Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley / Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. I.

by E. G. Squier; E. H. Davis

• PLATE XXXIX. ANCIENT MONUMENTS, MADISON PARISH, LOUISIANA.
  • The accompanying plans are from original surveys made by JAMES HOUGH, Esq., of Hamilton, Ohio, for Mr. MCBRIDE, and may, it is believed, be relied upon as entirely accurate, in every essential respect.[79]
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  • XXXIX. Ancient Monuments, Madison Parish, Louisiana.
  • The group here presented is situated upon the right bank of Walnut Bayou, in Madison Parish, Louisiana, seven miles from the Mississippi river. It consists of seven large and regular mounds, and a graded or elevated road-way half a mile in length. The plan exhibits the relative positions of the remains and their predominating features, and obviates the necessity of a particular description, which at best would be intricate and obscure.
  • The largest mound of the group, A, is distant two hundred and fifty yards south from the bayou, which here extends in a direction nearly east and west. The principal structure is two hundred and twenty-five feet long, by one hundred and sixty-five feet broad at the base, and thirty feet in height. The summit is level, presenting an area of one hundred and twenty feet long, by seventy-five broad. On the side next the bayou towards the north, at the height of ten feet, is a terrace ten feet wide and extending the entire length of the mound. On the south side is a road-way twenty feet wide, commencing at a point sixty feet from the base of the mound, and leading with a regular grade to its top. At either end of the mound is an inclined platform or apron, seventy-five feet long by sixty wide. These are six feet in elevation at the point joining the mound, but decline gradually to three feet at the outer ends, where they terminate abruptly.
  • B is a mound similar to the one just described, but less in size. It is one hundred and eighty feet long, one hundred and twenty broad, and fifteen high. The level area on the top is one hundred and twenty feet long and sixty wide. A graded road leads to its summit from the north. At the east end is an inclined platform, seventy feet long by sixty broad, eight feet high where it joins the mound, and sloping to five feet at its outer extremity. At the west end is a similar elevation one hundred and twenty feet long by sixty broad.
  • C is a singular work, consisting of a central mound ninety-six feet square at the base, and ten feet high, with a level area forty-eight feet square on the top. Connected by elevated terraces with this mound, are two others of similar construction, p116 each sixty feet square and eight feet high. The terraces are forty feet broad, four high, and one hundred and twenty-five and seventy-five feet long respectively.
  • The character and dimensions of the remaining mounds are sufficiently indicated in the plan. There is however another singular structure connected with the group, which deserves special notice. It consists of a terrace extending due west from the principal mound above described, parallel to the bayou. It is elevated three feet above the general level of the plain, and is seventy-five feet wide by two thousand seven hundred feet in length. Upon either side of this terrace, and parallel to it, are broad excavations, at present about three feet deep. These excavations are not far from two thousand feet long, by from one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet wide. There are no other perceptible excavations in the vicinity; and it is reasonable to conclude that most, if not all of the material for the construction of the works was taken from these points.
  • The ground occupied by these remains is for the most part under cultivation. It was originally covered with a heavy growth of the black walnut, a species of timber scarcely known on the alluvial lands of the Mississippi, so far south. It was first cleared by a Mr. Harper, in 1827. Broken pottery is found in abundance around these monuments; and fragments of human bones, much decomposed, are observed intermixed with the earth. Upon the mounds, in many places, the earth is much burned. There are no other remains of magnitude in the immediate vicinity.
  • Fig. 22.
  • The works here re­pre­sent­ed, Fig. 22, are sit­uated in Bol­ivar county, Mis­sis­sip­pi, near Williams’s bayou in the Choc­taw bend, one mile and a half from the Mis­sis­sip­pi river. They consist of two trun­cated pyra­mi­dal struc­tures of the char­ac­ter al­ready des­cribed, accom­pan­ied by two small con­ical mounds, the whole sur­rounded by a circ­ular em­bank­ment of earth, without a ditch, two thou­sand three hun­dred feet in cir­cum­fer­ence, and four feet high. A gate­way opens into the en­clos­ure from the east. Mound A is one hundred and fifty feet square at the base, seventy-five feet square on top, and twenty feet high, with a graded ascent from the east. B is one hundred and thirty-five feet square at base, fifty feet at top, and fifteen feet high. The ascent in this instance is from the north. The two small conical mounds are about thirty feet in diameter, and five feet high. The sides of the pyramidal structures do not vary two degrees from the cardinal points p117 of the compass; a feature not observed in any of the others above noticed. They all, however, appear to have been placed with some reference to these points,—probably as near as they could be located without instruments.
  • At the junction of the Washita, Tenza, and Catahoola rivers in Louisiana, is a most remarkable group of ancient remains, of which no plan has yet been published. They have nevertheless been often referred to, and are described as consisting of a number of mounds, some rectangular and others round, embraced within a large enclosure of not far from two hundred acres area.[80] The principal mound is said to be circular, four hundred feet in diameter at the base, ninety feet in height, truncated, and having a level area at its summit, fifty feet in diameter. The summit is reached by a spiral pathway, which winds with an easy ascent around the mound, from its base to its top. This pathway is sufficiently broad to permit two horsemen to ride abreast. From the summit a wide prospect is commanded. Here, upon penetrating the earth to a slight depth, strong traces of fire are visible. The ground upon which the mound stands is somewhat elevated above the surrounding plain, which is low and marshy.[81]
  • The great mound at Seltzertown, near Washington, Mississippi, is one of very singular construction. It consists of a truncated pyramid six hundred feet long by about four hundred broad at its base, covering nearly six acres of ground. Its sides correspond very nearly with the four cardinal points, its greatest length being from east to west. It is forty feet in perpendicular height; and is surrounded p118 by a ditch at its base, of variable dimensions, but averaging perhaps ten feet in depth. It is ascended by graded avenues. The area on the top embraces about four acres. Near each of the ends, and as nearly as may be in the longitudinal centre of the elevation, is placed a large conical mound. The one towards the west is represented to be not far from forty feet in height, and truncated, with a level area at its summit of thirty feet diameter. The opposite mound is somewhat less in size, and is also truncated. Eight other mounds are regularly placed at various points; they are of comparatively small size, measuring from eight to ten feet in height. The ground here is considerably broken; and it has been supposed by some, from the fact that it slopes in every direction from the base of the monument, that the structure is simply a natural elevation modified and fashioned into its present form by the hands of man.[82] Human bones have been exposed by the washing away of the sides of this structure.
  • The above examples, it is believed, may be taken as very fair illustrations of the general form and external characteristics of the Southern monuments. There are no perfect pyramids. With the exception of a portion, probably the larger portion, of the conical mounds, which are abundant, but overshadowed by the more remarkable structures which surround them, all appear to be truncated, and to have, in most instances, graded ascents to their tops. As already remarked, they do not seem to have been connected with any military system,—their form and structure, so far as developed, pointing to a religious origin. Some have been noticed as having parapets raised on their summits, as if to protect the area in case of assault; and hence it has been concluded that the larger elevations were “forts” or citadels. This feature was observed in many of the Teocalli of the Mexicans. It is possible that they may have been designed secondarily for defence. That the Mexicans fought with the greatest determination around the bases of their temples, from their terraces and their summits, we have abundant evidence in the records of the conquerors. However well these elevations may have served for places of retreat in case of sudden attack, it is obvious that they were in no wise adapted to resist anything like a regular siege or a continued investment. The absence of sources for procuring water, and the narrow compass to which the besieged must necessarily be limited, seem sufficient in themselves to p119 successfully combat this hypothesis. The defensive works on the Ohio, on the contrary, possess all the requisites for resisting an enemy and for sustaining a protracted defence.
  • We must seek therefore in the contents, as well as in the form and position of these works, for the secret of their origin and purposes. And it is at this stage of our inquiry, that the lack of a systematic and extended investigation, conducted on philosophical principles, is most sensibly felt. Some of these structures, it is stated, where their formation is disclosed by slides or the wasting action of the rivers, exhibit alternate layers or platforms of earth and burned clay, from base to summit. Others are represented as having alternate layers of earth and human bones in various stages of decomposition. And others still, we are assured, have various horizontal strata of earth and sand, upon which are deposited at various points human remains, implements, pottery, and ornaments. Many of the remains of art exhibit great skill in their construction, more especially the pottery and articles of similar composition. The conical mounds, so far as we are informed, have many features in common with those of a higher latitude. How far the coincidences between them may be traced can only be settled by future inquiries.
  • From what has been presented above, it will readily be seen that it is impossible, with our present limited knowledge concerning them, to form anything like a determinate or satisfactory conclusion respecting the numerous and remarkable remains of the South. The immense mounds that abound there may be vast sepulchres in which the remains of generations were deposited; they may have been the temples and “high places” of a superstitious people, where rites were celebrated and sacrifices performed; or, they may have answered as the places of last resort, where, when pursued by foes, the ancient people fled to receive the support of their gods and to defend the altars of their religion. Perhaps all of these purposes were subserved by them. What significance may attach to their form; whether there exists any dependence between their exterior features and their contents; the dates of the different deposits found in them; indeed, whatever of design and system which these works may have possessed, and how far they may serve to reflect light upon the character and customs of the people who built them, their religion, their modes of burial, and their arts,—all remain to be determined by careful and systematic investigation, conducted with a view to develop facts rather than to excite wonder. Such an investigation must also finally determine whether these are the remains of the same people whose works are scattered through the more northern States, and whether they were probably contemporaneous in their origin; and, if the works are of the same people, and not contemporaneous, whether the course of migration was southward or the reverse; whether the less imposing structures of the Ohio are the remains of a ruder and more warlike but progressive people, or the weaker efforts of a colony, pressed by foes and surrounded by difficulties. It may disclose the curious and important fact, that upon the Ohio and Mississippi first originated those elements which afterwards, in a regular course of progress, developed themselves in the gorgeous semi-civilization of Mexico and Peru. Or it may, on the contrary, make known the no less interesting fact, that from these centres radiated colonies, which sustained p120 themselves for a period, and finally disappeared, leaving perhaps only a few modified remnants in the region bordering upon the Gulf.
  • Subsequent to the preparation of the foregoing pages for the press, and at too late a date to permit the introduction, in another connection, of the facts it embodies relating to the aboriginal monuments of the South, a manuscript work on the Southern Indians, by WILLIAM BARTRAM, was placed in the hands of the investigators, by Dr. Morton, of Philadelphia. The character and history of this MS. have been sufficiently explained in the Preface, to which the reader is referred.
  • As already observed, it relates principally to the manners, customs, government, and religion of the Muscogulges and other southern Indian tribes; but it also embraces many interesting and important facts respecting the remains under consideration. Taken in connection with those presented by the same author in his “Travels in North America,” they serve very much to explain the character and illustrate the secondary if not the primary purposes to which the southern monuments were applied. The accompanying illustrations are reduced fac-similes of Bartram’s original pen sketches. In introducing them he observes, in language somewhat quaint but forcible:
  • “The following rough drawings of the ancient Indian monuments, consisting of public buildings, areas, vestiges of towns, etc., will serve to illustrate what I have elsewhere said respecting them. They are, to the best of my remembrance, as near the truth as I could express. However, if I have in any respect erred, I hope my mistakes may be corrected by the observations of future and more accurate and industrious travellers. But as time changes the face of things, I wish they could be searched out and faithfully recorded, before the devastations of artificial refinements, ambition, and avarice, totally deface these simple and most ancient remains of the American aborigines.”
  • “CHUNK YARDS.—The ‘Chunk Yards’ of the Muscogulges or Creeks are rectangular areas, generally occupying the centre of the town. The Public Square and Rotunda, or Great Winter Council House, stand at the two opposite corners of them. They are generally very extensive, especially in the large, old towns: some of them are from six hundred to nine hundred feet in length, and of proportionate breadth. The area is exactly level and sunk two, sometimes three, feet below the banks or terraces surrounding them, which are occasionally two in number, one behind and above the other, and composed of the earth taken from the area at the time of its formation. These banks or terraces serve the purpose of seats for spectators. In the centre of this yard or area, there is a low, circular mound or eminence, in the middle of which stands erect the ‘Chunk Pole,’ which is a high obelisk or four-square pillar declining upwards to an obtuse point. This is of wood, the heart or inward resinous part of a sound pine tree, which is very p121 durable. It is generally from thirty to forty feet in height, and to the top is fastened some object which serves as a mark to shoot at, with arrows or the rifle, at certain appointed times. Near each corner of one end of the yard, stands erect a less pole or pillar, about twelve feet high, called a ‘Slave Post,’ for the reason that to them are bound the captives condemned to be burnt. These posts are usually decorated with the scalps of slain enemies, suspended by strings from the top. They are often crowned with the white dry skull of an enemy.
  • “It thus appears that this area is designed for a public place of exhibition, for shows, games, etc. Formerly, there is little doubt, most barbarous and tragical scenes were enacted within them, such as the torturing and burning of captives, who were here forced to run the gauntlet, bruised and beaten with sticks and burning chunks of wood. The Indians do not now practise these cruelties; but there are some old traders who have witnessed them in former times. I inquired of these traders for what reason these areas were called ‘Chunk Yards;’ they were in general ignorant, yet, for the most part, concurred in a lame story that it originated in the circumstance of their having been places of torture, and that the name was but an interpretation of the Indian term designating them.
  • “I observed none of these yards in use in any of the Cherokee towns; and where I have mentioned them, in the Cherokee country, it must be understood that I saw only the remains or vestiges of them among the ruins of ancient towns. In the existing Cherokee towns which I visited, although there were ancient mounds and signs of the yard adjoining, yet the yard was either built upon or turned into a garden plat, or otherwise appropriated. Indeed I am convinced that the Chunk Yards now or lately in use among the Creeks are of very ancient date, and not the work of the present Indians; although they are now kept in repair by them, being swept very clean every day, and the poles kept up and decorated in the manner I have described.
  • “The following plan, (Fig. 23,) will illustrate the form and character of these yards.
  • Fig. 23.
  • “A. The great area, surrounded by terraces or banks.
  • “B. A circular eminence, at one end of the yard, commonly nine or ten feet higher than the ground round about. Upon this mound stands the great Rotunda, Hot House, or Winter Council House of the present Creeks. It was probably designed and used by the ancients who constructed it, for the same purpose.
  • “C. A square terrace or eminence, about the same height with the circular one just described, occupying a position at the other end of the yard. Upon this stands the Public Square.
  • “The banks enclosing the yard are indicated by the letters b b b b; c indicates the ‘Chunk Pole,’ and d d the ‘Slave Posts.’ p122
  • “Sometimes the square, instead of being open at the ends, as shown in the plan, is closed upon all sides by the banks. In the lately built or new Creek towns, they do not raise a mound for the foundation of their rotundas or public squares. The yard, however, is retained, and the public buildings occupy nearly the same position in respect to it. They also retain the central obelisk and the slave posts.
  • “In the Cherokee country, all over Carolina and the northern and eastern parts of Georgia, wherever the ruins of ancient Indian towns appear, we see always, besides these remains, one last, conical, pointed mound. To mounds of this kind I refer, when I speak of pyramidal mounds. To the south and west of the Altamaha, I observed none of these, in any part of the Muscogulge country, but always flat circular or square structures. The vast mounds upon the St. John’s, Alachua, and Musquito rivers, differ from those among the Cherokees, with respect to their adjuncts and appendages, particularly in respect to the great highway or avenue, sunk below the common level of the earth, extending from them, and terminating either in a vast savannah or natural plain, or an artificial pond or lake. A remarkable example occurs at Mount Royal, from whence opens a glorious view of Lake George and its environs.
  • Fig. 24.
  • Fig. 25.
  • “Fig. 24 exhibits a view of the great mound last referred to. Fig. 25 is a plan of the same structure with its accompanying avenue, which leads off to an artificial lake or pond, on the verge of an expansive savannah or natural meadow. A, the mound, about forty feet in perpendicular height; B, the highway leading from the mound in a straight line to the pond C, about half a mile distant. What may have been the motive for making this pond I cannot conjecture, since the mound and other vestiges of the ancient town are situated close on the banks of the river St. Juan.[83] It could not therefore be for the conveniency of water. Perhaps they raised the mound with the earth taken out of the pond. The sketch of this mound also illustrates the character of the mounds in the Cherokee country; but the last have not the highway or avenue, and are always accompanied by vast square terraces p123 placed upon one side or the other. On the other hand, we never see the square terraces accompanying the high mounds of East Florida.”
  • From the above quotations it appears that, less than one century ago, a portion of the monuments of the South were in actual use by the Indians. It will be observed, however, that our authority ascribes their construction to an anterior race and assigns to them a high antiquity. In his Travels he remarks that the region in which they are most abundant, lying between the Savannah and Ockmulgee rivers on the east and west, and between the sea-coast on the south and the Apalachian mountains on the north, was occupied subsequently to the arrival of Europeans, by the Cherokees, who were afterwards dispossessed by the Creeks; that “all this country was probably, many ages preceding the Cherokee invasion, inhabited by a single nation or confederacy governed by common laws, possessing like customs, and speaking the same language, but so ancient that neither the Creeks nor the Cherokees, nor the nations they conquered, could render any account by whom or for what purposes these monuments were erected.” He nevertheless inclines to the belief, and not without reason, that the uses to which these structures were appropriated, by the existing Indian tribes, were not widely different from those for which they were originally constructed. Upon this point he adds: “The mounds and large areas adjoining them seem to have been raised in part for ornament and recreation, and likewise to serve some other public purpose, since they are always so situated as to command the most extensive prospect over the country adjacent. The square terraces may have served as the foundations of fortresses; and perhaps the great pyramidal mounds answered the purpose of look-outs, or were high places for sacrifice.”[84]
  • Whatever date or origin we may ascribe to these monuments, we cannot overlook the singular attachment to the square and the circle exhibited by the Creeks in the public edifices known to have been constructed by themselves. That these forms had some significance at the outset can hardly be doubted, although their perpetuation may have depended upon custom. The circumstance that the eternal fire was only maintained in the circular structure, designated by Bartram as the “Rotunda,” goes far to support the conclusion that its form was symbolical, and referred to the sun. That these tribes were sun worshippers is well known: the inferences drawn from analogy are therefore sustained by collateral facts. In their less imposing structures, may we not discern the type of the great circles and squares of Ohio,—the traces of a system of idolatry which has dotted the valleys of the West with giant temples, symbolizing in their form the nature of the worship to which they were dedicated?

• FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER IV.
  • [74] The inability to add very largely to our stock of information respecting the monuments of the Southern United States, is less a matter of regret, since it is ascertained that Dr. M. W. DICKESON of Philadelphia, whose researches in natural science have created no little interest, has devoted much of his time to their investigation. His inquiries have been conducted on a large scale, and will serve to reflect much new light upon our antiquities. It is to be hoped the public will soon be put in possession of the results of his labors.
  • [75] Most of the accounts of the monuments of the South met with in various works, treating directly or incidentally of our antiquities, are derived from Bartram, whose animated descriptions of those which fell under his notice are not always easily recognised, in the various forms under which they are presented. Near the conclusion of his work, he sums up his observations in this department as follows:
  • “The pyramidal hills or artificial mounds, and high ways or avenues leading from them to artificial lakes or ponds, vast tetragon terraces, ‘chunk yards,’ and obelisks or pillars of wood, are the only monuments of labor, ingenuity and magnificence, that I have seen worthy of notice or remark. The region lying between the Savannah river and Ockmulgee, east and west, and from the sea-coast to the Cherokee or Apalachian mountains, north and south, is the most remarkable for these high conical hills, tetragon terraces, etc. This region was possessed by the Cherokees since the arrival of the Europeans, but they were afterwards dispossessed by the Muscogulges; and all that country was probably many ages preceding the Cherokee invasion inhabited by one nation or confederacy, who were ruled by the same system of laws, customs, and language, but so ancient that the Cherokees, Creeks, or the nation they conquered, could render no account for what purposes these monuments were raised. The mounts and cubical yards adjoining them seem to have been raised in part for ornament and recreation, and likewise to serve for some other public purpose, since they are always so situated as to command the most extensive prospect over the country adjacent. The tetragon terraces seem to be the foundations of fortresses; and perhaps the great pyramidal mounts served the purposes of look-out towers and high places for sacrifice. The sunken area called by white traders the ‘chunk yard’ very likely served the same conveniency that it has been appropriated to by the more modern and even present nations of Indians, that is, the place where they burnt or otherwise tortured their captives that were condemned to die; as the area is surrounded by a bank, and sometimes two of them, one behind and above the other, as seats to accommodate the spectators at such tragical scenes, as well as at the exhibition of shows, dances, and games. From the river St. Juan’s, southwardly to the point of the peninsula of Florida, are to be seen high pyramidal mounts, with spacious and extensive avenues, leading from them out of the town, to an artificial lake or pond of water: these were evidently designed for ornament or monuments of magnificence to perpetuate the power and grandeur of the nation; and not inconsiderable neither, for they exhibit scenes of power and grandeur, and must have been public edifices.”—Travels in North America, p. 518.
  • [76] From the Rafinesque MSS. The scale on which the plan is drawn is not given. It is probably about five hundred feet to the inch. An account of this work, substantially the same with that given by Prof. RAFINESQUE, was published by Mr. E. CORNELIUS, in Silliman’s Journal, vol. i. p. 223. Mr. Cornelius was accompanied in his visit by several Indian chiefs, who, he says, “gazed upon the remains with as much curiosity as any white man. I inquired,” continues Mr. C., “of the oldest chief, if the natives had any tradition concerning them; to which he answered in the negative. I then requested each to say what he supposed was their origin. Neither could tell; but all agreed in saying, ‘They were never put up by our people.’”
  • [77] Western Messenger.
  • [78] The notices of these mounds, although falling with more propriety within the scope of the chapter on “Mounds,” can hardly be omitted from the above connection. It will shortly be seen that the mound first described (number 2 of the plan) probably belongs to the class of altar or sacrificial mounds, or those which were connected with the superstitions of the builders. The human remains found in that, as in mound number 3, were, most likely, deposited subsequent to their erection. It is not impossible that the mound last named is of a later date than those upon the higher ground.
  • [79] The perfect regularity which the plans exhibit, it will readily be understood, does not actually exist. The angles of all these structures are more or less rounded. The predominant features, nevertheless,—the terraces, platforms, and graded ways,—are truly represented. All of these works seem to have been originally moulded with the utmost care, and possessed the highest degree of regularity of which the materials were capable. They were undoubtedly faced with turf, which seems better than solid masonry to resist the ravages of time and the elements.
  • [80] Stoddard, in his History of Louisiana, p. 349, gives an account of some works near the junction of the Washita, Acatahoola, and Tenza, probably the very ones in question. His account is subjoined:
  • “Not less than five remarkable mounts are situated near the junction of the Washita, Acatahoola, and Tenza, in an alluvial soil. They are all enclosed in an embankment, or wall of earth, at this time ten feet high, which contains about two hundred acres of land. Four of these mounds are nearly of equal dimensions, about twenty feet high, one hundred broad, and three hundred long. The fifth seems to have been designed for a tower or turret; the base of it covers an acre of ground; it rises by two stages or steps; its circumference gradually diminishes as it ascends; its summit is crowned by a flattened cone. By admeasurement the height of this tower is found to be eighty feet. Perhaps these works were designed in part for defence, and in part for the reception of the dead.”
  • There is a slight discrepancy in the dimensions of these works, as given by Prof. Rafinesque and Mr. Stoddard. Both agree, however, respecting their vast size, and general character.
  • [81] This monument is not singular. Mounds with spiral pathways are frequent at the South, and are occasionally found at the North. Bartram describes one on the Savannah river in Georgia:—“These wonderful labors of the ancients stand in a level plain near the bank of the river. They consist of conical mounds of earth and four square terraces, etc. The great mound is in form of a cone, about forty or fifty feet high, and the circumference of its base is two or three hundred yards; it is entirely composed of the loamy rich earth of the low grounds; the top or apex is flat; a spiral path or track leading from the ground up to the top is still visible: there appear four niches excavated out of the sides of this hill, at different heights from the base, fronting the four cardinal points; these niches or sentry-boxes are entered into from the winding path, and seem to have been meant for resting-places or look-outs.”—Bartram’s Travels in N. America, p. 323.
  • The niches here mentioned have been occasionally observed in Mississippi and Louisiana, placed at right angles in respect to each other, and not always, though sometimes, corresponding to the cardinal points. It has been suggested that they were designed as recesses for idols, or places where altars were erected. It seems likely that proper investigation would throw light upon this point.
  • [82] Breckenridge’s View of Louisiana, Appendix. Mr. J. R. BARTLETT, in a recent Memoir on the “Progress of Ethnology,” presents, on the authority of Dr. M. W. DICKESON, some new facts respecting this mound. “On digging into it, vast quantities of human skeletons were found; also numerous specimens of pottery, including vases filled with pigments, ashes, ornaments, etc. The north side of the mound is supported by a wall of sun-dried bricks, two feet thick, filled with grass, rushes, and leaves. A shaft has been sunk in the mound to the depth of forty-two feet, without reaching the original soil.” Dr. DICKESON also mentions angular tumuli, the corners of which “were quite perfect, formed of large bricks, bearing the impression of the human hand.” We have the same authority for the fact that the great enclosure at the “Trinity” in Louisiana, which contains one hundred and fifty acres, “is partially faced with sun-dried bricks.” Also that ditches and ponds are sometimes found, in the same State, “lined at the bottom and sides with bricks.” These bricks are stated to be from sixteen to eighteen inches in length, and of proportionate breadth.
  • [83] The remains here described are referred to in Bartram’s published travels as follows: “They are situated upon an eminence, near the banks of the lake, and command an extensive and charming prospect of the waters, islands, east and west shores of the lake, the capes, the bay, and Mount Royal; and to the south the view is in like manner infinite, where the skies and waters seem to unite. On the site of this ancient town stands a very pompous Indian mount, or conical pyramid of earth, from which runs in a straight line a grand avenue or Indian highway through a magnificent grove of magnolias, live oaks, palms, and orange trees, terminating at the verge of a large green level savannah.”—Travels. p. 101.
  • [84] Travels in North America, p. 518.

p124

CHAPTER V. MONUMENTS OF THE NORTH-WEST.

It has already been observed that the ancient monuments of the Southern United States, although partaking of the general character of those of the central region, are nevertheless in many respects peculiar. While enclosures are comparatively few, mounds are abundant and of great size and symmetry, and possess a regularity of arrangement which we look for in vain among the corresponding structures of a higher latitude. Proceeding to the North and North-west, we find the earthworks assuming a new form and character, in many respects so unlike those both of the central and southern divisions of the country, that we are almost induced to assign them a different origin. As at the South, there are few enclosures or works of defence; but, instead of regular pyramidal structures, the mounds generally assume the shape of animals, presenting a thousand singular forms and combinations. These effigies are situated upon the undulating prairies and level plains, and are accompanied by conical mounds and occasional lines of embankment; but the latter, except in a very few instances, have no obvious design, and enter into none of the combinations which we notice in the works of the Ohio valley. The interesting field occupied by these remains has not fallen within the range of the investigations of the authors, who are therefore unable to present much that is new respecting them; still, it will be necessary to embody the facts thus far disclosed in a general manner, in order to an adequate comprehension of the scope and character of our antiquities. And here, at the outset, we have again to regret the small amount of information respecting these works in possession of the public, as well as its unsatisfactory nature, resulting from the necessarily limited and disconnected observations of those who have paid any attention to the subject. These observations have been made by men of inquiring minds, in the scanty intervals of professional business, and are consequently too detached to justify or sustain any general conclusions. They have served rather to excite than to gratify curiosity, and in this way they may have the good effect of leading to a full and careful survey of the entire field.

The first public notice of the existence of these singular relics at the North-west, was made by RICHARD C. TAYLOR, Esq., in the “American Journal of Science and Art,” for the month of April, 1838. His paper, which was accompanied by several illustrations, attracted considerable attention, and was followed, in the same Journal for 1843, by a more extended account, very well illustrated, from the hand of S. TAYLOR, Esq. A later notice by Prof. JOHN LOCKE constituted a short chapter in the “Report on the Mineral Lands of the United p125 States,” presented to Congress in 1840 and published in 1844. These, with a few unsatisfactory notices in the public prints, comprise the only sources of information which we possess; and from them the following facts are mainly derived.

The field in which these remains occur, so far as observed by the above authorities, is embraced within the lower counties of Wisconsin, and extends from Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi, by the way of the Wisconsin and Rock rivers, eastward towards Fond du Lac on Lake Winnebago, and Milwaukie on Lake Michigan. The country thus indicated is about one hundred and fifty miles in length by fifty in width. The great Indian trail or “war path,” from Lake Michigan near Milwaukie to the Mississippi above Prairie du Chien, which has for the most part been adopted as the route of the United States military road, passes through this chain of earthworks. They are found in abundance by the sides of this great natural pathway, which has been for ages and must for ever remain the route of communication between the Great Lakes and the Great River. They occur principally in the vicinity of the large water-courses, observing in this respect a marked conformity with the remains of other sections, and are invariably placed above the influence of freshets or inundations. Like those of the Ohio valley, they are seldom found upon hilly or sterile lands, but mainly upon the rich undulating plains, or on the levels corresponding to the alluvions of the Ohio.

They consist of elevations of earth, of diversified outline and various size, for the most part constituting effigies of beasts, birds, reptiles, and of the human form; but often circular, quadrangular, and of oblong shape. The circular or conical tumuli differ from those scattered over the whole country in no outward respect, excepting that they are much smaller in their average dimensions; the largest seldom exceeding fifteen feet in height. Those in the form of parallelograms are sometimes upwards of five hundred feet in length, seldom less than one hundred; but in height they bear no proportion to their otherwise great dimensions, and may probably be better designated as walls, embankments, or terraces, than mounds. These works are seldom isolated, but generally occur in groups or ranges, sometimes, though not always, placed with apparent design in respect to each other. In these groups may be observed every variety of form,—the circular, quadrangular, and animal-shaped structures occurring in such connection with each other as to fully justify the belief that they are of contemporaneous origin. At first glance, these remains are said to resemble the sites or ground-plans and foundation-lines of buildings; and it is not until their entire outline is taken into view, that the impression of an effigy becomes decided. This is not surprising, in view of the fact that they are usually of inconsiderable height, varying from one to four feet; in a few cases, however, rising as high as six feet. Their outlines are, nevertheless, represented to be distinctly defined in all cases where they occupy favorable positions. Their small altitude should cause no doubt of the fidelity of the representations which have been made of these figures; since a regular elevation of six inches can be readily traced upon the level prairies and “bottom-lands” of the West, especially when it is covered with turf. The following illustrations, selected from those presented by the authorities above mentioned, will serve to explain the character of p126 these remains. It is to be regretted that explanatory sections do not accompany the plans, so as to exhibit, at one view, the altitude as well as general outlines and dimensions of the figures.

[♠] XL. Ancient Monuments Seven Miles East of the Blue Mounds, Dade Co. Wisconsin.