300 PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 



So long as the (present owner of the land, Mr. Ed Fish, retains posses- 

 sion of it these mounds will not be disturbed, but should he sell, the next 

 year might see the leveling process with a plow begun. 



Efforts are being made to secure an easement in the land for the Alla- 

 makee County Historical Society which will permit the owner to use the 

 ground for pasture but which will place the control and preservation of 

 the mounds in the hands of that society and give the public access. 



A better way would be to buy outright the entire terrace which contains 

 somewhere between six and eight acres and make of it park. This for 

 the best effect should be closely pastured. There is a growth of small oak 

 trees among and on the mounds and scattering larger oak and hickory 

 on the sides of the terrace. The flat top except for the area occupied by 

 the mounds is a field. 



But the necessary funds to purchase are lacking. The animal mound 

 group north of North McGregor, which should be called The Pleasant 

 Ridge Animal Mound Group, as it is on the high promontory terminating 

 that ridge, is even more easy of access than the Fish Mound Group. 



You may drive your oar right up to and among the noble beasts, and 

 when you have looked them over and wondered why and by what people 

 they were made; where the earth was gotten: how it was carried there. 

 how long they were in building, and have tried to answer these and other 

 questions that might be asked about them, you may look away upon a pic- 

 ture of an old, old shining river with its bordering hills, and valleys be- 

 tween, its lush green islands, coming out of the misty north and running 

 far into the misty south. The world has no fairer, no more peaceful, no 

 more restful picture. 



. No wonder savage man selected such a spot on which to build an ever 

 enduring totem of his tribe. 



As this group lies on good tillable land, and as it has been entirely 

 cleared of forest, and the land belongs to two different owners, it is far 

 more likely to suffer destruction than the Fish group. 



We believe a determined effort should be made to secure at least such 

 control of these two earthwork groups as would preserve them, either by 

 lease, easement or purchase, and that action in the matter should be begun 

 at once. Iowa Conservation Vol. I, No. 3, pp. 45-6. 



PARKS AND COUNTRY LIFE. 

 By B. J. Horchem, State Senator. 



We should take hold and appreciate the logic of the situation in this 

 state. Iowa should awake. We can be thankful that we have a body of 

 public spirited men who can realize that the beauty spots of this state 

 should be kept for all the people for all time; that the lakes, the river 

 banks, the hilltops, and almost all the finest parts of the natural beauties 

 of Iowa are now possessed by private persons whose private interests often 

 dictate the destruction of these beauty spots or at least the exclusion of 

 the people from the enjoyment thereof. 



