92 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. 



Bartram says in his Antiquities of Southern Indians that 

 in his day the Choctaws erected mounds over the bones of 

 the dead. The chief, Tomachechi, pointed out a large mound 

 in which were the bones of a chief who had entertained a 

 great white man with a red beard who came into the Sa- 

 vanna river in ships. 



Walker describes many of the Florida mounds in the 

 Smithsonian report of 1879. He excavated systematically a 

 mound at the mouth of the Kootre river. A skull taken 

 from the centre and base of the mound was broken in and 

 inside of the head he found a rusty iron spike about three 

 inches in length and a broken arrowhead. Excepting some 

 highly ornamental fragments of pottery, these were all the 

 relics he obtained in this mound. Walker also opened a 

 mound on the south side of Alligator creek. This mound 

 was circular in shape, forty-six feet in diameter, and about 

 three feet in height. 



He found many strings of colored glass beads, copper and 

 brass ornaments. Among other curious objects was a pair 

 of scissors and a fragment of a looking glass. By patience 

 and care he obtained many strings of beads in the order 

 they were worn by the owner. In two cases frag- 

 ments of strings were preserved, seemingly by the cop- 

 per. Many of the ciit glass beads were very beauti- 

 ful. Walker remarks that this mound could not be older than 

 three hundred and forty years, probably much less. These 

 trinkets may have been derived from De Soto, for tradition 

 points out Phillips point, eight miles north of this mound as 

 the spot where the Spaniards landed. (Smithsonian report 

 1879, p. 410.) 



Dr. S. P. Hildreth opened a mound in Marietta, Ohio, and 

 the circumstances were detailed by the accurate pen of the 

 doctor. He relates: On removing the earth composing an 

 ancient mound in a street of Marietta, the articles found 

 were those belonging to the person over whom the mound 

 was originally made. The articles were silver plated buckles 

 and sword mountings; a streak of rust was all that re- 

 mained of the blade. The name of Dr; Hildreth is sufficient 

 guarantee that the statements are correct. 



