A X C I E X T \\'^ R K S N E A 11 W 1 S C N S I N it I V E l\ 73 



Oil section nine, township sixteen, range two, east, we found an oblong embank- 

 ment; and also one called a man, with the legs expanded, but having no contraction 

 for the neck. (See Plate L, No. 4.) 



Several earthworks (one of the man shape) are found on section five, tcwnship 

 sixteen, range two, east; and a row of five oblong elevations, with but slight intervals, 

 occupy a swell in the prairie on section four, township sixteen, range one, east. 



Above these we discovered no more mounds on the Little Lemonwier. The 

 country becomes more hilly ; the valley is narrow, and the stream small ; affording 

 no suitable position for an aboriginal population. 



Above the mouth of the Lemonwier, on the Wisconsin, I have no information 

 of ancient works, except a few mounds at Du Bays, at Plover Portage, and an 

 inclosure recently discovered and described to me by Mr. Erskine Stanbury. It 

 is spoken of as "a fort" in township twenty-one, and 

 range seven, east, on the line between sections nineteen '" " ' 



and twenty, seven hundred and thirty chains from the -^ <^ 



south corner of those sections. It is on the bold bluff 



bank of what we call Iron creek. It consists of an oblong ^^ X. 



or parallelogram, its longer axis with the direction of the ^^ 



stream. The walls are about the usual height, with a 



regular ditch or fosse all round them ; and in the ditch and fort, trees from six to 

 ten inches in diameter are now growing. From each corner a straight mound is 

 thrown up, running off to some distance, as in the figure. The ground was covered 

 with snow, or we would have taken a survey and measurement. 



ANCIENT WORKS AT LAKE VIEUX DESERT. 



In the second volume of the History of the Indian Tribes (p. 91, Plate lii), just 

 published by authority of Congress, is a plate representing the ancient works situ- 

 ated on one of the three islands in Lake Vieux Desert, the head of the Wisconsin 

 river, accompanied by the following brief notice : 



" The remote position of Lake Vieux Desert, its giving rise to the Wisconsin river, 

 and its having a large island in its centre which fits it for the cultivation practised 

 by the Indians, appear to have early pointed it out as a retreat and stronghold of 

 the interior Indians. No enemy could approach it except by water, and its natural 

 capacities for defence were strengthened by an elliptical embankment in its centre, 

 which appears to have served as the basis of pickets. There were small mounds or 

 barrows within the inclosure, together with some cross embankments, and two large 

 excavations without the embankment, all which are shown in the plate. It appears 

 to have been the most northwesterly point fortified, east of the Mississippi river. 

 The boundary which separates Wisconsin from Michigan cuts the island into nearly 

 equal parts." 



It is not stated when or by whom these works were surveyed. The general 

 parallelism of the embankments with the shore of the island, and the occurrence 

 of large pebbles in their materials, lead to the suspicion that they may be natural 

 ridges, caused by the expansive force of ice. Such ridges are quite numerous along 

 the banks of the smaller lakes in this climate. 

 10 



