USA > Illinois > Will County > History of Will County, Illinois, Volume One > Part 3
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Wabash River. Back of each of these moraines may have been a lake, such as may have been in the Morris Basin.
The traveler coming into Chicago on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad is impressed by the level area be- yond Oak Forest about midway between that station and Mid- lothian. In the season of heavy rains the water seems im- movable. This is the Chicago Plain which was formed by the shallow waters of Lake Chicago. As the ice receded rapidly northward from the Valparaiso Moraine, the water accumu- lated between the moraine and the ice to form the lake named above. The basin filled and poured forth over the lowest point where Summit now is. This is known as the Chicago Outlet. It began the erosion which was the chief cause in the formation of the present Des Plaines Valley. It must have been a mighty stream for its width is one mile, or more, in the greatest width. This flow of water from the Lake to the Gulf has been restored, in a small way, by the Chicago Drainage Canal. The Deep Waterway will carry this idea still farther.
The glacier receded northward beyond the Straits of Mack- inac and the impounded waters found a new and easier way to the sea. The termination of the ice age left the Great Lakes which we have today. They extended outward to the south and the east, as well as westward at Duluth. The evidence of this is found in old beaches in the bordering states. The fol- lowing extract is taken from "Geographic Influences in Ameri- can History," by A. B. Brigham: "No other inland navigation compares with that of the Laurentian Lakes, and what it may become in the century just begun it would be rash to foretell. Every lake washes the borders of rich lands, andthese lands reach across the prairies."
CHAPTER IV.
THE ABORIGINES.
TRACES OF MAN'S EXISTENCE IN EARLY AGES-THE RED MAN-MIXTURE OF RACES-DES PLAINES VALLEY THE GREAT HIGHWAY OF DIFFERENT TRIBES-THE MOUND BUILDERS EXCAVATIONS IN WILL COUNTY-EVI- DENCES DISCLOSED-LEVELS
There are found abundant traces of the existence of men in North America during the glacial epoch have been found. This ice era began 250,000 years ago and ended 80,000 years ago. Hence it is fair to assume that human beings occupied this continent as long as 100,000 years. Are the Indians the direct descendants of these aborigines? Or were there suc- cessive waves of migration in which the incoming race de- stroyed the residents? Many things may take place in one thousand centuries. Not all evidence has been found to sub- stantiate all the changes. In the light of the most recent dis- coveries, we are assured that many changes did take place. Entire tribes migrated to new homes, either to seek food or to avoid others who pressed them from the rear.
The reader can imagine great leaders rallying the warriors to the defense of the women and children. Many brave sol- diers fell defending their loved ones from the enemy. At other places the attacking party was successful, the men were slain and mothers, wives, and children, were rushed into bondage, to be gradually absorbed into the conquering tribe, taking some of their own customs into the lives of their captors as well as receiving some from the other side. Thus, through the cen-
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turies there was a blending of the people until a uniformity prevailed, a sameness which extended from the land of the Eskimo to the southernmost point of South America.
The information which we have is not sufficient to deter- mine whether the Red Man descended from the Pleistocene man or whether he came down from migrations from Asia. The contour of the bed of the Northern Pacific indicates that dry land intervened where the Behring Sea is found. This was comparatively recent and made such a passage entirely feasi- ble. Speculation on these two sources is interesting but not necessary for a good understanding of the history of Will County.
They probably came from the old world. Whether this influx was pre-glacial or post-glacial is unknown, but we are certain that they have been here a long time. They remained undisturbed and had no communication with Asia for 20,000 years. We may consider them natives. Through thousands of generations they have acquired physical traits which are a distinguishing feature. The mental traits are equally unique. Consequently their language as well as their legends are dif- ferent from those of the old world. The social observances and customs put them by themselves. Some were in the sav- age state while others had developed into barbarians. The philosophy of life, religion if you please, was by means simple. Illustrations of this fact will appear in a later discussion.
The Red Men are a different stock from the Eskimos. From Hudson Bay to Cape Horn all are the same. All were just simply Indians. Tribal characteristics were found to distin- guish one group from another. For example, Shawnee, Ojib- way, Kickapoos, are all Algonquin. Mohawks and Tuscaroras are Iroquois. Algonquin and Iroquois differ as French and English differ. Sioux, Blackfeet, and others of the Northwest are Dacotahs. The tribes of the Southwest form another group. The Incas of Peru still another. Each group had distinguish-
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ing characteristics but it is hardly possible to classify them upon a grade of culture. Where they were secluded and undisturbed they became tillers of the soil from necessity since no liveli- hood could be had without it. Yet through all the groups there is a homogeneity which makes one race.
The Europeans have mixed because they had reached a higher state of development. The blondes of the Northland have intermarried with the brunettes of Iberia, producing the endless variety which we see in Europe. In Africa a few have kept apart and maintained a distinct group. The greater part of the so-called Dark Continent have mixed freely. In no other grand division do we find the uniform mingling which North America had when the whites came. If there were dif- ferent races in the beginning they had lived here long enough to make the best blend in the world.
The reader asks, "What has all this to do with Will County history?" It goes without saying that our county is a part of the larger unit, the Illinois Basin, and this in turn is the pivotal part of the United States. But our history is connected with that of the whole in a more intimate way by means of the Des Plaines Valley, the great highway for so many different tribes over so long a period of time. On this road they passed and repassed, sometimes as enemies but more often as friends.
The great leaders had expert runners who acted as messen- gers from tribe to tribe. It was not uncommon for such men to travel from Michigan to Florida in nine or ten days. Many trips in other directions and over distances equally long were common. Some of them followed the trail along the Des Plaines. Traders, such as the Iroquois, passed this way to bar- ter for supplies not found in their own region. War parties came through by the same route, because the well-worn trail beaten hard by the impact of many hoofs in the migrating herds of buffalo, was easy to follow.
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The maps on archaeology show Illinois as "unworked re- gion." Recent discoveries, made in 1927, in two places make it a major field of exploration and discovery. One of these fields is in Will County. The discoveries have been made by Will County men, Messrs. George Langford and Albert Tennik. The discoveries of these men in the Fisher Mound near the begin- ning of the Illinois River which is the union of the Kankakee and Des Plaines (and DuPage) rivers, was published in the American Archaeologist, Volume 29, Number 3, July, Septem- ber, 1927. More of this account will be presented in later paragraphs.
But our history is connected with that of the whole in a more intimate way by means of the Des Plaines Valley.
The Mound Builders .- When the writer was a boy, his his- tory of the United States began with a short chapter on the "Mound Builders." It was a vague and wild speculation about a race of people who were different from the Red Man. A race possessing a culture better than ours. The picture included an account of a vanishing empire whose people were overthrown by the Indians who were savage fighters ever seeking the blood of others. It was a fascinating story with pictures of mounds in the shape of serpents in the act of swallowing monsters. Youthful imagination created terrible beings which menaced mankind. This was a thrilling account which was connected with the story of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. This vast and hazy history was easy to write and easier to believe. It prevailed for many years.
Fiske, in his "Discovery of America," says: "There is no reason for supposing that there was an empire of any sort in ancient North America, and no relic of the past has ever been seen at any spot on our planet which indicates the former ex- istence of a vanished civilization even remotely approaching our own. The sooner the student of history has his head
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cleared of all such rubbish, the better. As for the mounds, which are scattered in such profusion over the country west of the Alleghanies, there are some which have been built by Indians since the arrival of white men in America and which contain knives and trinkets of European manufacture. There are many others which are much older, and in which the genu- ine remains sometimes indicate a culture like that of the Shaw- nees or Senecas.
With the progress of research, the vast and vague notion of a distant race of 'Mound Builders' became narrow and defined. It began to seem probable that the builders of the more remarkable mounds were tribes of Indians who had ad- vanced beyond the average level, in horticulture, and conse- quently in density of population, and perhaps in political and priestly organization. There were times in the career of sun- dry Indian tribes when circumstances induced them to erect mounds as sites for communal houses or council houses, medi- cine lodges or burial places; somewhat as there was a period in the history of our own fore-fathers in England when cir- cumstances led them to build moated castles, with drawbridges and portcullis; and there is no more occasion for assuming a mysterious race of 'Mound Builders' in America than for assuming a mysterious race of 'Castle Builders' in England." -"The Discovery of America," pp. 140-146.
The excavations which have made Will County a major region in archaeology were made by Messrs. Langford and Tennik, near the source (beginning) of the Illinois River. The quotations which follow are taken from the article in the American Anthropologist (Volume 29, No. 3, July, 1927) :
"In Northeastern Illinois, about sixty miles southwest of Chicago, where the Des Plaines and Kankakee rivers converge to form the Illinois, is an old Indian village and mound site which after extensive excavation has yielded interesting dis- closures. In this region evidence of aboriginal occupation is
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generally denoted by surface deposits of chipped flint, frag- mentary pottery and occasional polished stone artifacts. More than one culture is doubtless represented but there is no way of determining this. The mounds to be described give oppor- tunity for such determinations. Their outstanding features are: numerous superimposed graves arranged strategraph- ically and culturally making at least three occupations with brachycephals above and dolichocephals below; in inter- mediate pre-European culture prolific in small triangular chert arrowpoints, day pots and artifacts of stone, bone, copper, and shell. Post-European objects are few and confined to the surface.
The locality, formerly part of the Cornelius estate in Will County, on the Will-Grundy County line, is known as the Dan Fisher farm. It may be reached by automobile from Joliet on State Road No. 7, driving eleven miles to Channahon, then leaving the concrete and crossing the Des Plaines River over Smith's bridge. From there the right-hand road follows the left bank of the river past Fisher's, the latter being about five miles beyond Channahon.
This site is a glacial limestone gravel deposit overlain by a veneer of dark surface soil, with sandstone and clay of the Lower Coal Measures beneath. The land is about thirty feet above the Des Plaines River and overlooks a lowland which extends from the water inland seventy-five yards, or more. One hundred feet back from the low bluff's edge are two circu- lar eminences: the "Big East Mound" of 5 feet high and 50 fcet in diameter, and the "Big West Mound," 6 feet by 60. Near them are the smaller and almost unreognizable "Small East"; "West", "Southeast", and several other mounds and around these are about 40 circular pits, from 15 to 30 feet in diameter, several feet deep and bordered by raised gravel ridges.
In November, 1906, Messrs. Howard Colmer and George Langford noticed colored glass beads which had been brought
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up by some burrowing animal. Two feet below the surface they found an adult male skeleton together with a rusty iron knife, silver crescent and pendant, small glass beads, bits of cloth, a carved bone and pieces of copper plate. The next spring found four more skeletons were uncovered with numer- ous pieces of silver near them. They found reliquaries, crosses, round brooches, pendants, bracelets, and arm bands, also a small mirror, patched iron pot, pierced clamshell, bone pin, cloth fragments, large glass beads, pieces of copper plate, and one large stemmed arrow-point of pinkish flint. The silver brooches were embossed "G. C." and "Montreal," denoting George Cruikshank, a Montreal silversmith of post-Revolution- ary times. This would indicate that they were buried near the close of the 18th century.
The excavations revealed three levels, or layers, of graves. The upper layer disclosed post-European objects in the first find but later explorations showed only one, the body of an infant accompanied by glass beads. The arrow heads and re- jected parts were such as were found with Indians when the whites knew them. The middle level revealed remains which had not been disturbed much. The skulls and bones were of a smaller people. Arrowpoints were unstemmed, triangular in shape, and made of chert. Long, slender "drillpoints" were found. No notched arrowpoints were uncovered. The lower layer contained remains which indicated larger men and women. They faced north in crouching positions with no relics excepting a few ornaments made from marine shells. Four flints were found in one grave but they evidently were not man made.
Burial customs for those found in the upper level could not be determined because the remains had been disturbed by cultivation, by the burrowing of animals and by careless ex- cavators who preceded these two. The middle level some were buried prone while others were in a crouching position. The
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relics seemed to be such as had been used for necklaces and other ornaments. In the lower level they lay upon their sides with knees drawn up and arms bent with hands beneath the chin. The mosaic of pebbles beneath the head was very strik- ing. Usually some odd stone formed a centerpiece surrounded by the uniform stones arranged in a mosaic. A majority had the heads west and feet east. A pot of artifacts was found in almost every grave. Large clay pots were found with female adults and smaller ones with children. Frequently the bones of one hand were within the pot. The pots contained clam shell spoons covered with a gritty brown film. Bits of bones were found in some which seemed to have held broth or stew. No signs of altars were found excepting one excavation which was a hole three feet across and one foot deep, filled with ashes. Remains of human bones were in the ashes and the gravel around the pit show the effects of fire. No indication of bundled burials or cremations were disclosed."
The location and description of the mounds was quoted ex- actly. The account of the discoveries is a free version by the editor who wished to eliminate technical details. The account of the artifacts can be given best in Mr. Langford's own words: "There was no sign of grain nor any tools which suggested cultivation of the soil. No seeds or fruits appeared nor were there any traces of perishable material, such as cloth, hide, hair, woven reeds or wood with few exceptions. Apparently the people of the Lower and Middle Levels at least, subsisted upon fish, flesh, and fowl. Of cloth, the only suggestion is a small piece about one inch square which appears to be coarse matting. It adhered to one of two copper ear discs on the face of W M 73. These discs heavily encrusted with green oxide, had also preserved two round flat and pierced buttons made of leather or wood, discs and buttons evidently being fastened together and used as ornaments. In two other in- stances the buttons had been preserved by contact with the
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copper discs. Of three copper bead necklaces, the string hold- ing them was recognizable although reduced to powder. Of wood, I found several small chunks in the upper level. These were too soft to handle. Small crumby pieces of bark lay em- bedded in the Ash Layer. Marks of hardened grease appear in some of the clay pots, and the shell spoons are frequently encrusted with a hard, gritty brown film. Some of the bone artifacts have particles of gritty film adhering to them, tena- cious enough in several instances to fasten various articles to each other. The dog is the only animal observed that can be considered domesticated. It occurs in the Upper Level but not with certainty below, and I find no sign of it beneath the Ash Layer. The bison is absent. Of chipped stone implements, no notched or stemmed piece occurs below the Black Seam. The polished stone implements are celts only. Grooved axes and clubs, pierced tablets, effigies and other polished pieces which are occasionally picked up in neighboring localities, remain as yet undiscovered on the Fisher site. Pipes, too, are absent, at least I have found none, either of stone or clay, in any of the mounds. The objects to be enumerated are clay pots, and artifacts of copper, shell, stone and bone. The occurrence of marine gastropods fabricated into ornaments is interesting.
Two other shorter and thicker shell beads were at the throats of broad heads in the Middle Level. These may have been made from the thick river clam shells. They are the larg- est at the center, tapering to both ends. At least four species of clams abundant in the Des Plaines River served as food for the aborigines and some of the shells were fabricated for use. Seventy-five per cent or more of the clay pots contained shell spoons, the hinge portion being trimmed down and the large and double-notched to form a stub handle. Several were scalloped on the lower margin and one had four long prongs which made it appear like a combination spoon and fork. I secured shell pendants from three burial places, all placed upon
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the breast. Two are pierced with tiny holes at one end, and all three have two large holes in the center. Animal bones oc- curred abundantly in the diggings. Deer bones were the most common, and among these the scapula predominated. Only the articular end was preserved, although the blade could oc- casionally be recognized by splinters. Foot bones were plenti- ful; the upper ends of humeri and fermora absent. From the numerous specimens I have thus far identified the deer, elk, bear, canids, wildcats, otter, beaver, mink, weasel, skunk, rac- coon, muskrat, rabbit, wild turkey, heron, goose, and soft- shelled turtle, and have recognized small rodents, birds, fishes, and turtles. Frequently unfabricated animal bones served as charms or for other purposes, being found beneath skulls in company with stone and bone artifacts. Often they so occurred in pairs. Deer and elk phalanges were cut off at the proximal end and hollowed for some purpose. Many such pieces in close association with the skeletons were doubtless used, contrast- ing with the numerous burned and unburned fragments scat- tered through the diggings between the Black Seam and the ground level."
The summary of observations on the Fisher Mounds is given in Mr. Langford's words. It is concise and sums up the import of the discoveries so far as they have progressed. The corre- lation with neighboring localities is also presented in full.
"The following summary is not presented as a statement of conclusions but as a working basis for further study. Strati- graphically considered, the two big mounds appear divisible into layers or levels each consisting of several zones as evi- denced by the human burials and relics with particular atten- tion to each grave's plane of origin, measurements of skulls and burial postures.
Upper Level, Zone 1 .- This is post-European culture pre- sented near the surface of the two big mounds by trade silver
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and glass and kaolin beads. In the small Southeast Mound aboriginal pieces of bone, copper, shell, and flint, accompanied glass beads, silver ornaments and other European objects. The skeletal evidence is scanty but the skulls, statures, and burial postures are probably much the same as in the zone below.
Upper Level Zone 2 .- There were no European objects; only notched or stemmed flint or chert arrowpoints, and pos- sibly a few small crude clay pots. The few skeletons ascribed with reasonable certainty to this zone are of moderate stature with short or round high heads, broad noses, short faces and low orbits. No ashes overlay the skeletons which were in vari- ous postures upon the back or side facing in no particular direction.
Middle Level, Zone 1 .- The culture is represented by pol- ished bone artifacts, small triangular chert arrowpoints, copper celts, chisel-like stone celts and clay pots crudely made with little or no ornamentation. Here was a varied assemblage of skeletons of from moderate to good stature with all shapes of heads; long, meso, and short; broad and meso noses, long and meso faces and low and meso orbits. There were no ashes but head and shoulders were occasionally covered with large gravel. Most of the burials occurred at the rim of each large mound. Although a few were to be found nearer the center and such graves were dug deeply. The burial postures varied as in the level above.
Middle Level, Zone 2 .- This section wherein the graves were below ground level, contained the great bulk of human skele- tons, clay pots and artifacts, the latter consisting of crude bone, copper polished stones, chert and shell objects. The shell pieces were spoons, pendants and tube beads carved from clam shells. Small triangular and slender arrowpoints together with a few leaf-shaped blades comprise the chert pieces. Polished
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stone artifacts were represented by a few small celts. The clay pots are small to large with bark-like, sometimes smooth surfaces undecorated or covered with "antler-point" designs. The skeletons, mostly female adults and young, are of modest stature and physical development with short high heads, some of which are comparatively broad with broad noses, long faces and meso to low orbits. The graves were frequently overlain by beds of ashes mixed with dirt, charcoal, clam-shells, and splintered animal bones.
Middle Level, Zone 2 .- Burials in this zone were without post or artifacts. The skeletons are of small stature, with round, high heads, narrow noses, long faces and high to low orbits. No ashbeds or debris covered the skeletons, which lay sprawling in various directions.
Lower Level, Zone 1 .- No pots or artifacts of any kind occurred here, nor were there any ashes or debris around the skeletons, the latter lying in pure gravel with only slight dis- coloration or change in texture above to betray the graves beneath. The skeletons show good stature and physical devel- opment, with meso high heads, narrow noses, long faces, and meso orbits. There were irregular crouching burials usually upon the left side with face half up or down, knees and legs not laid close together and faces looking north.
Lower Level, Zone 2 .- The culture is scanty; two small pendants with WM 76 and one tube with EM 98 made from marine gastropod shells, and four doubtful flints with E M 26. The skeletons are medium in stature and physical devel- opment with long high heads, narrow to meso noses, long faces and meso to low orbits. E M 41 is broadnosed. Of seven adults surely in this zone, and two slightly uncertain, all were crouch- ing burials studiously arranged with knees and legs together,
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faces looking north. Eight lay upon the left side, one upon the right. The Fisher Site, correlated with a neighboring local- ity. In the September 1919 issue of the American Anthropol- ogist, I described "The Kankakee Refuse Heap", a sharply restricted pre-European camp site on the Kankakee River about one and one-half miles above where it empties into the Illinois. The locality unlike others in this region, abounds in small triangular chert arrow-points and rejects, utilized bone and antler, rude hammer stones, grooved sandstone pieces, broken shells, burned animal bones and potsherds tempered with both shell and grit. Many of the latter bear "antler- point" decoration. Recently I have found two inconspicuous burial mounds upon the site but the human bones buried in clay are too poorly preserved for a study of their characteristics except that they were of small people.
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