no 



MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



very hard eeineut or prepared eartb, which could be broken up only 

 with the pick, when it crumbled like dry lime mortar, and was found 

 to be traversed throughout with flattened horizontal cavities. These 

 cavities were lined with a peculiar black felt-like substance, sj)ecimens 

 of which were carefully preserved. There is scarcely a doubt that 

 these cavities mark the 'spaces occupied by a body or bodies buried 

 here, and it is possible that this felt like substance is the remuaiit of 

 the flesh j^ j)ortion of the bodies. An examination for the purpose of 

 deciding this point \\ill be made and reported hereafter. 



WAPELLO COUNTY. 





\« 



m 



The diagram of the area between Eldon and lowaville along the Des 

 Moines river, shown in Fig. 53, is constructed from a careful examina- 

 tion of the ground 

 aiul the statements 

 of Mr. J. H. Jordan, 

 who has resided 

 here since the close 

 of the Black Hawk 

 war, and was the In- 

 dian agent to the 

 Sacs and Foxes from 

 the time of their re- 

 moval thither after 

 the war until Black 

 Hawk's death, Sept. 

 15, 1838. Between 

 the t w o points 

 named stretches the 

 noted Iowa bottom, 

 which is at least 2 

 miles wide at the 

 middle, about which 

 point formerly stood 

 the old agency; near 

 the same point is the 

 present residence of 

 j\Ir.. Jordan. The 



Flu. 52 Stone gorget, DubucjUL- coimty, Iowa. pOSltlOU of Black 



Hawk's grave, the 

 race tracks, the mounds of the lowas, the mounds of the Pottowata- 

 mies, and the place where the scaflblds for their dead stood are also 

 indicated on the plat. 



This valley had long been a famous haunt for the Indians, but at the 

 time of Mr. Jordan's first acquaintance with it was in possession of the 

 lowas, whose main village was around the point where his house stands. 



