rowKE] EXPLORATIONS IN RED RIVER VALLEY 407 
in several feet since the country was settled. This sedimentation no 
longer takes place, as floods are now confined by levees. 
At Belcher is a mound built on a spur between two ravines which 
appear to be of recent origin. Owing to undercutting by these, and 
to much digging in the upper part by fortune seekers, the elevation, 
the diameter, and the outline of the base can not be estimated; but 
apparently it was a small flat-topped structure. ‘The owner is un- 
willing that it should be further disturbed. 
On the land of John Scott, on the east (left) side of Red River, 4 
miles northeast of Shreveport, is a flat-topped mound, quadrilateral 
but not rectangular, 16 feet high and about 100 feet across at the 
base. 
In section 29, township 15, range 12, on land belonging to Arch 
Thigpen, is a mound near the extreme outward end of a hill rising 
some 40 feet above the river bottom land. When intact it was about 
12 feet high and 65 or 70 feet across. A shaft 10 or 12 feet in diam- 
eter was sunk from the top to the bottom, but no one could be found 
who knows when or by whom it was dug, or whether anything was 
found. On the nearly level hilltop beyond the mound evidences of 
aboriginal occupation are scattered over several acres. 
Ten or twelve miles easterly from Mansfield, on the Jack Dillard 
farm, in section 10, township 18, range 12, is a mound now 4 feet 
high above the general level of the field; but as it is built on the east 
end of a narrow spur and extends down the three slopes, it looks 
much more elevated when viewed from other directions. It is said the 
top has been lowered 2 feet by farming operations. A bayou extends 
along the foot of the hill. The structure is on poor ground, remote 
from any road or house, and has an unpromising look, hence no 
research was attempted. 
On Willis Williams’s plantation, in De Soto Parish, 12 miles north- 
east of Mansfield, in section 29, township 13, range 11, is a mound 
9 feet high and 90 feet in diameter. A hole, apparently 8 or 10 feet 
across—the sides have fallen in, so its breadth is now considerably 
more than that—was dug to the bottom some years ago. It is re- 
ported that bones were found but no one can recall that there was 
anything else. 
In addition to these three burial mounds, there was one near 
Gahagen, which was excavated by Moore. 
On the Curtis plantation, 9 miles south of Shreveport, is a small 
flat-topped mound with a ramp or incline at one corner, from the 
top to the ground. There has been considerable deposit from floods 
around this mound, so that no evidence of a village site can be found. 
A similar but larger mound is reported to stand near the east bank 
of Red River a short distance south of the Arkansas line. 
