TII..MA- 1 THE VILAS MOUNDS. '69 



the skull ouly were left. The other, at /(, '2 feet below the surface, 

 was siinilarly decayed. 



THK VILAS MOUNDS. 



This group, shown iu Plate i, is a large one, containing 56 mounds, 

 and is situated on the area bounded by the Mississippi and Wisconsin 

 rivers and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, on Sees. 7 

 and S, T. 6 N., K. 6 W., about 3 miles south of Prairie du Chien. They 

 stand on the high sandy bank of the Wisconsin river, in a growth of 

 small trees, some of them being flush with the brink, some on a small 

 table land 10 or 15 feet higher than the others, and the rest on the gen- 

 eral level of the prairie, all above high water. 



The river banks are about 40 feet higher than the usual water level, 

 the slopes steep, the surface where most of the mounds are situated 

 comparatively flat, but to the northwest it rises in a small table some 

 10 or 15 feet higher than the prairie that borders on the Mississippi 

 river, and commands an extensive view of the bottoms. The soil is 

 sandy and easy to work, although not deep nor very productive. The 

 trees api^ear to be of recent growth. 



No. 18, S. 77° E. of 49, 62 feet long, extends east and west, and was 

 intended to represent some kind of a quadruped, probably a bear. 

 The eastern end at the time of examination was covered by a heavy 

 growth of corn, and has been so plowed down that its form ('ould not 

 be fully ascertained. 



Nos. 23, 24, and 33 were carefully excavated, but furnished no indi- 

 cations of having been used for burial purposes; nor were ashes, char- 

 coal, or relics of any kind found in them; yet under each there was an 

 excavation to the depth of a foot or more. They were composed of 

 dark, sandy soil. Others were examined, but nothing discovei'ed. 



THK I'OLANDER GROtTP. 



This group is about a mile up the Mississippi river from Lynxville, 

 Crawford county, on Lot 2, Sec. 14, T. N., E. 6 W., at the mouth of a 

 deep, narrow ravine. 



The mounds are located j)artly on top of a nari'ow bench that runs 

 around the foot of the bluff to the northwest and partly on its western 

 slope. One of them is in the bed of a small creek (now dry) that 

 drains the ravine. A plan of the group is given in Fig. 29. They are 

 mostly simple conical heaps of earth, although there are some long 

 ones in the group. Two of the large ones, close to the foot of the slope, 

 are connected by a long, low embankment, like those found on the 

 Souris river in Manitoba. The majority of them are small and low. 

 The bank upon which they stand is probably 75 feet higher than the 

 road that runs close to its foot on the west side. The bench is covered 

 l>y a growth of trees, which the owner says have grown up within the 

 last twenty-seven years. 



