MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS EELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 543 



from what was once a shallow pond or lake. Tlic land occupied by the 

 lake has been i)artially drained within a few years, and is now a 

 meadow. The surface around the mounds is covered with soil from 12 

 to 18 inches deep, and might have been used for cultivation. William 

 S. Trowbiidge and other old settlers have said that there are, or were 

 a few years ago, hillocks or marks of Indian cornfields in this vicinity, 

 and that they have seen Indian corn growing, i^lanted by the Indians. 

 The land to the west has been partially drained. There is no api)arent 

 arrangement of the materials. The center of the mound is not difler- 

 ent from other parts. The material was probably obtained around the 

 mound, as the soil is deeper under it than at its sides. All have been 

 explored. I have taken bones from two of them, and have been told 

 that pottery and bones were found in the other two. I have one good 

 skull from No. 2, and leg bones, vertebrae, ribs, &c., from No. 1. No 

 account of these mounds has ever been published, to my knowledge. 

 Nos. 3 and 4 have been entirely- obliterated for purposes of cultivation. 

 No. 2 has been dug into. No. 1 is fast being undermined to obtain 

 gravel for the streets of Milwaukee. For two years past 1 have 

 watched with sad interest the destruction of this grand old monument 

 of a decayed race, and secured the bones as they were exposed. It 

 now presents a perpendicular section, running nearly through the cen- 

 ter, of which a photograjih might easily be taken. A maple and a red- 

 oak tree grew upon the mound, each 18 inches in diameter. There are 

 two red-oak stumps within two or three rods of No. 1, 3 feet across the 

 shorter, and 3J feet across the longer diameter. Judging from the soil 

 around them, these trees must have grown since the mound was built. 

 I have counted the annual rings of growth of one, and found them to 

 number 155. I assisted in taking out of No. 1 the fragments of three 

 skulls, and other bones of three skeletons. The skulls, vertebra?, and 

 hip-bones of each skeleton wTre on about the same level, and in a 

 space not more than 15 inches square. In one case the crown of the 

 skull was downward, and the top on a level with the hip-bones. This 

 position at first puzzled me, but I suppose that the body w^as buried in 

 a sitting posture, and the superincumbent weight of the earth, as it 

 settled and the flesh decayed, turned the top of the head downward by 

 the side of the body, and it continued to descend until it reached the 

 level of the hips. The faces, judging from the position of the legs, 

 were toward the west. The bodies were not inclosed. One skull was 

 quite well preserved, but the other bones were considerably decayed. 



