132 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



ber of years, and it is only lately that the Historical and Scientific So- 

 ciety of Manitoba and private individuals have learned of the rich field 

 for research that lies at their doors. As the country becomes settled, 

 reports flow in of the existence of mounds in different parts of the 

 North- West It is definitely known that earthworks of various 

 forms are grouped on many of the streams falling into the Red and 

 Assiniboine Rivers, and the announcement was lately made that at 

 least one mound stands at the north end of Lake Winnipeg, or 

 roughly speaking, in N. lat. 54'', W. long 98°. It may be well 

 to trace one connected line of mounds from down on the Mississippi 

 River to Lake Winnipeg. The Red River of the North takes its 

 rise (by one branch) in Lake Traverse or, roughly speaking, N. 

 lat. 46 degrees, W. long. 97 degrees, and following north falls into 

 the soutliei'n end of Lake Winnipeg. There is a connected line of 

 mounds from Lake Traverse to Lake Winnipeg. Lake Traverse is 

 connected by a sluggish creek with Big Stone Lake, which is drained 

 to the south by the Minnesota River, the latter emptying into 

 the Mississippi River, near the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. Mounds 

 are found in numbers along the Minnesota River, from the Missis- 

 sippi to Big Stone Lake, and there are several groups with an earth- 

 work fortification at the valley situated between Big Stone Lake and 

 Traverse. Hundreds of mounds in this district have been surveyed 

 by Mr. T. H. Lewis, of St. Paul. It will thus be seen that there is 

 a continuous line of mound from the Mississippi, below St. Anthony's 

 Falls, to Lake Winnipeg, following that line of water courses, from 

 the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson's Bay, which divides the North Ameri- 

 can continent into two great halves, east and west. A brief des- 

 cription of a group of mounds at St. Andrew's, Manitoba, 18 miles 

 north of the city of Winnipeg, will serve to show that in general 

 character they are almost identical with one class of those of the 

 Ohio and Mississippi, as reported on by Messrs. Squier and Davis 

 and other archaeologists of the United States. One mound was 8 

 feet high, 75 feet long, and 65 feet wide. It was covered with a clump 

 of oak trees, ranging up to about 4 feet in circumference, and thickly 

 matted with small underbrush and roots. Under his supervision a 

 trench was sunk from the apex to the base on one side of the centre, 

 and running partially around it. First was encountered a layer of 

 decaying vegetable matter, then the general material was a rich 

 loamy earth, evidently gathered from the immediate vicinity, though 



