Raymond Charles Vietzen dating history

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Raymond Charles Vietzen was an American automobile dealer, artifact collector, and amateur archaeologist. As prolific author and artist from Elyria, Ohio, he wrote and illustrated numerous articles, books, and chapters in edited volumes on the history and prehistory of North America winning him many honors—chief among them the title of "Colonel." Col. Vietzen is probably best known for establishing the Indian Ridge Museum in 1930 and for founding the Archaeological Society of Ohio (formerly the Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society), whereby he presided as its editor, president, secretary, and treasurer from 1941 to 1980. Most of his publications are dedicated to the excavations that he led at many famous archaeological sites in Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. His relic collection was sold by Old Barn Auction between 1998 and 1999 grossing $1,777,652. In 2000, Colonel Matthew W. Nahorn founded the New Indian Ridge Museum in Amherst, Ohio, celebrating Col. Vietzen's legacy. However, Col. Vietzen has received criticism for digging Native American graves, as well as the sale and trade of antiquities.