The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-04

"a AMBRIDGE, Mass, July 80, 1901
H. Below the mouth of the Missouri
" river for some fifty or sixty miles.
the Mississippi is bordered on the east
by rich alluviai plain, once the center,
according to modern Psychologists, OF a
large population OF prehistoric tnhaoi-
tants. These early inhabitants built in
American Bottom, "a series of mounds
that are still visible, among them Caho-
liza. the largest native earthWork in
America, situated not far from modern
st. Louis and named in. honor OF the
Cahokias, an extinct tribe Of American
Indians Although comparatively little
can now be known about the history OF
this interesting section where the farm-
er,s plough has already lowered and al
tered the shape Of many of the mounds,
the region is considered the richest in
the country in: possible future. discov-
cries of archaeological Importance, and, in
a recent publication of the Peabody Mu-
scum of American Archaeology and Eth
nology, Mr. d. I. Bushnell Jr. has de-
scribed the appearances of the, group as
the mounds looked, when first seen by
European eyes; their history, SO far as II
can be at present surmiseds. and the
various objects that have already been
unearthed In their vicinity.
THE large number of unusually large
mounds that stood formerly on either
side of the Mississippi, and the great
quantity of prehistoric implements and
utensils that have been discovered, = says
Mr. BUSHNELL. mark that region as an
important center of population Of the
prehistoric tribes of North America
The Cahokia group Of mounds stands
near the center of the American bot
tom. about six miles distant from the
river and just south Of Cahokia creek.
small waterway that may have easily
served the original ,uound- builders as a
connecting link with the MISSISSIPPI.
and thus with far spreading. area Of
prehistoric North America. The main
group, which surrounds the truncated
rectangular pyramid that giant Cahokia
still rises 100 feet above the original
surface, includes some sixty seven
mounds Extending from this group, in
direction south of west, chain OF
large mounds ends in a group of smaller
ones near the Mississippi, and, before st.
Louis occupied the site, some twenty or
more mounds stood on the opposite bank.
Seven miles north of Cahokia stands a
group OF eleven mounds with several
Isolated earthworks not very far dis
probably entirely disappeared under
ages of cultivation Cahokia Itself has
been partly cultivated and Is often
spoken of as Monks, mound IN memory
of Trappist monks who pIanted their
wheat ora itst summit nearly century
ago. These monks. when the explorer
Brakenbridge visited them in 1911, were
living in several cabins located on one
of the smaller elevations, probably the
one Immediately southwest OF Cahokia.
In referring to Cahokia. itself, he says:
.sThe step or apron has. been used as
kitchen garden 80 and the top is
soWed with wheat.
Taken as a whole these remarkable
artificial elevations, built by the mys-
terious mound builders about whom so
much has been written and SO little
ever definitely discovered are rectangular
or conical in shape. Cahokia itself ap-
parently consisted of a series of high
terraces, the area of the base being about
sixteen acres. Regs -ding the name Ca
hokia. Prof. Putnam, Of the Harvard
Peabody museum, has said: :..While there
is not the slightest evidence that the
Cahokias of the time of La Sale were
the builders of this, or of other mounds
in the vicinity is. A qualification to be
able to pe1petuate the name OF an ex-
tinct tribe Of Americans Indians. in cosf-
1ectien with xthis moi uinent Of -aa un-