PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGr. 769 



Diit has no growth on it. There is no depression of the earth near by. 

 It was explored by an old gentleman 30 years ago for treasures. He 

 sunk a pit 3 feet in diameter from the center of the summit to the level 

 of the surrounding earth. A gentleman who was present gives the fol- 

 lowing account : The mound was composed of red clay, and extending 

 from the apex to the bottom was a circular space, 6 inches in diameter, 

 consisting of black mold, apparently the remains of a pole, around 

 which the mound had been built ; nothing else was discovered. 



At the head of the bluff, east of mound No. 1, is a good ford, with 

 hard, sandy bottom, the only one known on Crooked Creek. On the 

 north bank, which is 10 feet high, is a deep worn trail, plainly visible, 

 although it has not been used as a crossing since the settlement of this 

 country, as long ago as 1820. The old settlers call it the " buffalo trail." 

 A ridge runs from this ford to the lower end of the bluff near mound 

 No. 2, where there is another ford and the only one on Clear Creek for 

 a number of miles. Like No. 1 , it shows a deep trail worn down the 

 bluff on the east side. From the bottom runs a ridge near mounds No. 

 3 and 4. 



When this country was first explored by white men, all the land west 

 and north of Clear Creek for a great distance was open barrens, almost 

 devoid of timber, and, consequently, a vast grazing iDlace for buffalo, 

 elk, deer, etc. These fords gave them the only means of crossing in 

 their migrations, and the absence of any remains or relics in the two 

 explored mounds leads me to the opinion that they were designed for 

 observation. Each one is within sight of another, from No. 1 to No. 4. 

 Mr. Edward Gwin, who settled this place, collected quite a number of 

 relics in the vicinity of mounds Nos. 1 and 2, consisting mostly of spear 

 and arrow heads and obsidian axes. They were sent to the Smithson- 

 ian Institution by Prof. E. H. Eandle a few years ago. 



The other indications of the former occupation of this region by the 

 aborigines are the remains of a great number of workshops. There are 

 a great many springs in this country, and wherever a spring occurs, on 

 the nearest elevation will be found quantities of flint chippiugs, broken 

 pottery, incomplete arrow-points, blocks of flint, smooth, rounded stones, 

 some with a small cavity worn on one or on both sides. These places 

 occupy an area of from J to 2 acres. The material used must have been 

 brought from a great distance, as there is no stone in this country except 

 soft sandstone, and very little of that. 



In 1863 the author assisted in exploring a mound 3 miles west of Tu- 

 pelo, Miss. It was 8 feet high, 30 feet in diameter, and composed of 

 white sand. It was situated on a ridge 400 feet west of a bluff, at the 

 base of which is a spring. A shaft about 6 feet in diameter was sunk 

 from the summit to the level of the surrounding soil, and a circular 

 space filled with dark mold was reached. It was not more than 2 

 inches in diameter. The ridge on which it was situated was composed 

 of loose sand covered with small growth of scrub oak. 

 H. Mis. 20 40 



