170 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



STONE MOUNDS AND SERPENT OF HUGHES 

 COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA. 



BY JOHN M. HELMICK. 



In the spring of 1883 a business trip took me to Blunt, a small town 

 in the northern part of Hughes County, South Dakota. The town 

 was then in its infancy. It is nicely located in a wide valley and al- 

 most surrounded by high hills. The group of hills at the south-west 

 is called "Medicine Knolls." The highest one of these rises some 

 800 to 1,000 feet above the level of the valley and is distant some 3)^ 

 miles from the town. I wandered out to this group of hills in quest 

 of jack-rabbits, and curiosity tempted me to ascend to the top of this 

 highest knoll. There is no timber on these hills — only a few small 

 bushes in the ravines. Grass and small herbs compose the only vege- 

 tation on the sides and top of the hills, which are composed of light 

 soil, gravel, and boulders of all sizes. No mass or stratified rocks ap- 

 pear. The summit of this highest knoll comprises an area of some 

 three acres in extent. On reaching this my attention was at once di- 

 rected to three stone mounds, marked a, b, and c, and a small one, d. 

 (See cut.) I at once advanced to mound a, then to d, and then to c. 

 I then retraced my steps towards a, and when near mound b I crossed 

 a line of stones, the curve of which I followed some distance, when I 

 noticed a parallel line. I immediately retraced my steps, following 

 the double line of stones toward mound c, and until the lines con- 

 verged at the tail. I then returned toward mound a, thinking I was 

 following a serpentine walk among the altars. As I approached mound 

 e the lines again converged until near this mound, at which point I 

 was surprised and delighted to behold at their terminus a large and 

 well-formed head of a serpent. I had followed the outline of a large 

 serpent, and not a causeway, as I had at first suspected. 



I paced the distance between these mounds and estimated the dis- 

 tance from a to c at 300 feet. If the serpent were straight it would 

 about span this distance. I noted my estimates and made a sketch of 

 location, and entered these in my journal on returning to PJlunt. 



The stones of which this serpent is composed average 50 pounds in 

 weight. They are placed about a foot apart in the lines, and the lines 



