USA > Wisconsin > Sauk County > A standard history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Volume I > Part 18
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24-Skillet's Creek Mounds: On the overwash plain about half a mile east of Skillet's Creek and near the line between sections 3 and 4, were a group of mounds which have virtually been effaced. They ineluded a tumulus standing in front of the residence of C. Kunzelman (entirely destroyed for grading purposes) ; a large indistinct mound, bear-shaped. on the farm of 'A. Kunzelman; further to the south, three linear mounds. and to the east of these, on the Rodwell farm, a tumulus and a bear effigy.
25-Howlett Group: Some thirty rods from the public road to the southeast of the residence of H. H. Howlett, in the northwest quarter of
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the northeast quarter of section 10, was the west end of a row of at least nineteen tumuli, from four to six feet in height, with an effigy near the center. They have long been effaced by the processes of cultivation. Mr. Howlett remembers the effigy as resembling "a moose, with nose thrown forward and head and antlers thrown baek." A stone eelt plowed from one of these monnds is in the collection of the Sauk County His- torical Society.
26-Tinkham Mounds: These comprise two bird effigies and two tumuli, all in "Indian file," with the birds in the center, and lie elose to the foot of a terminal moraine on the Tinkham Farm, in the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 10. The birds are repre- sented as flying to the southeast, each with a wing-spread of 125 feet. All are considerably leveled by cultivation.
27-Maple Grove Mounds: A grove just north of the residence of Edson Langdon was a favorite maple sugar camp for the Winnebagoes. Large maple trees stand on and around a bear effigy, which is naturally somewhat disfigured. In another nearby grove is part of a long linear mound, the two comprising the Maple Grove Group.
28-Cliff House Mounds: On the wash plain at the north end of Devil's Lake and in the vicinity of the old Cliff House are three mounds- a long low earthwork severed by the railroad which is located a few rods north of the hotel and two linear mounds some thirty rods to the west. Of the latter, one extends into the public road and the other is nearly parallel with the lake shore.
29-Terminal Moraine Group: The five mounds comprising this group are also at the north end of Devil's Lake, toward which the three effigies are headed. The bear lies on the level land at the foot of the moraine close to the path that leads from the well-known Claude Cottage to the lake. The tail of another effigy extends up the slope until destroyed by the drive that passes in front of the house. The head and fore limbs lie near the foot of the slope directly in front of the cottage. On the crest of the terminal moraine, sixty rods northeast of these mounds and a linear mound in the same locality, is the well preserved effigy of an animal with a head remarkably large in proportion to the body. The tail slopes down to the level of the ground with a distinct point of termi- nation, which makes the entire figure rather unusual. The effigy is surrounded with trees, and is otherwise so protected that its preservation is somewhat assured.
BIRD EFFIGY AT KIRKLAND
30-The Bird Mound : At Kirkland, on the southeast shore of Devil's Lake, is the famous bird effigy, its wings extended 240 feet from tip to tip, and its body stretched to a length of 115 feet. It now lies seeure within the limits of the State Park, marked by an appropriate tablet,
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honored and embalmed in history. Fortunately, also, only small parts of the tail and the tip of one wing have been disfigured. The remarkable mound was first brought to publie notice by William HI. Canfield in 1875. He made a careful survey and plat of it, which he sent to Dr. Lapham, and his original drawing is preserved in the archieves of the Wisconsin Archaeological Society. Sinee that day many thousands of visitors to the park have seen the bird mound, but many have also failed to notice it because of the absence of a marker to call attention to its pre-historical interest. That deficiency the members of the Archaeological Society and the Sauk County Historical Society decided to remedy. A joint meeting of the two organizations was therefore held at Kirkland, on Labor Day, 1916, at which H. E. Cole, at that time president of the Historical Society, presented the tablet which marks the site of the Bird Effigy, which shares with the Man Mound the honors of being the most remark- able archaeological relic in Sauk County.
THE BIRD MOUND
In the summary for the Township of Baraboo Mr. Stout says: "A total of 225 mounds are here listed in the town and city of Baraboo, Of these only sixteen remain undisturbed, 134 are entirely obliterated, and the rest are more or less leveled. Fifty-eight are known to be effigies, 120 are tumuli and 27 are linear earthworks. Of the effigies it is posi- tively known that seven are birds, seven are bear and six are of the mink type. None of these mounds lay more than three-quarters of a mile from water, and occur in great numbers on the high land bordering the Baraboo river adjacent to the series of rapids. It is to be regretted that of the 134 mounds now entirely leveled, not one large seale plat or survey is in existence. Much of the information which they might have contributed to our knowledge of Wisconsin's prehistorie inhabitants is forever lost."
MERRIMACK
1-Schneider Mounds: A group of mounds on the farm of Eli Schneider in the extreme northeast corner of the township.
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2-Devil's Nose Effigy: A bear effigy located near the headwaters of Searl's Creek in the southeast quarter of section 28, and thus named because of the sharp point of the bluff at Devil's Lake, called the Devil's Nose, which is one mile to the west.
3-Mink Effigies: In the southeast quarter of section 31 was a group of three effigies surveyed by Mr. Canfield, two of which were of the mink type and one lizard-like. They were in a natural depression close to a pond and, with the exception of one of the mink effigies, all have been leveled. In the immediate vicinity were other mounds which have disappeared, and about a mile west Mr. Canfield stated was a strange effigy that had "pointed ears, a sunken abdomen, a natural erooked leg, and a general build that resembled that of a greyhound."
4-Lapham Mounds: Along the public road near the farm house of Fred Goette and on the slopes surrounding a pond, or little lake, was formerly a fine group of thirty-six mounds. They were surveyed by Mr. Canfield in 1851, and as they were further recorded in a plate pub- lished in the "Antiquities of Wisconsin," they have since been known as Lapham's Mounds. There are remains of only a few tumuli of this once magnificent group.
5-Eagle Mound : On section 3, close to the line bordering on section 34, lying mainly in a thick second growth of woods, is a well-preserved bird effigy known as the Eagle Mound. Its first survey was made by Mr. Canfield in 1850, who describes it as "in the shape of a night hawk with a small flat mound under its left wing, having the bill turned toward it as though it were carrying it." Doctor Lapham said the mound was "seven feet in diameter, a very true circle at the base." It is reported that two bear effigies were formerly located not far from the Eagle Mound on the southeast quarter of section 34.
6- Merrimack Mounds: On a sandy ridge between the river and public road and about three-quarters of a mile west of the Village of Merrimack was a group of at least five tumuli, all of which are razed.
7-Solitary Mound : A mound seventy-five feet long, fifteen feet wide and two feet high, which can readily be traced, lying on the low ridge bordering the river bottom on the fraction of the eastern part of section 10. Near the Solitary Mound are others of which the outlines are very indistinct.
8-Island Tumulus: A low conical mound, a short distance south of Solitary, situated on a slight elevation in the river bottom. When the water is high it is an island.
9-Gross Effigy : A well-preserved bird effigy which lies on the rolling land included in the Gross Farm, about eighty rods from the Wisconsin River on the southeast quarter of the west quarter of section 3. Its wing spread is 212 feet; length of the lead and body, 72 feet. This mound, as well as others in the vicinity, was located by George Gross.
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10-Gross Mound: A few rods southwest of the Gross residence are slight traces of a linear mound which was originally about ten rods long and fifteen feet wide.
11-Lookout Mounds: Two mounds, some twelve rods apart, located on the western part of fractional section 10. They are on the extreme edge of the bluff, which slopes abruptly to the river about seventy-five feet below. This site gives a view of the quartzite bluffs, the Village of Merrimack and points for miles in every direction. Nearly half of one tumulus has slid down the steep bluff face. The other mound appears to be a double earthwork formed by the building of a large tumuli so as to overlap a smaller one. This double mound is well preserved.
12-Mother and Cub Effigies: Within a few rods of the west line of section 10 are two distinct bear effigies. The larger one, eighty-two feet in length, is represented as leading a smaller one, sixty-two feet in length. They are on rolling land which is covered with timber, and are headed toward a small valley that leads to the river some thirty rods distant.
13-River Bank Group : Two mounds are all that remain undisturbed of a remarkable group of eight mounds that were situated on the eastern part of fractional section 9. The mounds lie close to a river on slightly rolling land, a part of which has long been under cultivation. When visited by Mr. Stout in 1906 one bird effigy had been plowed over but once, and a survey of it in that condition was made. One linear earth- work 150 feet long extends down to the bank of the river, where a part has been eaten away by the water. Four mounds of this group are leveled. One of them, a remarkable mound ealled a panther effigy, has been reproduced in such standard archaeological works as "Antiquities of Wisconsin" and "Prehistoric Man," besides being identified in easts deposited in the Milwaukee Museum and the State Historical Library at Madison. One of the well-preserved mounds of the River Bank Group is a bear effigy ninety feet in length.
14-Train Cache and Mounds: On the nearly level land bordering on the east of Searl's Creek, on the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 4, J. G. Train, former owner of the land, found a cache consisting of a peck of dark colored flints ranging from two to four inches in length. They were found between two roots and under the edge of a black oak stump. About twenty rods further south Mr. Train remembers that there were three fine deer effigies, now entirely leveled.
15-Searl's Creek Group: These mounds are scattered along the west side of the ereek, on sections 4 and 9, on rolling land somewhat elevated above the stream. Those south of the section line are in the woods. Five are linear mounds; there are two bird effigies, the wings of which are extended 250 and 226 feet respectively ; and there are effigies also of a bear, a mink and other less distinetly defined animals.
16-Kruger Creek Group: The Searl's Creek and the Kruger Creek
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groups of mounds are separated by a distinct ridge semi-circular in form. The works of the Kruger Creek Group lie on sections 5 and 8. The former are either leveled, or nearly so, with the exception of the one near the corner of the sections named. Most of the mounds on section 8 lie on wooded land and are hence well preserved. They include several effigy mounds, identified by various authorities as probably those of a bear, an elk or deer, a beaver, etc. There are also several linear mounds. At the foot and on the slopes and crest of the bluff to the immediate south of the creek are still seen the excavations of several cellars, which mark the site of the former cluster of houses which afforded stopping places for the raftsmen of the early days, at the Village of Rosendale, or Rosalie Town. Close to the edge of the crest was a bear effigy, now nearly effaced.
17-Siebecker Mounds: On the knolls and ridges of the rolling ground sloping from the bluffs to the Wisconsin River, here about two miles apart and located in the upper rim of the triangle which forms the southern part of Merrimack Township, was a group of thirty mounds which were surveyed by Mr. Canfield in 1850. They are almost obliter- ated. Among the effigy mounds are several the outlines of which are characterized by humps, and they are supposed to represent the buffalo.
The "summary for Merrimack," made by Mr. Stout, notes that there are 142 mounds in that section of the county. "Of these only thirty- four are in a good state of preservation. Four mounds were solitary. Nearly all are close to a river, pond, or a small stream. Among the effigies are seventeen bear and ten bird mounds, a larger number than is found in any other of the townships considered. Eighteen linear mounds with pointed curved ends are located here. In fact, this type of linear mound is almost entirely confined to this township."
SUMPTER
1-Devil's Lake Grave: About sixty rods from the southeast corner of Devil's Lake and about twenty-five rods from the foot of the south bluff, the early settlers of the locality noticed a rectangular enclosure, 5 by 12 feet, formed by a wall of quartzite boulders, the area thus marked forming a slight mound. Some thirty years ago a pit was opened into the center of the enclosure, but nothing more than charcoal was then unearthed, and later excavations have been without interesting results.
2-Quartzite Slab Group: In plowing over one of the several mounds located on the farm of J. L. Hill, on the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 4, Andrew Hodgett discovered a slab of red quartzite 6 feet in length, with ends 4 by 8 inches and 6 by 6 inches. Eventually the shaft or slab was broken and worked into the wall of a house, and all the mounds on the farm leveled and made a part of the cultivated field. The group has long been listed as the
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Quartzite Slab Group. No artifacts or other materials have ever been found in the mounds or in the immediate vieinity.
3-Meyer's Mill Cache: In 1898 Louis Zerbel was elearing and breaking a piece of ground on the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 5, about half a mile to the southwest of Meyer's Mill, when he discovered a low mound of earth. He leveled this with a spade and discovered in the center of it a cache of eighty-seven reddish flint blanks and one double iron nodule. The latter does not appear to have been worked, but is a marblelike coneretion of the kind found in sand- stone. The collection, with the exception of five rude stone blanks that were lost, was obtained by E. C. Perkins, of Prairie du Sac.
4-School Yard Mound: In the school yard of District No. 3, south- east quarter of the northeast quarter of section 8, is a well-preserved linear mound ninety feet in length. It lies on level land elose to a high bank of Otter Creek.
5-Kingston Mounds: At an early day when the present towns of Sumpter and Merrimack were included in the one Town of Kingston there was a remarkable group of mounds on the Page and Stone farms. They were located on the southwest quarter of section 9 and the north- east quarter of section 16 and on the rich lowlands of Otter Creek. Sixty- three in number, they were arranged in a row 200 rods long, with a group of six a short distance to one side. From the Canfield survey of 1891 it appears that twenty-nine of this collection were tumuli, four were bird effigies, eight were oval and linear mounds, five may have been intended to represent raccoons or similar small animals, and two were formed by two long mounds erossing near their middles and forming a seissors-like figure.
6-Stone Mounds: Close to the road near the line between sections 8 and 9, and about sixty rods north of the residence of I. E. Stone, there were onee four tumuli. The Kingston Group were about eighty rods distant on lower ground. The Stone Mounds were plowed down about twenty-seven years ago, and quite a number of skeletons were unearthed.
7-Johnson Group: One mile to the east of the Kingston Group and separated by a narrow sandstone ridge 150 feet high is the group of ten mounds lying on the slopes to the west of Otter Creek, the nortli- west quarter of the northwest quarter of section 15. The land upon which they are located is a portion of the farm owned by Joseph John- son at an early day, and later by Martin Moely. Several of the mounds are well preserved, but most of them have been leveled. Four of the group are bird effigies, one of which has a wing-spread of 230 feet, and one mound is a bear effigy.
8-In the extreme southeastern part of the township, on the property of O. S. Young, are three or four conical mounds situated on low ground near the Wisconsin River. They have yielded only bits of charcoal.
Eighty-six mounds are listed for Sumpter Township, and of these
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but six or seven can be considered as well preserved. With the exception of three mounds, all are situated close to Otter Creek. Were it not for Mr. Canfield's survey of the large Kingston group, the data for the township would be much more unsatisfactory.
PRAIRIE DU SAC
1-Prairie du Sac Cornfields: There were perhaps forty aeres of cornfields to be seen in the early day on land in the immediate vicinity of the Village of Prairie du Sac, on land now owned by A. M. Bickford, northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 1.
FEW TRACES OF OLD SAUK ( INDIAN) CITY
2-Sauk City Indian Remains: Sauk City, about a mile below Prairie du Sae, was the site of the village founded by the Sauks and Foxes in 1746. It is said that their corn cultivation covered some 400 acres, but of that large area only about an acre remains undisturbed. This is on the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of seetion 12, on land belonging to John Richie. Although the Indians must have resided at this locality nearly forty years, their cemeteries have not been located. In all the excavating that has occurred in connection with the building of the cities of Sauk and Prairie du Sac, but one burial has been disturbed. That was discovered in 1905 by John P. Weiler while excavating a stump that stood in the rear of his butcher shop in Sauk City. The skeleton was that of an Indian, and the skull, teeth, arm and leg bones were well preserved. The body had been buried in a prone position in the sand at a depth of eighteen inches. Encircling the bones of each wrist was a German silver bracelet, and stains on the skull indi- eated the probable former presence of carrings. The bones and one bracelet were secured by E. C. Perkins for the Sauk County Historical Society.
3-Ortel Mound: A small conieal mound standing alone on land belonging to C. Ortel, a few rods west of the public road near the line between sections 25 and 36.
4-Sauk City Mounds: Half a mile southeast of Sauk City, on the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 13, is a group of three long linear mounds and one tumulus. The linear earthworks are 120, 150 and 180 feet long, respectively. The tumulus is further to the east and not far from the quarter line. Altogether, they form a row almost parallel to the public road, which passes along the line between sections 12 and 13. All have been much disfigured.
5-Sauk Prairie Groups: These mounds lay east of the mill pond, along the higher land bordering the creek bottom just north of the june- tion of Honey and Otter creeks. Doctor Lapham first visited and sur-
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veyed all but two of the groups in 1850. His plat published in the "Antiquities of Wisconsin" shows four bird effigies, six linear mounds, one bear and two earthworks that are evidently tumuli. One of the bird effigies had a forked tail and a wing-spread of 360 feet. Besides the Lapham Mounds, Mr. Stout located a tumulus and a linear mound which had not been previously discovered. With the exception of the two thus located and surveyed, all the mounds of the groups have been effaced. One of them was used in the dam at the time that Sauk Mills were built on Honey Creek. In this mound were found the entire skele- ton of a man and a number of well-formed spears and flint arrow heads.
6-Patterson Mounds: To the east of the residence of Robert Pat- terson, on the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 7 and . on a ridge overlooking the mill pond, is a linear mound which is still well preserved. Southeast of his house, on lower land, were once two mounds, one of them a bear effigy, which have been entirely leveled.
REMARKABLE BIRD EFFIGY
7-Saxer Group: A bird effigy and a tumulus are located on the crest of a sandstone knoll 100 feet high, which rises from the lower land to the immediate north, on the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 7, the owner of the site being Christ Saxer. The body of the bird is on higher land than the wings of irregular length, which extend down the gentler slopes of the erest. One wing is 129 feet in length; the other, 108 feet. A sandstone rock protrudes from the body under one of the wings. Also remarkable, is the irregular height of the body, which is built up over the stomach, forming a sort of tumulus nearly five feet in height. About six rods from the bird effigy is a tumulus, 21 feet in diameter and 21% feet in height, and at the foot of the knoll to the north are traces of two linear mounds that were originally six rods long. They have suffered severely through cultivation.
8-Von Behren Group: This group, chiefly located on the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 7 (land owned by C. Von Behren) has been surveyed by E. C. Perkins and the party who made the 1906 investigations. It comprises a bird effigy and a tumulus in a cultivated field, and a number of tumuli in a heavy growth of timber. In the latter group is probably the largest tumulus in the county-13 feet in height and over 60 feet in diameter.
9-Honey Creek Mounds: This group comprises the fourteen mounds surveyed and platted by Doetor Lapham located on the margin of the marsh which borders Honey Creek, west of the central part of the town- ship. These earthworks have been leveled long ago.
10-Moseley Group: Toward the mouth of Honey Creek, on sections 18 and 19 near the Moseley residence, were fifteen rather compactly grouped earthworks. Seven of them were effigies and the remainder Vol. 1-11
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linear mounds, the largest of which measured 980 feet and the smallest, 75 feet. They were less than twenty feet in width throughout. The foriner is the largest mound yet located in the county. The effigies are at least of five distinct types. Doetor Lapham made the first and only thorough survey of this onee fine group.
Sixty-seven mounds have thus far been located in Prairie du Sae Township. They are mostly grouped about Honey Creek in the vicinity of Lodde's Mill Pond, about which are also indications of aboriginal village sites. Of the mounds in this township seventeen are effigies, of which there are nine birds, five bears and three of uncertain form. Only thirteen of the mounds remain undisturbed.
It may be added to the record of the archaeological survey as made by Mr. Stout that a bear mound was located on the edge of the ravine where the ferry crossed the Baraboo River at the time Garrisonville flourished. The mound is near the home of H. H. Porter in the north- western part of section 26, Town of Greenfield.
On the east fork of Skillet Creek, southwest part of section 14, Town of Baraboo, there is also a group of several effigy mounds discovered after the survey was completed. One or two in a field have been obliter- ated but the others in the woods are well preserved.
THE WESTERN HALF OF SAUK COUNTY
The western half of Sauk County is not as rich in Indian earthworks as the eastern. There are but few mounds or other evidences of Indian occupation.
Near the center of the southwest quarter of section 17, Town of La Valle, there were several oval mounds on land once owned by P. J. Milbauer. The group was west of the Chicago & Northwestern traek and has been obliterated by cultivation.
There are seven conical mounds on a high bluff south of the residence on the farm of the late R. C. Robson, northwest quarter of section 3, Town of Spring Green. The mounds occupy a fine commanding position on the bluff and can be seen for a considerable distance.
In the southwest quarter of scetion 4, Town of Spring Green, there were a number of effigy mounds in pioneer times but they have yielded to the advance of civilization.
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