Cerro Gordo Deputy Sheriff Lowell Sandquist (Mason City) near the plane wreckage where pilot Roger Peterson, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died on Feb. 3, 1959, near Clear Lake. Photo by Elwin Musser, courtesy of Kevin Terry and Shawn Nagy

Cerro Gordo Deputy Sheriff Bill McGill looks inside the wreckage. Photo by Elwin Musser, courtesy of Kevin Terry and Shawn Nagy

The wreckage as photographed by FAA investigators

Mason City Globe-Gazette, Feb. 4, 1959

Mason City Globe-Gazette

Irma Valens, Jim McCool and Connie Valens in Clear Lake. Photo courtesy of Jim McCool

Winter Dance Party memorabilia adorns the walls of Dennis Farland’s music room in Newton. Photo by Michael Swanger/Iowa History Journal

Dennis Farland holds a 45 RPM of Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue.” Photo by Michael Swanger/Iowa History Journal

An envelope featuring the 40th anniversary of the Winter Dance Party, date stamped Feb. 3, 1999, in Clear Lake. Photo courtesy of Dennis Farland