SCIIOOLCRAFT'S NATIONAL WORK. 129 



made to read them as records. They would derive a superior interest from the 

 supposition that they are, as has been suggested, the "totems" of tribes, perhaps 

 memorials of amity or alliance, written upon the ground where adverse nations 

 were accustomed to meet in peace. It must be confessed that pictorial writing on 

 so immense a scale, with a sovereign state for a tablet, is a phenomenon unparal- 

 leled in monumental history. 



The great horizontal dimensions of these effigies, raised but a few feet above the 

 surface of the ground, was doubtless the reason why they failed to arrest the atten- 

 tion of travellers at an early period, their forms not being always perceptible from 

 a single point of view, and sometimes only developed by the measurements of the 

 surveyor. 



It has been remarked that they were observed first by Mr. Lapham, in 1830. 

 In 1850, that gentleman entered into an arrangement with the American Antiqua- 

 rian Society, and, on behalf of that institution, commenced a thorough archaeological 

 survey of the State. His notes and drawings, when completed, were transferred 

 to the Smithsonian Institution, and constitute a portion of the volume of Contri- 

 butions published in 1855. 1 



The ordinary mounds were found to possess no peculiar interest ; except that a 

 few of them, even as far north as Lake Superior, have the pyramidal truncated 

 form, common at the South, and, in the Middle States, confined to sacred enclosures, 

 where they are regarded as altars, or the sites of temples. The emblematic tumuli 

 were seldom seen in isolated positions, but usually in groups, with a mound at some 

 elevated point, commanding a view of the whole. They yielded no relics to illus- 

 trate the habits and arts of their builders, or the design of their construction. 



We have had frequent occasion to mention the publications of Mr. Schoolcraft, 

 who has been foremost among pioneers in the investigation of Aboriginal History, 

 and is now the chronicler of its ultimate results. A reference to the labors in 

 which he is still engaged will appropriately conclude this bibliographical epitome. 



Under an act of Congress, of March 3d, 1847, the Secretary of War was required 

 " to collect and digest such statistics and materials as may illustrate the history, 

 present condition, and future prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States ;" 

 and the fulfilment of this duty was committed to the charge of Mr. Schoolcraft. 



By the plan of execution adopted, the several points of investigation were divided 

 into numerous heads or titles ; and minute questions in relation to each, framed 

 for the purpose of eliciting information, were distributed, in the form of a circular, 

 throughout the country. 



The results of these inquiries, combined with documents in possession of the 

 government, and the editors private stores of experience and observation, have 

 been arranged under a series of distinct titles, that are continued through the pub- 

 lished volumes ; each title embracing the portion of new matter that falls to its 

 share, while new titles are occasionally created, when required by the nature of the 

 materials. 



1 "The Antiquities of Wisconsin, as Surveyed and Described, By I. A. Lapham, Civil Engineer, 

 &c, On behalf of the American Antiquarian Society.'' 

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