Iroquois Indian Burial Mound in Allen County, Indiana is Destroyed by Archaeologists

Iroquois burial mound located northeast of Fort Wayne, in eastern Allen County, Indiana on the Maumee River.  This Iroquois burial mound was photographed prior to being destroyed by IPFW archaeologist, who removed skeletons and artifacts from the mound according to eyewitnesses.  Like 80% of all archaeological digs, there was no known academic paper produced from this excavation.  The mound is near rapids that were interpreted by the Iroquois to have been endowed with spirits.  Knowing the iconic and spiritual nature of the natural landscape will enhance your visit to these sacred spiritual realms for the dead.

  

DISCOVER AN ANCIENT WORLD

Ancient Burial Mound is Obliterated by IPFW archaeologists in Allen County, Indiana, east of Fort Wayne.

Ancient Burial Mound is Obliterated by IPFW archaeologists in Allen County, Indiana, East of Fort Wayne.

History of the Maumee River Basin, 1905

Nine mounds have been determined on the high banks of the Maumee River. Two of these mounds are in Indiana near the Ohio line.

Located in the southeast quarter of Section 9, on the Maumee River, east of Fort Wayne, this mound was primarily made from natural erosion, however, it is possible that it was altered and used as a sepulcher. Recently, IPFW archaeologists removed two skeletons from this mound according to the property owner. The mound was completely obliterated by the archaeologists.

Iroquois Spirit Stones Used to Invoke the Dead Found at Ft. Wayne's Most Haunted

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This woodcut is from the Pictorial History of Allen County, Indiana, 1880. #1 and #3 are pop-eyed birdstones associated with the Meadowood Iroquois. The purpose of these stones is a mystery but may have been Spirit Stones.  The ancient perception of the bird was that of transition from the living to the dead. They may have been used to invoke the spirits

Ancient Iroquois Burial Mound Located North of Fort Wayne, Indiana

This single mound located on the IPFW campus was originally built on a projecting upland formed at the confluence of Breckenridge creek and the St. Joseph River. A dam has flooded this area, leaving this mound partially submerged for most of the year. Photo is from, "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley.

The History of Allen County, Indiana, 1888:

“Prehistoric Remains” by R. S. Robertson

Still further down the river, on the east side, at the mouth of Breckenridge Creek, is a single mound, which has not been opened except a slight excavation in its side, which developed the customary lumps of charcoal. This point is about four miles north of Ft. Wayne, and is the most southerly point in the county at which mounds and earthworks are known to exist.

Prehistoric Burial Mounds and Earthworks In Allen County, Ohio

Prehistoric Burial Mounds and Earthworks In Allen County, Ohio

Archaeological Atlas of Allen County, Ohio

ALLEN COUNTY. 

While of considerable importance as an Indian country in early historic times, Allen County was not topographically suited to the continuous aboriginal         occupation, and consequently few earth works are found within its territory.  The fact that  much of northwestern Ohio, previous to    the settlement of the country  before the whites was at certain seasons rather inclined to be swampy,          accounts for the comparatively few prehistoric remains in that territory. The  "Mound Builder" naturally plied the   art from which he takes his name, most assiduously in those  sections of the state where conditions most favored permanent and continuous habitation. 

Occasional burials and old camp and village sites and a few mounds, are found in Allen county. An important aboriginal trail traversed the western part of the    county, following the course of the Auglaize river, connecting with trails from  the lower Scioto on the south and with the Maumee river at the mouth of the      Auglaize, 

Fort Wayne and Indiana's Link To Stonehenge

When you think of Stonehenge, you think of the stones, right?  So, what about the "henge" part?

Surrounding Stonehenge is a henge earthwork.  A henge is a circular earthwork with an interior ditch and exterior wall with a gateway aligned to a solar event.  Stonehenge is aligned to the summer solstice sunrise.

The symbolism and function of Stonehenge are important aspects when comparing the henge groups in southern England and Indiana.  The gateway is aligned so that a heel stone in the avenue will throw the the sun's shadow directly into the center of the U shaped trilithons.  The U shaped trilithons represents the vulva of the Earth Mother that is impregnated by the Sun Father.

Henge in England constructed by the Amorite Beaker People.  Soon after their arrival in England (2500 B.C.) the Amorites stopped erecting stone circles within the henges, they were replaced by earthen mounds in the center of the inner platform.

   Henges are common in northern Europe, the Britsh Isles and the Ohio Valley.  They were constructed by whom the archaeologists call the 'Beaker People," and who Biblical scholars call the Amorites. The Amorites were known for their great size. According to the Book of Jubilees (xxix. [9] 11), "the former terrible giants, the Rephaim, gave way to the Amorites.

Small henge with a burial mound within the center located near the larger Stonehenge.

Mounds State Park,in Anderson, Indiana map showing the solar aligment that centered on the cetral burial mound of the large henge.  The mound marked the solar alignents of the summer and winter solstices for over 2,000 years before being completley destoyed by Indiana University archaeologists. 
Mounds State Parks south group of henges is the exeption to the rule that dictates the gateway of the henge be aligned to a solar event.  The gateway of the large henge is to the rising of the bright  star Fomalhaut. Fromalhaut is in the constellation of Pisces (the fish).

Note that the earthwork designated "F' at Mounds State Park was made to represent two intersecting circles making a vesica pisca in the center. This symbol was also symbolic of the female vulva. At Mounds State Park the alignment from the mound in the center of the largest henge to vesica shaped work is to the Winter Solstice sunrise. This is when the sun is at its lowest in the sky and it ae the  three days shortest days.  On the third day the sun moves back to the north, it is on this day that the Sun God is born.

Henge group at Cambridge City, Indiana.  The nortern henge is aligned to the summer solstice sunrise. On the winter solstice sunset, the sun will again align with the gateway.  The southern henge is aligned to the equinox sunrise and sunset.

This is what the southern henge looked like a few years ago.  The deep ditches and central platform still visible. The henge was recently completely covered with dirt by the landowner.  Indiana has made no effort to preserve this ancient treasure.

Another henge is located near Yorktown, Indiana.  The landowner is commited to  not letting university archaeologists damge this site as they have others in the State.

Henge site north of New Castle, Indiana.  6 of the henges and two mounds mounds are still visible in this public park. The site has been heavily damaged by Ball State archaeologists.
Mound #4 was contructed like that at Mounds State Park to represent the vesica or vessel of the fish.

Earthwork henge complex near Stonehenge. Like New Castle and Mounds State Park it has one large henge surrounded by smaller henges.  There also vesica shaped works in the group.

A single henge aligned to the summer solstice sunrise is located in the city of New Castle, Indiana.  It the same size of the henge in Allen County.

What archaeologists are calling the Adams earthwork was discovered or rediscovered by me in 2001. According to archaeologists rules they don't have to cite works from people they consider amateurs. Photo is looking into the gateway that is aligned to the May 1 sunrise.The inner ditch can be seen in the background and foreground. The outer wall was obliterated by farming.

Photo of the Allen County, henge site. Gateway is on the left, with the remains of the deep ditch that surrounded the circular inner platform visible to the right.  From a pipe that was found at this site it dates from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. and was constructed by the Point Peninsula Iroquois. The Point Peninsula Iroquois were copying many of the burial mound and earthwork types that were being constructed by the Beaker People in southern Ohio and central Indiana.

  
   
    
  

Kramer Iroquois Indian Earthen Fortification in Allen County, Indiana Near Fort Wayne

Kramer Iroquois Indian Earthen Fortification in Allen County, Indiana Near Fort Wayne
Lost Indiana history

     Ancient Allen County?  Indiana Indians have left the richest prehistoric remains in Northeast Indiana  in Allen County near the city of Fort Wayne. Two earthworks and three burial mounds can still be found in the county, but nothing is recognized as an historic site.  Archaeologists at IPFW have published their report on the Kramer Iroquois earthen fortification, but redacted everything from the report that would indicate the location of the earthwork.  Yet, stated the need for the earthwork to be preserved. Keeping in mind that when an archaeologists say "preserved" it means preserved for more digs and inevitable destruction. Why this is not part of Fort Wayne's tourism is a complete mystery.
     The only way this ancient Iroquois earthwork will be preserved is if people become aware of it and its location.

A series of horseshoe shaped earthworks were constructed by the early Iroquois tribe as early as 500 A.D. along the Maumee River near Toldeo.  Identical forts were also constructed on the St. Joe River, near Ft. Wayne and at the headwaters of the Eel River in Whitley County, Indiana.

Two parallel earthworks can be found at the river"s edge and traced a distance in the woods.  The end or enclosed area was partially destroyed by farming.  A slight moat or ditch is still visible on the outside of the earthen wall that once held a wooden stockade.

Only a small section of the end of the Kramer Iroquois earthwork is still visible.  Its height is much larger than the two parallel walls the extend from the river.  

A local artist from Ft. Wayne, Indiana drew this recreation of the Kramer Iroquois earthwork. The houses are Adena and not correct. The earthwork likely contained a Long House within its walls.
The Native Americans depicted should have looked more "Iroquois," and less like the artist that drew it.

View Larger Map

This is the location of the Iroquois Earthwork that the archaeologists call the "Kramer Earthwork"  But,
DO NOT TRY TO ACCESS THIS SITE.  THE OWNERS HAVE SHERIFFS PATROL THE AREA VIGILANTLY AND YOU WILL GET ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING.

Over 85 Prehistoric Earthworks in Indiana and 222 Total in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Michigan

Mound Builders in Fort Wayne (Allen County) Indiana

 Mound Builders in Fort Wayne (Allen County) Indiana

Various Birdstones and Tube Pipe Found in Allen County, Indiana.

Map showing location of Indian Burial Mounds and earthworks near Fort Wayne in Allen County, Indiana

The History of Allen County Indiana, 1880

“Prehistoric Remains” by R. S. Robertson:

     What became of them is another question, which will probably forever remain unanswered. That they disappeared at once is wholly improbable, as is also the theory that they were totally destroyed. The most probably theory is that as they met the first eruption of the savage red man from the northwest, and all Indiana tradition points to this quarter for the place where the Indians came, they were gradually driven in their outlying settlements, and finally overwhelmed by the constantly flowing tide of ruthless savages, more skilled than they in warfare, and envious of their rich hunting grounds.

     The remnants of the Mound-Builders would be pressed by southward, whence they came and those of the savages who followed them to the south and overcame them would retain more of their customs than those tribes of the north who amalgamated with them in lesser degree, or not at all .

     Northern Indiana has many proofs of the presence of this race recorded almost indelibly upon its soil, and they have left some of their monuments in Allen County, but not as many, nor so extensive, as ones found in Ohio or to the southern part of Indiana.

       While some of them were pushing upward, and making great settlements along the tributaries of the Ohio, others had passed further up the Mississippi, discovered The great Lakes, and entered into quite extensive copper mining operations on the shores of Lake Superior. Colonies had occupied Michigan, and as far south in Indiana as the Kankakee, and it from them, we think, that Allen County received the marks of their occupation. All along the valley of Cedar Creek, in DeKalb County, their mounds and earthworks appear in considerable number, but decrease in number as we proceed southward onto Allen County, and we totally wanting in the southern portion of the county.

       On Cedar Creek, near Stoners, on the Fort Wayne J & S Railroad, is a group of four mounds. Two of them are in a line north and south and are about forty feet apart. About fifteen rods east of these are two others about the same distance apart and on a line nearly east and west. When visited by the writer a few years since, three of them had been partially excavated years before and were said to have contained a large number of human bones, arrow-heads and some copper ornaments. The remaining mound was excavated at the time but disclosed only lumps of charcoal and a layer of hard-baked earth near its base.

     These mounds are situated on the high ground between the Cedar and Willow Creeks, and the Auburn Road passed between them.

      Four miles south of these on the Coldwater Road, on the farm of Henry Wolford (now owned by Mr. Bowser) is a large oblong mound which was only partially explored, but in which a perforated piece of ribboned slate was found, with much charcoal and a stratum of baked earth.

      At Cedarville, on the St. Joseph, near the mouth of Cedar Creek, are three mounds about a hundred feet apart, situated on a line running northwest nearly parallel with the general direction of the river at this point. None of them have been fully explored, but one has been nearly removed to use its earth for mending the road, and charcoal was found in considerable quantities, as is usual in mounds of this class.

      Descending the St. Joseph on the east, to the farm of Peter Notestine, one of the oldest settlers, we find a circular “fort” or earthwork, situated in the bend of the river... it has been plowed over for nearly thirty years and has lost much of its outlines. Many relics have been found here, and when newly plowed, numerous fragments of pottery, flints, and stone implements are yet found in and around its site. A large pipe of pottery was found here some years since. The bowel and stem are molded in one piece and the end of the stem has been flattened by the fingers while plastic to form a mouthpiece.

Henge or open air sun temple on the St. Joseph River near Fort Wayne, Indiana. The gateways to henges are generally aligned to solar events.  This gateway is aligned to the May 1st sunrise.  The pipe described in the previous history is diagnostic of the Point Peninsula Iroquois that would date this henge from 200 B.C.- 200 A.D.; a date that contemporaneous with the many henges in central Indiana and the Ohio Valley that were constructed by the Adena. The Iroquois from this time period had assimilated many of the Adena burial mound and earthwork traits.

.Still further down the river, on the west side, opposite Antraps Mill, is a semi-circular fort with its ends on the riverbank.

It is about 600 feet in arc. The earthwork is yet nearly two feet high, with a well-defined ditch on the outside. Very large trees, which have grown on the embankment, have fallen and gone to decay. We found in the earth, which had been upturned by a fallen tree, a fragment from the neck of a vessel of pottery with square indentations on the surface.

A series of these horseshoe shaped works extended down the Maumee River to Toledo. They along with the circular works were all 200 feet in diameter.

The Earthen walls of this prehistoric Iroquois work can still be seen north of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

No efforts have been made to preserve the earthwork and it is not listed as an historic site.  It was subjected to excavations by IPFW archaeologists, the last few years, but what damage was done to the work has not been investigated.  The Allen County Historical Society [ It's  a "Center" now] was informed of the earthwork, but claimed they "had no interest" ????

      Still further down the river, on the east side, at the mouth of Breckenridge Creek, is a single mound, which has not been opened except a slight excavation in its side, which developed the customary lumps of charcoal. This point is about four miles north of Fort Wayne, and is the most southerly point in the county at which mounds and earthworks are known to exist.

Iroquois burial mound can still be seen on Breckenridge Creek, the dam has raised water levels and it is now partially submerged part of the year.

History of the Maumee River Basin, 1905

     Nine mounds have been determined on the high banks of the Maumee River. Two of these mounds are in Indiana near the Ohio line.

Iroquois Burial mound in eastern Allen County on the Maumee River, before being desecrated by IPFW archaeologist who removed the skeletons from the mound so that they could be boxed up at the University. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the mounds in Allen county were Iroquois, the Universities refuse to acknowledge the fact because it invokes the Native American Graves Protection Act that deems it a crime to dig in to a  grave of a "known" tribe.

Another burial mound located on the Maumee River in eastern Allen County. An excavation by Indiana University has left a hole in the top giving it a "volcano" appearance.

Near the last mound is this rare venerated Spirit Tree that was part of the sacred landscape that also included the rapids of the Maumee.  The tree was struck by lightning a few years ago and has been destroyed.