172 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



STODDARD COTINTY. 



Although this county lies wholly within what is known as the " swamp 

 region," the central portion of it consists of a high clay ridge or table- 

 land which may be considered a spur from the Ozarks. This table- 

 land is seijarated from the bluffs of Cape Girardeau and Bollinger 

 counties to the north by a strip of lowland known as the Mingo swamp. 

 During high water a portion of the overflow from the Castor reaches 

 the Whitewater through this swamp. 



The county is bordered on the east by the Whitewater or Little river, 

 which flows through an extensive tract of low, sandy swamp, which in 

 places is as much as 20 miles wide. It is known to the people of 

 Stoddard and Dunkliu counties as the " East swamp," and the Bureau 

 agent heard no other name for it. Mr. Potter, in his report,' refers to 

 it as "West swamp" and "West lake" in his description of New 

 Madrid and Sikeston ridge. This is confusing, since the name of " West 

 swamp" is given to a similar tract along the St. Francis, which forms 

 the western boundary of the county. 



A little south of Dexter city the clay hills come to an end, and the 

 divide between the East and the West swamps consists only of a low, 

 sandy ridge. Under the local names of the " Rich woods " and the 

 '•West prairie" this extends in a southerly direction to the state line. 

 Through Dunklin county it is crossed by sloughs that impede travel 

 during wet weather. The swamps in this county consist of parallel 

 sloughs of no great depth, with low, sandy ridges between tbem, which 

 are for the most part above overflow. They are crossed at intervals 

 by lower places that are covered during high water, thus converting 

 the higher portions into islands. A good many farms have been 

 cleared up on these ridges, so that the swamps support a scattered pop- 

 ulation. The sloughs are filled With a heavy growth of cypress {Taxo- 

 dhim disHehum) and Tupelo gum {Nyssa uniftora). On the ridges the 

 timber is principally ditterent species of oak and hickory and sweet 

 gum (Liquidamber styracijtua). 



Earthworks of different kinds are very numerous throughout this 

 county. Two settlements were examined during the preliminary visit, 

 one near Lakeville, in the northern part, and the other in the extreme 

 south, on the county line. 



Groups of small mounds are to be found along most of the little 

 streams among the hills. Several were observed on the low ridges in 

 the East swamp, south of the railroad. 



What is said to be the most extensive system of mounds in south- 

 east Missouri is found 7 miles south of Dexter city, on that portion of 

 the sandy divide between the swamps, which is known as the " Eich 

 woods." There seems to have been, as is shown further on, no wall or 

 ditch here, and there are few circular depressions or lodge sites. 



' Contributioua to the Archaeology of Missouri (188U) pp. 5-8. 



