724 ABOKIGINAL OPERATIONS IN AN IRON MINE. 



but the exact nature of the work was not readily determinable. The 

 first impression was that the compact masses of hematite were sought 

 for the purpose of manufacturing implements such as Avere employed 

 by the mound-building- tribes in many parts of the Mississippi Val- 

 le}^, but examination revealed few traces of the shaping of this 

 material, save that it had l)een used in making- the rude sledge heads 

 or hammers found in the mine. In breaking- up the ore the white 

 miners encountered small, irregular seams and masses of flint, but 

 these were too limited in extent and too brittle in texture to have 

 been utilized successfully in the manufacture of implements. Some 

 workable flint was observed in the vicinity of the ore bod}^, and flakes 

 and rojectage of blade making, as well as a number of well-flnished 

 spearheads, arrow points, and leaf -shaped blades were intermingled in 

 the fllling of some of the superficial pits, but this flint shaping appears 

 to have been an incident only of the work on the site. The evidences 

 of this shaping work are not suflicient to warrant the conclusion that 

 the extensive tunneling was carried on for the purpose of obtaining 

 material for that purpose. Besides, this flint is found in large bodies 

 in man}" sections of the general region and could readil}" have been 

 obtained in quantity by the Indians. 



It was o])served, in approaching- the mine, that the exposed surfaces 

 of the ore and the ground about were everj'where a brilliant red. The 

 workmen were red from head to foot, and anyone venturing to handle 

 the ore soon found his hands smeared with red oxide, repeated wash- 

 ing being required to remove it. The prevalence of the red color sug- 

 gested at once the idea that the site had been an aboriginal paint mine 

 and that the red and yellow oxides wore mined and carried away to 

 be used as paint — an article of utmost importance in the aboriginal 

 econom3^ 



As the charges of dynamite used ])y the miners l)roke down the 

 walls of the mine it was observed that the deposits were of irregular 

 hardness, that certain portions of the ore were very compact and flinty, 

 containing much quartz, and of dark-bluish or purplish hue, while the 

 larger part was so highly oxidized as to be easily broken up. Extend- 

 ing- through the ore body in all directions were pockets and seams of 

 soft red and yellow oxides, and in places there were irregular open- 

 ings and partially filled ca\'ities. Two of these openings are shown 

 in plate iii, a view of the face of the mine taken by Mr. Clark McAdams, 

 of St. Louis. The miners would drill with great difiiculty through 

 the hardest of ore, to have the drill drop suddenly into a cavity of 

 unknown depth. This occurred at the spot shown in plate iv. It 

 was difficult to discover just which of these openings and cavities were 

 artificial, or whether or not they had been penetrated by the ancient 

 workers, as changes are constantly taking place in such ore bodies. 

 Percolating waters fill up or clear out the passagewa^' s. Generally, 



