The Clans of the Effigy Builders. 
299 
THE CLAN CENTERS AND CLAN HABITAT OF THE 
EFFIGY BUILDERS. 
By STEPHEN D. PEET, Ph. D. 
The animal effigies of Wisconsin are very interesting specimens of the 
handiwork of a people who have passed away. Who this people were, is 
at present unknown. They were, however, remarkable for one thing — 
their skill in imitating animal figures and especially in molding massive 
imitative forms out of earth and raising bas-reliefs above the surface so 
that they could easily be seen and recognized. Nowhere on the face of 
the earth are there so many of these effigies as here, and nowhere else 
can we learn as much about the effigy builders. There are, to be sure, a 
few effigies in the state of Ohio which, like these in Wisconsin, are 
molded from the soil. They are as follows: The Great Serpent in 
Adams county, the Alligator mound, and the Bird mound in Licking 
county, and the animal effigy in Scioto county, near the mouth of the 
Scioto river. The writer has discovered also a massive serpent effigy 
near Quincy, Illinois, and other gentlemen have discovered turtle and 
animal effigies, both in northern Illinois and eastern Iowa, though these 
probably belonged to the same system with the effigies of Wisconsin, 
stray specimens which were built beyond the borders of the state. Other 
than these, no effigies made of earth have been discovered anywhere on 
the continent. There are, to be sure, effigies made of stone in various 
parts of the country, as follows: Two in the shape of birds, discovered 
in Georgia and described by Col. C. C. Jones, who is one of the most 
skillful archgeologists. Several in the shape of serpents, turtles, buffa¬ 
loes and human form in Iowa, described by Prof. John Todd and Mr. T. 
H. Lewis. The figures of birds, turtles and nondescript creatures may 
be frequently seen inscribed upon rocks. Marquette, the missionary, 
saw one such near Alton, Ill. Jonathan Carver saw others in the caves 
in Minnesota. Rev. Edward Brown described those in West Salem, Wis¬ 
consin. Mr. T. H. Lewis has made a study of those found in the caves 
of Iowa and Minnesota. It may be said, however, that the effigies made 
from earth, notwithstanding the havoc made with them by the relic 
hunter and the farmer, have proved about as enduring as those made 
from stone, and no more liable to be marred and destroyed than are the 
inscriptions in the caves. This makes the responsibility of the citizens 
