THE OREGON NATURALIST. e-j 



THE RACINE MOUNDS. distributed promiscuously over them 



while the others have a circle of trees 



I contributed to March, 1894, No. at the outer edge with the exception 

 of The Naturalist an article on the of an entrance of two feet in width 

 Wisconsin Mounds, and gave a de- I spent an hour in the "silent city" 

 scnption of those that I had at that of a long past race, while my thoughts 

 time personally investigated. .^ere ages back and T in fancy see a 



Last Fall while on a visit at Racine, prehistoric funeral approaching. I 

 Wis., I took a stroll to the cemetery gaze in wonder as they slowly descend 

 known as Mound Cemetery which is i„to the ravine and cross the pearly 

 composed of 40 or more acres, some brook. Slowly they thread their way 

 parts laid out very artistically while up the little hill and finallv rest the 

 other parts are left in their natural rude litter which contains the remains 



of a noted warrior upon the ground 



Across one corner which cuts off With implements of .stone they hollow 

 perhaps five acres is quite a deep out a .shallow grave of perhaps two 

 ravine at the bottom of which runs a feet in depth and place the wardor in 

 .small spnng.fed brook that empties ^ ^,^^,,,^ p^.ture facing the East in 

 into Root River about two miles from tl,e hollow. His skin lobe is throw.i 

 US conjuntion with Lake Michigan. ^^^^^^^ j,i,„ ^„^ implements of the 



Just North of this ravine and twen- ^j^^.^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ,^i^ „^.,^ ^^ ,,^,^^ 

 ty rods away we find a group of .nien amid the death chants of the 

 eleven finely preserved circular ,^o,„^„ ^e is neatly covered with 

 mounds which are located within a ^arks and the earth piled about. I 

 few rods of one another. ^^^,^^^ ^^ ^^^ p,.^^^,,^ ^,^^ ^„^ ^^^y^^, j- 



They have been cleaned up nicely sitting at the foot of one of the iiounds 

 but the natural aspect has never been of Racine cemetery, and after drawing 

 disturbed except the drives that wind a „,3p o( ,„y surroundings Twend 

 around among them. The size of ,^y ^^^ t^^^^^ the city thoioughly 

 these mounds vary from 10 to 20 feet ^^Id for mv tiin 

 across and from two to three feet in Fred E. Coleman. 



height. Every one of them have trees » — a^^*- — • 



upon them of the oak and led cedar. The busine.ss of growing flax for 

 Of the former I c(mld .see that they filler is making .some progress in 

 were of natural growth and were quite Washington as well as Oregon. We.st 

 large but the cedais may have been Coast Trade says spinning apparatus 

 planted by whites as they were not so '« being put in place at Silver Beach, 

 large and planted with a precision Whatcom county, Wash. Tiie fiber 

 that denoted the white man's work, has been prepared by expeits who 

 I tried to find out if they were planted believe it equal to the' best ever 



by a former race but could get no in- ^'^^n. 



formation on the subject. Nobody The largest millinery dealer in 

 seemed to know how they came theie. Worcester, Mass., will not .sell either 

 Some of the mounds have the tiees .song birds' or Egrets' plumes. 



