Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1920-03-18
Little Journeys In
and About Baraboo
Interesting Places Of the Region Both to Local History and
Scenic Features


on the north side of the ROAD. were
lleveled. Why the mound was built
| is explained near the close of this
laTticle.
On August 7, 1908, the Man Mound
Park was formally dedicated at a
| joint state assembly of the Wisconsin
archaeological Society and Sauk County
Historical Society, the bronze tablet,
| a gift by ]. Van Orden of Baraboo,
being unveiled at that time. Pre-
viously the land had been purchased
| by the two societies just named and
the Landmark Committee of the Wis
eonsin Federation of Women's Clubs.
Region Rich In indian Mounds.
| In primeval times the Baraboo re-
gion was rich in Indian mounds and,
although the plow has been active
since the 40's and SOS OF the last
century, many of the aboriginal earth
works still remain. They were erect
led by the savages on hillside and on
plain, by lake, stream, and en- the up
land, in the deep forest and on the
open prairie. They are the relics of
a race virtually vanished and are of
lever increasing interest to the inves-
| tigating archeologist.
| The theory was at one time ad-
vanced that a pre-Indian race, the
Mound Builders, constructed the earth
works, but modern areheologists have
Irepudiated the idea of prehistoric
people, holding the builders of the
mounds were none other than the
Indians. 1t is believed the Winnebago
7 are the authors of the earthworks
found in Wisconsin. The great num-
Der Of these heaps of earth scattered
over the country indicate a consider
able Indian population extending over
no small period of time.
Indian mounds or tumu1i are of
various FORMS and, with few excep-
tions, may be elassed as round or
conical, elongate or5walLlike pyramidal,
E2nd efIigy or imitation mounds. The
conical mounds vary in height from
scarcely a perceptibie swell to eleva-
tins Of so and sometimes 100 feet.
Those in the Baraboo region seldom
exceed a height of 2, 8, or 4 feet. in
the conical mounds the Ind ans often
buried their dead and sometimes one,
two, or three layers of charcoal are
found above the remains, indicating
that fires, probably of a ceremonial
nature, had burned over the dead.
The long or wall-like mounds are
earthworks of usual length of 81
to 800 feet; in extreme cases the wall
having maximum extension of 500
or 900 feet. Linear mounds are found
in the effigy mound region.
Pyramidal mounds are not found in
the Baraboo country.
The efTigy mounds represent animal
forms, and, with few exceptions, are
confined to Wisconsin and neighborT
ing states The famous serpent
mound and one other are located in
Ohio and two bird mounds in Georgia.
Efigy mounds vary from or 4 to
500 feet in length and in height from
a few inches TO 4 or feet. Burials
were rarely made in these mounds
which have the outline of the deer,
bear, lizard, turtle, eagle, swallow,
frog, or other forms of life. Indians
are divided into clans and eflgy
mounds are believed by archeologlSts
to be totems of the clans. In order to
perpetuate the clan idea, the In
dians constructed the mounds symbol
| ic of their clans, thousands of these
earthen elevations being scattered ov-
er southern Wisconsin.
The deer mound at the home of
Mrs. Train is q totem but archeologO-
gists believe the efigy in Man Mound
Park was lot built with that idea, but
with some religious or ceremonial sig
nifcance. The huge figure probably
represents d guardian spirit or deity.
| Mounds Of all types, in the eastern
part of Sauk County, numbered over
600, according to a survey made by
DR.. A. B. Stout about 1905. Many Of the
mounds have been leveled by the plow
and cultiyator.