■•52 



THE MUSEUM. 



lized superiority be able to tell so little 

 of our character. 



Now to return to our subject, let 

 me invite you to my home on the 

 Walnut river (really only a small 

 stream at present) and take a stroll 

 across its valley to what appears to be 

 a hill of about 150 feet in height at 

 this point on the east side of the val- 

 ley. Climbing its side whicti is rather 

 steep we find when we reach the top 

 that it is no hill at all but that we 

 have just reached the level of the sur- 

 rounding country and see that the 

 prairie recedes gently from us while at 

 our feet the valley and its smaller 

 tributaries are but wrinkles on the face 

 of the expansive country, having at 

 some previous age been formed by 

 erosion, and looking across the valley, 

 a distance of from one-half to two 

 miles, we see the opposite bank of 

 what was once a mighty river (whose 

 depth was somewhat greater than that 

 of the present stream) the bottom was 

 what we now behold to be the choicest 

 of farms lying so snugly and beauti- 

 fully within these walls, with the nar- 

 row, timber-fringed Walnut, like a 

 thread of silver winding peacefully 

 among them. 



It is upon these higher terraces that 

 the roughest and apparently more 

 ancient implements are found, and as 

 yet, know of none having been found 

 on the lower terraces, while it quite 

 frequently happens that the later ones 

 are found upon the highest terraces, 

 even on the same site where the oldest 

 are found. 



Water being a factor in establish- 

 ing a camp, we usually find that where 

 the later and finer types of arrow 

 points, etc., are found on the higher 

 ground or terraces a spring usually 

 bubbles forth (or did at that time) 

 from the foot of the hill. The cjuery 

 with me has always been, "Why not 

 camp on the ground on the level of 

 the spring.'" Possibly they took the 

 hill top to avoid risk from floods in the 

 valley, to guard against enemies' sur- 



prises, or for the exhiliration of a 

 more lofty position. 



With but one exception the village 

 sites found in my searches during the 

 past summer and fall, ^te mi the ter- 

 races. This one is in the bottom, on 

 the bank of the present stream, being 

 about 15 feet above "low water" 

 mark, is in a corn field, and although 

 mant times upturned, yet on a plot of 

 about an acre the ground is thickly 

 strewn with flint clippings among 

 which is an occasional arrow head or 

 fragement. 



The points which I believe to be the 

 oldest are thick, roughly chipped and 

 rather oval in shape, showing a dis- 

 coloration on the surface. Those of 

 later make become more shapely, hav- 

 ing a finer point with notched or 

 stemmed hilts. Later still and those 

 found on this last mentioned site, they 

 are real thin and beautifully regular in 

 ouiline, and of many styles. The 

 handful of flakes gathered up promis- 

 cuously will show more of a variety in 

 color and quality of flint than those on 

 higher ground, these splitting off in 

 thin spauls, showing either more skill 

 in making or a better quality of flint. 



As to the age of even the later make, 

 I shall not attempt to guess, but leave 

 that to wiser heads, but they are be- 

 yond the recollection of even the 

 earliest settlers here. 



I must mention also that besides 

 arrow and spear points, which are 

 most numerous of all, I have also 

 found a few scrapers, one of excep- 

 tionally fine workmanship, of black 

 flint and one of brown. One frag- 

 ment of a beveled edge point of gray 

 flint, also an arrow head having a de- 

 cided curve flat-wise, as if used to 

 shoot in a curve or in some trick-shoot- 

 ing. Upon two of these hill sites are 

 found a heap of crumbled stone and 

 earth, the stones showing a burnt sur- 

 face on one side, indicating an altar or 

 fire-place. At other places what ap- 

 pears to be a grave, though I have 

 never proven that but expect some day 

 to do so. 



