Telegram-herald., 1890-05-04
GRAVEYARD POINT.
A STRIP Of Fnrtos-5~cred Gro1nd
u Southeastern Iowa
u x.s ss<ssd 80 ia s.rtsl rt.S& rss
rkE.- Dlsa4st kss~s- tAs Aszaar s4i1a-
.rs. 81. Anssie.a kAai-ss @44 sAs
lazy W zigs s.s&sFss

TIE strsage pAe1oneOon 81 Ons spct
eayilg served IS ne 51rtsi place tor
Pee pa os three races "a three c-sIincs
ages 0f ths worlds Llssory = net With
90 bias Of the Iowa some forty miles
or - trOa - a4s1-a 2nd tbe instance Is
probably ~ i-ho-t = parallel o. TIE lace
sf TIE glo1e-
Tti- tnrioe- sacred blaf. SAYS the CAl-
eago Irl5uas, Il Aaogn IS Graveyard
Point It Il situated IA she northeast
err part 81 Washington County, Ia. and
IS the southern terminus % line ot
bluffs extending TOR several miles along
the west bank Of tho Iowa, the SUBMITS
OK which are covered vita thousands OF
curious forms OF mounds and earth
works, relics OF ne earliest American
race ot which ~e have any distinct
knowledge.
Graveyard PCint served in turn IS the
cemetery Ot the mound builders, OF the
American Indians and % tae early white
settlers. and one has but 20 stand on its
picturesque summit Tor a moment and
look upon the lovely landscape spread
out before him 20 understand Why II.
Was that the people Of three Ages should
reverence the spot. An ancient
roadway leads Up tbs ascent from
the broad river terrace below, and there
70 the right, idly ueandering Ia and out
among the trees and underbrush, IS
Davis creek, which little further on
pours its placid waters into the Iowa
This, | think, mus. DO the spot where
Tecumseh. "the Prophet" stood when
be uttered that appropriate exclamation
that has gone into history: Iowa. Iowa!
Beautiful. Beautiful" The view is in
deed one that will bring out ones best
thoughts and best sent ments.
The mound builders were the first 20
bury their dead on Graveyard Point.
That was centures ago. That curious
race Of people lived and thrived and
perished a. 50 remote an age that ira
dition even can not hope 20 rescue them
from the oblivion into which they have
passed. The red Americans, their sue
oessors, otherwise so richly supplied
with traditions and Legendary lore, have
naught 10 say OF the builders OF the
mounds because they know nothing OF
them. Our only knowledge Of them,
then, is obtained from the works which
they have left.
The mound-builders made no excava.
tions for graves. The dead were simply
placed upon tho surface of the ground
and covered, usually with earth. some
times with layers of sand, ashes OF
gravel These various materials were
placed in regular strata, one above an
other, usually separated By thicker
strata Of clay, and above them all is the
deep deposit of vegetable loan tha
helps to prove the great antiquity Of the
mounds
From the positions in which The
bodies were placed, as evidenced by thC
skeletons which antiquarians have ex
humed, it may be readily believed tha
the mound builders were race of sun
worshipers. To find them IN a sitting
posture facing toward the east, or sun
/ rise point, Is not an uncommon occur
/ renee. Children Of dark age though
they were, they have evidently believed
in future life and felt desire to wit
ness the sunrise on the resurrection
morn. But more commonly the skele
tons are found lying at full length be
/ meath the mounds Of earth that thei
survivors erected over them; and occa
sionally number Of them arc found t.
! have been buried beneath one mound.
Excavations that were made at Grave
/ . DNF,% eLn-roI 49, 10 Ic
only covered the remains OF prehis
toric race but also served as sepulchel
/ for the more modern American Indians
Some two or three feet down from th
surface OF the mounds the explorer
carne upc no well-preserved remain
OF representatives OF the latter race
and certain evidences tended TO prov
beyond doubt that such instances wer
OF the class known as intrusive burials
Deeper down were found the bones o
the prehistoric men In whose honor til
mounds had been originally erected.
The practiced eye Of the anriquaria,
readily detects an intrusive burial. Th'
original mound-builders' bones hav
wasted there for centuries, and thougl
the sofia solid yellow clay-is well
nigh inpervious 20 water tho years hav
been so many that now the bones are a.
most returned 20 dust, while the bone
OF the later man are in fairly well-pre
served condition.
Blu, few yards away from the spo
where these explorations have bee
made are the slabs Of marble whic
mark the resting place OF some Of th
early white ssttlors-tho pioneers O
this now thickly-popglated country
Away back In tho $50 the inscrir
tions on the Fra7es'ones sa7-thes'
rural people Who led the van Of Ia
westward progress OF Tho later rae
reached The end Of their LIES journe
and lay down 20 sleep. on Graveysr
Point their friends placed their re
mains. sido b7 side with he people o
9th sr races. OF ether times.
Van Houten's Coco The o1i glsl