24 Ancient Remains, Animal Mounds, fyc. in Wisconsin. 



mote antiquity, although they seem to us, at this time, not more 

 ancient than they appeared to others in this region a century 

 and a half ago. 



Many who have written upon this subject, view these antiqui- 

 ties collectively as cemeteries ; they suppose that when a loca- 

 tion for sepulchral purposes was selected, the grounds in the 

 vicinity were held sacred ; that in constructing these tumuli, the 

 material was brought from a distance, or collected in such a 

 manner as to exhibit no indications of the adjacent soil having 

 been removed ; and as from the nature of the structure a con- 

 stant disintegration took place, posterity were enjoined, as they 

 wandered to and fro, to add earth to the heap ; — and they be- 

 lieve that by such means these monuments gradually rose into 

 existence. It is very evident that these works were heaped up, 

 and by a race that has long since passed away ; as to the ma- 

 terial of which they are constructed having been brought from 

 a distance, we have no other testimony than conjecture. From 

 the excavations around and in the vicinity of many of them, 

 more especially those in the form of the cross, I am persuaded 

 that the material of which they are composed was obtained from 

 the ground adjacent to them; while in the vicinity of those 

 of other forms, the surface does not appear as though the earth 

 of which they were constructed had been taken therefrom ; so 

 that the conjecture appears plausible, that some of these works 

 were heaped up with accumulated material brought from a dis- 

 tance: it is upon dark and mysterious conjecture alone, how- 

 ever, that we ground our opinions. It is true that many of these 

 works are now used by the Indians as burial places ; that when 

 they are selected for this purpose, the corpse, after the manner 

 of some tribes, is inhumed in a sitting posture, enveloped in a 

 blanket, accompanied with all its paraphernalia, and as a protec- 

 tion from the ravages of wolves or other rapacious animals, the 

 grave is enclosed with pickets meeting over the centre ; (for sketch 

 of Indian tumulus, see Plate II, fig. 2.) Within the enclosure 

 may be seen at times a supply of tobacco and some weapon of 

 defence, and in some instances an ear of corn or other provisions 

 are placed upon the grave ! At the death of a distinguished 

 chief or brave, as a token of the esteem in which he was held, 

 at one end of the grave a post is planted, to which a white flag 

 is appended ; upon this post, stripped of its bark, the survivors 



