"LOCATION OF MOUNDS NEAR CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
| No. | Location | Sec. | Twp. | Range | Number of Mounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N. W. 1/4 S. W. 1/4 | 35 | 83 | 7 | 11 |
| 2 | S. 1/2 S. E. 1/4 | 16 | 83 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | S. 1/2 N. W. 1/4 | 16 | 83 | 7 | 11 |
| 4 | N. W. 1/4 N. E. 1/4 | 17 | 83 | 7 | 3 |
| 5 | N. 1/2 N. W. 1/4 | 20 | 83 | 7 | 11 |
| 6 | E. 1/2 | 18 | 83 | 7 | 11 |
| 7 | W. 1/2 | 18 | 83 | 7 | 11 |
| 8 | N. W. 1/4 N. W. 1/4 | 24 | 83 | 7 | 12 |
| ——— | |||||
| Total | 84 |
"No. 1 has eleven mounds, situated on the crest of a divide. The general direction of locations is from north to south, or south to north. The correct location, I believe, is from south to north; that is, they point to the north. These mounds are now raised about three feet above the level, and are uniformly thirty feet in diameter. Counting from the south, the sixth and seventh are generally within a few feet—come very near touching each other; the others are as near as, may be, two diameters apart. These remarks will apply to No. 2, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6. No. 2 has eleven in a line (as No. 1,) and then three mounds to the east appear to be parallel, and may have had the remaining eight removed by cultivation. No. 4 is on the bottom—second bench land; are a little larger in size; the others, to make out the eleven, may have been destroyed by cultivation. No. 7 has eight in position, and then a valley intervenes, and the three additional, making the eleven, are on the ridge next to the north. No. 8 has twelve. They are on the crest of a divide which passes around the head of a deep ravine, and follow the divide at the angle. Most of these mounds (No. 8) have been lately opened, but we think no relics were found. We have been careful to find the place that the earth composing the mounds was taken from. Generally, the banks of a near ravine indicate, by their shape, the place. Under the strongest sunlight, in a mound cut through the center, we could detect no indication or difference in the clay to show that it had been removed or disturbed, or that there had been any remains in it to discolor the clay in their decomposition.
"Let it be observed that the mounds are substantially north and south in line of location. They are eleven in number, uniform in size, and, I believe, cover every ridge in the vicinity of the rapids of the Cedar having the direction sufficient in length on which the mounds could be placed. They are built in the locality the least likely to be disturbed, and in the shape and of the material the most enduring. There certainly was intelligence displayed in their location and in the selection of the material of which they are constructed, as well as in the design of their form and positions. There may have been more mounds than these, but these are all that are left—all that are left of that race which might have sent from their number emigrants to people the new land, to the far west, the last continent, fresh and vigorous from the ocean, the newest born, the best then adapted for man's material and mental development."—History of Linn County, 1878, p. 319.
J. S. Newberry, in Johnson's Cyclopedia, says:
"From all the facts before us, we can at present say little more than this, that the valley of the Mississippi and the Atlantic coast were once densely populated by a sedentary, agricultural and partially civilized race, quite different from the modern nomadic Indians, though, possibly, the progenitors of some of the Indian tribes; and that, after many centuries of occupation, they disappeared from our country at least one thousand, perhaps many thousands of years, before the advent of the Europeans. The pre-historic remains found so abundantly in Arizona appear to be related to the civilization of Mexico; and the remains of semi-civilized Indian tribes now found there are, perhaps, descendants of the ancient builders of the great houses and cities whose ruins are found there."
Researches concerning ancient mounds have been carried on in a most scientific manner by Dr. Cyrus Thomas. His chief work and research have been embodied in a monograph of over 700 pages and found the 12th Report of the government publications.
Major J. W. Powell, whose studies of this subject have been considered authoritative, in his Pre-historic Man in America has the following to say:
"Widely scattered throughout the United States ... artificial mounds are discovered which may be enumerated by thousands and hundreds of thousands. They vary greatly in size. Some are small so that half a dozen laborers with shovels might construct one of them in a day, while others cover acres and are scores of feet in height. These mounds were observed by the early explorers and pioneers of the country.... Pseud-archeologists descanted on the Mound Builders, that once inhabited the land, and they told of swarming populations who had reached a high condition of culture, erecting temples, practicing arts in metals and using hieroglyphics.... It is enough to say that the Mound Builders were the Indian tribes discovered by the white men. It may well be that some of the mounds were erected by tribes extinct when Columbus first saw the shores, but they were kindred in culture to the peoples that still existed.... Pre-Columbian culture was indigenous, it began at the lowest stage of savagery and developed to the highest and was in many places passing into barbarism when the good queen sold her jewels."—J. W. Powell, quoted in Larned, Vol. I, p. 45.
Thus scientists do not agree whether or not the Mound Builders were closely akin to the Indians. However recent investigators seem to agree with Thomas and Powell that the early inhabitants were much like the later denizens of the American prairies in their mode of life and means of subsistence, in their weapons, arts, usages, and customs, in their institutions and physical characteristics, they were the same people in different stages of advancement.