Some to look at!
gingerbread castle
carnival time
mauna loa fire

others that are a bit similar

Prairie Sunset

Copper Medallion

Thanks both for the help.

'Gingerbread Castle' iris looked the closest in aquawise's list but there is not enough yellow in the center and the veins do not show up well enough for it to be this iris.

I think you got the closest mrtoad, the amount of veins that show up in 'Copper Medallion' look almost identical but the orther colors looks closer to 'Prairie Sunset'.
I don't think it's any these however because the petal tips are more dark in color than these two irises (like a dark maroon color or a dark red).

However I think 'Prairie Sunset' was the closest out of all, it just needs more yellow around the orange veins and the petal tips need to be a little more dark.

What does everyone think about 'Red Amber' from 1942:

http://www.hips-roots.com/photos/red-amber2-pdelneg.html

It could be this one, but the problems are it seems to not have quite enough yellow and orange in the center of the bottom petals. Also this one seems to not have any yellow line at the center of the petal down to the petal base like in the 'Red Amber' picture. Also the darker red or pink color seems more centered in the bottom petal than centered at the base of the bottom petal like in my mystery one.

Could this be a rediscovered extinct cultivar??

See the differences in these pictures:

I think this is Prairie Sunset. The general color scheme matches (the yellow central region is distinctive), and many invariant features match as well: haft marks, beard color, petal shape and carriage (the "sawtooth" edge of the standards is distinctive), and the white dart below the beard. The red is a bit deeper than is usual for Prairie Sunset, but that might be a matter of flower age or growing conditions. If it's not Prairie Sunset, then it's a close relative, but given the wide distribution of Prairie Sunset (a Dykes Medal winner), I bet that's it.

Thanks very much, Prairie Sunset I think could be right. Many pictures I've seen of Prairie Sunset on the internet are lighter at the tips however, but like you said, it could be growing conditions. They are growing in a full sun location, a little on the dry side, and in acidic soil. So maybe those conditions make it more red than typical.

Harvest Moon
Alpine Glow
Prairie sunset is a short Iris!! How tall are your plants?

About 17 or 18 inches tall.
Flowers about 3.5 to 4 inches wide.

aquawise, where did you get that Prairie sunset is short?

I just searched and found out that Prairie sunset is listed in the tall bearded Iris family. Tall bearded Irises reach heights of 27 inches and above.

TB - Tall Bearded, over 27" tall.
BB - Border Bearded, 16" - 27.5" tall.
MTB - Miniature Tall Bearded, 16" - 25" tall
IB - Intermediate Bearded, 16" - 27.5" tall
SDB - Standard Dwarf Bearded, 8" - 16"
MDB - Miniature Dwarf Bearded, Up to 8"

So does the current spring height of 18 inches make mine a MTB, IB, or SDB?? Would that height rule out 'Prairie Sunset' jeanrichter?

Oops, forgot one, Or a BB - Border Bearded, 16" - 27.5" tall?

Not necessarily short but shorter than the Tall bearded ones.