The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-10-01

A Columbus, Ga. correspondent of
| the Atlanta Constitution writes: Since
the placid bosom of the ChattahOoche
was first ruilled by steamboat, the in
terest and wonder of the passengers of
each succeeding craft have been excited
by Il beautiful mound that like silent
| sentinel stands on the crest of the cast
| ern bank ut Woolfolk's bend, some
twelve or fourteen miles below this city.
In winter the leailess limbs of trees and
shrub leave exposed the bare sides as of
frowning fortress from which one
| might expect at any moment to SEQ the
| ugly mIZzles of cannon jut, but in
spring over it all an emerald mantle
falls trimmed with the brightest of
woodland flowers. presenting scene of
picturesque beauty-a fitting monument
of heroes whether on the battle
field in defense of loved ones and home
or that from the guieter walks of every
day life they were called. Who the
warriors whose virtues and deeds of
valor it commentaries, or whose the
loving hand that raised its proud crest
heavenward in symmetrical grandeur,
no man knows. 1t was evidently the
work of that extinct race, known as the
mound-builders, whose name is given
from these structures scattered over this
broad land, and which are of peculiar
interest wherever found. The known
Incidence of the race found here by the
white man forbid the conclusion that
he was the builder. nor can he even
give a tradition of their mysterious
builders Though this mound has long
existed, the wonder and admiration of
our people, it was not until recent years
that its hidden mysteries have begun to
unfold to the lovers of archaeological or
antiGnarian DISQUALIFICATION the surCino
floods began eating into its base. laying
bare the bones of bodies centuries buried.
At first faint rumors gained circulation
of wonders hidden therein, and mercen-
airy parties fastened hither, but when
arduous labor with pick and spade was
only rewarded by dry bones or ugly
pots they turned away in disgust. leav-
ing further research to the antiquarians,
who valued these more than gold. The
most successful and perhaps the most
industrious of the latter class is G. w.
Mcknight, whose collection of antiqui-
ties is doubtless the largest of any pri-
vate collection i'm the state. Most of the
relics secured from and about this
mound consist of pottery, most of which
is of unique design, with some attempt
ut decoration. The larges perfect YES
sci is i'm shape somewhat like a carboy,
| with shorter neck and mouth more far
ing. Though the base is globular it is
so fashioned or weighted that, turn it
as you will, right side up with care it
hobs serenely. On one of the smaller
pots a copper disk was snugly fitted as
| a cover, and i'm it were number of
beads. suggesting the possibility that it
| had once served some belle of ancient
| days Us jewelry-casc. Other pieces in
design resemble the modern cuspadore,
and others still are shaped rs the regu-
lation pot of this day. He also secured
several Indian pipes, four stone fishers,
two stone axes or wedges, medicine
stone, and innumerabie arrowheads.
etc. This mound is about twenty or
twenty-five feet high, and about forty
l feet in diameter ut base. Ii commands
magnificent view of the river, up and
| down, us the surrounding country, and
MAY possibly have been used by the
builders as a signal station also, there
being several other mounds in this Sec
ton. The space for several hundred
| yards about the mound was evidently
used as II burying-ground. The body
| i'm one of the graves opened seemed To
| have been first covered in charred corn,
the grains still retaining their original
form, or perhaps crematcd in the cereal.
l A mile and Il half below. on the Ala
bama side. is another mound, though
not so large. 1t is rather oblong, or
egg-shaped, and is situated within the
apex of an inverted V-shaped earth
work and ditch, which runs back to the
river. Within this inclosurc there arc
large quantities of both human and ami
NAL bones, fragments of pottery, and
flint arrow-hcads. Mr. Mcknight tells
me that when there some time since the
bones from thirty or more graves pro-
truded, exposed by a previous flood.
Both of these mounds are rich in sub
jects of interest to the arrh;eOlOgist seek
ing to unravel the unwritten history OF
the mysterious beings who peoplcd this
goodly land of ours before the advent OF
the savages found here by our ancestors.
and if this brief account OF them will
aid in the work. its mission will have
been accomplished. As no inscriptions
mark their surface, il is only by study
of the silent bones they cover and the
strange relics of their handiwork in life
inferred with them this can be done.
There is pear tree in Windsor, N.