached to join the flight, although it is unclear
exactly when he was asked. Dion decided that since the $36 fare (equivalent to $292.20
in today's money) equaled the monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment,
he could not justify the indulgence.
Official investigation
The official investigation was carried out by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB, precursor
to the NTSB). It emerged that pilot Roger Peterson had over four years of flying experi-
ence, of which one was with Dwyer Flying Service, and had accumulated 711 flying hours,
of which 128 on Bonanzas. He had also logged 52 hours of instrument flying training,
although had passed only his written examination, and was not yet qualified to operate in
weather that required flying solely by reference to instruments. He, and Dwyer Flying
Service itself, was certified to operate only under visual flight rules, which essentially
require that the pilot must be able to see where he is going. However, on the night of the
accident, the low clouds obscuring the stars, the lack of a visible horizon, and the absence
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Day 3
of ground lights over the sparsely populated area would have made visual flight virtually
impossible.
Furthermore, Peterson, who had failed an instrument check ride nine months before
the accident, had received his instrument training on airplanes equipped with a conventional
artificial horizon, as source of aircraft attitude information, while N3794N was equipped with
an older-type Sperry F3 attitude gyroscope. Crucially, the two types of instruments display
the same aircraft pitch attitude information graphically in opposite ways.
The CAB concluded that the accident was due to "the pilot's unwise decision to em-
bark on a flight" that required instrument flying skills he had not demonstrated to have.
A contributing factor was the pilot's unfamiliarity with the old-style attitude gyroscope
fitted on board the aircraft, which may have caused him to believe he was climbing when
he was, in fact, descending (an example of spatial disorientation). Another contributing
factor was the "seriously inadequate" weather briefing provided to the pilot, which
"failed to even mention adverse flying condition which should have been highlighted".
Aftermath
Holly's pregnant wife, María Elena, learned of his death from the reports on television.
A widow after only six months of marriage, she suffered a miscarriage shortly after,
reportedly due to "psychological trauma". Holly's mother, on hearing the news on the
radio at home in Lubbock, Texas, screamed and collapsed. María Elena Holly did not
attend the funeral and has never visited the gravesite. She later said in an interview:
"In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant,
and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time
I wasn't with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along,
Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane."
The "Winter Dance Party" tour did not stop; Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup
continued performing for two more weeks, with Jennings taking Holly's place as lead
singer. Meanwhile, the funerals of the victims were being held individually; Holly and
Richardson were buried in Texas, Valens in California, and pilot Peterson in Iowa.
Take-off and crash
After the show ended, Anderson drove Holly, Valens, and Richardson to the Mason City
Municipal Airport. The weather at the time of departure was reported as light snow, a
ceiling of 3,000 feet with sky obscured, visibility 6 miles and winds from 20 to 30 mph.
Although deteriorating weather was reported along the planned route, the weather briefings pilot Peterson received failed to relay the information.
The plane took off normally from runway 17 (today's runway 18) at 12:55 a.m.
Central Time on Tuesday, February 3. Dwyer, the owner of the flight service company,
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Day 3
witnessed the take-off from a platform outside the control tower. He was able to see
clearly the aircraft's tail light for most of the brief flight, which started with an initial left
turn onto a northwesterly heading and a climb to 800 ft. The tail light was then observed
gradually descending until it disappeared out of view. Around 1:00 a.m., when Peterson
failed to make the expected radio contact, repeated attempts to establish communication
were made, at Dwyer's request, by the radio operator, but they were all unsuccessful.
Later that morning, Dwyer, having heard no word from Peterson since his departure,
took off in another airplane to retrace his planned route. Within minutes, at around 9:35
a.m., he spotted the wreckage less than 6 miles northwest of the airport. The sheriff's
office, alerted by Dwyer, dispatched Deputy Bill McGill, who drove to the crash site. The
Bonanza had impacted at high speed, estimated to have been around 170 mph, banked
steeply to the right and in a nose-down attitude. The right wing tip had struck the ground
first, sending the aircraft cartwheeling across the frozen field for 540 feet, before coming
to rest against a wire fence.
The bodies of Holly and Valens had been ejected from the torn fuselage and lay near
the wreckage. Richardson's body had been thrown over the fence and into a cornfield,
while pilot Peterson's body was entangled in the plane's wreckage. With the rest of the
entourage en route to Minnesota, it fell to ballroom manager Carroll Anderson, who had
driven the party to the airport and witnessed the plane's takeoff, to identify the bodies of
the musicians. County coroner Ralph Smiley certified that all four victims died instantly,
citing the cause of death as "gross trauma to brain" for the three artists and "brain damage" for the pilot.
Subsequent investigations
On March 6, 2007, in Beaumont, Texas, the body of J.P. Richardson was exhumed to rebury it in a more fitting part of the local Forest Lawn cemetery. The musician's son Jay
Perry took the opportunity to have his father's body re-examined to verify the original
findings, and asked forensic anthropologist William Bass to carry out the procedure.
Among the rumors surrounding the accident this second examination sought to ver-
ify was that an accidental firearm discharge took place on board the aircraft and caused
the crash, since two months after the event, a farmer had found at the crash site a .22
pistol known to have belonged to Buddy Holly. Another rumor had Richardson surviving
the initial impact and crawling out of the aircraft in search for help, prompted by the fact
that his body was found farther from the wreckage than the other three.
Dr. Bass and his team took several X-rays of Richardson's body and eventually
concluded that the musician had indeed died instantly from extensive, nonsurvivable
fractures to almost all of his bones; no traces of lead from any bullet was found, either.
Coroner Smiley's original report was therefore confirmed.
17
Day 3
Calls to reopen the investigation
In March 2015, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the successor to the
Civil Aeronautics Board, received a request to reopen the investigation into the accident.
The request was made by L. J. Coon, a retired pilot from New England, who felt that the
conclusion of the 1959 investigation was inaccurate. Coon suspected a possible failure of
the right rudder, or a problem with the fuel system, as well as a possible improper weight
distribution. Coon also argued that Peterson may have tried to land the plane and that his
efforts should be recognized. In April 2015, the NTSB declined the request, citing that the
evidence presented by Coon was insufficient to merit the reconsideration of the findings.
Monuments
In June 1988, a four-foot-tall granite memorial bearing the names of Peterson and the
three entertainers was dedicated outside The Surf Ballroom with Peterson's widow,
parents and sister in attendance; the event marked the first time that the families of
Holly, Richardson, Valens and Peterson had gathered together
In 1988, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, erected a stainless steel
monument that depicts a guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of the three
performers perished in the accident. The monument is on private farmland, about 1⁄4 mi
(0.40 km) west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, 5 mi (8.0 km) north of
Clear Lake. A large plasma-cut steel set of Wayfarer-style glasses, constructed by Michael
Connor of Clear Lake, similar to those Holly wore, sits at the access point to the crash site.
Signpost near the Clear Lake crash site
18
The memorial marking the crash site,
Notes
19
Passport
MUSIC MAN SQUARE
PRAIRIE SCHOOL #2
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
S T. A N S G A R
S PA M M U S E U M
BARBERSHOP REHEARSAL
SURF BALLROOM