346 ANTHROPOLOGY. 



vicinity, who would have known of it long before had it been used by 

 the whites who came on the heels of the departing Indians. 



The Trawell group has only been partially examined. It consists of 

 three mounds, of about the same size and appearance as those last de- 

 scribed, and perhaps of the same character. One of them was opened in 

 1877 by Mr. Trawell, who obtained from it one small hatchet of greenstone. 

 From the Trawell group the Stiles niouuds may be seen. These, as 

 indicated by the diagram, are in the suburbs of the town of Ottumwa,and 

 were examined by me in 1878; nothing of importance was found in them 

 except a few broken arrow-heads, a small hatchet of greenstone, and 

 some small bits of obsidian. If the valley and the intervening ridges 

 were cleared of the growing young timber, one group of the Village 

 Creek mounds, three and a half miles away, would be plain to view 

 from the Stiles mounds. In the fall of 1877, in company with Mr. 

 Richard Williams and Mr. A. T. Holly, of Ottumwa, I examined rather 

 critically three of the Village Creek mounds. They are situated as 

 shown in the sketch, and include seven or eight in each group. The 

 eastern group embraces the mounds which we examined with the most care. 

 They are on a high ridge or promontory which juts out toward the river, 

 presenting a view of the valley below for miles in extent, and suggests to 

 the observer that they might have been a system of signal stations, com- 

 municating by the way of the Trawell and Stiles groups with the Sugar 

 Creek mounds on the north side of the river. These mounds (the Vil- 

 lage Creek group) are about 150 feet in circumference, 4 feet high, and 

 150 feet apart. They contain evidences of fire, and under the follow- 

 ing conditions : after removing about 1 foot of earth we discovered 

 a st latum, about 2 inches in thickness, of decomposed ashes, small bits 

 of charcoal, and what appeared to be calcined bones. Two similar 

 strata of ashes and charcoal Avere discovered on going down deeper 

 into the mound, each occurring at intervals of about 1 foot. It is im- 

 portant to note that these strata extended to the outer circumference of 

 the mound, indicating that successive fires had been kindled covering 

 the entire upper surface; substances were reduced to ashes and then 

 covered with earth. A partial examination of mounds in the western 

 section of the same group was made, aud the same evidences of fire 

 were obtained. White-oak trees 10 inches in diameter were found grow- 

 ing on mounds in this section, and stumps of decayed trees of larger 

 circumference were found on two mounds of the eastern section. 



In the month of July, 1878, in company with lion. Robert Sloan 

 and I). C. Iranian, esq., 1 visited the Ely Ford mounds, near Keosautjua, 

 in Van Buren County. I here present a sketch of the ancient works 

 and the surroundings. 



No. 1. Shell-heap. In northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of 

 section 3, 20 rods, JT. 55° W., from mouth of Ely's Creek ; 20 feet above 

 riverbed; 40 feet from water's edge. Large quantities of fresh-water 



