Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-08-15
THE MYSTERY OF THE MOUNDS.
Another Theory as to Their Builders
and the Uses Made of Them by the
Indians--The Curiosities at KiibOurn
City. Wis. --HOw the Ancient Ameri-
cans Amused Themselves. Etc.
Special Correspondence hicago Times

special correspondence thicago Times
KILBoURN CITY, Wis. Aug. Your
correspondent having heard much in
regard to the Indian mounds to be
found in this vicinity, determined to
investigate for himself these relics of a
race long since departed from this
world. Within radius often or twelve
miles from here may be found many of
these mounds fashioned after some
animal which existed in those bygone
ages. The mounds are generally found
in groups, IN some places there being
as many as fifteen or twenty within
radius of a few rods. Many of the
mounds have been opened and bones
and implements found, while in others
broken pottery has been unearthed.
A few years since ID. G. w. Jenkins, of
this place, upon opening mound near
Newport, found part of a skeleton in
good state of preservation. There is
nothing very remarkable about any of
the bones, with the exception of the
lower jaw, which is very massive and
projects well forward. All the bones
taken from the above mound were very
dark, and it has been found impossible
to bleach them. Various opinions have
been formed in regard to the remains
found in these mounds, as to whether
they are the remains Of these mound
builders themselves, or whether the IN
dams have used these places as burial
grounds After looking at the matter
in all its phases, | am inclined to the
belief that the Indians, who undoubted-
| ly followed the mound-builders. used
these mounds as receptacles for their
dead, and in support Of my belief, |
would advance the following proofs
The age of the mounds utterly precludes
the possibility of their having been used
by the makers themselves as a place for
interring their dead The people whose
remains are now exhumed from these
mounds must have been inferred hund-
reds of years after the construction of
the mounds, for, as q general rule,
body will turn into dust in less than
fifty years. These mounds were OBJ
served by some of the earliest travellers
through this region, and they looked as
old then as they do now AS proof of
the antiquity OF these structures, [ would
mention the fact that have seen sever
al mounds on which trees are growing,
whose age cannot be less then two hun
dred years, and, in addition to this re-
mains of other trees may be found,
which have grown to a good old age
and then fallen to decay, and the acorn
from which they sprung could not have
been planted until after the completion
of the mound. From the above facts
we must conclude that these mounds
were built at least three hundred years
ago There is still another fact that
goes to prove a still greater antiquity Of
these relics of an ancient race. A per
son may dig through the alluvial soil on
the summit of one of these mounds,
and then do the same some distance
from it, and the depth of the alluvial
soil will be found to be the same IN both
places. think this indicates, to say the
least, that the mounds were built before
this deposit Of vegetable mold, Or else
the earth used in their construction was
brought from some considerable dis
lance. In view of the above facts, ii
seems impossible for us to entertain for
IL moment the idea that the remains Of
the bodies we now find were buried at
the building of the mounds. On the
other hand it looks more reasonable to
suppose that the Indians, who probably
succeeded the mound-builders, used the
mounds built by their predecessors as
places for buryIng their dead. Skele-
tons are sometimes found in perfect
state Of preservation, and it is quite
likely that even the Indians of the
present day use these mounds as ceme-
teries. 1t seems probable that these
earthworks mark the places where the
ancient abOrigines had built their vii
lagos for as general rule the structures
are found IN close proximity to water,
and it is noticeable fact that where you
find these ruins, you will, as a general
hing find the most fiourishing villages
in the state, showing that the palefaces
chose the same spot for their villages as
their rude predecessors did before them.
[ cannot close this without referring to
the peculiar.ties in structure to be found
in these mounds. There is one within
the village limits which seems to have
been made to represent a liZard-like
animal. Only the tail and small por-
ton Of the body can now be seen, as in
grading street the remainder Of the
animal was destroyed Originally, the
figure must have been two hundred feet
long, its head pointing toward the west.
Inc part that Is lett measures about
fifty feet in length. The hind legs, which
can yet be seen, are only two or three
feet long. Very often one of these
image or animal mounds will be sur
rounded by several conical ones. A
few miles from here may be found one
of the most curious groups that it has
ever been my fortune to see. It occu-
pies plat of ground about five rods
wide and eighteen long. Near the south
east corner of the plat is a figure Of a
deer looking toward the west. Immedi-
ately to the north of the deer is repre-
sentation Of a lizard, the length of it
being about eighteen rods. Arranged
in semicircle around the head of the
lizard are eight or ten conical mounds,
some of them twelve feet in height In
a book published many years ago, the
author gave a theory in regard to the
construction of the mounds which I will
reproduce as nearly as possible.
There were many different tribes Of
the mound-builders, and each tribe had
| chosen on animal aS q Sio,, or on,hlop,