Fort Wayne, Indiana - 200 B.C. - 200 A.D.

Fort Wayne, Indiana - 200 B.C. - 200 A.D.
Burial mounds and earthworks constructed by the ancient Iroquois

   There are several prehistoric mound builder sites that are Point Peninsula Iroquois that dates from 200 B.C. - 200 A.D. The remnants of an earthen Sun Temple or Henge is located on the St. Joseph River and a burial mound surrounded by a slight ditch on the Maumee River at Bull Rapids.

A burial mound is located on a high bluff overlooking the Maumee River east of Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  A slight ditch surrounds the mound that is diagnostic of Point Peninsula Iroquois.

The ancient Iroquois believed in Animism, which is the belief that spirits resided in springs, rapids and other natural landmarks.  The site of the mound is located next to a spring that emits water that is magnetized and was bottled at one time. The mound is located at Bull Radids on the Maumee River.

This "Spirit Tree" was also found at this site.  The tree was estimated at being over 500 years old and shows the long history of this being a spiriitual site for the Iroquois. The tree was hit by lightning in 2001 and destroyed.

Mound City Earthwork and Burial Complex in Chillicothe, Ohio

 Mound City Earthwork and Burial Complex in Chillicothe, Ohio

Map of the Mound City, Mound and Earthwork Complex

Early photo shows how large the earthen wall of the enclosure was originally

Photo of the burial mounds inside the enclosure before being excavated by the Ohio Historical Society.

Excavation of one of the mounds revealed  a skeleton that rested on a bed of mica tablets.

Another one of the burial mounds at Mound City being hacked into by the Ohio Historical Society

Severla Pipes that were removed from the burial mounds. Many of the artifacts from Mound City were sold to museums in England.

Mound City was only partially restored by the Ohio Historical Society. The earthen wall that surrounded the burial mounds is only a slight burm of earth. None of the burial mounds were restored to their orignal height and size.

Burial Mounds and Earthworks in Jefferson, County, New York

Burial Mounds and Earthworks in Jefferson, County, New York

 We are not surprised, therefore, at finding here numerous traces of former occupancy. 'These consist chiefly of enclosures of irregular outlines, situated, for the most part, upon the borders of the high table-land or terrace formed by the abrupt termination of the great limestone deposit of the Trenton group, the base of which, it is supposed, was formerly washed by the waters of Lake Ontario. Quite a number of these works, however, occur upon the lower terrace, in places where the natural features of the ground were favorable to their construction and objects. Works were examined in this county, in the townships of Watertown, Le Ray, Rutland, Rodman, Adams, and Ellisburgh. The following examples are presented in the order in which they were surveyed.

This work occupies a commanding position upon the brow of the second terrace, which is here some hundreds of feet in height, and very abrupt. The ground immediately back of the site of the work is considerably depressed and swampy. It is drained by a little stream (a), which, falling over the cliff, forms a small but picturesque cascade. The narrow channel of this stream was formerly obstructed by a beaver-dam, which converted the marsh into a deep and impassable pond. The elevation upon which this work is situated, it will thus be seen, was well fitted by nature for defensive purposes, possessing the two primary requisites, difficult approach and an unfailing supply of water.

The artificial defences consist of an embankment of earth, with an exterior ditch. The forest covers the greater part of the work, and here the lines are still well preserved. The embankment has an average height of perhaps three feet, by ten feet in width at the base; the ditch is of corresponding dimensions. There are not less than seven gateways, varying from eight to thirty feet in width. Upon the right of the work, towards the swamp already mentioned, there is an abrupt bank not far from thirty feet in height, where the defences are interrupted. At the point indicated by the letter b, a large bass-wood (linden) tree is standing upon the embankment. It measures twelve feet in circumference, three feet above the ground. The trees within the enclosure are of the usual size.

Upon the northeastern slope of the eminence, within the walls of the enclosure, and where the soil is sandy and dry, are a great number of small pits and depressions in the earth. They are now nearly filled by accumulations of leaves, but they must at first have been from four to six feet in depth. Upon excavating some of them, it was found that they were the caches in which the former occupants of the work had placed their stores.¹ And although it seems probable the original deposits had been removed, considerable quantities of parched corn, now carbonized by long exposure, were still to be found within them. There were, perhaps, forty or fifty of these excavations within the walls, and several upon the crown of the eminence at c.

Upon removing the leaves at various points within the work, carbonaceous accumulations, bones of animals, fragments of pottery, and other evidences of occupation were discovered. A small portion of the work, indicated on the map, has been cleared and put under cultivation. Here, just exterior to the wall, upon the brow of the natural bank, at the spot marked d, several skeletons have been exhumed by the plough. They had been buried in a sitting posture, and were very well preserved.

By the operation of diluvial causes, the drift has been deposited, in a very singular manner, upon the table-land upon which the above work is situated. In some places it occurs in long, narrow ridges, conforming to the general course of the terrace bank; in others it forms amphitheatres of various sizes; and in a few instances it assumes a conical shape, resembling artificial tumuli. A short distance to the right of the work under notice is a small natural amphitheatre, rising in the midst of the marshy grounds, which has been supposed by some to be artificial. Its relative position is indicated by the letter e.

About one and a half miles southeast of the above work, was formerly another of perhaps larger size. It occupied a high, oval-shaped hill, one side of which is very steep, while the other subsides gently to the general level. The embankment extended in a semicircular form around that part of the hill not protected by nature; and, previous to the cultivation of the ground, was upwards of six feet in height from the bottom of the trench. A very slight depression, and the greater luxuriance of the verdure, resulting from the filling of the trench with surface loam, are all that now indicate the original lines. It is said that there was an avenue leading off, for some distance, to the westward; but it is no longer traceable. At the base of this hill is a boulder, in which are several artificial depressions, doubtless intended for mortars, and a variety of grooves, in which the stone axes and other implements of the aborigines were rubbed, in order to reduce them to the required shape.

Indian Mounds and Earthworks Near the Famous Serpent Mound

Indian Mounds and Earthworks Near the Famous Serpent Mound
Adams County, Ohio

 About one-half mile north of Winchester is a fine mound and three circles, the walls of which were when first discovered about five feet high. These circles are about 150 feet in diameter. Circles measuring 150 foot in diameter is significant because it is the same length as the diameters of the interior circle of the henges at Mounds State Park in Anderson, Cambridge City Indiana and those found in Chillicothe and Athens Ohio.

* Explorations of the Valley of Brush Creek. This region is well known because in its northern part is located the famous Serpent Mound. The serpent itself has been the subject of much literature and considerable has been published regarding Fort Hill, in the edge of Highland County, but a few miles up Brush Creek from the serpent. But no one seems to have examined the remains lying between the serpent and the Ohio River. There are several branches of Ohio Brush Creek which also have remains along their shores, so that altogether there is about sixty miles of occupied territory along Brush Creek Valley. On the farm of James McCullough, about four miles north of Youngs- ville, a small mound was opened and a skeleton badly decayed found near the center, with head toward the east. Several flint war points, some bones, needles, and a few bear tusks were found near the shoulders. In a small stone mound on the farm of James Montgomery was found a cremated skeleton and one badly decayed. An earth mound three- fourths of a mile northeast of Montgomery's was opened and a hammer stone and decayed bones found. On the McCullough farm five miles south of Youngsville, three stone mounds, nine by eleven, seventeen by twenty-one, seven by ten, and each about one foot high were explored. They occupy a high point of land over looking West Fork of Brush Creek. Bodies as in case of all stone graves or mounds lay upon the surface, and had been covered with bark and stones heaped on top. No relics accompanied the remains. On a spur of the same hill, lower down, say 100 feet above the valley is an earth mound, two feet high and thirty-two feet in diameter. In the center was found a skeleton buried about five feet deep. The skeleton was surrounded by large flat stones forming a kind of sarcophagus. On the Swearinger farm two and a half miles below Newport on Ohio Brush Creek is an earth mound. On the Plummer farm just below Newport is a village site containing twenty-five acres, and must have had 200 lodges. There are numerous pottery fragments, flint chips, bones, and other remains scattered over the surface. Skeletons in graves have been found here. On the Florea farm at an elevation of 500 feet, commanding a view of the country for ten miles about, is an earth mound.

On the Patton farm on Cherry Fork is a mound four feet high and forty feet base. In it was a badly decayed skeleton and two rare spear heads. A layer of charcoal two inches thick covered the skeleton. There are a number of stone graves on the farm of William McCor- mick on West Fork of Brush Creek. On the Williams farm across West Fork from McCormick's, on a hill 175 feet high is a mound four feet high and forty in diameter. In it was found burnt earth, charcoal, a cremated skeleton and one spearhead. On the Finley farm near North Liberty is a mound four feet high and fifty feet broad. Two skeletons were found above which were much charcoal and ashes and two fine spearheads of the "shouldered" pattern. About one-half mile north of Winchester is a fine mound and three circles, the walls of which were when first discovered about five feet high. These circles are about 150 feet in diameter. One mile north of Winchester on a branch of West Fork, Mr. James McNutt in 1896 found a cache or pocket of eighteen spears of fine workmanship, and constitute one of the finest deposits ever discovered. Above and below the village of Rome six miles above the mouth of Ohio Brush Creek are extensive village sites with refuse scattered over the fields in great profusion. Just below Rome on the high bank of the river, 200 yards from the water, is a mound two feet high and fifty feet in diameter. In this mound were twenty-two skeletons. To the above we add the following: On Ohio Brush Creek, on the old Daniel Collier farm, there is a circular enclosure 200 feet in diameter and three to four feet high. This is situated on the broad terrace on the right bank of the creek about three-fourths of a mile below the Collier residence, and just below the old ford of the creek. The banks of the creek have been washed away until a portion of the circle is exposed, giving a fine sectional view. There are fragments of human bones, shells, charcoal and flint chips extending through a vertical section of two feet. There are numerous stone graves on the high hills overlooking Brush Creek in this region. At the mouth of Ohio Brush Creek is a village site, and numerous, kettle-shaped pockets of burnt earth, charcoal and other debris. On the Ohio River just below Vineyard Hill was a fine mound perhaps fifteen feet high and one hundred feet in diameter near which Israel Donalson was captured by the Indians in April. 1791. When the writer visited this mound in 1883, the river had cut it nearly all away. In the archaeological report above quoted, the mound at Rome is said to be the place of Donalson's captivity. This is a gross error. Below the mouth of Island Creek and near the upper island is a mound and circle. And at the crossing of Seventh and Broadway in the town of Manchester stood a most beautiful mound twenty or twenty-five feet high, and perfect as a cone. It is said that the Ellison heirs who owned the land had this beautiful tumulus dug down and carted away.

Megalithic Stone Chambered Burial Mounds in Missouri

Megalithic Stone Chambered Burial Mounds in Missouri

    These chambered mounds are situated in the eastern part of Clay County, Missouri, and form a large group on both sides of the Missouri River. The chambers are, in the three opened by Mr. Curtiss, about 8 feet square, and from 4½ to 5 feet high, each chamber having a passage-way several feet in length and 2 in width, leading from the southern side and opening on the edge of the mound formed by covering the chamber and passage-way with earth. The walls of the chambered passages were about 2 feet thick, vertical, and well made of stones, which were evenly laid without clay or mortar of any kind. The top of one of the chambers had a covering of large, flat rocks, but the others seem to have been closed over with wood. The chambers were filled with clay which had been burnt, and appeared as if it had fallen in from above. The inside walls of the chambers also showed signs of fire. Under the burnt clay, in each chamber, were found the remains of several human skeletons, all of which had been burnt to such an extent as to leave but small fragments of the bones, which were mixed with the ashes and charcoal. Mr. Curtiss thought that in one chamber
he found the remains of 5 skeletons and in another 13. With these skeletons, there were a few flint implements and minute fragments of vessels of clay.

A large mound near the chambered mounds was also opened, but in this no chambers were found. Neither had the bodies been burnt. This mound proved remarkably rich in large flint implements, and also contained well-made pottery and a peculiar “gorget” of red stone. The connection of the people who placed the ashes of their dead in the stone chambers with those who buried their dead in the earth mounds is, of course, yet to be determined.

It is quite possible, indeed probable, that these chambers were used for secondary burials, the bodies having first been cremated.

Cattaraugus County, New York - Indian Burial Mounds

Cattaraugus County, New York - Indian Burial Mounds

 
In the town of Conewango was a tumulus 13 feet high, with a diameter of 61 by 65 feet.

 Skeletons were found with relics. In the village of Randolph was 
a burial mound 10 feet high and 35 feet in diameter. In the town 
of Bucktooth, north side of the Allegheny, was a burial mound, 39 
feet in diameter and 10 feet high. Another was in the town of 
Napoli, on Cold Spring creek, which was 120 feet around. At 
Olean were several of these, one being 40 by 60 feet in diameter 
and nearly 10 feet high. One in Dayton was of the same hight, 
and 120 feet in circumference. Another was on the west side of 
the Allegheny river, in the town of Cold Spring. This has been 
reported as 200 feet around and 20 feet high ; probably an exaggera- 
tion. On Cold Spring creek, 2 miles from the Allegheny, were two 
burial mounds, 10 feet high and 100 feet around. Others were in 
the towns of Leon and Conewango, in one of which were 8 sitting 
skeletons. 

Richmond, Indiana Burial Mound Tour

 Richmond, Indiana Burial Mound Tour

Richmond City Waterworks. Mound originally was thirty-five feet in diameter and nearly six feet high. Located in the northeast one-quarter of Section 34, Wayne Township.

Surviving burial mound is located south of the "Fort."  Square earthworks were abundant in this part of Indiana. Another square was north of Richmond and another at Winchester Indiana. 

The burial mound near the "Fort" is still visible and unique in that a raises sacred via is evident going down the steep hill to the next terrace.  

After clearing brush away from this burial mound, I was able to get this photograph. The mound is within the city limits of Richmond within the arboretum. 


The ruins of the ancient civilization of the Adena Hopewell are scattered all over the State of Indiana. 85 burial mound and earthwork sites have been located.

  222 Burial Mounds and Earthworks. Directions to 85 Burial Mounds and Earthworks in Indiana

Shelby County, County Ohio Indian Burial Mounds

Shelby County, County Ohio Indian Burial Mounds 

A mound in the northern part of Van Buren township. Ex- 
plored ; contained balls and burnt human bones. Described by C. 
Williamson, "Science," Vol. IX (1887), p. 135. 

Mound City, Adena Hopewell Enclosure in Chillicothe Ohio

Mound City, Adena Hopewell Earthen Enclosure and Mounds in Chillicothe Ohio in Ross County

       Plate presents a very interesting group of works. They are situated on the left bank of the Scioto river, four miles north of the town of Chillicothe. The enclosure, designated, from the great number of mounds within its walls, "Mound City," is in many respects the most remarkable in the Scioto valley. Through the generous kindness of Henry Shriver, Esq., upon whose estate it is situated, the mounds were all permitted to be investigated; and the work will, in consequence, be often referred to in the course of this volume, particularly when we come to speak of "Mounds."

In outline it is nearly square, with rounded angles, and consists of a simple embankment, between three and four feet high, unaccompanied by a ditch. Its site is the beautiful level of the second terrace, and it is still covered with the primitive forest.

       The first and most striking feature in connection with this work is the unusual number of mounds which it contains. There are no less than twenty-four within its walls. All of these, as above observed, have been excavated, and the principal ones found to contain altars and other remains, which put it beyond question that they were places of sacrifice, or of superstitious origin. [The evidence in support of this conclusion will appear in a subsequent chapter on the mounds and their purposes.]

       These mounds seem placed generally without design in respect to each other, although there is a manifest dependence between those composing the central group, and between those numbered 4 and 5, and 12 and 13. From the principal mound, numbered 7 in the plan, after the fall of the leaves, a full view of every part of the work and of its enclosed mounds is commanded. This mound is seventeen feet high, with a broad base nearly one hundred feet in diameter. The long mound, No. 3, is one hundred and forty feet long, by eighty wide at the base, and ten feet in average height. Broad and deep pits, from which the earth for the construction of the mounds was taken, surround the work. The one occurring at the south-western angle, and of which a b exhibits a vertical section, is at this time eighteen feet deep, by one hundred and twenty feet in width, and over two hundred feet in length. The accumulation of vegetable deposit at the bottom is found, by excavation, to be not less than thirty inches,—a fact which may assist in an approximate estimate of the age of this monument.

The absence of an exterior ditch, as also the fact that the work is commanded from a slightly elevated terrace half a bow-shot to the left, seems sufficient to establish that it was not designed for defence. The skill, which the illustrations of a previous chapter convince us the mound-builders possessed in selecting and fortifying their military positions, is in no degree displayed in this instance. Taking in view also the character and purposes of the mounds as disclosed by excavation, we are certainly well warranted in classing this as a sacred work.

      The custom of enclosing the Adoratorios or Teocallis, upon which their sacrifices and religious rites generally were practised, was universal among the Mexicans. The open temples of the ancient Britons were embraced within parapets of earth, usually, if not always, circular in form. The "tabooed" grounds or sacred places of the Pacific Islanders, are also surrounded, if not by earthen, by stone walls or by palisades.

     One fourth of a mile to the north-west of this work is ay small circle two hundred and fifty feet in diameter, accompanied by two large mounds.

222 Burial Mound and Earthworks to Explore

Maps of Bural of Adena Hopewell Burial Mounds Earthworks at Chillicothe, Ohio, Paint Creek and the Great Miami River

 Maps of Adena Hopewell Earthworks at Chillicothe, Ohio, Paint Creek and the Great Miami River

Earthworks found around Chillicothe, Ohio.  None of the earthworks were preserved, with the few that did survive until the 20th century being destroyed by the Ohio Historical Society.  Map from Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, 1848.

Chillicothe, Ohio (Ross County) Mounds and Earthworks Map
      Exhibiting a section of twelve miles of the Scioto valley, with its ancient monuments, will serve to give some general conception of the number of these remains. The enclosures are here indicated by dark lines, the mounds by simple dots. Within the section represented, it will be observed that there are not less than ten groups of large works, accompanied by a great number of mounds, of various sizes. Within the enclosure designated by the letter E are embraced twenty-four mounds. The enclosures D, H, I, K, have each about two and a half miles of embankment; and Hand K enclose but little less than one hundred acres each. It is proper to observe, to prevent misconception, that there are few sections of country of equal extent which embrace so large a number of ancient works. The fertile valley of the Scioto river was a favorite resort of the ancient people, and was one of the seats of their densest population. 

Earthworks located west of Chilliocthe, Ohio along Pant Creek.  Spuce Hill and the Seip mound and earthwork can still be explored.

Valley of Paint Creek Earthworks Map

    Enlarged planPLATE III, No. 1, exhibits a section of six miles of the Valley of Paint Creek, a tributary of the Scioto river. The village of Bourneville is ten miles west of Chillicothe. Within this limit are embraced three works of extraordinary size, besides several smaller ones. The works, designated by the letters A and B, have each upwards of two miles of heavy embankment, and contain not far from one hundred acres. The stone work C has an area of one hundred and forty acres, enclosed within a wall upwards of two and a fourth miles longs 

The Great Miami Valley Earthwork Map

PLATE III, No. 2, presents a section of six miles of the Great Miami valley, included principally within the limits of Butler county, Ohio. Not less than seven enclosures, of considerable size, occur within these bounds. The work indicated by the letter G contains ninety-five acres. 

Not far from one hundred enclosures of various sizes, and five hundred mounds, are found in Ross county, Ohio. The number of tumuli in the State may be safely estimated at ten thousand, and the number of enclosures at one thousand or fifteen hundred. Many of them are small, but cannot be omitted in an enumeration. They are scarcely less numerous on the Kenhawas in Virginia, than on the Scioto and Miamis; and are abundant on the White river and Wabash, as also upon the Kentucky, Cumberland, Tennessee, and the numerous other tributaries of the Ohio and Mississippi.

Nor is their magnitude less a matter of remark than their great number. Lines of embankment, varying in height from five to thirty feet, and enclosing areas of from one to fifty acres, are common; while enclosures of one or two hundred acres area are far from infrequent. Occasional works are found enclosing as many as four hundred acres The magnitude of the area enclosed is not, however, always a correct index of the amount of labor expended in the erection of these works. A fortified hill in Highland county, Ohio, has one mile and five-eighths of heavy embankment; yet it encloses an area of only about forty acres. A similar work on the Little Miami river, in Warren county, Ohio, has upwards of four miles of embankment, yet encloses little more than one hundred acres. The group of works at the mouth of the Scioto river has an aggregate of at least twenty miles of embankment; yet the entire amount of land embraced within the walls does not probably much exceed two hundred acres.

The mounds are of all dimensions, from those of but a few feet in height and a few yards in diameter, to those which, like the celebrated structure at the mouth of Grave Creek in Virginia, rise to the height of seventy feet, and measure one thousand feet in circumference at the base. The great mound in the vicinity of Miamisburgh, Montgomery county, Ohio, is sixty-eight feet in perpendicular height, and eight hundred and fifty-two in circumference at the base, containing 311,353 cubic feet.

222 Burial Mound and Earthworks Sites in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Michigan. 
 SEE THE MOUNDS AND EARTHWORKS THAT THE OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE!

Oto Sioux Burial Mounds in Marshall County, Indiana

Oto Sioux Burial Mounds in Marshall County, Indiana

Historic Map showing location of Early native American Indian burial mounds in Marshall County, Indiana

“One Township’s Yesterdays”, The History of Union Township, Marshall County

      Beginning at another beginning, this time concerning the earliest man in what is now Union Township, we run into a real problem. Who was the first man to reside in the township? What kind of being was he? Was our earliest human inhabitant a so-called Mound-Builder? It is true that mounds have been found in the township. But were they the work of those little-known aborigines, or merely of later comers, the Indians? We cannot answer. So far, the mystery of the mounds of Union Township remains unsolved.. and doubtless will remain forever without a satisfactory explanation.

      Those mysterious people of the past, the Mound-Builders, are said on good authority to have been inhabitants of certain sections of Indiana, and it is reasonable on our part to claim at least a small portion of their population for Union Township. We shall do that. Assuming that they were here.... how long ago, we cannot conjecture... we must give them at least passing mention in our history.

      Let us first turn the clock back again... a long, long way. We find ourselves ... in another flight of imagination ... at the beginning of the great Ice Age. “Vast ice-flows march down upon northern American.” The clock ticks, seconds for year, or more likely for centuries, or for ages. We have little idea what extent of time our fanciful seconds should represent. But time flies, for now “appears man, hunter and savage, fighting for his life on the edge of the retreating ice.” The history of mankind beings.

  It was about six thousand years ago that the written record of history began... and enough has been written since then to make some mighty big mounds /// we have been unable, to date, to find a single word mentioning the Mound-Builders of Union Township. This may have been an oversight. At all events, their place in the history of mankind is hidden behind a very dark cloud of doubt. But we do know that the Mound-Builders were a terribly ancient race and a very industrious race to have built “the mighty mounds that overlook the rivers, or that rise in the dim forest crowded with old oaks.” Since that race lived and died, there have been many and sundry ”footsteps on the prairies.” And says Bryant, “I think of those on whose rest he tramples,” the rest of the dead of other days.

     Little we know, and we may wonder greatly. Let them. The dead answer our questions. Let them tell us the secret of the mounds. A race, that long since has passed away, built them:--a disciplined and populous race heaped, with long toil, the earth while yet the Greek was rearing the Parthenon. So says the poet. Finally, the red man came, the roaming hunter tribes, warlike and fierce, and the Mound-Builders vanished from the earth.

Homes on High Land

    The Mound-Builders were said to have built their homes on high points of land. They left mounds of sundry shapes and sizes, representing serpents, elephants (it seems that they must have known the mammoth or mastodon after all), various other animals, and what-not. Their history is sealed: we have learned little about them. It is said by some writers that traces of them were left in Union Township. These traces have been carefully investigated, and we shall let our readers know just about all we know about them, which is scarcely anything to crow about.

       On the “Burr Oak Flats,” mounds were discovered many years ago on what was then the J.S. Garver farm, located south of Burr Oak community. The portion of the farm on which the mounds were standing is that which includes the original Garver homestead. It is now, in 1934, the William Lake farm. Daniel McDonald reported, in 1881, “There are three what are called Indian Mounds near Maxenkuckee Lake, on the farm of John Garver, on the “Burr Oak Flats.” He said they were not over two hundred or three hundred feet apart and were situated in a triangular position from each other. They were probably thirty feet in diameter, and when first discovered were about six feet in height above the surface of the ground. Since the settlement of this part of the country, they have been cut down and plowed over until, even in 1881, they were not more than half as high as originally.

Indian Mounds on Maxenkuckee Lake

     Excavations were made in one or these mounds in the 70’s or thereabouts, and some human bones were discovered, from which it was conjectured that a battle at some time had been fought there, and the mounds had been made in burying the dead. This, however, was more or less guess-work.

Mounds on Garver Land

     J. S. Garver, in the 70’s, had property on both sides of the road connecting Burr Oak with Lake Maxinkuckee. The homestead, still standing, is sought of the Hibbard cross-road and on the east side of the Burr Oak road. Mr. Gaver had rather extensive lands. He had one parcel east of the Franklin Overmyer property and north of the Hibbard cross-road. The mounds are situated south and east of the old Garver farmhouse. The mounds are situated south and east of the old Garver farmhouse, a couple of hundred feet or more from the Burr Oak road. They are in the southeast corner of the present Lake farm, which takes in only a portion of the much more widespread Garver lands as originally owned.

     In describing the mounds, Minnie H. Swindell says that at one time their tops rose to a height of about six feet and they were about seventy-five feet across. Upon them grew trees and shrubbery. John McFarlin and Henry Grube of Plymouth remembered when the mounds were very high; but since the settlement of this region, they have been plowed under until very little trace of them remains. They were supposed to have been burial places. Grisly skulls covered with mold, and other human bones were found when the mounds were excavated. Near the bones were tools and implements of stone, iron, pottery and copper. These showed that the tribe they represented was somewhat advanced in civilized methods. According to this historian, they built their homes on high ground as a protection from roving Indians, and where spring floods could not reach them. Also, during such floods, animals took refuge on high ground: thus the inhabitants had an abundance of food. They were clever people; instead of permitting the elements to do them harm, they turned such would-be menaces to account.

    Wilbur Brown and other old residents remember when the mounds on the Garver farm used to be conspicuous, while today they are barely distinguishable, having been greatly leveled in the cultivation of the fields. Anyone not already familiar with their location, would have considerable difficulty in finding the old mounds today, since they are now so unassuming. The erosion brought about by wind and rain, added to the leveling-off due to cultivation of the soil, has about obliterated the original contour of the mounds. They now appear like natural waves or swells on the surface of the land, and much like the rolling ridges so common to the countryside in this region. On close observation, however, the mounds can be discerned in their triangular formation, the larger mound of the three being the easternmost.

Find Relics

     A visit to the former Garver farm by the writer was without what may be called success, insofar as supplying further evidence to help solve the enigma: who built the mounds? Some proofs of Indian or other early occupation of the territory were found in the form of chips such as are cast aside by the ancient arrowmakers. These chips were invariably of white or greyish flint. On the mounds and near by were some pieces of granitic stone, broken off apparently from primitive implements, such as grinding stones and tomahawks. Some of these fragments were of serpentine, the technical name for a greenish grey granite, a hard solid rock that was a favorite with the Indians for the make of certain utensils and weapons. Other debris indicated that an antique race once frequented the spot. Fossils and geological specimens were also found in the glacial drift near the mounds. Today there are no trees or shrubbery directly on the mounds, but between one of them and the dry bed of a former pond to the east is a clump of quick-growing trees.

In his later history, published in 1908, Daniel McDonald speaks of the Mound-Builders leaving traces since the days of the mastodon. These strange people are supposed to antedate the American Indian, he said. Mr. McDonald examined two mounds situated close together, on the “Burr Oak Flats.” “Digging a considerable distance into them,” he wrote, “nothing unusual was found.” In a comparatively level country, the height of the mounds indicated to him that they had been built for some purpose by human hands, but as they were composed of solid earth with nothing in them to show why they were built, it was difficult to figure out what they were for. A mile or so farther west from these mounds, he found quite a large mound which seemed to have been investigated, for there had been considerable digging in and around it. He knew of no discovery in this mound of anything that would indicate its purpose or use. Mr. McDonald could not say whether these were the work of Mound-Builders. “They were here, however, long before the Indians came to this part of the country.” He wrote, “as trees and shrubbery grew on some of them and were of considerable size when they came. These mounds were supposed to have been intended as burial places for the dead, as, in excavating in some of them, human bones were found as well as tools and implements of stone, pottery, iron and copper.”

Another Large Mound.

     In the early days quite a large sized mound existed on the west side of Lake Maxinkuckee, on or very near Long Point. It was dug into more than half a century ago, and from time to time since then many curious investigators repeated the process. Some human bones were found. Also charcoal, stone arrow-points and other trinkets and relics. The discovery of these vestiges seemed to indicate that this was a burial place of Mound-Builders or of Indians of a later period, most probably the latter. Practically the same conclusion may be advanced regarding several small mounds at “Pashpo” as originally known, located west of the Michigan Road and three miles south of Plymouth. Investigation of the Pashpo mounds was also made at an early date.

History Varies

      The pliocene skull that Bret Harte versed abut, was said to be a remnant, not only of the earliest pioneer of California, but the oldest known human being. A geologist thought that man existed contemporaneously (a contemptible word) with the mastodon, but this fossil was said to prove that he was here before the mastodon was known to exist.  The Mound-Builder has various reputations. He was said to be of gigantic height, and a cannibal,

Wheels of Time, Ervin Stuntz

    We now walk east past a few waterholes. About one quarter mile, we came to another wooded area with a ridge running diagonally through it from the northwest, located in the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 12 West Township. About in the center, we find two trenches of breastwork. These are about fifty feet apart and nearly 100 feet long.

Stuntz says Burr Oak mounds were in Section 5 Union Township and also mounds in Section 17.

Section 17, Green Township, in the west center used to be a mound, according to Frank Cowen, age 93.

A Photographic Tour of the Adena Hopewell Burial Mounds in Grant County, Indiana

Historic Indiana Map showing the location of  early Native American Indian burial mounds and giant human skeletons  in Grant County, Indiana

History of Grant County, 1877

    Several mounds of considerable size have been found in various parts of the country. Six of these mounds were found within the present limits of Marion, but only one remains, being just back of Buchanan & Sons marble shop on Third Street.     

    The first framed courthouse was built on a mound, which stood just east of the present court house. This was about sixty feet in diameter and ten feet in height, which was among the largest found in the country, the average diameter being from ten to fifteen feet. The mound in the courtyard furnished the material out of which the brick was made for the present court house.

     Excavations into these mounds show that they are composed of alternate layers of gravel and sand. One a level with or just below the surface of the surrounding ground, the skeletons of human beings in many instances have been exhumed. These seemed to have been buried in a sitting posture and the stature of some must have been seven feet. The bones when exposed seem much decayed, crumbling on the slightest touch. Articles of pottery ware, stone axes, pipes and various implements have been found, and some interesting collections have been formed of these antique relics.

Reminiscences of the Pioneers of Grant County, “Lest We Forget”

     About 1850 some surveyors who were digging for the Kirkwood gravel road, southeast of Fairmount, uncovered an Indian burying ground. The peculiar thing about this was that they were buried in a sitting posture, the heads being uncovered first. The bones were yellow with age, but the teeth were well preserved.

      Also, when Marion was first laid out, several Indian mounds were found. One was situated just back of the Buchanan’s old marble shop on Third Street, and the first court house was built on a mound. This one was the largest in Grant County being sixteen feet in height and sixty feet in diameter. These mounds contained many human bones, and an expert from Chicago said that the people must have been seven feet tall.

History of Grant County, 1886

    Several other well defined mounds were found near the residence of David Overman, and two near the entrance to the Old Quarter Cemetery, bones, charcoal, burnt clay and small pieces of pottery were found. In some instances, the bones showed traces of the fire which evidently consumed the flesh. On the bluff east of the city, another has been excavated, but nothing of interest was found. 

Two of three proto-Iroquois mounds that are in the former IOOF cemetery in Marion, Indiana.  The owner of the cemetery had sold the mounds as burial plots and was scheduled to be destroyed. 

Three well preserved mounds a(mounds in groups of three occur across northeast Indiana and ae diagnostic of the early Iroquois)r were found on the farm of William Zeverich, on the farm of Milton Camblin, near the lake in Fairmount Township, which is supposed to be in the course of an old glacial river, numerous evidence still remains.

Early Native American Iroquois burial mound in Grant County, Indiana is overgrown with tall grass that just makes its outline visible.

Indiana Department of Geology and Natural History, 1883

     A little north of Jonesboro, on the bluffs of the river, are two or three small tumuli, which contained a few beads, along with bones, ashes, and charcoal, so common in this class of works. Quite a number of axes, arrowheads, etc., have been found in the vicinity.

In Section 33, Monroe Township, and in VanBuren Township, near Black Creek, are a number of small mounds similar to those described. One or two small ones are situated on the bluffs, east of the river, near Marion. The largest in the county, however, was situated near where the court house now stands, and in the city cemetery.

      The largest of mounds found in Grant County is that one found two miles south and one mile west of Upland, in Jefferson Township. About forty years ago the mound was five or six rods in diameter and about fifty feet high. At that time it was covered with all kinds of timber.

Only a slight undulation in this field marks the spot of this large mound that was destroyed by the gravel company who owns this land.  Neighbors had told the gravel company that these were early Native American burial mounds, but the owner destroyed them for the price of fill dirt.  Additional mounds were also located at the tree line to the right, that was also destroyed by the gravel company.

The only mound that is intact of the group is this one that is across the road from the last.  The owners are dedicated to its preservation and will not let university archaeologist touch it.

  
   After people began settling near the mound they began clearing away the timber. The dirt was carried about a quarter of a mile. There is a basin near, rather deep, and at that time it was covered with trees, the same as the mound. The supposition of the old settlers was that the dirt in the mound was carried from where the basin is now.

     People owning the land cleared the mound and for years have plowed it down until at the present time it is merely nothing but a small hill. In plowing and digging the mound many relics of the mound builders have been found, such as darts, hatchets, gun-barrels and bows.

     The darts were just ordinary shaped ones like those found in later years. The hatchets were made of stone, mostly of blue granite. They were large and rudely shaped. The guns were old-fashioned flint-lock guns.

    The owner of the mound gave many people permission to dig into it. One day two men were given permission to dig. The dug a trench north and south about four feet deep. After ____ they found a part of a skeleton of a man, the thigh bone, ball and socket joint, and many small bones. When the small bones were exposed to the air they immediately crumbled. The ball and socket and thigh bones were taken to a physician in Upland and he estimated the bones were of a man at least nine feet tall and weighing not less than three hundred pounds and the man was not fleshy.

    A stone smoking pipe was found. The bowl of the pipe was two and half inches in diameter and the stem was six or seven inches long. It was made in the shape of a letter (L) and of blue granite stone.  (pipe is diagnostic of the early Iroquois)

   Under the place where the bones and pipe were found, was a bed of boulders, from the size of a hen egg to the size of a man’s head, being cemented together. The old settlers thought the mound builders had their valuables hidden under this bed of boulders. No one has been able to break the boulders with a pick. The pipe was taken to Marion and ten dollars was given for it.

    There is another mound a short distance down the river from the large one. This mound is much smaller than the one just mentioned. In it was found a silver wheel, made like a buggy wheel, and cut from silver. It was four inches in diameter.