GAGE INDIAN MOUNDS. 227 



a very few, and the data obtained will not admit of any general- 

 ization ; I will therefore confine myself to the facts obtained by 

 the investigations. 



Davis and Squier have classified the mounds under the follow- 

 ing heads : 



( for Defence, 

 I. Enclosures -| Sacred, 



( Miscellaneous. 



j of Sacrifice, 



Tr ,. , ) for Temple-sites, 



II. Mounds < c o K 



j of Sepulture, 

 ' of Observation. 



In my explorations I observed no works which might be strictly 

 denominated enclosures. One very large mound examined in 

 Washington County was about So feet in diameter and 40 feet 

 high, in the shape of a truncated cone. The results of the inves- 

 tigation led me to conclude that this had been a mound of obser- 

 vation. On opening it no relics were discovered ; it was entirely 

 composed of soil of the country (denominated "buckshot land") ; 

 it is built on the old bank of the Mississippi river, and crowns a 

 conspicuous point which overlooks the surrounding country ; — 

 there are no other mounds in the immediate neighborhood. 



The second mound examined contained a large number of flint 

 (properly "chert") arrow-heads and hatchets ; this mound was 

 about 2 feet high and some 15 or 20 feet in diameter. No doubt 

 at one time it was higher, but, being situated in the middle of a 

 field which has been under cultivation for forty years, it has been 

 cut down by the plow. In the neighborhood numerous arrow- 

 heads lie embedded in the soil and are turned up every spring ; 

 no doubt they all existed at one time in the mound and have been 

 plowed out. 



About 100 yards distant I opened a third mound, with much 

 more satisfactory and interesting results. This mound, though 

 only 11 feet high, is the most prominent piece of land for miles ; 

 it stands in the middle of a cultivated field, and from its top one 

 can see over the open ground for a great distance. This mound 

 in general appearance shows great resemblance to the other 

 mounds in that region, and, though the mounds differ in height 

 and diameter, they are nearly all of a flat truncated-cone shape. 



