STONE-HEAPS — STONES OF MEMORIAL, ETC. 163 



tion, for the residence of a Manitou or spirit. No. 3 was found by Mr. School- 

 craft, about one thousand miles above the Falls of St. Anthony, on the Mississippi. 

 It had been set up in a shadowy nook, and was almost entirely concealed by shrub- 

 bery. — {Indian in his Wigwam, p. 292.) Fig. 44, No. 1, was found in East 



Hartford, Connecticut, and deposited in the Museum of Yale College in 1788. It 

 is thirty-one inches high and seventeen wide ; the material is white granite. It is 

 said the Indians placed their dead before it previous to burial, and afterwards 

 returned and danced around it. — {Trans. Am, Acad. Arts and Sciences, Vol. III., 

 p. 192.) Number 2 was found at the base of a mound in South Carohna, and 

 is now in the possession of Dr. S. G. Morton, of Philadelphia. It is small, not 

 more than six inches in height, and has evidently undergone some artificial modi- 

 fication. 



Single erect stones, or a group of them, of large size, in isolated situations, 

 were also venerated. They are sometimes covered with rude figures, and sacri- 

 fices made at their base. James, Lewis and Clarke, Prince Maximilian, and other 

 travellers mention some of these, which in size and general disposition closely 

 resemble the Celtic cromlech — (Lewis and Clarke, pp. 79, 83 ; Prince Maximilian's 

 Travels, pp. 381, 417; James's Narrative, Vol. I., p. 252.) Catlin observed a 

 singular group of five large boulders, at the Coteau des Prairies, which were 

 regarded with the utmost veneration by the Indians. None venture to approach 

 nearer than three or four rods ; and offerings are made in humble attitude, by 

 throwing tobacco towards them from a distance. — (iV. A. Indians, Vol. II., p. 202.) 



In the State of New York also, at various points, are remarkable stones, with 

 which the Indians connected their traditions, and which they were accustomed 

 to hold in high regard. Such was the celebrated " Oneida Stone," from which 

 the Oneidas figuratively represent themselves to have sprung. It stands in the 

 town of Stockbridge, Madison county, on a very commanding eminence, from 

 which the entire valley, as far as Oneida Lake, can be seen, under favorable cir- 

 cumstances. It was the altar of the tribe, and a beacon-fire lighted near it was 

 the signal for the warriors to assemble in cases of emergency. It is a large 

 boulder of sienite, and is figured by Mr. Schoolcraft, in his " Notes on the Iro- 

 quois," p. 77. In the county of Westchester, town of Yonkers, on the -bank of 

 the Hudson, in an obscure nook, is also a singular stone, which once received the 

 reverence of the Indians. Another, bearing some resemblance to the human head, 



