dsmWeekly - August 6, 2025

By Dave Elbert

On Monday evening, Sept. 13, 1897, President William McKinley pushed “an electronic button at Washington … connected by Postal Telegraph wire with Des Moines” and blew up a boat on the Des Moines River.

The explosion marked the opening of Seni Om Sed — “Des Moines” spelled backward — an annual event that accompanied early Iowa State Fairs.

President McKinley’s remote participation in the re-enactment of the Civil War’s Siege of Vicksburg is described in the 1897 event’s official souvenir program, which notes that fireworks were followed by a musical program featuring the world-renown Iowan Ida Fuller and “her marvelous fire dances on an immense barge in the river.”

Seni Om Sed was “a gigantic Mardi Gras-level carnival,” explained Cat Bierling, a research librarian at the Des Moines Public Library.

The festival began in 1888, two years after the Iowa State Fair had moved from the west side of Des Moines to its current location on the east side. At the time, the fair was still “entirely agricultural,” Bierling said.

Members of the newly formed Des Moines Commercial Exchange, a predecessor of the chamber of commerce, believed a variety of entertainment would help Des Moines become a major center for tourism and conventions.

It was perfect timing: Iowa’s capital had been among the first cities to install electric streetlights, which allowed for night-time parades. (Heads up: This year’s Iowa State Fair Parade on Grand Avenue starts at 6:15 tonight, long before sunset.)

The inaugural 1888 parade was a doozy, where 50,000 spectators saw “about 70 floats representing the various industries and commercial interests of Des Moines,” according to news reports. The newspapers also described a spectacle that was typical of the time: “thirty Mesquakie Indians from Tama … in war paint and feathers and frontier coaches … with cowboy attendants.”

The following year, attendance swelled to 85,000 for a parade that included the world’s first electric vehicle, a battery-powered, bus-like carriage invented by local chemist William Morrison.

The number and variety of attractions grew during the 1890s with pageants and floats depicting the fall of Rome, the destruction of Pompei, the arrival of the Mayflower and other historic events.

This was well before radio, television or motion pictures. Seni Om Sed was all about parades, performances and pageants, an art form that Mark Twain described in 1907 as “the most instructive and most impressive way of portraying history.”

The 1897 Seni Om Sed was one of the most elaborate. In addition to President McKinley’s boat detonation, the simulated Siege of Vicksburg featured “canoes and flatboats converted into seeming gun boats, (with) skyrockets and Roman candles used for cannon.”

Newspapers reported that 80,000 to 100,000 people witnessed the river bombardment, which began at 8:30 p.m., when “the first gun boat left its moorings and drifted downstream.” As the bombardment from the riverbank began, fireworks erupted over the water. According to news reports in Davenport and Cedar Rapids, some rockets flew perilously close to spectators who had paid 50 cents to sit in an amphitheater on a riverside bluff.

Fair officials later complained the elaborate carnival attractions had lowered the fair’s attendance. Separately, Seni Om Sed planners confessed they were running out of new ideas and ways to pay for the spectacles.

After a final performance in 1898, Seni Om Sed was mothballed.

In 1979, the Des Moines Junior Chamber of Commerce revived the name with a slight edit — Seniom Sed — and a new approach, holding weekly events on Friday evenings during the summer at Nollen Plaza (now Cowles Commons). For $3 (later $5), adults were admitted to a fenced-off area where bands played and beer and wine flowed freely.

Weekly attendance topped 2,000 until suburbs began hosting similar after-work events during the 1990s. The final two Seniom Sed events of 2001 were canceled due to low attendance, and the backward Des Moines name again faded into history.

Dave Elbert has covered local history and Iowa business news for more than 40 years, first for the Des Moines Register and then the Business Record. Read more of Elbert's Backstories at dsmmagazine.com.

Head to the fair with a million of your closest friends. (Photo: Iowa State Fair)

BEST BET

Fair Sweet Fair

It’s here, the week we’ve been waiting for: The Iowa State Fair opens Thursday and continues through Aug. 17 for townies, other Iowans and curious visitors from around the world.

The festivities officially start with tonight's parade, at 6:15 on Grand Avenue. At 8:15 a.m. Thursday, head to the DNR Building for the 11th annual Historical Walking Tour led by the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Healthiest State Initiative. The guided 1-kilometer route ends at this year's opening ceremony in the Fun Forest.

Want behind the scenes insights? Dial in to the Iowa State Fair Podcast and learn about the people, sights, sounds and flavors that make up the fair. Each episode features interviews with fair folks who share stories and insider tips.

This year’s Grandstand lineup includes everybody from Hank Williams Jr. to Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pitbull, T-Pain and Kidz Bop. The free entertainment includes Tanner Adell, Creed Fisher, Parranderos Latin Combo and more.

And when you need a break from it all? Stop by ChildServe's Sensory-Friendly Morning for a quiet moment in air-conditioning, with coloring pages and calming music. Fair leaders are making a few adjustments this year across the fairgrounds to reduce sensory overload — lower sound levels, limited flashing lights, clearly marked directional signage and more.

The Week Ahead

Three Dog Night, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Hoyt Sherman Place. “Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” but I ignored her and listened to the band that racked up 21 consecutive Top 40 hits, including “Joy to the World,” “Black and White” and “Shambala,” during their heyday in the late 1960s and ’70s.

Architecture on the Move, 5 p.m. Friday, Capital Square. Gather for a guided tour of downtown's architectural marvels along several optional routes. The season's final tours are set for Sept. 12 and Oct. 3.

Back-to-School Donation Swing Dance, 7:15 p.m. Friday, Dance-a-Cross. Grab your dancing shoes and a donation for local schools. Don’t know how to swing? No stress, the beginner class is included and starts at 7:15.

Sweet Corn Festival, 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Adel. Hungry? Mark your calendar for the 46th annual husky, silky, juicy, salty, buttery extravaganza around the Dallas County Courthouse.

Dog Days of Summer, 11 a.m. Sunday, “The Bank” at The Little Book. Take your furry friend to the pet-friendly vendor market in Highland Park. Vendors will showcase products designed for and by pet owners.

Iowa Author Awards: The Des Moines Public Library Foundation has announced the winners of the 25th annual Iowa Author Awards. The honorees are poet and novelist Kaveh Akbar, novelist Kali White VanBaale, poet and professor emeritus of English at the University of Northern Iowa Vince Gotera, and late writer and critic John Domini. Criteria for the award include literary merit, originality and impact. The winners will be honored at a ceremony on Oct. 9 at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates.

By Jane Burns
BPC staff writer and copy editor

You can call Dessa many things: a hip-hop artist, a poet, an author, a science geek, a big pal of the Minnesota Orchestra and, according to NPR’s “All Songs Considered,” “a national treasure.”

These days you can call her something else: a dedicated performer who knows the show must go on. The genre-defying artist will take the stage at Earlham City Park at 6 p.m. Sunday as part of the Levitt AMP Earlham Music Series. Unfortunately for Dessa, it won’t be the show she planned.

The Twin Cities artist planned to perform in Earlham with the 29:11 South African Ensemble and had lined up a series of Midwest tour dates. But the 12-member group’s U.S. performance visas were denied and they aren’t allowed in the country, despite previous visits.

“To get a performance visa like this, you have to prove you already have gigs lined up and you’re culturally unique,” Dessa told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “They had the gigs, obviously. In no universe does this ensemble lack profound cultural value. I’m completely heartbroken.”

Dessa postponed some of the dates on the tour until December but still plans to perform the free outdoor show in Earlham, about half an hour west of West Des Moines. She'll share the bill with Lady Midnight and Nella Thomas.