Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-11-16
The Mound Builders.

Last uiSuL a party Vi sCleilttuc eA-
plorers made some very interesting
discovery in the vicinity of Milton,
Wisconsin. There are in that vicinity
number of mounds belonging to the
class which recent archaeological in.
vestigation has referred to that mys-
terious race which inhabited the cen
trail part of North America long
before the present aborigines obtainc d
toothold here. Selecting the largest
of these mounds the explorers dug a
trench from its outer edge to the CEN
ter, thirty feet long, five feet wide,
and at the center attained depth Of
ten feet About foot from the bot
tom, at the deepest part of the excava
ton, a layer Of ashes and decayed
wood was laid bare. A few inches
below this was hard deposit resemb-
ling mortar, and beneath were found
the remains of tour adults and two
children. That they belonged to the
race of Mound builders is inferred
from the fact that there had pre-
yiously been exhumed, only eighteen
inches below the surface. complete
Indian skeleton.
The other, and vastly more impor
tant relics were eight and half feet
lower down. The first of these, the
skeleton Of a man, lay with the head
to the west in a reclining position.
At the knees near each hand were
two ornaments, composed of the teeth
of some wild animal, about four
inches long, and having holes bored
through for the strings which at
tached them to the wrist. Close by
was the skull, but so badly decayed as
to prevent removal. A little to the
south of the skull were four perfect
arrowheads, as clearly cut as if the
work had been done by the best
modern machinery. Lying around
and under the shoulders where
twenty-nine beads, manufactured
from small shells, and perforated so
as to be worn as necklace. Evident
ly this was the skeleton of some
famous parsonage, for among the
bones of the five others no ornaments
whatever were found. The chiefs
companions were arranged about him
to the west, northwest and east. In
the iaw-bone of one was a partly de-
veloped wisdom tooth, and most of
the iaw-bones aud teeth were in good
preservation.
We have characterized the Mound
builders as "a mysterious race" but
they are as wonderful as mysterious.
The traces they have left behind in
the west and north-w west are evil
IDENTIFY unique nothing at all resemb
ling them having as yet been dis
covered in the Eastern hemisphere.
Unfortunately, though the graves
of the Mound builders are not unfre
quently discovered, as in the in
stance above mentioned, only few
skulls sufficiently undecayed to per-
nit careful scientific examination
have as yet been obtained. The pos
SCISSOR of one of the few describes it
as ga beautiful skull, worthy of a
Greek" The Milton mound seems to
have contained nothing of special i'm
portance, but in others have been
found bones and copper tools and
ornaments, ssome fine specimens of
pottery, and, most interesting and
important of all, sculptured stone
heads, evidently drawn from orig
inals. Mr.. Alfred Russell Wallace,
from whose address to tho British
Association for the advancement of
Science, recently in session at Glas-
gov, we have borrowed literally,
says of these heads:
"They present to US the features of
an intellectual and civilized people.
The nose in some is perfectly
straight, and neither prominent nor
dilated the mouth is small and the
lips thin the chin and the upper
lip are short, contrasting with pom
derous jaw of the modern Indian,
while the cheek bone presents no
marked prominence. Other examples
have the nose somewhat projecting
at the apex, in a manner quite I'M
like the features of an American alb
| orgines."
Mr.. Wallace further remarks "that
when North America was first set
tied by the Europeans, the Indian
tribes inhabiting it had no knowl-
edge or tradition of any preceding
race of higher civilization than
themselves" This we!l-known fact
taken in consideration with others,
has been made the basis of many
ingenious theories concerning the
origin. career, and final disappear
ance of the Mound builders. As
might be expected. none of these
theories are entirely satisfactory
and, indeed, the whole subject still
admits of the widest and widest con-
lecture.
All that l certainly know is, that
in the region watered by the Ohio.
Upper Mississippi, and their tributa
RES, once dwelt Numerous people,
who had made sufficient progress in
civilization to have government, a
religion, systematic industry, and
the rudiments Of science and art.
Who that people were, from whence
they went, and in what way they
acquired the very considerable knowl-
edge, the extent and character of
their works indicate, is now-and
probably always will remain-a pro-
found enigma.
In 1900 Thomas Jefferson and
Aaron Rurr each received 70 cleo
toral votes for President. Neither