Grant Township, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa Grant Township, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa Grant Township is one of 16 townships in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 354. Grant Township was the site of the airplane crash north of the city of Clear Lake, in which rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, along with their pilot Roger A. Peterson, were killed on February 3, 1959. The site is located in the extreme eastern part of the township, near its border with Lincoln Township. Grant Township covers an area of and contains no
Snuff Garrett Lubbock oldies station KDAV on a program hosted by his friend Jerry "Bo" Coleman. Garrett also worked in radio in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he performed on-air stunts. On February 3, 1959, Garrett broadcast his own tribute show to Holly after he was killed (along with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper) in a plane crash in Iowa. In 1959, Garrett became a staff producer at Liberty Records in Hollywood at the age of 19, after having joined the label to work in the promotions department. Although not a musician, Garrett showed he had a knack for finding hit songs,