Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1905-12-01

than century ago, has been pointed
out by the vanguam,o Of pioneers who
swept on into this favored region be-
yond the border lands of civilization.
On the twenty-tirst day of August,
1905, Lewis and Clark passed the
mouth of the Big Sioux river: in
speaking of which their Journal says:
"This river comes in from the
north and is about one hundred and
ten rods wide. Mr. Durion, our In
dian interpreter, says that it is nav
igable to the falls and that its sources
are near that of the Saint Peters, "
since named Minnesota river. "He
also says that creek comes in below
the falls from the eastward after pas
sing through cliffs Of red rocks Of
which the Indians make their pipes.
And the necessity of procuring that
article has introduced a law of ma
tions by which the g,ace Is, sacred,
even tribes at war meet there at
those quarries, which possess the
sacred right of asylum" This in
formation from Lewis and Clark
shows that Durion possessed a know
ledge of the character of the country
extending eastward to the Mississippi
river.
The explorers reached point Of
land near YanktOn on the twenty
eighth day OF August, remaining
there at that encampment until
September first, trading with the
Yankton Sioux among whom Durion
lived.
Their historian gives an interesting
account of a visit to the main Indian
village. which was located one mile
west of the present town of Mission
Hill, near the ancient earthworks Of
an extinct race known as the ''Mound
Builders" located on the summit Of
a terrace hill bordering along the
Missouri Valley at strategic point
where it turns up the James river.
There, distinct traces Of pre-his-
toric race is found, where in the dim
vista of past ages a semi-civiliZed peO-
pie lived in fortified village of large
dimensions.
The primitive inhabitant Of that
village disappeared centuries ago,
his mortal remains has turned to
dust, and the name of his race is lost,
but the work of his hands yet remain,
enabling us to conjecture on the exit
of a lost nation.
If the geologist can restore the
form of an animal belonging to an
extinct race of quadruDeds, from the
discovery of a single fossil bone, why
should not we with fragment of
ancient pottery, reconstruct the en-
tire vase, and then rise to some def
mite conclusion as to who was it's
maker, thus establishing a plain
and practical distinction of the sue
cessive ages.
FIRST: That of stone.
SECOND: The age of bronze.
THIRD: And last, the iron age.
Recalling Werner's division of the
geological formation, into primitive,
secondary, and tertiary. Civilization
retrograded in Asia and rose in Eur
ope, succeeding the dark ages. May
it not also have receded in America
sometime in the distant past. We
have evidence OF a higher civilization
than was found at the discovery OF
America, but no trace of letters, nor
proof of the exodus or migration of
nation.
The magnitude of the Mound Build
ers earthworks in the valleys of the
Mississippi and Missouri, show that
at sometime in the prehistoric past
there must have been dense popu-
lation, presenting to us proof Of the
existence of an ancient race far adj
vanced in the arts of civilization,
who, for some unknown cause, fought
their way up the Missouri river the
place of their extinction, leaving i'm.
perishable works showing their form
er existence.
The early history of the two Dako.
sas are identified with wars of wild