8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



farm at another time, but we found nothing to satisfy our curiosity. 

 No shells were found in any of them by any one. We found no flint 

 in any mounds. Mr Gailey said some had been found, and stone 

 pipes, but who has them I do not know. He says but little was ever 

 found. I found no bone articles. We found some animal bones, but 

 they were so decomposed that they easily crumbled to pieces. About 

 the outlet and lower end of the lake are a number of mounds on the 

 Gailey farm, of different sizes. Some are flat on top, but most have 

 a depression in the center. Mr Gailey said there are over 200 up 

 the creek and around the lake. I think there are mounds below Mr 

 Gailey's, but I never visited the upper end of the lake. 



He said there was no accumulation of burned stones in the mounds, 

 probably meaning the small ones used in heating water. From this 

 and the lack of pottery he concluded that no cooking, or but little, 

 was done in them. Most of the many stones found show the action 

 of fire, but they are usually of some size. 



In a letter dated Aug. 4, 1900, Dr Getman said: 



We were at Perch lake a few days ago, and examined the mounds 

 that are found at each end of the lake. We were at the north end 

 and along the banks of Hyde creek. They are situated near the bank 

 of the lake, extending upwards on to a high bluff of sandstone, and 

 gravel of the same, along the banks of Hyde creek. They are 25 to 

 30 feet across, 3 to 5 feet high, with a central depression of 8 to 10 

 feet in diameter. This depression is paved with the usual firestones. 

 We saw one that was on a gravel bed, and had been partly removed. 

 It was uniform in thickness, simply burned sandstone, gravel and 

 black earth. The earth is different from the surrounding soil, being 

 burned. We saw no pottery, bone, or anything that would give us a 

 clue to the builders. Hough says broken pottery and bones are 

 found there. This I think a mistake. Some have been dug to the 

 center, and we were informed they had found flint and stone imple- 

 ments. There was only one that showed evidence of large timber 

 growing from the site. We counted 15 in a piece of woods, and the 

 trees (maple) were mostly small that were growing on the banks. 



In a recent history of Jefferson county the mounds at the north 

 end of the lake are again mentioned, but with little additional in- 

 formation save that of partial location. The editor says that at the 

 lake 8 or 10 mounds are on the lands of George W. Sherman and 

 Alonzo Van DeWalker 10 or 15 rods from the shore. They are cir- 

 cular, 2 or 3 feet high, 2 to 4 rods in diameter, and with the central 

 holes 2 feet deep. The largest is said to be on the Sherman farm, 

 near the ruins of the old La Farge mansion. Emerson, p-738 



