FOWKE] ANTIQUITIES OF MISSOURI 81 
walled enclosures constructed on the same general plan as those de- 
scribed on preceding pages. But as both earth and stones were diffi- 
cult to procure, a mound was not practicable, nor could the walls be 
braced in the usual manner. So another wall, facing outward, was 
built around the grave vaults, the two probably leaning slightly to- 
ward each other, thus affording mutual support. Slight evidence of 
such construction is offered in the condition of the east wall, where the 
large stone at the corner is entirely outside the line of stones extending 
toward the south. 
PAINTED ROCK (17) 
Among the numerous paintings on rocks and cliffs in the Missouri 
valley is one on the right bank of Osage river, 25 miles above its 
mouth and 16 miles south of Jefferson City. 
The figures, evidently made with ocher or powdered hematite, are 
now faint. Ona rock face high above flood are a so-called ‘‘buffalo,”’ 
a design resembling a man with upraised arms, and several others 
too nearly obliterated to venture a guess as to their meaning. Lower, 
where the river occasionally covers them, are a zigzag line, probably 
intended for a serpent, and two or three ‘‘turkey tracks; the latter 
may indicate diverging trails in the vicinity. 
The paint has penetrated the soft limestone to a slight depth, 
a fact which accounts for the preservation of the figures. The sur- 
face of stone of this character gradually weathers off, the rate of 
erosion depending on the degree of exposure to atmospheric influ- 
ences; so in time the figures will entirely disappear. It is quite 
unlikely they are of considerable antiquity; even in dry caves the 
roof and walls slowly disintegrate, and the process is naturally much 
more rapid with rocks in the open air. 
The late Attorney-General H. Clay Ewing, of Jefferson City, gives 
the following tradition as to the origin of the figures:4 
* * * Painted Rock is at the upper end of the bluff and gets its name from 
various rude drawings representing animals, such as buffalo and deer. These paint- 
ings are composed of some red substance, which can be plainly seen from the river. 
The figure most distinct seems to have been intended for a buffalo; it is about fifteen 
inches long and eight or nine inches high. * * * There is a rather interesting 
legend concerning this rock. 
He then proceeds to describe the capture by Indians of Marie 
Roy, daughter of Joseph Roy, one of the principal men of the village 
of Cote Sans Dessein, and of the nine-year-old son of Widow Moreau, 
and of their rescue. Four men set out in pursuit of the Indians— 
Joseph Roy, Jean Moreau, and two unnamed companions. Roy and 
one man went up the Osage; Moreau and the other man up the creek 
aIn an article in the American Field of April 14, 1882, 
5780—Bull. 37—10——_6 
