surface of the floor, in a mass of mingled charcoal, ashes, mussel
shells, flint chips, and other aboriginal refuse, was a small piece of
glass, apparently part of a bottle, shown in figure 5. Above it and
extending for several feet on every side was an unbroken stratum of
root dust from 2 to 4 inches thick. Above this, in turn were several
thin, undisturbed layers of camp refuse, about 6 inches in all, and
then 6 inches of the loose, incoherent surface earth. This discovery
is susceptible of two interpretations. One is that between the date
when Indians could procure articles from the whites and the date at
which they abandoned this fireplace there was time for the
accumulation of the given thickness of disintegrated material from the
roof, the cave, or at least this part of it, not being used meanwhile
for a habitation; then for the accumulation of several distinct layers
of camp refuse; and finally for the depositing of the cave earth over
it all. This hypothesis is unreasonable. While the rate of formation
of either roof dust or stalagmite is extremely variable, so that it is
not safe to predicate a definite antiquity for objects found beneath
even a considerable thickness of either, at the same time the small
area involved precludes the idea that a number of occupants sufficient
to account for the volume of débris could have lived here unless we
allow a much longer period than would necessarily elapse within the
dates indicated. The other, quite plausible, interpretation is that
the glass was dragged to the spot by a ground hog or other animal
whose runway had become obliterated by settling of the loose material
through which it was made.
The only purpose of elaborating this subject is to guard investigators
against attaching too much importance to an article found under such
or similar conditions, whether it be a "palaeolithic type," or an
"object undoubtedly of European origin."
Thirty-five feet in, under three flat slabs whose upper surface was a
little more than 3 feet below the floor, was an adult skeleton, on the
back, knees flexed to the chest. The body had been laid in a cavity
dug in the clay to a depth of 6 inches. The bones were well preserved
and fresh looking, but light and fragile.
Forty feet in, 3½ feet down, was a flat stone under which were two
skulls. One, shown in plate 6, was perfect, with a full set of sound
teeth; from the other, seen in plate 7, the lower jaw was missing. No
other bones were found except two cervical vertebræ, belonging to the
smaller skull. Undisturbed stratified ashes and roof dust were 30
inches thick above the stone.
To this point the trench was not dug to a greater width than 15 feet;
it was now gradually extended to a width of 40 feet to include most of
the central portion.
Sixty feet in, in the upper part of the clay, like all the human bones
discovered, was a skull with the scapulæ, a few ribs, and one arm
bone. The lower jaw was missing, and two phalanges were inside the
skull. With the scapulæ was one of a much smaller person. Eighteen
inches from these bones, and 6 inches higher, was part of a lower jaw.
At 50 to 60 feet in, on the clay stratum, lay a slab 10 to 12 feet
across and of varying thickness up to 18 inches or more. It fell from
the roof so long ago that the latter is worn and smoothed above it in
much the same way as at other parts. At the east edge of this slab was
a skull so soft and crushed that it could be taken out only in small
fragments; the teeth were very slightly worn, though of large size. A
few traces of other bones were found; not enough to identify. At the
north edge of the slab were two skulls, one of which is shown in plate
8; the other, which belonged to a young person, is given in plate 9.
The limb bones, scapulæ, and hip bones, with a few others, were in a
small pile at one side; but neither lower jaw, no ribs, and only a few
vertebræ were found.
[Illustration: PLATE 6 SKULL FROM GOAT BLUFF CAVE, PHELPS COUNTY,
MO. a, Front; b, profile]
[Illustration: PLATE 7 SKULL FROM GOAT BLUFF CAVE a, Front; b,
profile]
[Illustration: PLATE 8 SKULL FROM GOAT BLUFF CAVE a, Front; b,
profile]
[Illustration: PLATE 9 SKULL OF CHILD FROM GOAT BLUFF CAVE a,
Front; b, profile]
[Illustration: PLATE 10 FLINTS FROM GOAT BLUFF CAVE]
[Illustration: PLATE 11 BONE AND ANTLER IMPLEMENTS FROM GOAT BLUFF
CAVE]
[Illustration: PLATE 12 BONE AND ANTLER IMPLEMENTS FROM GOAT BLUFF
CAVE]
[Illustration: PLATE 13
a, Cairn six miles north of Arlington, Mo.
b, Walled grave six miles north of Arlington, Mo.]
About 65 feet in, near the west side, an inverted pot which shows no
marks of use was found in a mass of ashes filling a cavity the size of
a half bushel, which had been dug in the upper deposit. Scattered here
and there among the ashes were also some mussel shells and
broken deer bones; but the presence of these was probably not
intentional, as the whole arrangement seemed to have the nature of a
votive offering. This was the only perfect vessel found in the entire
course of the explorations. It is of the ordinary "cocoanut form," and
is represented in figure 6.
Seventy feet in was a skeleton, on the left side; the bones were soft
and came out in small fragments. This was fully 6 feet below the
present surface, but some of this earth was piled up from earlier
excavations.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Pot from Goat Bluff Cave.]
Beyond this point the ground had been dug over to such an extent that
further examination seemed useless, and the work was concluded.
Throughout the deposit of black earth, ashes, and roof dust were
scattered irregularly arrowheads and knives of flint, some types of
which are seen in plate 10; mussel shells; fragments of bones from
food animals; bone perforators, some of which are shown in plates 11
and 12; potsherds; hammers; pestles; two or three mortars; a grooved
stone ax of granitic rock, presented in figure 7; and an abundance of
flint chips.
There is a small cave near the top of the bluff facing the Gasconade,
a short distance above the mouth of Little Piney. Within a few yards
of the entrance earth and rock carried in from a sink on top of the
hill fill the cavity to the roof. Water runs through after every hard
rain.
* * * * *
Three small cairns, built of small stones, stood on the point of the
bluff at the junction of Little Piney and the Gasconade. All are
destroyed.
* * * * *
On the edge of a high cliff over the Gasconade, 2 miles north of
Arlington, are three cairns, destroyed.
* * * * *
In Bryant's Bluff, facing the Gasconade 3 miles below Jerome, are two
rock shelters, neither of them more than 20 feet across in any
direction. In both are shells, bones, and pottery; a rough stone
hammer was found in one. Exposure of bedrock on the outside shows that
the earth deposit in either is not over 2 or 3 feet deep.
* * * * *
On top of Bryant's Bluff are four cairns, all of them torn up. The
extreme limit of the scattered stone is about 20 feet; so the cairns
were probably 12 to 15 feet in diameter.
* * * * *
At the mouth of Turkey-pen Slough, 4 miles north of Arlington, is a
terrace with steep banks on two sides, next to the river and to the
slough. On this stood a village. Three house sites are plainly marked
by the refuse around, and there may be others; vegetation is very
dense. Mussel shells and burned stones are abundant, and many flint
implements have been picked up.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Grooved ax from Goat Bluff Cave.]
CAIRNS AT SUGAR TREE CAMP (11)
Six miles north of Arlington is a clubhouse known as Sugar Tree Camp.
A short distance from the building is a high vertical cliff rising
almost directly from the Gasconade. The top of this cliff, near the
front, is of solid rock, almost bare of timber or brush, and in a row
along it close to the edge are seven cairns, all now so defaced that
any attempt at investigation is useless. The smallest, at one end of
the row, is of the common circular form, about 12 feet in diameter.
Three others seem to be of the same type; but their appearance may be
due to their destruction. One is shown in plate 13, a. The other
three are walled vaults. The largest, at the other end of the row, was
built up like a foundation wall of sandstone slabs. It is rectangular
in form, measuring on the outside 16 by 28 feet. All the walls are
more or less destroyed; the small portion of one remaining is shown in
plate 13, b. Two "walled-up graves" reported on the first ridge north
of Sugar Tree Camp, and one reported on the first ridge south, never
existed. There is a small cairn on a high peak half a mile east of the
camp.
TICK CREEK CAVE
In a ravine which joins Tick Creek about 2 miles from where the latter
flows into the Gasconade, and about 12 miles north of Arlington, is a
large cave known as the Saltpeter Cave.
The opening is wide and high, but the mouth and floor are much
obstructed by large fallen rocks and the bottom is constantly wet from
wall to wall with running and seeping water.
There is another entrance to this cavern around a corner of the bluff
and much higher up on its face. This opening is small and the sloping
passage from it to the cavern is almost closed in places by drip
formation.
It was never inhabited.
CAVE IN POOL HOLLOW (12)
A mile east of Newburg a ravine now known as Pool Hollow, but formerly
called "Strawhorn's" [Strawhan's] Hollow, opens into the right (north)
side of Little Piney. Two miles from the river is a cave at the head
of a little cove. The entrance, facing directly south and visible from
half a mile down the ravine, is 12 feet high and 75 feet across. The
rear wall, where the cave makes a turn at 150 feet from the mouth, is
plainly visible from the outside.
At 60 feet within water reaches from wall to wall, and a constant
stream flows along the left side. The talus at the mouth is of tough
clay with many rocks scattered through it, and much of it has settled
back into the cave. Water drips from many places in the roof, so that
no part of the floor is ever entirely dry.
Some broken flints and chips were picked up about the mouth and in
front of the cave, but nothing else could be found.
In dry weather there might be spots which would afford a resting place
for campers, but no continuous occupancy was possible.
HOUSE MOUNDS NEAR ROLLA (13)
Nearly 2 miles northeast of Rolla is the beginning of a little valley
which for a short distance is parallel with the Frisco Railway and
close to the right of way; it then turns to the southward. Along this
"draw" are numerous mounds, starting well toward its upper end and
following its course for nearly a mile. They lie along either side,
and reach into the tributary widenings. Most of them are on the flats;
but they are also scattered along the hillsides, those farthest from
the water having an elevation of about 50 feet above it. They vary
from 30 to 60 feet in diameter and from 1 to 3 feet high. In all, they
are scattered over an area of at least 100 acres.
HOUSE MOUNDS NEAR DILLON
Half a mile west of Dillon a ravine heads at the Frisco track, goes
south a short distance, then turns southeastward. Near the track
begins a group of mounds which reach for fully a mile along both sides
of the little stream.
There are more than 100, most of them small, though at least one is 60
feet across and 3 feet high.
HOUSE MOUNDS NEAR ST. JAMES (14)
At the northern border of St. James is a small shallow valley with a
northern and eastern trend, practically parallel with the Frisco
Railway, and for 3 miles or more not over a fourth of a mile from it
at any point.
Starting near the Soldiers' Home is a group of mounds which extend for
fully 2½ miles down both sides of the valley.
Some are partly cut away by the stream, others are on the narrow flat
bottoms subject to overflow with every hard rain, still others are
built on the slopes to an elevation of 40 feet. They are somewhat
larger than the average, a diameter of about 60 feet and a height of 3
feet being not uncommon.
* * *
PULASKI COUNTY
MCWILLIAMS CAVE (15)
A cave on the McWilliams farm, near Jack Hinshaw's, at the upper end
of the Big Eddy, near the south line of Pulaski County, has an
entrance 8 feet high and 15 feet wide. There is a good light for 150
feet, at which distance the cavern turns. It is an excellent location
for an Indian home, having a floor of dry earth, and a small amount of
refuse was found; but the earth has been thoroughly dug over in the
search for missing residents, some human bones rooted out by hogs
having given rise to a belief that these may have been murdered and
concealed here.
DAVIS CAVES (15)
Facing Roubidoux Creek, on the farm of J.W. Davis, 3 miles north of
Cookville, are three caves. The largest is 40 or 50 feet above the
foot of the bluff. It has an entrance 30 feet wide, the roof being 8
feet high. It is well lighted to a depth of 120 feet, where it curves.
No refuse was observed, but the situation is favorable for habitation.
Another cave, near this, has an entrance 30 feet wide and 10 feet
high; it is well lighted for 40 feet back.
The third cave of this series is a rock shelter a short distance south
of the second, and higher up in the bluff.
All these appear to deserve an examination.
BERRY CAVE
A cave on George Berry's land, in a ravine opening into the east side
of Roubidoux Creek, 3 miles from Hanna post office, has a small
entrance which is nearly closed by "drip rock," the roof, walls, and
floor being thickly incrusted. These deposits, which it is said are
even more abundant farther in, seem to be rather rapidly increasing in
volume.
MAXEY CAVE (16)
What is known as Maxey's Cave is 7 miles south of Waynesville, on the
west side of Roubidoux Creek. It is by far the largest open cave in
this region, the entrance being 40 feet high and 100 feet wide. It
extends across the head of a ravine, and if the loose earth at the
sides were cleared away it would be found still wider. The entire
floor is covered with a mass of rocks of every size up to several
tons, except at one side of the entrance where there is a small amount
of loose earth. The front chamber is 300 feet long to where the cavern
forks; in one of these forks daylight extends for 100 feet farther, or
400 feet from the mouth. Marks on the walls show that the entire floor
is sometimes covered 2 or 3 feet deep with running water.
A survey made some years ago disclosed a mass of earth and rock "a
long ways back in the hill;" definite figures could not be obtained.
Beyond this point it was impossible to proceed. By running
corresponding angles and lines on the surface outside the surveyors
came to a very large sink hole, into which flowed the drainage of
several farms. This explains the flood marks. Clearly the roof of the
cave had fallen in at this point.
YOARK CAVE
Yoark Cave, a fourth of a mile east from Maxey's in a bluff facing
south on the left bank of Roubidoux Creek, has an entrance 40 feet
wide, 30 feet high, and is in daylight for 150 feet. Cave earth
extends for 100 feet from the entrance, and apparently continues from
this point under the gravel and clay which have washed from the
interior.
It is on the land of A.L. Foote, having been in his family
continuously since it was secured by Government patent. The name is
derived from "Grandma Martha Yoark," who was among the earliest white
settlers in the region. Her home was on the opposite side of the
creek, in a pioneer log cabin, the last vestige of which, except the
stones of the chimney, disappeared before the Civil War.
In the front portion many large rocks are lying on the surface of the
clay floor and others are imbedded in it; probably still others are
entirely covered. Farther back the clay is mixed with gravel washed
from the interior. This deposit is never entirely dry and in rainy
seasons is quite muddy. The difficulty of removing or digging under
the rocks, added to the certainty that water would be encountered
before the bottom is reached, render useless any effort at complete
excavation. The amount of refuse on the surface, however, is a good
indication that such researches as would be possible in the upper
layers, among the rocks, would disclose a large quantity of aboriginal
remains of comparatively modern date.
GRAVES AT LAUGHLIN'S (17)
On the Laughlin goat ranch, 6 miles southeast of Waynesville, a high
narrow ridge level along the top and sloping abruptly on each side
extends northward from the hills on the right side of Roubidoux Creek
and terminates in a vertical cliff. Bedrock projects on the top and on
both sides, and vegetation is so scanty that the crest is almost a
"bald."
On the summit of this ridge are seven cairns, the first one only a few
feet from the edge of the cliff, the last one about 300 feet back,
near where the ground begins to ascend toward the plateau. They are
small, none more than 3 feet high, and all have a depression in the
top where the stones have been thrown out from the center toward the
outside by relic seekers and rabbit hunters.
In three of them flat stones remaining in place at parts of the margin
indicate that an irregular square inclosure was constructed around the
bodies, as in those examined at Gourd Creek. Possibly this feature
existed in all of them at the time of their construction, but there
was no evidence that any of them had been walled up like those at
Sugar Tree Camp or the Devil's Elbow. Views of their present
conditions are shown in plate 14.
KERR CAVE (17)
Near the site of Kerr's Mill, on Roubidoux Creek, 5 miles south-east
of Waynesville, is a cave at the foot of a bluff, the entrance 60 feet
above the bottom of the hill. Viewed from the outside it has the
appearance of a rock shelter 40 feet wide and 45 feet deep. Above
most of it the stratum forming the roof is 15 feet high; near the
front the successive overlying strata project in a hollow curve until
at the face of the bluff the drop from the ledge to the talus
immediately beneath it is fully 50 feet.
At one side, near the rear, is a passage 5 or 6 feet wide, not visible
from the front, extending back into the hill. Although the cave is
usually dry, clean gravel in this passage shows that sufficient water
flows through at times to prevent earth from accumulating; further
evidence of which fact is found in the mud cracks of the floor and the
ferns growing amid the rocks, large and small, which cover it.
The place could never have been occupied except for temporary shelter,
and there is no evidence that even this use was made of it.
SELL CAVE (18)
Half a mile directly south of Waynesville, on the farm of Dr. W.J.
Sell, is a cave located in the northern end of a ridge entirely
detached from the surrounding hills. The entrance, facing northeast,
is halfway up the point of the ridge, overlooking a fertile bottom
along Roubidoux Creek. From the top of the ledge over the entrance the
hill has an easy upgrade for a fourth of a mile to the summit, which
is at an elevation of 250 feet above the creek. On top of the hill is
the site of an Indian village where some mortars, grinding stones, and
numerous flints have been found.
The roof of the cave has partially fallen in at the entrance, forming
a re-entrant curve 30 feet across and extending 11 feet inward; the
large blocks from this, and from the stratum described later, were
lying on and in the talus at the present front but did not extend to
the red clay beneath. Some of the blocks could be reduced with a heavy
sledge hammer to an extent that made it possible to roll them out of
the way; but 24 of them had to be broken up with dynamite.
The talus at its thickest part has a depth of 6 feet; it extends down
the hill on the outside and has washed back into the cave, gradually
decreasing in quantity, to a distance of 50 feet. The roof, at the
front, is 5 feet above the talus; the thickness of the ledge forming
it is only 8 feet, the slope of the hill starting from this line.
Owing to the restricted width of the ridge, on top, the entire area
draining over the ledge measures only 70 feet in width above the
entrance, and narrows irregularly to a breadth of 30 feet at an
outcrop 120 feet up the hill, or with an approximate space of 6,000
square feet. On this small tract more than half the rock is bare, with
scanty patches of soil and humus in the crevices and on flat places.
At the present time the water which flows over the ledge during hard
rains is scarcely turbid; consequently a period of several centuries
was required for the débris to accumulate.
Fourteen feet back from the farthest-receding part of the curve of the
roof at the front is the edge of a stratum 3 feet thick; the bottom of
this was 3 feet above the talus immediately beneath it. This stratum
is continuous, with a perceptible dip to the interior, as far as it
can be seen.
The width of the cave at the mouth is 44 feet; 30 feet within it
widens to 51 feet. A small amount of water making its way from the
interior over the level floor collects in a little basin scooped out
to receive it, and sinks into the floor near the inner foot of the
talus 55 feet from the entrance. At this point the width of the cave
is 36 feet; the height to the roof is 4½ feet. As the floor beyond
here is soft mud, the cavern was not followed farther.
Owing to the limited space between the floor and the roof it was
necessary to remove the excavated earth to the outside. The water
which flows from the hill and falls upon the talus during rains also
had to be provided against. A trench 4 feet wide at the bottom, with
sufficient slant to the sides to prevent them from falling in, was
started 25 feet out from the entrance, on a level which gave it a
depth of 6½ feet at the highest point of the talus, thus carrying it a
few inches into the clay which was the original floor of the cave.
This depth also brought it well below the level of the little pool
inside. When its greatest depth was reached the excavation was at once
widened to 25 feet, thus reaching well toward the cliff on either
side. Growing trees and large rocks made a greater width here
impracticable.
In the talus were flint implements, none small enough for arrowheads,
some well finished, others roughly made, a few being shown in plate
15; three sandstone mortars and fragments of four others; probably 100
cobblestones used as hammers and pestles, some of them pitted on the
sides, a few showing marks of much use (pl. 16, A); a small, very
solid piece of hematite worn round by use as a hammer; a small,
imperfect tomahawk made of quartzite (pl. 16, B, a); many mussel
shells, some used as knives and scrapers; animal bones, some of them
worked into implements, including a perfect skiver (pl. 16, B, b);
several pieces of hematite and limonite used as paint stones (pl. 16,
B, c); many fragments of pottery, some of them worked into disks and
perforated (pl. 16, B, d); occasionally small deposits of charcoal,
ashes, and burned earth. The meager amount of artificial material, and
its random distribution, as if one piece was lost here, another thrown
there, throughout the talus from the present surface to the underlying
clay would appear good evidence that the cave was never used as a
place of permanent abode, but merely provided temporary refuge at
intervals extending over a prolonged period.
[Illustration: PLATE 14
CAIRNS ON ROUBIDOUX CREEK, SIX MILES FROM WAYNESVILLE, MO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 15
FLINTS FROM SELL CAVE, NEAR WAYNESVILLE, MO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 16
A, Pestles or grinding stones
B, Celt, pottery disks, paint stones, and skiver
OBJECTS FROM SELL CAVE]
[Illustration: PLATE 17
Skull from Sell cave. a, Front; b, profile
Skull from Bell's cave, near Waynesville. c, Front; d, profile
Skull from Miller's cave. e, Front; f, profile
THREE SKULLS FROM PULASKI COUNTY, MO.]
None of the pottery was decorated in any way, though most of it was
cord-marked; no piece was found which had a handle or a foot.
Nearly half a bushel of pieces was found, fragments of many different
vessels, with a range in thickness from one-eighth to three-fourths of
an inch.
If all this talus were examined, much material might be found, but the
result would not justify the labor.