526 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



pal water courses can uot be accepted as entirely correct. Although 

 the banks of the Mississippi are lined with prehistoric monumeuts from 

 Lake Pepin to the mouth of Bed river, showing that this was a favorite 

 section for the ancient inhabitants, the study of these remains does not 

 give support to the theory that this great water highway was a line of 

 migration during the mound-building period, except for short distances. 

 It was, no doubt, a highway for trafiBc and war parties, but the move- 

 ments of tribes were across it rather than up and down it. This is not 

 asserted as a mere theory or a simple deduction, but as a fact proved 

 by the mounds themselves, whatever may be the theory in regard to 

 their origin or uses. The longest stretch where those apparently the 

 works of one people are found on one bank is from Dubuque, Iowa, to the 

 month of Des Moines river. As we move up and down we find repeated 

 changes from one type to another. 



This fact must have a strong bearing on the study of this map with 

 reference to the direction from which the mound-builders entered this 

 general area and their chief movements after reaching it. The attempt, 

 however, to follow up this thought would lead us into the domain of 

 sijeculatiou, where we do not desire to enter at present. 



In order to show this distribution more in detail, archeological maps 

 of several of the states in which large luimbers of the works are found 

 have been prepared. On these symbols are introduced indicating the 

 difterent classes of anticiuities. Tliese have been giveji in the Bulletin 

 above referred to and need not be introduced here. 



Examining these, we see that in New York the works are found chiefly 

 about the lakes which have their outlet through the Oswego river ; around 

 Sackett's Harbor ; ak)u g the Genesee ; near the Niagara river and around 

 Lake Chautaucpia ; in other words, in the drainage area of Lake Ontario, 

 exceiit a small section at the extreme southwest corner of the state. 



In Ohio the works are chiefly in the iuterior and southwestern part 

 of the state, with the exception of a number in the northeast near Lake 

 Erie, along the Cuyahoga river, and a few groups scattered along the 

 Ohio. These may be considered as belonging chiefly to three more 

 limited areas and river systems, viz: First, the upper basin of the 

 Muskingum a little east of the center of the state; second, the valley 

 of the lower Scioto; and third, the valleys of the Great and Little 

 Miami rivers. 



Examining the maps of Indiana and Illinois, which are given together, 

 we see that the works are confined principally to the eastern portion of 

 the former and the western border of the latter. In the eastern part of 

 Indiana the rule of following the streams seems to have been to a large 

 extent abandoned; especially is this the case with the cluster in the 

 extreme northeastern corner and the belt commencing a little north of 

 the middle of the state and extending down the eastern border to the 

 Oliio river. This belt, which pertains to the group in southwestern 

 Ohio, seems to be connected with the Wabash series by lines of works 

 along the east and west forks of Wliite river. The group along the 



