"buffalo wallows" as they are commonly known. These are the ruins of
aboriginal houses. The general construction is the same, the only
practical difference being that some are square in outline, others
round. This difference is not always apparent prior to the excavation.
In the making, a pit was dug, square or round as desired, and the
earth thrown out on every side. Posts were then set around the margin
of the excavation, and the house built in the same manner as those
with which we are familiar from accounts of early travelers. Many of
them have been examined by Zimmerman and Park, who found masses of
hard-burned earth in which are cavities and depressions due to the
burning of straw, grass, twigs, and poles, used in the construction of
the houses. This results from the destruction of the houses by fire.
Sometimes the floor has a layer of this burned material which is
evidently due to the falling in of the roof. Most of these are on the
hilltops, but some of them are on narrow ridges leading from the high
land to the creek or river bottoms. In the latter event there is
always a village site on the low ground bordering the stream. The
relics gathered up on these village sites are in no wise different
from those found when the lodge sites are excavated; and also are of
the same character as those picked up on what are no doubt modern
village sites in the vicinity. This fact militates against the idea
that the lodge sites are extremely ancient.
IOWA POINT
On a low hill, cut off on every side by steep ravines, is a small
mound containing a cist grave. The bottom of this, which was dug
slightly below the natural surface, was covered with a pavement of
limestone slabs. The grave was roughly oval or triangular in outline,
measuring about 7 by 9 feet. Around it was a wall of similar stones,
set in contact and sloping outward at an angle of about 40 degrees
from the vertical. There was nothing whatever in this grave.
At the edge of the mound was a box grave 5½ by 2½ by 2½ feet, the
longer axis on a radial line. It was made of small flat stones built
up like a wall, the only grave of which I could learn that had any
resemblance to the vault graves farther down the Missouri. In the
grave were two skulls and some other bones, all bunched in the
northern end.
NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE NEMAHA RIVER
Lewis and Clark, in their journal, mention that when camped near the
mouth of the Nemaha, one or both of them went to an Indian village
about 2 miles up the stream. He, or they, climbed a low ridge near the
river and stood on a mound which commanded a fine view of the
surrounding country. There is a dispute as to the site of this mound;
but the journal plainly says it was on the lower (east) side of a
little creek which comes in here. Two miles farther up is a larger
mound on higher ground which is generally supposed to be the one meant
by the explorer; but this is on the other side of the creek and at
some distance from the Pawnee village which was located near the mouth
of the creek, on the lower side. The ground where this village stood
is covered over a space of several acres with the ordinary débris of
an Indian settlement; and it is significant that all the relics found
are so similar to those which are called "ancient" when found in the
lodge sites, that no one could determine from inspection which kind
came from which place. Unless it may exist in the markings in the
pottery, no distinction can be made between these specimens and
similar ones from other localities.
The Pawnees lived here until 1837, when the Iowas and Otoes made a
sortie upon the unsuspecting inhabitants and killed all of them they
could overcome. Two women of the Iowa tribe who were living on the
reservation in 1914 remember seeing dead bodies lying around wherever
the invaders could find and kill a resident.
A short distance below the explorers carved their names on a rock
which projected into the stream. Accounts as to this spot differ; it
is generally stated that in making a road around here, the rock
containing the names was blasted away; but a man in the neighborhood
who claims to know the exact spot says the blasting did not extend
quite so far and that the names are covered by a mass of earth and
rock which slid from the bluff many years ago. If this be true, a
thrill awaits the man who finds the names some centuries from now,
when the river has washed away all this accumulated material.
* * *
VICINITY OF TROY, KANSAS
Near the mouth of Wolf River is a village site on which Dr. R.S.
Dinsmore, of Troy, has counted 125 tipi sites. Relics are very
abundant here, especially the small chert "thumb-scrapers," which
outnumber all other specimens.
MOUTH OF MOSQUITO CREEK
Four miles east of Troy, on a ridge so steep that its top is
inaccessible from either side, and so narrow that a wagon would make a
track on each slope, is a little mound worn down until its true nature
would not be suspected. Dr. Dinsmore was on this ridge one day and
noticed a flat limestone rock. Knowing that it had no place in the
loess, he began digging to ascertain the reason for it being there. At
a depth of a few inches he found bones, and soon unearthed a number of
skulls, with only his hands or a stick. Coming back later with tools,
he found, in all, 56 skulls. Afterwards he found others, and persons
in the neighborhood have exhumed many more. The deposit represents a
communal burial, from a village which probably stood on the level
creek bottom not far away. A few skeletons showed an attempt at
orderly arrangement. These were probably of individuals who had not
been dead long at the time of the general burial. Most of the bones,
however, skulls and others, were piled in the smallest possible area,
as if gathered up in sacks or baskets from previous burials and
carried here for reinterment. The soil is so loose as to be easily dug
with the hands, like sand; but at the same time so fine and close
packed as to shed water almost like a roof. Owing to the steep slope
at every point, except toward the summit of the ridge, there must be
some erosion, and consequently the age of the burials can not be
great. Yet, the same conditions prevail in other places where a great
antiquity is claimed for the remains. Frost necessarily disintegrates
the soil to some extent; the wind or rain carries away the loosened
portions; and this process is continuous. The shape of the mound shows
that when the burials were made the ridge was essentially identical in
form with its present aspect. The bones also are comparatively fresh
in appearance, and it may be considered certain that they can not date
back many generations.
On the top of a hill rising from the opposite side of Mosquito Creek
Dr. Dinsmore found a low mound, which, like that just described, would
not have been suspected as such but for a stone projecting from the
surface. Under this stone, with 8 inches of earth intervening, was a
skull so completely mineralized that it appears to be carved from a
block of limestone. No other portions of the body to which it belonged
remained, though traces in the surrounding earth showed that at least
the larger bones and perhaps the entire skeleton had been deposited.
Bones in other parts of the mound were in their natural condition;
that is, they were not altered from their ordinary appearance,
although only in fragments. It is remarkable that this entire cranium
should thus change while all the other bones, even the jaw, had
disappeared. The description of this find is from Dr. Dinsmore, who
has the skull in his office. Possibly he may be in error in stating
that traces were found of other bones belonging with it. These may
have belonged to another individual. The soil is ordinary sandy loess,
containing lime but not in such quantity as to account for this
alteration. Perhaps the skull may be from an older burial somewhere,
the petrifaction having taken place before it was buried here.
* * *
RULO, NEBRASKA
Particular attention was paid to conditions a mile north of Rulo,
where it is reported that human skeletons were found in the Kansan
drift. It was not the intention of the discoverer to have it
understood that these remains were in undisturbed drift, but such is
the impression that has gained credence.
At the settlement of the country by whites the road constructed across
a ravine here, on the section line nearest the river about
three-eighths of a mile away, followed the natural contour and the
crossing was made without difficulty. Since then a deep washout has
worked its way to some distance above this point, making a long bridge
necessary. From the head of the washout to the Missouri River the
banks are vertical, or nearly so, on each side of the little stream.
It was in the bank on the south side that the bones were found. It is
stated they were 7 feet under the surface; if so there must have been
a mound above them, for the lowest excavation does not reach over 5
feet below the present level of the ground, and at that extends
slightly below the bottom of the grave.
Within 40 years the Missouri River, which is now more than a mile away
toward the Missouri shore, flowed at the foot of a slight bluff
terminating the slope from the high land toward the west; there was
formerly a steamboat landing on the upper side of the ravine. On the
lower side is a triangular area of about an acre, bounded by the
bluff, the river bank, and the ravine. This was an excellent location
for an Indian village or camp. A narrow level strip extends from the
mouth of the ravine to a point near the bridge, some distance above
where the remains were found. It is quite clear that the skeletons
were the remains of individuals who had died at the camp on the
river's bank and had been carried here for burial. This may have
occurred within the last hundred years or in fact at any time while
the Indians were still living in this vicinity.
The flood level of the Missouri is not more than 15 feet lower than
the level space along the sides of the ravine. The little intermittent
stream has cut down this depth through a deposit which is composed of
river sediment, wash from the hills on each side, and material carried
from higher levels by the brook itself in rainy seasons. At only one
point is there a real glacial deposit, and this does not extend for
more than 50 feet horizontally, and does not reach to the top of the
bank. It is at some distance from the graves, and may be due to a lobe
of the ice or to an iceberg. However formed or deposited here it has
no relation whatever to the skeletons. In a sense, the material in
which they were buried is "Kansan drift"; but it is drift which has
been redistributed and has come into its present position within a few
centuries at the most.
* * *
NEAR HOWE, NEBRASKA
Mr. Sam P. Hughes, who lives near Howe, has done considerable
excavating in that vicinity. He is an intelligent man and an ardent
student, but his ideas in regard to the age of his discoveries need
much revision downward. His chief work has been done north of Howe at
a place 9 miles from the nearest point on the Missouri River. Here is
a small level area at the end of a ridge sloping away in every
direction except at the narrow isthmus connecting it with the fields
beyond, which are at a level only slightly higher. Thus there is no
chance for any accumulation from the adjacent surface. On this ridge
are a few lodge sites which Hughes has excavated. In every respect
they are similar to lodge sites reported from other localities in this
region. The walls, the depression, the floor, the fireplace, are all
the same. The depressions are filled with earth to a depth of 18 to 22
inches above the level of the old floor; and Hughes reports that
wherever he has dug on this ridge he has found flint chips, charcoal,
fragments of pottery, and scraps of bone to about the same depth. Next
below the soil is the Kansan glacial drift; but the assertion that
objects found at this depth are of the same age as the drift is not
necessarily or even presumably correct.
* * *
PERU, NEBRASKA
On various hills in the vicinity of Peru are lodge sites, some of them
circular, some rectangular, some with straight sides and rounded
corners. Most of them have been dug in at random; in every case after
a certain depth of accumulated earth and trash is passed through,
there is a layer of clay which formed the roof, and beneath this the
hard earth floor with fireplace usually in the center but sometimes a
little toward one side.
* * *
PAPILLION, NEBRASKA
At the time of my visit, Dr. Frederick H. Sterns, of the Peabody
Museum, was working near here. He described himself as "the man who is
extremely anxious to find a glacial or other very ancient man, but so
far has not succeeded in getting track of him." Dr. Sterns did not
claim a period antedating the Indian for anything he had then
unearthed--meaning the known Indian tribes.
* * *
VICINITY OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA
To the southward of Omaha are many lodge sites of varying depths and
diameters. The deepest one reported had a depth of 9 feet below the
surrounding surface, and at the bottom of this was a pit (or "cache,"
as they are locally known) with an additional depth of 4 feet, or 13
feet of excavation in all. This was near the so-called "cannibal
house," where 14 human frontal bones were found under conditions which
indicate they had belonged to individuals who were eaten by other
inmates of the lodge.
A short distance from these sites, across a ravine, is a bare, narrow
ridge, very steep on each side, so that erosion would readily act. On
the sloping summit of this are three small mounds which cover communal
burials. From one of these, the one farthest from the summit of the
hill, more than 80 skulls were taken and boys in the neighborhood have
since taken many more. They are all of the ordinary Indian type, and
can not have been buried more than a few generations ago; but this
fact has not prevented an age of "twenty thousand years" being
assigned to them. There is absolutely no reason for fixing this or any
other date. There is nothing whatever to indicate the age, but 200
years would probably not be far from the mark, because erosion has
been slight since the mounds were piled up.
LONG'S HILL
This ridge has attained some notoriety as the site of Gilder's
discovery of the "Nebraska Man." The claim is made that human bones
were found at a depth of 14 feet in absolutely undisturbed loess. The
hill is a narrow ridge, facing the river on one side and a deep ravine
on the other. It is somewhat winding in its course and is connected
with the more level land in the rear at about half a mile from its
end. A wagon road up the point, from the river bottom to the hilltop,
shows undisturbed loess the entire distance. There is no possibility
of accumulation by wash or in any other manner except decaying
vegetation on any part of this ridge.
Along the crest are several small mounds. Some of these, as shown by
excavation, cover graves, and the presumption is that all of them mark
burial places.
It is needless to make any résumé of Gilder's report, as it is so well
known, further than to say that he found burials and fragmentary human
bones at various levels from 2½ to 14 feet. At 4½ feet were burned
bones lying upon burned earth and mingled with it. This layer, burned
hard as a brick, served to prevent water from penetrating the earth
immediately below; and it is in this earth that the deepest remains
were found.
There are three ways, and only three, in which they could get there:
1. They were washed in when the loess was deposited, as claimed by the
discoverers and by some of the Nebraska geologists.
In support of this view is the assertion that the bones were
water-worn. On this point I can not venture any opinion, as I have not
seen them. But I have found bones in mounds and in other situations
where such wear was impossible and yet having the smoothed and rounded
appearance characteristic of such action by water or the elements.
In support of this theory, too, is the positive statement of Nebraska
geologists who have had ample opportunity to become familiar with
loess in all its phases; and they claim the deposit is the original
and has not been disturbed.
It is necessary for these advocates, however, to tell where such
fragments of bones could have come from and how they could have been
washed to the place where found, when all these bluffs were covered
with water, as they had to be at that time.
2. The bones could have been carried by rodents into their burrows or
runways, as Hrdlicka suggests. In this case the material in contact
with the bones would have to be somewhat different in appearance and
consistency from that which lay a few inches, or perhaps only an inch,
away. The Nebraska men say this was not the case.
3. There may have been an excavation or pit similar to that in which
the Hurons buried their dead. But as no such burial pits have been
discovered in this part of the country, this supposition must be
excluded.
A corollary to the last is that a deep but small pit similar to the
so-called "caches" in the lodge sites may have been dug here and the
bones thrown in. There is no indication whatever of a lodge site or
any other form of habitation at this point, but I have found such pits
in the vicinity of Indian houses, though not just on their site. The
deepest one I have ever found was 10½ feet and less than 6 feet in
diameter. There would be no difficulty in digging into this loose
material as far as an excavator cared to go, until he had reached a
depth at which he could no longer get the loosened earth to the
surface of the ground. As mentioned above, a pit south of Omaha had a
depth of 13 feet, or only 1 foot less than is claimed for this--or
rather for the greatest depth at which it is claimed fragments of bone
were found.
The objection made to this theory is that the earth thrown out of the
hole was unmixed, presenting throughout the appearance and consistency
of loess as it occurs where exposed in ravines or on slopes in the
vicinity. It is contended that if any previous excavation had been
made here and filled up afterwards the mixed earth would be easily
distinguished from that which was not removed, and that the line of
demarcation would be easily discernible.
As a rule, this is true; but when dry loose earth of homogeneous
consistency is thrown out of a pit and then thrown in again without
becoming mixed with any other it is sometimes impossible to
distinguish it at a later excavation. This is especially true of earth
free from vegetable matter, as ordinary sand; or composed largely of
vegetable mold, as the soil in overflow lands which have built up
mainly from floods carrying uniform soil sediment. The line of
demarcation between the dug and the undug earth in such conditions may
become indistinguishable except when a vertical face is made which
shall show a clear section of both in contact.
It is now too late to learn anything about the matter from the site
itself. So many persons have been digging that it would be impossible to
know when the limit is reached between the original excavation--assuming
it to have been made--when the bodies were interred, and that resulting
from the modern researches. The question of age hinges upon the
appearance of the earth in which the bones were found; and the only way
in which we can now learn anything about it is to trench across the hill
at some of the other burial places, in the hope of finding bones at a
similar level, and determining from the conditions in which these are
found how they came there.
It is beyond question that any soil, humus, or other discolored matter
thrown into an excavation with ordinary soil or subsoil will be
apparent for an indefinite time afterwards. But on some of these high
points and ridges there is even now not a trace of soil. Frost and
wind have worn bare spots where nothing grows or has grown for a long
time. As this region was a prairie devoid of even brush when the
whites settled here, it is evident that such slight protection as
grass or weeds afford would not be sufficient to hold the earth in
place in winter, and when the ground is once swept bare such humble
forms of growth may not get a foothold in future. Anyone who has
studied surface geology knows these facts.
So at present the whole question of the age of these bones resolves
itself into a statement of one party that they were found in
undisturbed loess, as reported; and of the inability of another party
to show that there may have been an error of observation or a mistaken
interpretation.
There need be no such doubt in regard to the age of the mounds or the
lodge sites. It would not take many centuries for mounds upon these
sharp, exposed ridges to be entirely washed away, in spite of the fact
that the fine loess is almost impermeable. Rain may not reduce them to
an appreciable extent, but frost and wind will gradually wear them
down. As to the lodge sites, their similarity to modern Indian houses
is so pronounced that we are fully justified in attributing them to
the same degree of culture as that of the Indians of a century ago.
The only point of difference is that the latter dwellings have not
such deep excavations, but the incursion of war-like tribes, or the
restlessness that impels a primitive community to be frequently on the
move, seems a simpler explanation of the difference than to suppose
that identical types are separated by a great period of time.
Three points must be taken into consideration in fixing a definite age
for these remains:
1. The relics found in and around the lodge sites, except for the
markings on some of the pottery, are in no wise different from those
picked up on the sites of villages which were occupied when Lewis and
Clark came through here.
2. Fairly solid bones of animals, and occasionally of humans, are
found in the bottoms of the lodge sites, even where these are damp
most of the year. In the pits, where such remains are preserved by
ashes, this would not mean much; but where they are found in clayey
earth it is evident that "thousands of years" is a meaningless term to
apply to them.
3. Persons who claim these "thousands of years" for pretty much
everything they find in the ground must explain why it is that while
the bones and implements of these assumed "ancients" are found in such
quantities and in such good preservation, those of later Indians
should have entirely disappeared.
The only tenable theory of age is the amount of accumulation in the
depressions of the lodge sites. Above the clay which formed the roof,
and is next to the floor now, is a depth of material sometimes (it is
said) as much as 20 or even 22 inches of mingled silt, decayed
vegetation, and soil from the surrounding wall. It is used as an
argument of age that as these sites are on hilltops where there can be
no inwash, this depth must indicate a very remote period for their
construction. But a large amount of the earth thrown out into the
surrounding ring or wall will find its way back into the depression.
The water will stand in them a good part of the year, and the soil
remain damp even in prolonged drought; vegetation is thus more
luxuriant than on the outside, and its decay will fill up rather
rapidly. In addition, much sand blows from the prairies as well as
from the bottom lands, and whatever finds its way into the pit will
stay there; it will not blow away again as it would in open ground.
The weeds, also, will catch and retain much of this dust which would
pass over a dry surface. Consequently the allowance of an inch in a
century, which is the most that advocates of great age will allow for
accumulation, is much too small.
The topography of the region was essentially the same when these
remains were constructed as it is now. The hills and valleys were as
they now exist; the erosion has been very slight as compared with what
has taken place since the loess was brought above the water, to which
it owes its origin. This statement is fully proven by the position of
the mounds and lodge sites. Any estimate of age must be only a guess
at the best, but it is a safe guess that no earthwork, mound, lodge
site, or human bone along this part of the Missouri River has been
here as long as 10 centuries.
IV. ABORIGINAL HOUSE MOUNDS