The Man Mound.
The journey now leads a fraction of a mile farther up the north range of the Baraboo Bluffs, then a mile to the east to Man Mound Park, the central object of which is the famous man mound.
The length of the mound is 214 feet and width at the shoulder 48 feet. In order to assemble this large amount of earth the Indians, having neither shovels nor iron tools of any kind, used bark or other baskets, scrapers of wood or stone, and their hands. The observer will realize with what labor and under what difficulties the workers accomplished their task. When the Indians were gathered here, in camp they, with their activity and fantastic dress, must have presented an unusual picture in the boundless wilderness.
The man mound was located and platted by W. H. Canfield, local surveyor, historian, and archeologist, July 23, 1859. The original survey is now in the possession of the Sauk County Historical Society. The name of the discoverer of this earthwork has been lost in the dimness of time. When the highway was graded a number of years ago the lower part of the legs were destroyed and subsequently the feet, for years beneath a board fence on the north side of the road, were leveled. Why the mound was built is explained near the close of this article.
On August 7, 1908, the Man Mound Park was formally dedicated at a joint state assembly of the Wisconsin Archeological Society and Sauk County Historical Society, the bronze tablet, a gift by J. Van Orden of Baraboo, being unveiled at that time. Previously the land had been purchased by the two societies and the Landmarks Committee of the Wisconsin Federation of Women's Clubs.