Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology

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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS

RELATING TO

Aboriginal Works at the Mouth of the Klikitat River, Washington Territory

MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY.

ABORIGINAL WORKS AT THE MOUTH OF THE KLIKITAT RIVER, WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

By T. M. Whitcomb.

The works represented in the accompanying sketch consist of a stone wall 5 feet high, filled inside with earth, except the two squares within. These are 8 feet deep and 15 feet on each side, the whole work being about 200 feet on either side. There was formerly some kind of wooden structure on the stone wall, as the remains of cedar timbers occur at certain points on the top. The wooden work was evidently destroyed by fire, since all the cedar is charred.

ABORIGINAL WORKS

None of the Indians in this country have any knowledge of the builders or of its use. There is a tradition among them that it was finished a long time ago. Large quantities of arrow-heads are found in and about the works. The place is eminently adapted for defense, being 100 feet above the river. The scarcity of aboriginal works of a permanent character on the Pacific coast makes this an object of peculiar interest to the archaeologist.

Mounds Near Edwardsville, Wyandotte County, Kansas

MOUNDS NEAR EDWARDSVILLE, WYANDOTTE COUNTY, KANSAS.

By E. F. Serviss, of Wyandotte City, Kansas.

On the farm of William Kouns, of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, near Edwardsville, Wyandotte County, Kansas, 14 miles west of this city, there are four mounds that have never been explored. They are situated on the third terrace of the valley of the Kansas River, about one-half mile from it, near a small creek. There is a very large spring about 200 yards northeast, and a smaller one about 300 yards northwest. On approaching the mounds from the east we find them extending in a straight line in a due westerly direction. They are about 6 feet in height, 25 feet in diameter, about 50 feet from each other at the base, and of uniform size. They have been somewhat injured by cultivation, the ground having been plowed twice. The soil is a black loam. Before the clearing of the land the mounds were covered with a heavy growth of timber, principally oak, and the stumps now remaining would indicate great age, averaging from 3 to 4 feet in diameter. A large number of axes, celts, arrow-heads, and other implements have been found in the immediate vicinity of the mounds.

About two years ago I discovered on the farm of J. L. Stockton, 1 mile northwest of this city, remains of an aboriginal workshop or village. It is located on a small stream, called Jersey Creek, and near a large spring. It covers an area of about 2 acres. The soil is sandy, and to the depth of 2 feet is a complete mixture of flakes of flint, ashes, bones (both animal and human), fragments of ornamented pottery, broken and unfinished stone implements of nearly every description. The fragments of pottery are the most numerous; there are three kinds as to color; viz, black, brown, and red, composed of a mixture of clay, sand, and pounded shells. The variety of the combinations of lines and dots is inexhaustible. I have never found two pieces alike. Judging from the degrees of curvature of the fragments, the original vessels were mostly globular, and would hold from one-half pint to one quart. I found a very small vessel, containing powdered bone or lime; it was globular in shape, would hold about one gill, and was profusely ornamented. There are no deposits of flint and other stone valuable for arrow-making, &c., in this vicinity. The axes, celts, skin-dressers, and balls are all made of porphyry, and the arrow-heads of flint.

Antiquities of Mills County, Iowa

ANTIQUITIES OF MILLS COUNTY, IOWA.

By Seth Dean, of Glenwood, Iowa.

Mills County is located on the extreme western boundary of Iowa, and is the second county from the southern boundary. Immediately prior to its settlement by the whites it was the home of the Pottawatomie Indians, numerous traces of whom may still be seen, but the two places to which this article refers seem to have an earlier date. The sketch marked No. 1 is a point in the southeast corner of the southwest quarter section 8, township 73 north, range 43 west of the fifth principal meridian, and on the lands now owned and cultivated by Mr. O. E. Allis. Topographically considered it is located on a spur of the bluffs

Sketch No 1.

which form the eastern boundary of the great Missouri flood plain, and is perhaps 50 feet above the level of the plain. The remains at present consist of a number of circular depressions on the southwestern slope, but near the summit of the aforesaid point of bluff. To the south about 400 feet there is at present a deep ravine, from which flows an excellent spring of water, while east and north the range of bluffs rise to a height of 250 feet above the plain. The depressions are from 20 to 30 feet in diameter, of circular form, and at present are from 1 ½ to 2 feet deep, but as the ground has been in cultivation for a number of years, it is probable that they have been filled up considerably.

The ground on the site and for some distance around these hollows is strewn with small chips of stone and fragments of pottery, together with occasional tools of various kinds, such as arrow-heads, knives, &c. Also a number of pieces of different-colored paints and occasional orna have been found. The inhabitants seem to have understood the manufacture of pottery to some extent, as numerous fragments show. The clay for tins they obtained in the bank near at hand. This was probably mixed with the lime of powdered clam-shells, and then molded

Sketch No. 2.

into shape, and probably the larger vessels were supported by wicker-work made from small twigs, as there are numerous specimens which seem to show such an arrangement, although no perfect vessels have been found here, nor is it certain whether the vessels were baked in the fire or not.

The writer thinks the inhabitants lived mostly upon the products from the water, as the shells of the fresh-water clam are numerous, and were obtained from the Missouri River, which at that time probably flowed along the foot of the bluff, at their very door.

The stone for their implements seems to have been obtained in part from some ledges near here, and perhaps some of it from a distance, as the finer and more perfect of their tools were made from a kind not found here, except in the form of pebbles or drift bowlders, all the native stone being a carboniferous limestone, with the exception of a very coarse flint which is met with in some localities, and which was used for the larger tools, but which apparently was not suitable for smaller implements. Chalcedony seems to have been used by them to some extent, as were other kinds of stone of which the writer does not know the name. Some of these tools show superior skill, and have been apparently first chipped into shape and then ground to a perfectly smooth surface. This is the case with some hatchets which have been found, also of a globular stone which the writer has in his collection, and which was probably used as a sling shot or for a similar purpose.

Sketch No. 2 shows the location of a peculiar mound, which is situated on the summit of one of the highest of the range of bluffs which borders the Missouri River flood plain. It is near the northwest corner of the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter section 10, township 72 north, range 43 west of the fifth principal meridian, and is about 5½ miles south and 2 miles east from No. 1.

This bluff is nearly 300 feet above the lowlands, and overlooks the country for many miles in every direction. The mound in question was formed of the soil adjacent, and is at the present time about 8 feet in height above the original surface. The base of the mound is elliptical in form, being about 70 feet north and south, and 40 feet east and west. The earth from which this mound was made was apparently taken from a place 125 feet south, where a large depression exists, about 35 feet square, and at present 5 feet deep. There is the stump of a burr-oak tree 16 inches in diameter standing near the northwest corner of the pit, on the edge of the slope of the bank; also another burr-oak stump 14 inches in diameter near the southeast corner, which is also on the bank, but at the edge of the excavation. This mound was partially opened some twenty-five years ago, but without yielding anything of consequence. My note-book shows the following entry: "Opened mound with S. B. Proudfit, November 25, 1879, and dug a hole 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. At 7 feet from the surface came to a layer of ashes about one-half an inch thick, and below this a layer of stones. These stones were from 2 to 11 inches thick and would probably weigh from 20 to 30 pounds. They were evidently placed on what was the original surface of the ground, and the ashes and earth placed above them. The stones were probably brought from the Nebraska side of the Missouri River. About 4 miles directly west the characteristic fossils in the stones indicate this. There did not seem to have been any action of fire on the stones, so far as we could discover, neither were there any bones or implements found in the mound, although we dug down 3 feet below the layer of stone. There were a few chips of flint found on the ground around the base of the mound, and a large stone implement which the writer thinks may have been used for a hoe, but belonged to a later tribe than the one which built the mound." (See Fig. 1.) Two cemeteries are also found in the county, but no examination has as yet been made.

Description of Mounds at Snake Den, Near Salem, Henry County, Iowa

DESCRIPTION OF MOUNDS AT SNAKE DEN, NEAR SALEM, HENRY COUNTY, IOWA.

By W. V. Banta and John Garretson, of Salem, Iowa.

There are many unexplored mounds in Henry County, Iowa. The group examined and here described are 3 miles west of Salem, in section 22, on land owned by Mr. Joel Jones, at a place known as the Snake Den.

1. The first one in the group is 8 feet high, and 20 feet in diameter. It was opened by the authors, but nothing of value was discovered within. A burr-oak 26 inches in diameter was growing on the summit. The land slopes gradually westward to Little Cedar Creek.

2. Sixty feet from No. 1 occurs a burial mound nearly level with the surrounding surface and 20 feet across. It is covered with flat rocks. (A large quantity of bones of all sizes were encountered, but none of them were whole, and some appear to have been burned.)

3. No. 3 is 60 feet from No. 2. It is 3 feet high. It was not very thoroughly opened. In it was found one body, lying at length, between flag-stones, the head toward the north. The bones were badly decayed.

4. This mound is the usual distance from the last mentioned. Indeed, to avoid repetition, it is a remarkable fact that each of the mounds in this row is just 60 feet from the preceding. This mound was 3 feet high and 20 feet in diameter. It was but partially opened, and three skeletons were found, badly decayed, lying at length, the heads to the north.

5. The fifth mound in the series is 5 feet high and 20 feet in diameter. The top was covered with smooth, flat rocks, arranged in the shape of an elongated hexagon or coffin lid, with stones set edgewise around the border. Five feet beneath the top, that is, on a level with the natural surface, two bodies were lying at full length, the heads toward the north.

6. The sixth mound was not opened. It is 30 feet in diameter and 5 feet high.

7. The next in order, No. 7, is also 5 feet high and 20 feet in diameter. It was only partially explored, revealing a few human bones. On the top there are two trees growing, one of them 2 feet in diameter.

8. No. 8 is 5 feet high and 30 feet in diameter. It had been opened previously to the visit of the authors. It is said to have contained a stone vault, in which were discovered human crania, &c. These were very badly decayed. A sandstone mortar and arrow-points were also found. The burial seems to have been in a sitting posture.

9. The first eight mounds are in a right line, but No. 9 is 60 feet east of No. 8. It was 5 feet high, and yielded nothing upon exploration.

Mounds in Ralls County, Missouri

MOUNDS IN RALLS COUNTY, MISSOURI.

By George L. Hardy and Fred. B. Scheetz, of Monroe, Mo.

The only ancient remains in Ralls County, so far as known to the writers, are what are commonly called mounds. They are located on Salt River, a western tributary of the Mississippi, passing through townships 55 and 56, in ranges 5, 6, and 7 west of the fifth prime meridian.

The mounds are invariably found within less than a mile of a stream affording a permanent water supply. They are always in the bottoms or on the crests of bluffs and ridges, bordered either by the streams or the bottom lands, mostly by the latter.

It is impossible to state what changes have taken place in the course of the streams since the erection of the mounds, but doubtless in some places they have been very great. The growth of timber is universally the same on the mounds and in the surrounding forests.

Occasionally a single one is found, but they are almost invariably in groups, numbering from 3 to 10, and sometimes more. Commonly they follow the crest of the ridge, but when they occur in the bottoms or on a level bluff they are found in direct lines or in gentle curves, extending generally east and west. They exist in large numbers in almost every bottom and on nearly every bluff, on both sides of the river, throughout the entire county, as well as on its branches near the main stream.

The mounds are usually circular in ground plan, and rise above the present level from 2 to 12 feet. They are composed either wholly of earth, wholly of stone, or of the two combined. Where stone was used at all, the plan seems to have been first to pave the natural surface with flat stones in one or two thicknesses for a foundation. In one case the stones were thrown together indiscriminately. Peculiar constructions will be more fully noted in the descriptions given below of mounds examined by the present writers.

The stones were procured from the beds of the neighboring streams or from beneath the bluffs. Barely can it be determined whence the earth was taken, there being only one example where there was any indication of the removal of the earth in the vicinity.

Human remains are almost invariably met with, only one exception being noted. The boues are generally very much decayed, though each bone is found almost entire, except those of the head. This seems to have always rested on a stone, and to have been covered by one or more, so that it is always found in a crushed condition. In stature the skeletons indicate a variation from 5 to 6 feet. No jaw-bone or even a fragment of one has been found from which the teeth were missing, and of the scores of teeth recovered there has been but one decayed, a wisdom tooth still in place. The teeth invariably indicate mature or advanced age. The human remains found in mounds constructed wholly of stone are generally much more decayed than those in mounds of mixed material. In rare instances stone implements, pipes, &c., are taken from the excavations, but these are more frequently picked up on the surface at no great distauce from the remains.

So far as known, no accounts have been published concerning these mounds, nor have any systematic examinations been made.

As the stones used in their construction were of a kind useful to the early settlers in walling up their wells, laying foundations, building chimneys, &c., nearly all such material has been removed, so that it is rare to find a mound that has not been disturbed to some extent. Since all the bottom lands are now in cultivation, those in such locations have been plowed down for many years. But where they are tolerably large and built principally of stone, as is generally the case, they are still well defined. Those that are situated on timber lands have the same growth of trees upon them as in the surrounding forests, if they are composed wholly of earth. In some cases white-oaks 2 feet in diameter or more are found on the very summit as well as on the slopes.

In the southeast quarter section 6, township 55, range 5, owned by Mr. J. Brashear, on the right bank of Salt River, is a row of mounds on the top of the bluff, which rises precipitously and then slopes back to the interior. There are twelve of them, the three southern ones being in a cultivated field, the others in the native woods. They vary in distance from 20 to 70 yards and in size from 20 to 50 feet in diameter, and in height from 2 to 5 or 6 feet. Except the south one they are of mixed material. That was wholly of stone, which was mainly removed by Mr. Brashear some forty years ago, when he commenced his improvements. He found in it a single human skeleton of large size. The fourth from the south was examined by us a few weeks ago by digging a ditch about 3 feet wide through its center. It is 58 feet in base diameter, and at the center 5£ feet above the general surface, having several white oaks growing upon it as large as any in the woods. The base was of flat limestone, thrown together without order; above this a layer of earth, another of stone, and so on to the top* No relics were found except a small fragment of pottery, a portion of a globular-shaped vessel, the inside of which was coated with a greasy soot, which smutted one's hand like lamp smoke. This was found about 3 feet below the surface. Many such fragments have been, and some can still be, found on the field before spoken of. There was no indication of any decayed substance anywhere to be detected, nor of any action of fire, except on some of the limestones, which had evidently occurred before they were placed in the mound. The earth in this mound appears to have been taken from a portion of the field about 160 yards distant.

Southeast of the house of Mr. Robert M. Spalding, in the southeast quarter section 36, township 56, range 6, about 1 mile from the left bank of the river is a row of mounds, the western one of which was composed of stone of a peculiar color, only found in the vicinity on the right bank of the river at the distance of nearly 1 mile.

On the southeast quarter section 35, township 56, range 6, we opened a mound, one of several on the top of the ridge. On the south side of it the bed stone had been formed into a shallow trough. On removing the flat stones which covered this, and which showed no action of fire, we found a bed of charcoal several inches thick, both animal and vegetable, and the limestone which composed it was burned completely through. Some fragments of a human femur were found in a calcined state. There was no indication of fire elsewhere in the mound, but there were the partial remains of several skeletons, lying in two layers, with stone and earth between them. The implements marked with Mr. Spalding's initials were found in his vicinity, and are sent by him.

On the west half of the southwest quarter section 4, township 55, range 6 west, owned by Mr. Utterback, a row of mounds, four in number, is found, commencing on the brow of the bluff and extending back in nearly a westerly direction, in a slight curve for about 250 yards, at irregular distances. The eastern one is much the largest. The others are all in a field which has been cultivated for thirty years. One was examined and opened. Fragments of human bones were found on the surface, thrown up by the plow. On the north and south sides single skeletons were found, laid at length east and west, and between the two a confused mass of bones, as though a number of bodies had been thrown together indiscriminately. The diameter of this mound was about 30 feet, its height about 2½ feet above the general surface. It was composed of earth and stones.

On the northeast corner of section 8, township 55, range 6 west, owned now by W. Keithley, a mound was opened by one of the present writers (G. L. H.) in 1853. It was on the brow of the bluff, about 50 feet in base diameter, and at the center 5 to 6 feet high, and made wholly of stone; near the middle lay a single skeleton, indicating a person 6 feet 4 inches in height. It was extended at full length, with head to the west. A dry wall was laid up around the remains 1£ feet high, and this covered with large flat stone, on which the remainder were thrown indiscriminately.

Near the northwest corner of section 18, township 55, range 6 west, is an isolated conical hill, called the "Bound Knob." Its crest is a narrow ridge about 150 yards long, on which are four mounds. The northern one was much the largest, and forty years ago portions of a dry wall still were standing, 4 to 5 feet in height. Human remains were found in all these mounds.

In section 24, northeast quarter, township 55, range 7, and on the opposite side (the left) of the river, is a similar but smaller hill, called "Wilson's Knob." Its crest is about 120 feet long, completely covered with stone to the depth of several feet, the pile being about 20 feet wide. On examination, made recently, it was found to have been originally a row of burial-places, nine in number, circular in form, each from 8 to 9 feet in diameter (inner measure), contiguous to each other. The remains of the walls still stand to the height of about 20 inches. Judging from appearances, it would seem that each had been of a conical or dome-like form. They were composed wholly of stone, and the remains found in them were almost wholly decomposed.

On the top of an opposite ridge to the west is another row, four in number, similar to those just described, except that the cists are square instead of circular, the sides being equal to the diameter of the former. In these also only small fragments of bones could be found. These last have been examined within a few days.

On the left bank of the river, about 1 mile below the "Round Knob" above referred to, are what are known as "The Painted Rocks," a number of rough representations of the human figure, about 20 inches in height. They are drawn on the face of the bluff, which overhangs so as to afford almost complete protection from the weather. This bluff rises 180 to 200 feet above the bed of the stream, and these drawings are 60 or 70 feet below the top. At the foot of the bluff are large masses of fallen rock and earth, filling up between the river and the bluff, and rising within 30 feet of the drawings. The central human figure is somewhat larger than the others, who are represented as approaching him in Indian file.

A single mound was found on the northwest corner of the southwest quarter section 12, township 55, range 7, on the point of a secondary ridge, near a small northern tributary of Salt River. It contained two skeletons, one with the head east, the other west. Beneath one of these a trench had been dug and filled up with stone, on which flat stone had been laid, and on which last the body had been placed.

Mounds in the Southern Part of Pike County, Missouri

MOUNDS IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF PIKE COUNTY, MISSOURI.

By Joseph C. Watkins, of Ashley, Mo.

There are mounds in this section known as "Indian graves." The time of their construction antedates the settlement of this section by the whites. Some of the oldest citizens suppose that the mounds were the burial places of the Sacs and Foxes, but they say the mounds appeared as old when they first came here, sixty years ago, as they do now. I have found no one who ever saw or heard of the construction of one of these mounds. There are no other indications of a former occupation of this region by the aborigines that I have ever seen. The mounds visited by me are located in the southern part of Pike County, Missouri, as follows:

One mound on the land of L. M. Wells, southwest corner of the north-west quarter section 34, township 52, range 3 west, about 1½ miles southwest of Ashley; one on what is known as the "House Land," about the center of the southwest quarter section 28, township 52, range 3 west, about 2 miles west-southwest of Ashley; one on the land of James Farquar, northwest corner of the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter section 10, township 51, range 3 west; three on the land of E. G. Collins, near the southwest corner of section 16, and about 1 mile southeast of New Hartford; two on the land of Benjamin Young, northwest corner of the northwest quarter section 24, township 51, range 3 west; three on the land of John Motley, near the southeast corner of section 24, township 51, range 3 west, and near the junction of the creeks North Cuivre and Indian, and nearest the post-office of Louisville, Lincoln County, Missouri; two on the Coperhaver farm (now occupied by Nunc Estis), about 2½ miles south of Louisville, Lincoln County, Missouri.

All the mounds in question are situated on high points of land, forming bluffs to the creeks Cuivre and Indian. At the foot of the bluffs are good springs. Back from the bluffs the surface is undulating and tillable.

Three of the mounds are isolated, six in groups of threes, and four in groups of twos. All the mounds are circular. They are composed of soil and rock, some with the dirt and rock alternating, some of clay, with vaults of rock in the center. In the center of some there are rectangular vaults containing remains and soil. The material was probably obtained near by—the rock from the ravines and the soil from the banks of the same. Eight of the mounds have been partially explored—all of the Collins group, both of the Benjamin Young group, and Nos. 1 and 2 of the Motley group; also one of the isolated mounds on L. M. Wells' land.

In No. 1 of the Collins group the remains of two skeletons were found, with some fragments of pottery. In No. 2 of same, in a rectangular vault, 4 by 5 feet, were found the remains of eight skeletons, with a few pieces of pottery. In No. 3 of same, a vault made of flat rocks, in the shape of a coffin, containing a few pieces of cranial bones, very much decayed. In No. 2 of the Young group nothing was found. In No. 1 of same, a large vault, the dimensions of which we did not have time to determine, contained human remains, much decayed, among which were found three flint arrow heads, a small vessel molded of clay and burnt, and a pipe carved out of steatite, having upon its front a figure-head. In No. 1 of the Motley group bones were found, and among them a piece of pottery which shows some attempt at ornamentation, and a peculiar rock, oblate-ellipsoidal in form, with depressions (central) on its opposite sides. Around these depressions are 36 marks, arranged in groups of threes. All seem to have been diminished in altitude by continued exposure to the elements.

Trees were growing upon all the mounds, but some of them have been cleared. On the apex of No. 1 of the Motley group an oak tree had grown 22 inches in diameter, but was blown down, and now lies in the last stages of decay. Large oak and hickory trees have grown upon the other mounds.

Ancient Rock Inscriptions in Johnson County, Arkansas

ANCIENT ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN JOHNSON COUNTY, ARKANSAS.

By Edward Green, of Clarksville, Ark.

Five miles north of Clarksville, Johnson County, Arkansas, in section 7, township 10 north, range 23 west, is situated a cavern, or rock house, as it is commonly called, rather remarkable for its shape and the inscriptions on its wails. This cavern is in the southern side of a solid mass of sandstone that crops out on the crest of a hill, which rises some 200 feet above a small stream that flows by its southern base.

The cavern presents the appearance of having been worn out by the action of running water in some remote geological period, and in shape approximates a quarter section of a sphere. It is about 50 feet wide, 25 feet deep, extending into the rock, and about 10 feet high.