332 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Feb. 27, 1909. 
the main Alaskan range, has an interesting paper 
on the birds of this region—latitude about 63° 30'. 
The Toklak River is a swift silt-laden stream 
flowing through a broad glacial valley, and about 
forty miles above the mouth of the river there 
is a stretch of about three miles where the water 
does not freeze, but remains open all winter. 
The salmon run up to this point, where they 
spawn and where many die. 
In this open stretch of water Air. Sheldon 
found about 300 mallards, which were there all 
winter. White men have observed these ducks 
wintering there for seven years, and the Indians 
state that they have always wintered there. They 
feed on the dead salmon and salmon eggs in the 
pools, and as a consequence of this diet the flesh 
is quite uneatable. In the cold weather the 
water steams vigorously and sometimes the birds 
freeze their toes. 
On Aloose Creek, about too miles southwest 
of those in the Toklak River, sixteen mallards 
wintered in a piece of open water, also at the 
head of the salmon run. Alallards also winter 
just below Gulkana Lake in the outlet which 
flows into Toklak River, and a few have been 
observed wintering in the Tanana River, just 
below the Delta River. No doubt there are 
many other places in the interior of Alaska 
where mallards winter. 
As so often pointed out, the question of where 
certain ducks can winter is one of open water, 
in which food may be found, and not at all one 
of temperature. 
Ancestors of Our Indians. 
Five miles south of Byron, Ill., there is a 
sightly eminence which abuts squarely on the 
west bank of our beautiful river. Its summit 
is crowned with the tumuli, memorials of the 
ancestors of our American Indians, knowledge 
of whom has been wholly lost. The site com¬ 
mands a fine view up and down the Rock River 
valley and its selection by this ancient people 
as a place of interment for their dead speaks 
well for their taste and shows them to have 
been lovers of the beautiful; while in the days 
of canoe traffic it was certainly a site of great 
strategic importance. Unquestionably they 
traveled much by canoe, were great pedestrians, 
packed their dogs, raised Indian corn, and at 
times from headland to headland of the river 
telegraphed with smoke signals. 
The red men, displaced by the early settlers, 
knew nothing concerning the origin of these 
mounds which are widely distributed through¬ 
out the United States. We know this people 
only through their works, tools, utensils, 
weapons and ornaments. No monument erected 
by the hands of man is more enduring and last¬ 
ing than a large mound of earth. Think of it, 
ye who would be remembered of men ! 
In the mid eighties I passed a pleasant afternoon 
in this ancient city of the dead, studying the rela¬ 
tion and configuration of the mounds of this typical 
group. They occupy the higher portion of the 
bluff extending along its river front, while many 
of them were found further back in a dense 
thicket of scrub and second growth timber that 
has sprung up since the settlement of the coun¬ 
try. The mounds of this group are the typical 
round, oval and elongated ones. Two of the 
latter are five or six rods in extent and run 
due east and west through the southern and 
middle portion of the timber, and narrow, 
broken embankments of earth, which at the 
present time can be traced almost around the 
once beautifully laid out grounds. I selected 
a typical round mound situated at the extreme 
northeast end of the bluff, which from its posi¬ 
tion I took to be a burial mound and deter¬ 
mined to return in a few days and make a care¬ 
ful, systematic exploration of the same. Not 
all of these mounds are burial mounds. 
Two years ago the commissioners of high¬ 
ways of Rockvale determined to change, at this 
point, the river road—which formerly skirted 
the base of the bluff at the water’s edge and was 
always submerged in spring time—to an eleva¬ 
tion about midway between the water level and 
the top of the bluff. This was accomplished 
by scraping away the face of the bluff which is 
composed almost wholly of gravel, forming, 
when the work was completed, a substantial 
roadway about two rods wide. An Indian 
mound used to stand on the very brink of the 
bluff and in carrying on the excavation was en¬ 
tirely removed. In the bottom of the mound 
were found a very badly decayed human skele¬ 
ton. a pipe and some flint implements. 
Accompanied by John Catnough I returned 
to the mound in question and began operations 
by laying out two trenches at right angles to 
each other, about three and one-half feet wide 
and e.xtending entirely across the mound. These 
trenches were sunk to and below the original 
surface of the ground upon which the mound 
was erected. At a depth of four inches we 
took out fragments of a human skull. They 
crumbled to dust beneath our touch. A spade’s 
length deeper we removed the middle third of 
a thigh bone, which, though badly decayed, was 
the only one of the numerous fragments and 
pieces of bone which we removed that was in 
a fair state of preservation. From the bone 
fragments obtained it was easy to determine 
that several individuals had been buried in the 
mound, and one of them in a sitting position. 
Near the bottom of the mound we found a celt 
or flint knife, two flint scrapers and a half sec¬ 
tion of a pipe stem, or rather cigar-like pipe 
which had been made of clay and baked and 
was of the color of brick. The spadeful of 
earth contained a stone of peculiar shape and 
marking. On one side was the exact represen¬ 
tation of a snake in outline. It is of natural 
formation and is in no sense artificial. It was 
picked up because of its peculiar shape and 
marking and was used by its former owner as 
an amulet or “medicine,” and on his decease 
the ceremonial stone was buried with him. 
Aly companion was skeptical in regard to the 
utility of the flint knife, so I picked up a piece 
of an old horse blanket which was lying near, 
and drawing it tightly around the handle of 
my spade, drew the keen edge of the knife 
across it. The result was a cut a foot in length 
that would have done credit to one of the best 
steel blades. 
As we neared the original surface of the 
ground we came upon several layers and streaks 
about an inch in thickness of charcoal which 
was bright and fresh, and yet in all probability 
a thousand years have sped since the fire was 
lighted that burned it. In the center of the 
mound, upon the original surface of the earth, 
occupying a circular space about three feet 
across, was a thick layer of wood ashes. In this 
hardened ash mass there were several pockets 
in which the ashes were as soft and bright as 
if they had been burned but yesterday. Beneath 
these ashes the ground was baked a full spade’s 
length and was so hard that it was with diffi¬ 
culty we broke the mass up with our spades. 
I carved out two squares for specimens and 
ruined my knife in so doing. 
It is my opinion that these people were sun 
and fire worshippers. Long must their fires 
have burned to bake the ground so hard and 
deep and to have left a residue of wood ashes 
eight inches in depth. 
When we had completed the exploration of 
the mound and were about to begin shoveling 
the earth back, my companion suggested that 
we deposit something in the mound as a 
memorial of the day and the work performed. 
His conceit pleased me, and removing a couple 
of .45 caliber brass shells from my six-shooter, 
with a penknife I scratched our names and the 
date upon the soft brass and gave them to him. 
He placed the mementoes in a large beautiful 
shell from the river shore and laid it upon a 
flat stone in the center of the mound, while 
above it he erected a pretty little cairn of white 
stones. We then returned the dust of these 
ancient individuals to its original resting place, 
leaving the mound as we found it. 
Local tradition has it that a mound, which 
in shape resembled a turtle, once stood upon 
the river bank just south of this bluff, and that 
by standing in the center of the mound the re¬ 
semblance was very striking, the head, neck, 
flappers and tail being faithfully represented, 
while the different members of the effigy were 
correctly proportioned. This mound was de¬ 
stroyed in improving the highway. Effigy 
mounds, or rather what the plow has left of 
them, are not uncommon in the valley. The 
most common forms of effigy mounds with us 
are made to represent birds, turtles, spear heads 
and arrow points. Albert J. Woodcock. 
The Necessity of Forest Preservation. 
Boston, Alass., Feb. 20. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: I hope your editorial on “The Fate 
of the Trout,” in your issue of Jan. 23, will be 
carefully noted by all readers of Forest and 
Stream. 
Throughout New England forest fires and the 
drouth have been the most severe that this gen¬ 
eration has ever experienced. Not a few streams 
which were supposed to be never failing dried 
up completely. The efforts of our fish com¬ 
missions for many years have been completely 
undone, so that additional stocking will be neces¬ 
sary another season to replenish the streams 
which are now barren. 
I believe the distressing conditions of the past 
season have awakened a new public interest in 
the preservation of our forests, and that many 
lovers of the great out-of-doors now realize that 
forest preservation is a necessity and that the 
care of our forests is a duty. If this is true, 
then perhaps the experiences of the past season 
may be worth the terrible cost. For is it not 
a fact that all of our fresh water fishes, our 
game and many of our song birds—in fact, 
nearly all our wild life—is dependent upon the 
forests for very existence? 
Richard E. Follett, 
Vice-President and General Manager New 
England Forest, Fish and Game Assn. 
