Explore 1607-08 colonists’ experience at National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque

DUBUQUE — I was repeatedly bitten by mosquitoes, drank brackish water and ended up with infected scrapes from catbriar vines. I died many times going through the new “American Adventure” role-playing maze at the National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque.

And it was a blast.

Open through Sept. 15 in the Paddlewheel Building, the goal is to see if you can survive one year in the New World, from 1607 to 1608. If you do, you’re luckier than the 104 colonists who arrived on the East Coast in the spring of 1607. Fewer than 40 survived the challenges of unfamiliar terrain, unfamiliar flora and fauna, unfamiliar maladies and communication issues with the Indigenous population.

Created by Seattle-based Minotaur Mazes and the Virginia Living Museum, “American Adventure” creators note the 2,500 square-foot-maze blends history, science, nature and fortune in an interactive experience, through more than two dozen tests spread out over four seasons.

“Our goal is to immerse you in the subject — to make you an individual colonist with different strengths and weaknesses — and to reflect the complexity of early American life in a way that no other exhibit can,” creator Kelly Fernandi said in a news release explaining the exhibition. “You can live or die as you go through this maze. You’ll learn a lot even if it kills you, and chances are it will.”

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The maze

No need to be skittish about getting lost in the maze. It has plenty of exits — designed primarily for those who “die” along the way and want to start over.

Re-dos let you learn from your mistakes so you can make better choices or try your hand at making better spins on the various Wheels of Misfortune along the way. I cheated. After “getting a high fever” from a mosquito bite, and losing Health and Morale points, I kept spinning — and kept landing on the potentially fatal mosquito bite. Moving on ...

The first step is to choose an “identity” from among the men making this 17th century journey. (Women came later.) I chose Capt. John Smith, since Pocahontas saved his life in the 1995 Disney animated film bearing her name. Apparently, he was more animated in reel life than in real life. Ultimately, he died, so I died.

So before you enter the maze, pick up a Life Chart inscribed with a name, and hang it around your neck. Looking a little like an abacus, it has a lifeline for moving beads up or down in four categories, depending on how you’ve fared with the various Health, Wealth, Food and Morale challenges you’ll encounter.

For example, if you choose to trade with the native population, you earn 1 Food point, 1 Morale point and lose 1 Wealth point. If you spin the Wheel of Misfortune and land on catbriar scratches that become infected, you lose 2 Health points. And if your spin lands on a skull and crossbones, your small boat sinks in an icy river as you cross to Hog Island. You die. The end — but of course, you’re urged to exit and try again.

“The fun thing I really liked about this exhibit, is every time you go through, you can pick a new character,” Emily Adlfinger, the museum’s marketing and communications manager, told The Gazette. “There might be a sailor, a carpenter, or you also might have a fine gentleman. John Smith is one of the live charts, as well.

“On all of those charts, your baseline starts at different places, depending on what your background is, so that increases your likelihood of surviving or not making it through the winter.”

The history

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While the maze is designed for young learners, and the various puzzles and interactive aspects are at a low enough level to accommodate them, adults will learn a thing or 20, as well.

“It’s more for those elementary-aged kids, but amazingly, parents and grandparents have been loving this exhibit, too, because it has Oregon Trail vibes,” Adlfinger said. “It’s very ‘choose your own adventure.’ Will you die of dysentery? And so people of all ages are absolutely loving this.”

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On a recent midweek visit, parents and grandparents were reading the various panels with their kids and grandkids, and making live-or-die choices at the interactive stations. Those range from identifying forest smells to climbing a rock wall, taking a zip line over a painted sturgeon, plunging a hand into a barrel to see what you’ve grabbed, and deciding whether various animals and plants are edible or gut-busting.

Watching the video at the exhibit entrance would have been a good idea, as several of us tried to figure out how to work our Life Chart beads, but a couple of us grown-up farm kids were feeling pretty smug that we made the right choice for drinking water. No spoilers here — you’ll have to figure it out for yourself. I did feel a little sheepish for not realizing that an oak tree yields food.

Do take the time to read the panels. You’ll learn more than you probably read in you school textbooks.

For instance: The colonists weren’t colonists at all. Citing the ’Tis True panel: “This is just a business venture. But if we didn’t come to start a colony, why did they call us colonists? When the first Englishmen landed at Jamestown, their goal was to make a profit, not start a colony. But over the years, more people came and began farming and raising families, and the Virginia Colony was formed.”

From the In Fact panel: “If we’d been planning to start a permanent colony, we would have brought women with us. Both morale and the food would have been much better. The Virginia Company investors are more interested in profit.”

Their mission was to find gold, like the Spanish found farther south; to find a shorter route to the spice markets in the Far East; to find timber to be used in industry and medicine; to find jobs for English workers; and to explore new lands.

The rest you’ll have to learn for yourself.

And that’s not all

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Plan to spend a good portion of the day at the museum and aquarium, bursting with live critters and other interactive exhibits to keep the most active visitors entertained while they’re learning about the Mississippi River ecosystem.

“People tend to know the River Museum as the place that has the otters, the stingrays, the animals, but really, we do focus on the telling of the history of the Mississippi River,” Adlfinger said. “While this (traveling exhibit) isn’t necessarily the river history, it still talks about how our country came to be, and ties in with other areas of the museum. So this fits our historical part of our mission.”

She “highly recommends” heading over to the National River Center, that features the “Rivers to the Sea” exhibit. They’re you’ll find the Giant Pacific Octopus. The behind-the-scenes “Octopus Encounter” is sold out through the “foreseeable future,” Adlfinger said, but they’re looking at adding more openings closer to the holidays.

In the meantime, twice a day, visitors can touch and feed the stingrays, which feel like liquid velvet, and a new tide pool touch tank gives visitors an up-close experience with sea stars and sea anemones.

With renovations completed in March 2023, “Rivers to the Sea” is “absolutely stunning,” Adlfinger said, “with lots of vibrant colors, a lot of conservation messaging and ties in that saltwater connection to the Mississippi River.”

Other sites in the complex include a boat shop; blacksmith shop; raptor roost; 4D theater; splash zone; an alligator; sea horses; and a backwater marsh with ducks, turtles and fish, among many other facets to explore.

And before you leave Dubuque, be sure to ride the Fenelon Place Elevator, billed “the world’s shortest and steepest railroad,” taking riders 189 feet from Fourth Street up to Fenelon Place. Pay with cash at the top, with one-way and round-trip options at $2 and $4 for adults and $1 and $2 for ages 5 to 12. Younger passengers ride free.

The price is modest, compared with the views over the city and river. See details at fenelonplaceelevator.com/

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com