550 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



G.VliI>EN DKDS AND CORN HILLS. 



Many of tlie garden beds of Michigan fall witliiu this district, but 

 these low mounds extend also into other states. Tliej- are mainly dis- 

 tinguished from the large corntields farther east by their symmetrical 

 arrangement and accuracy of outline, forms possibly due to differences 

 of natural surface. No relics have been found to prove a connection, 

 and the question of their origin may be deferred. 



In several parts of New York very large corn hills remained until a 

 recent date, and have been described by Schoolcraft, Clark, and others. 

 They were much larger than those made by the whites, a small mound 

 being raised sutiicient to contain several hills, and this was used for 

 many years. These mounds were arranged in rows, but did not form a 

 continuous plat, as in the garden beds. 



THE AXCIENT INHABITANTS OF THE DISTRICT, 



In this brief summai'y no attempt has been made to distinguish the 

 tribes which may have dwelt in the district or to point out when they 

 did so. It is sufficient now to say that the constant progress of coloni- 

 zation in New York and Canada produced a gradual change in the arts 

 of savage life, so that primitive implements, ornaments, and utensils 

 are found on the same village sites and in the same graves with those 

 derived from the white man. Those who received European articles 

 are well known in history, but they had in this district arts like those 

 found in its graves and inclosures. Its builders of simple walls and 

 mounds, in such ways, are directly connected with the historic red man, 

 and the latter transition stages can be fully traced. 



THE ILLINOIS DISTRICT. 



The limits of this district east and west have not as yet been satis- 

 factorily determined; hence it can only be defined as including the 

 middle and eastern portions of Iowa, northeastern and possibly cen- 

 tral Missouri, Illinois as far south as the mouth of the Illinois river, 

 and the western half of Indiana. Nor are the type characters by any 

 means so well marked as those of most of the other districts. The dif- 

 ferences in the features and types of the works and relics indicate the 

 presence in the area embraced of different tribes, some of which must 

 have occuitied in succession the same sections. Especially does this 

 appear to be true of the eastern portion of Iowa and the western part 

 of Illinois. There are certain types of this last-mentioned region 

 which bear such strong resemblance to some of the works and remains 

 of southeastern Indiana and southern Ohio as to ju^'^tifv the belief that 

 there was some relation between the mound-builders of the two areas. 

 On the other hand, however, there are works in eastern Illinois and 

 western Indiana which seem to justify the belief that they are attrib- 

 utable to other tribes than the authors of those last mentioned. The 



