24 A]VT1QUIT1ES OF WISCONSIN. 



"look-out" stations. They are situated near some quite remarkable bluffs of lime- 

 stone gravel, and command an extensive view of the valley towards the south, 

 with its beautiful lake and ancient remains. 



Mound Prairie, in the western part of Wheatland (township one, range nineteen), 

 is a small and beautiful prairie lying between two fine groups of lakes ; and is so 

 named from some artificial works near the centre of the prairie. We found six 

 or eight circular mounds, and one that appeared to have been a " turtle." They 

 were nearly destroyed by the plough. 



Near the village of Geneva (section thirty-five, township one, range seventeen), 

 there were two turtle mounds, and several of the ordinary circular or conical form. 

 They are situated near the lake with their heads towards the water. A road passes 

 directly over them, and they are now (1850) nearly destroyed. Further search 

 would probably reveal the localities of other works about these lakes. 



Five miles south of Burlington (on the northwest quarter of section twenty-six, 

 township two, range nineteen), is a solitary animal mound, with curved tail, and 

 enlarged at the extremity, as shown in the figure. (Plate XIII. No. 1.) It is situated 

 on a gently sloping hill side, and the road passes directly over it. It is a very 

 unusual circumstance to find such a mound disconnected from other works ; but we 

 could not learn that any others existed in the vicinity. 



On the east bank of the river, opposite the village of Burlington, is a series of 

 mounds arranged in an. irregular row along the margin of the stream. (See Plate 

 XIII. No. 2.) The largest of the series, near the middle, is ten feet high, and fifty 

 feet in diameter at the base. It is connected with the next by an embankment, a 

 circumstance observed in several other cases. At the north or upper end of the 

 series, are four oblong mounds ; one with a divided extremity, or horns, as shown 

 in the drawing. Eleven conical tumuli may yet be traced ; and some others, it is 

 said, have been removed. Persons of lively imagination might suppose this series 

 to represent a serpent, with mouth open, in the act of swallowing its prey ; the 

 series forming a sort of serpentine row. 



A little west of the village is a small inclosure of oval form, the embankment 

 having but a slight elevation. It may have been the place of a mud-house, or some 

 structure the decay of which has left only this evidence of its former existence. 

 There are said to be others similar to it in the vicinity. A stone axe and a flint 

 arrow-point were obtained here. 



On the west side of Wind Lake (northeast quarter of section eight, township 

 four, range twenty), we discovered five conical mounds, but no other works in their 

 vicinity. Also on the west side of Muskego Lake (east half of northeast quarter 

 of section sixteen, township five, range twenty), is a group of works represented 

 in Plate XIV. No. 1. They consist of two parallel ridges at the extremity of a 

 small promontory nearly surrounded by marshy grounds, and a ridge and some 

 circular mounds on another point of land opposite. There is a remarkable excava- 

 tion in the bank here, which is doubtless the work of art; but its origin and the 

 purpose for which it was made can now only be a subject of conjecture. 



These parallel ridges have been represented as the remains of a fort or fortified 

 promontory ; but a glance at the plate will show that no such object could have 



