New book out: “Native American Monuments of Missouri: A History & Guide”

Columbia, MO, October 25, 2026 --(PR.com)-- Explore the ancient wonders in your own backyard with historian Neal W. Fandek on a journey of 10,000 years in “Native American Monuments of Missouri: A History & Guide,” from Arcadia Publishing. It’s a history of the long Native American presence in the state, starting with the ancient, advanced civilizations who built great monuments throughout Missouri and the Midwest. These people built huge cities long before Columbus was born, long before there was a Europe.

It's a guide
to the existing monuments you can visit today on public land, free, and likely within an easy drive of where you live. Directions are included to each site, what to see there and stories of how they came to be.

These people include the:
--Hopewell, who built large towns throughout the Kansas City area, roughly 100 BC-400 AD
--Mississippians, large cities with towering pyramids and large plazas along that great river, especially around St. Louis (nicknamed "Mound City" for that reason in the early 19th century) and in the Bootheel, 900-1400 AD
--Oneonta, massive hilltop enclosures along the Missouri River in central Missouri, 900-1700 AD
--Niúachi (you know them as the Missouria), for whom the state is named
--Osage and Illiniwek (Illinois) peoples, towns in southwest and northeast Missouri
--And the artists who carved marvels in stone at Thousand Hills and Washington State Parks.

Explore the ancient wonders in your own backyard with “Native American Monuments of Missouri.” Available through The History Press/Arcadia Publishing, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other booksellers.