THOMAS. I 



THE ELEPHANT MOUND. 91 



On the ciest of the bluff, north of the last mentioued mounds and 

 just south of the Wisconsin river, is a continuous straight line of 

 mounds, all of which, except two, are elongate, embankment-like struc- 

 tures, giving to the line the appearance of an interrupted wall. Of the 

 two exceptions one is oval and the other is an effigy mound, probably 

 intended to represent an elk. Several of these mouuds were oi^ened, 

 but in none, except the third from the south end of the line, was any- 

 thing found. This is somewhat oval, 24 feet in diameter, and 4 feet 

 high. In the center was a rude, irregular stone coffin or vault of flat 

 sandstones, so arranged around the single skeleton that a large one 

 sufficed to cover it from animals. The bones were in the last stages of 

 decomposition. 



The top of this bluff, for the distance of half a mile, is literally cov- 

 ered with these works, which are uniformly placed so near the brink of 

 the descent to the Mississippi as to present a clear cut outline, except 

 where the view is obstructed by trees. As the position is a command- 

 ing one, and as very few of the works were intended or used for burial 

 piirposes, it is difficult to conceive of any other object the builders could 

 have had in view in their construction than that of defense. But how 

 they were made available for this purpose without encircling any area 

 or without closing the numerous openings is difficult to understand. 



On the NW. i of Sec. 20, T. 6 N., E. 6 W., about 1 mile east of the 

 works just mentioned, is another group of considerable interest. This 

 consists of one continuous line of circular and effigy mounds, number- 

 ing 30 in all. 



THK KLEPHANT MofNIi. 



This effigy, of which so much has been said and written, is situated 

 on the southeast quarter of Sec. 21, T. 5 N., E. (> W., in Bloomington 

 to\vnship, 4 miles south of Wyalusing. It lies on the right side, head 

 south, in a depression between two drift sand ridges, in what is known 

 as the Cincinnati bottom. This bottom extends from the bluff on one 

 side to a large bayou on the other, and is just above the overflows of 

 the Mississippi. Although the mound has been under cultivation for 

 five years, the outlines are yet distinct. " By a hasty measurement," 

 says Col. Norris, who incidentally visited it while engaged by the Bureau 

 in the northwest, " I made its entire length to the front of the head 135 

 feet, the width across the body from 55 to 60 feet, the height varying 

 from 3 to (» feet. I made a rude sketch of it on the spot with pencil, for 

 the purpose of showing the so-called trunk as I saw it. There is a 

 depression some 4 or 5 teet deep between the trunk and breast, and a 

 kind of slight platform or apron-like extension on the upiier or back 

 part of the head, from 2 to 3 feet high, or half as high as the rest of 

 the head. Whether the resemblance to an elephant, which arises 

 almost wholly from the proboscis-like extension to the head, is due to 

 intentional work done by the builders or has resulted from the drift- 

 ing of the loose, sandy soil, of which it is mainly composed, is a ques- 



