222 



ANIMAL MOUNDS. 



Animal Mounds. 



Not the least remarkable of the American antiquities are 

 the Animal Mounds, which are principally, though not ex- 

 clusively, found in Wisconsin. In this district "thousands 

 of examples occur of gigantic basso-relievos of men, beasts, 

 birds, and reptiles, all wrought with persevering labor on the 

 surface of the soil/' while enclosures and works of defence 

 are almost entirely wanting, the " ancient city of Aztalan" 

 being, as is supposed, the only example of the former class. 



The " Animal Mounds" were discovered by Mr. Lapham 

 in 1836, and described in the newspapers of the day, but the 

 first account of them in any scientific journal was that by 

 Mr. R. 0. Taylor, in the American Journal of Science and 

 Art, for April, 1838. In 1843 a longer memoir, by Mr. S. 

 Taylor, appeared in the same journal. Professor J. Locke 

 gave some account of them in a " Report on the Mineral 

 Lands of the United States," presented to Congress in 1840. 

 Messrs. Squier and Davis devoted to the same subject a part 

 of their work on the " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi 

 Valley;" and finally, the seventh volume of the Smithsonian 

 Contributions contains the work, by Mr. Lapham, which 

 gives the most complete account of these interesting remains. 



Mr. Lapham gives a map, showing the distribution of 

 these curious earthworks. They appear to be most numerous 

 in the southern counties of Wisconsin ; and extend from the 

 Mississippi to Lake Michigan, following generally the courses 

 of the river, and being especially numerous along the great 

 Indian trail, or war-path, from Lake Michigan, near Mil- 

 waukie, to the Mississippi, above the Prairie du Chien. This, 

 however, does not prove any connection between the present 

 Indians and the mounds ; the same line has been adopted 

 as the route of the United States military road, and may 

 have been in use for an indefinite period. 



