MOUNDS OF SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 833 



about the same distance to the westward of the lake. Originally the 

 bluff was covered by a heavy growth of timber, but it has now been 

 cleared, and will no doubt soon be in cultivation. Only one mound was 

 found, the diameter of which is about 30 feet, aud the height 18 inches. 

 The material used in its erection seems to have been camp rubbish, 

 broken pottery, bones, shells, &c. Near the mound are several depres- 

 sions in the earth from 4 to 8 inches in depth and about 30 feet in di- 

 ameter. In the memory of the "oldest inhabitant," Indian wigwams 

 have stood over similar depressions. It is not unreasonable to conclude, 

 then, that this mound once stood in the center of an encampment of In- 

 dians, by whom it was erected through the daily accumulation of rub- 

 bish, bones, shells, &c. 



RICARD'S LAKE MOUND. 



Between Spring Creek and a small lake known as Ricard's Lake, in 

 Gardner Township, on the SW. ^ of the NW. I Sec. 25, is a mound sit- 

 uated on a ridge. The lake is about 200 yards south of the stream, 

 and the mound is midway between the two. The diameter of the mound 

 is 50 feet and the height 5 feet. The material with which it was built 

 was taken from the surface of the earth immediately around the mound. 

 If any particular arrangement of the material was attempted it was not 

 apparent in the hasty and very imperfect excavation made. At a depth 

 of 3 feet, at the center of the mound, two bowls of rude pottery were 

 found. They were side by side, and though the settling of the dirt, 

 after the completion of the mound, had broken the bottom and sides 

 somewhat, it had not overturned them. What they may have contained 

 when first buried could not be ascertained from the inspection given 

 after exhumation. The excavation was not carried deeper, and no other 

 relics were discovered. The ridge on which this mound is located has 

 never been cleared, although some of the larger trees have been cut for 

 lumber. 



CONVERSE MOUNDS. 



On the west side of Spring Creek, and about a quarter of a mile from 

 its junction with the Sangamon River, in Springfield Township, on the 

 SE. £ of the NE. ^ Sec. 10, was, at one time, a group of mounds. They 

 were situated probably 100 yards back from the stream, on a broad hill- 

 side sloping toward the south -and east. The ground has been cleared 

 of the forest, and under cultivation so long that almost all traces of the 

 mounds have been lost. A' resident of the vicinity, however, assured 

 the writer that before the laud was cultivated, and even for some years 

 afterward, they were quite prominent. No plan of the group could be 

 made. 



EEISCH MOUND. 



On the bluff west of Sangamon River, and a half a mile down the 

 stream from the month of Spring Creek, in Springfield Township, on 

 the NW. £ of the SE. £ Sec. 3, is a small mound. It is quite probable 

 H. Mis. 69 53 



