USA > Minnesota > Wright County > History of Wright County, Minnesota > Part 5
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28
HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY
The Siouan Mound Builders, returning some five hundred years ago from the Ohio region were doubtless the builders of the mounds in Wright county, though there are possibly some mounds in this county built by the Siouan people during their previous occupancy of the region.
The Mound Builders. Not so many years ago, there was a wide-spread belief that the Mound Builders were a mysterious people of high culture resembling the Aztecs, and differing from the Indian in race, habits and customs. Now scholars are unani- mous in their belief that the Mound Builders were merely the ancestors of the Indians, doubtless, as already related, of the Sioux Indians, and not differing from them in any important characteristic except in their tendency to erect earthworks. These Mound Builders are the earliest race of whose actual residence in Wright county we have absolute evidence. While Wright ean- not boast of mounds of such gigantie proportions as some other parts of the United States, nor of such grotesque formations as the serpent mound of Ohio, yet the mounds of the county are plentiful in number, kind and distribution, and present a rich field for archaeological inquiry, as well as supplying evidence that Wright county was well populated by this ancient people.
The larger groups are invariably situated near the water- courses and lakes, and usually on the lofty terraces that give a commanding view of magnificent prospects. Such a distribution of the mounds finds its explanation in the fact that the lake and river banks afford excellent sites for habitations, and the lakes and rivers afford routes of travel in times of peace and war. Above all the streams and lakes furnish two substances absolutely necessary for the maintenance of life, namely water and food. The Mound Builder was not slow in pieking ont picturesque places as a location for his village sites. The distribution of the mounds bears ample proof of this. Anyone who visits the groups eannot fail to be eonvineed that the Mound Builders were certainly guided in the selection of the location for the mounds by an uner- ring sense of beautiful scenery and a high appreciation and in- stinetive love of nature as well as by other factors. A few of the smaller mounds in Wright county are found on the edges of the original prairies, but these probably served a somewhat different purpose than those nearer the water.
Purpose of the Mounds. The mounds of Wright county are both oblong and round, varying from a swell of land to several feet in height. Other varieties have also been found. The ar- rangement of mounds in the various groups does not seem to de- pend on any definite rule of order, but seems to result from a process of mound building, extending over a considerable period of time, each site for a mound being selected by the builders according to the space, material, or topography of the locality.
29
HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY
Undoubtedly each mound was placed for some definite pur- pose on the spot where it is found today, but what the purpose of any particular mound was may be difficult to say. The spade often partially tells us what we want to know, but sometimes it leaves us as much as ever in the dark. When the interior of a mound reveals human bones, then the inference is that the mound served as a tomb, but intrusive burials, that is burials made long after the mounds were built, complicate the problem. But when a mound ean be opened without revealing any trace of human remains or of artificial articles, it seems safe to conclude that not all the mounds were built for burial purposes. The erection of such a large number of mounds as exist along the Mississippi and its tributaries in Minnesota must have required an enormous ex- penditure of time and labor. The tools with which all the work was done were probably wooden spades rudely shaped, stone hoes and similar implements which indicate a low degree of industrial culture. Where the whole village population turned out for a holiday or funeral, a large mound could be built in a much shorter time than if the work was performed by only a few individuals. The surface of the land adjoining the mounds in Wright county, and in faet all the mounds of this vicinity, frequently shows plain evidences of where the material was obtained for the construction of the mound. All in all, the regularity, symmetry and even mathematical exactness with which the mounds are built show considerable skill and taste. The reader can pieture to himself the funeral seenes, the wailings of the sorrowing survivors, and the flames of the funeral pyres which were sometimes built. Or one ean picture the mourning relatives waiting beneath the tree in which the body has been suspended on a scaffold while the elements are stripping the bones of flesh preparatory to their interment.
Life and Habits of the Mound Builders. Modern scientists unite in the belief that the Mound Builders were Indians, the ancestors of the Indians that the early settlers found here. The old theory of a race of Mound Builders superior in intellect and intelligence to the Indian has been exploded by archaeological research, though a few of the older text books advance the now obsolete theory.
The evidenees that the raee of Mound Builders was a race of genuine Indians are many. Indians are known to have built. mounds. The articles found in the mounds are the same as the articles found on the Indian village sites nearby. Invariably a large group of mounds has nearby evidences of such a village. The articles found in the mounds and on the village sites are such as the Indians used.
We do not know what human beings first beheld the beauti- ful lakes and prairies of Wright county and claimed them as their
.
30
HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY
home. We may never be able to look beyond the veil or penetrate the mists that enshroud the history of the past, yet we are not left in utter darkness. The relies tell us many interesting stories.
Tomahawks, battle clubs, spear heads, and arrows signify war and the chase. The entire absence of great architectural remains show that the Mound Builders lived in frail homes. The dearth of agricultural implements speaks of the absence of any but the most primitive farming. Ash-pits and fireplaces mark the bare ground as the aboriginal stove. Net-sinkers imply the use of nets; ice axes the chopping of holes in the ice to procure water ; stone axes a elumsy device for splitting wood ; stone knives were for scalping, cutting meat and leather and twigs; countless tlakes mark the aneient arrow maker's workshop; cracked bones show the savages' love for marrow ; shell beads, charms and ornaments in the shape of fish and other designs reveal a primitive lesire for ornamentation; chisels and gouges recall the making of canoes; sun-dried pottery made of clay mixed with coarse sand, elam shells or powdered granite and marked with rows of dots made with a stiek, thumbnail or other objects, or else marked with lines, V-shaped figures or chevrons, all are an index of rather a erude state of pottery making. The hand supplied the lathe and the wheel.
All of these things tell us something of the habits and con- dition of the Mound Builders and are further evidence that the Mound Builders differed in no important manner from the Indians found here by the early explorers.
The people were rude, semi-agricultural, war-like, ignorant of all metals except copper, hunters with stone arrow and spear, naked in warm weather and clothed with the skins of the buffalo and bear in winter. Their skill in art was eonfined to the making of such domestie utensils and such weapons of war and of the chase as were demanded for the personal comforts and physical necessities. They have left no literature, and these heaps of earth and a few rude pictures scraped in soft stones, together with a few erude relies, are our only souree of information regarding this once powerful people.
Location of Mounds. The artificial mounds of Wright eounty have never been adequately surveyed or excavated, though many interesting studies have been made of them. A volume entitled "The Aborigines of Minnesota," published by the Minnesota State Historieal Society in 1911, contains a valuable resume of these explorations and studies as follows :
Mounds on Crow river, near Dayton, S. E. 1/4, see. 1, T. 120-23. The land is cultivated about 30 feet above the river. This mound is 65 feet in diameter and 6 feet high. Surveyed April 28, 1887.
Mounds two miles west of Dayton. E. 16, S. W. 14. see. 2, T. 120-23. These are five in number and in eultivated land over-
31
HISTORY OF WRIGHIT COUNTY
looking the river and about 35 feet above it. The largest is 70 feet in diameter, 51/ feet high.
Crow river mounds, N. E. 14, S. W. 14, and N. W. 1/4, S. E. 1/4, see. 29, T. 119-24. Here are 16 mounds, about 18 feet above the river, of which only four are circular. The rest are simple elon- gated mounds about 20 feet in width and 11/5 feet in height. They present the anomaly that, while about parallel with each, they have their greater surface dimension running perpendicular to the line of the bluff on which they are situated, instead of paral- lel with it. The largest eireular mound is 60 feet in diameter and 6 feet high.
Crow river mounds, S. W. 1/4, S. W. 14, sec. 29, T. 119-24. This group numbers 4, of which one is elongated; 10 feet above the river. Surveyed July 13, 1887.
A solitary cireular mound, 18 feet in diameter, is at N. W. cor. S. E. 14, N. W. 14, see. 29, T. 119-24. It is about 15 feet above the river.
Crow river mounds, one mile below Delano. Here are four mounds, of which one is elongated, parallel with the bluff. The largest circular mound is 45 feet in diameter and 21/4 feet high. Another mound of this group is in the public road.
A single mound, on cultivated land, is opposite Delano, about 12 feet above the river. Some 12 or 15 other mounds have been destroyed. That which remains is 160 feet from the bank of Crow river.
At two miles above Delano, N. E. 14, sec. 23, T. 118-25, are two mounds, and there may be others in the neighborhood.
Month of Pioneer creek, S. E. 14, S. W. 1/4, sec. 26, and N. E. 1/4. N. W. 1/4, see. 35, T. 118-25. Here are 26 mounds, mostly eireular The largest is also flat-topped, the base being 54 feet in diameter and the platform 20 feet. Its height is 7 feet. This mound also has two extensions, one of which is 24 feet wide and 11% feet high, and the other is 30 feet wide and 4 feet high. From the extremity of the second extension is another extension in the same direction, 21 feet wide and 11/5 feet high, 66 feet long. These two enlargements of the main mound extend northerly, at an angle with each other of about 45 degrees. The longer are 10 degrees to the west of north. One other circular mound also has an extension 20 feet wide, 1 foot high.
The most eurious of this group is one which is square, with the corners at the magnetie points. The sides are 35 feet, the height 3 feet, and the top is 24 feet square. This group, therefore, presents four anomalies: 1. Extensions from a circular mound not on opposite sides of the mound, but forming an angle with each other of about 45 degrees. 2. An extension from an exten- sion, the former baving less width and height than the latter.
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HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY
3. Square mound, with corners at magnetie points. 4. Flat- topped square mound. Surveyed Sept. 8, 1881.
Foster lake mounds, on N. W. 1/4, N. W. 1/4, sec. 10, T. 120-23, 25 feet above the lake. Many of these are situated in a eultivated field, along a bluff that faces westward over the lake and over a marsh, through which passes a creek draining Foster lake. The total number is 33, of which only two are elongated. The largest is 68 feet in diameter and 81% feet high. It is not isolated from the line of the series. Surveyed April 28, 1887.
Two and a half miles northwest of Peliean lake exists a soli- tary tumulus, on N. W. 14, sec. 34, T. 121-25, in cultivated land. It is 35 feet in diameter and 3 feet high. There were seven or eight others within a quarter of a mile, which have nearly disap- peared through eultivation. Surveyed August 8, 1891.
Buffalo Lake mounds. The tumuli are on lot 2, see. 31, T. 120-25, on the bluff of the lake, east side, in the woods. The road passes between them. They are 30 feet above the lake and about 30 feet in diameter.
There is a large group, numbering twenty mounds, on the south side of the lake, of which the largest had been excavated, but is 75 feet in diameter and 15 feet high. They are 60 feet above the lake. Here are also three circular embankments 2 feet to 3 feet high. Of these two are united, but the other, which is 36 feet in diameter, is alone. Five of the mounds are elongated, and one is wider at the center than at the extremities, having three sections, the central seetion being some longer than the end sections. Surveyed November 16, 1886.
These eireular embankments, having the same widths as the average circular mounds, and grouped with them, seem to be allied to the circular mounds. These embankments are from 6 feet to 8 feet aeross and from 2 feet to 3 feet high.
Another group is on the west side, W. 1%, S. E. 14 (lot 5), see. 35, T. 120-26, consisting of eight tumuli, of which the largest is 90 feet in diameter and 12 feet high. This greatly contrasts with the one alongside it, which is 12 feet wide and 1 foot high (the smallest mound yet noted).
According to the Delano "Eagle," of July 10, 1881, William P. Jewett opened a large mound in 1878, and at the depth of fourteen feet found ten or twelve skeletons. This was on see. 35, and on the bank of Buffalo lake, on land then owned by Joseph Armstrong. Associated with this were four other mounds. The human bodies seem to have been buried in a cirele, about five feet from the surface.
Three-quarters of a mile south of Buffalo lake, on N. W. 14, S. E. 14, sec. 1, T. 119-26, is a group of twelve mounds, two of which are elongated. One of the tumuli, in the line of the group,
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HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY
reaches 65 feet in diameter and 716 feet in height. These are about 20 feet above the marsh. Surveyed November 16, 1886.
On the west side of Buffalo lake are five mounds in a group, on S. E. 14, S. E. 14 (lot 6), sec. 35, T. 120-26; 60 feet above the water. One is 85 feet in diameter, 16 feet above the water. One is 85 feet in diameter, 16 feet high, and it is alongside of one which is 18 feet in diameter and 1 foot high.
Mounds of Lakes Ann, Mary and Emma. At the north end of Lake Ann, S. E. 1/4, S. E. 1/4, see. 10, T. 118-27, about 15 feet above the lake, is a tumulus 20 feet in diameter near the road.
On lot 4 (S. E. 14, S. W. 14) see. 11, T. 118-27, north end of Lake Ann, are two tumuli, 30 feet in diameter, on cultivated land about 12 feet above the lake.
On the west side of Lake Ann, on lot 3 (N. E. 14, S. E. 14), see. 15, T. 118-27, is a common tumulus about 25 feet above the lake, in a slight swale.
At the south end of Lake Ann, on lot 5 (S. 1/2, S. E. 1/4), see. 14, T. 118-27, is a group of seven mounds, all eircular, 25 feet above Lakes Ann and Emma.
On a creek near Lake Ann, on lot 4 (S. E. 1/4, S. W. 1/4) see. 11, T. 118-27, are two mounds, the larger 30 feet in diameter and 2 feet high ; the smaller 28 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, about 12 feet above the creek.
There are four large mounds half a mile south of Lake Ann, on N. E. 14, S. W. 1/4, see. 23, T. 118-27. They are 40 feet, 42 feet, 48 feet and 50 feet in diameter, and 3 feet in height. There are five or more further to the southeast that have been eultivated too mueh to survey, situated on a slight ridge.
At the north end of Lake Mary, on N. E. 1/4, N. W. 1/4, see. 25, T. 118-27, are two small tumuli, 22 feet in diameter and 1 foot high, 20 feet above the lake.
Along the Twelve-Mile creek, on the south and west sides of Lake Ann, sees. 15, 22 and 23, T. 118-27, are three groups of mounds. The first is on lot 4, sec. 23, and consists of 12 mounds, all cireular exeept one, which is elongated, with dimensions 90 feet by 50 feet, and 31% feet high. Toward the north this is abruptly connected with a eireular mound, which is 55 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, by a narrower embankment 30 feet wide and 21% feet high. The smallest mound of this group is 30 feet in diameter, and the largest is 55 feet. Three are 50 feet in diameter. Surveyed September 15, 1881.
A rare combination is witnessed in two of this group, viz .: An elongated mound is suddenly narrowed from 50 feet to 30 feet, and again expanded as suddenly into a eircular mound, the length of the embankment being 16 feet, or about one-half of its width.
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HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY
Another group on N. E. 1/4, see. 22, also embraces twelve mounds, and shows one rare feature, viz .: Two of the largest mounds, each 4 feet high, are connected by a short curving embankment 25 feet wide and 11/2 feet high. These two mounds have both been opened. This group of tumuli has an unusually large average diameter for the circular mounds.
A group on the opposite side of Twelve-Mile creek contains eight mounds, three being elongated, one 150 feet long, 20 feet wide and 11/2 feet high; another 85 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 31/2 feet high ; and the third 80 feet long, 20 feet wide and 1 foot high. This group also presents an anomaly, viz .: a spur-shaped extension is connected with a cirenlar mound running to a point. At the base it is 20 feet wide and 2 feet high. It is about 30 feet long. Surveyed September 15, 1881.
A solitary tumulus, 22 feet in diameter, is north of Lake Emma, S. W. 14, S. W. 14, see. 13, T. 118-27, about 22 feet above the lake.
Iloward Lake Mounds. The mounds above this lake are iso- lated except in one case. A group of five tumuli is on the east side, lot 4 (N. E. 14, N. W. 14 and N. W. 1/4, N. E. 1/4), sec. 34, T. 119-27, near the lake, but in the woods, about twelve feet above the lake, all circular, mostly about 30 feet in diameter.
According to the Delano "Eagle," June 13, 1878, one of the mounds on the south side of Twelve-Mile creek, about three miles south of Delano, was explored by a party of young men. At the depth of five feet they found two human skeletons, the size of which indieated sons of Amalek. The bones were in the last stages of decay. One "thigh-bone measured 20 inches in length and was proportionately large. The teeth were still sound, and double all around, though not of large size, but worn flat from long use."-Hill Ree.
Two others are together, on the west side, lot 2, sec. 33, T. 119-27; 30 feet in diameter; 13 feet above the lake and 125 feet from it. One tumulus is on lot 1, see. 33, at 150 feet from the lake and 15 feet above it. One is on the east side on lot 2, S. 1%, S. W. 1/4, sec. 27, T. 119-27; 20 feet above the lake; 25 feet in diameter. Another is on the same section, on the N. E. 1/4, S. E. 1/4, see. 34, T. 119-27; 16 feet above the lake; 30 feet from the bluff ; 24 feet in diameter.
Clearwater lake monnds, W. 1%, S. W. 14, see. 12, T. 121-28, overlooking a ravine, on a high ridge, is a group of 47 circular mounds and embankments. The tumuli are generally small and low. Three are noticeably large, having diameters of 75 feet, 70 feet and 60 feet, with heights of 8 feet, 61% feet and 51% feet, respectively. The elongated mounds or embankments are of the usual type, their width about the same as the diameter of the smallest mounds, i. e., 18 feet to 20 feet straight and of uniform
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1200:05 HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY
width from end to end. To this, however, there is one exception here, one embankment, tapering from a width of 20 feet at the north end to 10 feet at the southern, and from 112 feet in height to 1 foot. This is an exceedingly rare feature. Two of the tumuli are connected by a low embankment much narrower than the mounds connected.
R. M. Van Dervort gave information concerning the explora- tion of a mound of this group about the year 1885. It rose 3 feet above the level of the surrounding ground. The opening was at the top, about 3 feet by 6 feet. The material consisted of alter- nations of ordinary black soil and hard, light gray, four of the latter, each about four inches thick. The bones were about three feet from the surface and consisted of six skeletons, each skeleton occupying a space about 18 by 30 inches, leg and arm bones being directly on top of the chest, and the skull on top of all. The bones were generally very brittle, but some were well preserved. The lower jaw-bones were large, the teeth, so far as found, all double, the brow considerably receding backward, thigh-bone 22 inches long, upper arm-bone 14 inches long. These bones were taken to Chicago by a doctor some five years after they were discovered. This was evidently a regular Sioux burial of bundled bones.
In the "Pioneer Press" of June 29, 1888, is an account of the discovery, twelve miles from Clearwater, N. E. 14, sec. 21, T. 121-27, by Charles W. Pinkerton, of the town of Corinna, of the remains of seven persons said to have been from seven to eight feet high. They were found in a kind of mound, and were buried with their heads down. The skulls indicated an inferior race of men. The teeth in the jaw-bones were mostly sound, "and not like the teeth of the present race of men." In the "Pioneer Press" of July 1, 1888, was published a more satisfactory and correct account of this discovery, abstracted as follows: The mound itself is about 50 feet aeross and some 12 feet high, of symmetrieal shape. According to Prof. H. F. Nachtrieb, who visited the place and examined the bones, the skeletons were not of unusual size. They were deposited in the mound in a sitting posture, facing the lake. The skulls, when compared with Indian skulls in the possession of Dr. Thomas S. Roberts, of Minneapolis, showed some marked differences. The forehead was very low, and the brow prominent. The postero-anterior axis of the skull was very long. Judging from the external auditory meatus, this prehistorie man had a large ear. Ilis jaws were heavy, his cheek- bones prominent. The ridges on his arm-bones indicated that he was very museular. His front teeth, instead of being chisel- shaped like those of modern man, had their greater diameter at right angles to the jaw-bone, and all his teeth were quite large, and some with the enamel perfectly preserved. On the whole. the skulls seemed to be quite small, in proportion to the rest of
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HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY
the skeleton. The remains were evidently those of ancient mound- builders. The mounds were covered with a forest of large elins and maples.
Enelosure and mound, lot 2, N. E. 1/4, N. E. 1/4, sec. 21, T. 121-27. These are on the bank of the lake but about 200 feet from it. The mound is 62 feet in diameter and 8 feet high. The enclosure is toward the northeast from the mound, on a knob about 35 feet above the lake, the mound being 22 feet above the lake. The enclosure consists of an embankment 13 feet wide and 11% feet high, the ends coming near together, but leaving an open- ing 6 feet wide. Surveyed August 1, 1887.
On lot 5, N. W. 1/4, N. W. 1/4, sec. 21, T. 121-27, at 40 feet above the lake and 450 feet south of it, is a group of six circular mounds and one elongated. The largest of the former is 80 feet in diam- eter and 41/4 feet high. The elongated mound is of a rare type, tapering from 26 feet to 10 feet in width and 11% feet to 1 foot in height in a length of 80 feet. Surveyed August 1, 1887. The following letter of E. E. Woodworth is of interest.
"St. Paul, Minn., May 31, 1907. In the year 1888, in company with Rev. Mr. Wigstead and my brother, Charles Woodworth, I opened a mound in Levi Dakin's field, cutting clear through it a ditch about eighteen inches wide and from top to bottom four and one-half feet deep, from north to south and from east to west. A peculiarity of formation was found. About two feet from the top surface was found a continuous layer of black mate- rial about four inehes in thiekness, which appeared to be earth mixed with some substance which rendered it impervious to water, as was evidenced by the perfectly dry earth below the layer. The soil above the layer was very wet, as it had rained the night before. When this substance was broken it presented occa- sionally small faces of shiny black. The material was very tough and resisted the pick like asphalt. About two feet below this layer was a second layer of the same substance, and a third layer was encountered perhaps not more than fourteen inches below the second layer. The earth had evidently been carried in recep- tacles which held about one-half bushel, as was evidenced by the different materials, as sand, clay or black soil. We found no bones, neither any eavities in this mound. Near the surface we found a stone ax weighing about five pounds, perfect except for a small spall from the face. In the woods just east of the field, perhaps ten rods from the mound which we opened in the field, were several mounds, the largest of which we dug into from the very top, making a hole five feet square and five feet deep, finding nothing until I was about to leave the hole. It was raining, and as we had nine miles to drive, and as it was nearly night, I caved the walls in, and in so doing opened a cavity on the west which was filled with dust. This I scraped out and we observed that
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