problem to archeologists. They have been studied principally near the
Mississippi River, in Arkansas and Missouri, and for many years it was
thought that in the latter State they are confined entirely to the
southeastern portion. Recently they have been found much farther to
the north and the west than they were supposed to exist.
A group, rather limited as to number and to the area covered, is at
the head of a narrow valley trending northward from Granite Mountain
in Iron County.
"Near Iron Mountain, in St. François County, more than 500 of these
small mounds, arranged in parallel rows following the direction of the
watercourses, were counted within a radius of 3 miles."[1]
The next group known north of this is on the right bank of Plattin
Creek in Jefferson County, about 12 miles from the Mississippi.
"A group of some 50 similar mounds is situated on the right bank of
the Meramec, about 6 miles above its mouth, in Jefferson County."[2]
The most northern group so far observed is near Ferguson in St. Louis
County, Missouri, where 46 are located on a narrow ridge which has the
same general elevation as the table-land. The ridge extends around the
head of a ravine, and the mounds are placed along its crest or on the
gentle slopes near the top. There are 10 or 12 at the southern edge of
Ferguson, on an overflow bottom bordering a small creek.
Toward the west from the swamp region a small group is in a broad
valley near Alton in Oregon County, which borders on Arkansas. They
are scattered along a gentle slope which has a little stream at the
foot.
In Dent County four groups are known. One is on the infirmary farm
south of the town of Salem. Most of these are but slightly changed
from their natural condition. Another group is 6 miles east of Salem.
These also are largely intact. A third is on the road from Salem to
Short Bend. The fourth is at the edge of Salem, on the Rolla road.
"On the high plateau of Dallas County, north of the Niangua ... within
an area smaller than 10 square miles, 860 were counted."[3]
Three groups are well marked in Phelps County. A mile east of Rolla
they begin at the line of the Frisco Railway and extend southward in a
shallow valley or "draw." Some are on the overflow flat bordering the
little stream, but most of them are on the slopes to either side.
South of Dillon they extend for a mile in a slight depression.
Beginning at the Soldier's Home in St. James, the largest number yet
found out of the swamp region lie for 2½ miles on both sides of a
small creek running eastward north of the Frisco Railway. These reach
from low land subject to overflow to an elevation of fully 50 feet up
the hillsides.
Several groups occur in Pulaski County. Four miles southwest of Big
Piney post office, near the site of what is known as "The Ranch
House," is a little wet-weather stream along both banks of which are
probably a hundred of these structures. Farther up this stream are two
other groups, the three including a distance of about 4 miles in
length between their outer limits. West of these and south of
Bloodland is a fourth group belonging with these.
In the level bottom between Big Piney River and the branch flowing
from the Miller Spring 2 miles from Big Piney post office a number of
these mounds formerly existed; and on the opposite side of the Big
Piney, in an extensive bottom, were many of them. All these have now
disappeared under cultivation.
On the outer bend of the Devil's Elbow, on Big Piney 3 miles above its
mouth, some of these mounds stood. They are described as being from 2
to 3 feet high; the number was not stated, but there is not room for
many in the narrow strip where they were located.
In the extreme western part of Morgan County, at Stover, is a group
scattered over an area at least half a mile across in any direction.
The distance between the mounds varies from 25 to 150 feet. They are
mostly on gentle slopes, though some are on the crest of the ridges.
Many of these are well preserved, some of them having never been under
cultivation.
In Osage County there are more than a hundred at the eastern edge of
Rich Fountain. They are in low flat ground which is muddy or even
boggy in wet weather.
It will be noticed that all those from Alton westward and
north-westward are in line with the route from southeastern Missouri
to the plains of Kansas and Nebraska.
Practically, however, the northern limit of this type, in great
numbers, is in St. François County, near Farmington. From here they
extend almost continuously into Louisiana and Texas.
In nearly every part of southern Missouri east of the Iron Mountain
Railway they occur in closely connected groups, reaching sometimes for
miles except where the continuity is broken by a slough or other
unfavorable condition. They are found everywhere--on high,
well-drained levels; on sloping ground, sometimes so steep that it may
well be called a hillside; in low "crawfish land"; in swamps where, in
the driest weather, even after a prolonged drought, they can be
reached only by wading through water or muck. The last, however, may
have been more easily accessible when built, their present condition
being due to the general subsidence of this region during the
earthquake period of 1811. The existing sloughs and sluggish bayous
are the widenings and extensions of streams which at the time these
mounds were constructed were no doubt bordered by banks above ordinary
overflow and readily reached by canoes. Manifestly the country was
well populated, and therefore presumably practically timberless;
consequently the flood water would rapidly pass away and the streams
not be choked by drift and other débris as is the case at present.
Various theories, most of them advanced by persons who are but
slightly, if at all, familiar with the country, have been propounded
to account for mounds of this character. Their vast number has led
some writers to believe that they can not be artificial but must be
due to natural phenomena; as, for instance, that these, as indeed all
mounds, were piled up by floods, Noachic, glacial, or local; or that
they result from the industry and energy of burrowing animals, such as
foxes, badgers, ground hogs, rabbits, prairie dogs, gophers,
chipmunks, or even ants; the character of the assumed flood or the
species of the supposed burrower depending to some extent upon
locality, but principally upon the theorizer's insufficient knowledge
of animal industry or of the action of torrential waters. Others are
convinced they are formed by the piling up of earth around a bush,
clump of grass, stone, or other object acting as a nucleus about which
wind-borne material may accumulate--overlooking the fact that clay,
gravel, or gumbo soil can not be carried by wind, and that lighter
soil or sand will form elongated instead of circular masses. Another
supposition is that they are due to stream erosion; flood waters
washing away the soil between them and thus leaving the earth
composing the mound in its original position. The same objection
applies to this as to the wind-blown theory, namely, that we can not
imagine water acting with such mathematical regularity and intelligent
discrimination, especially upon slopes which lie at all sorts of
angles with the trend of the current.
Persons who recognize their human origin have suggested that they were
erected as stands for hunters, from which they could detect game at a
greater distance, or could take better aim as the animal passed; or
perhaps as camping places while waiting; but in many places more than
half the area of the ground over several acres is occupied by such
piles of earth, promiscuously distributed. This implies more hunters
than animals.
For a long time it was supposed that they were burial mounds, like so
many such structures found over the country; but this idea has been
dispelled by the failure to discover in them any evidences of such
purpose; no human bones nor any of the artificial objects commonly
placed with the dead have ever been found in them unless under such
conditions as to show their presence was accidental.
Two very plausible theories have found general acceptance: That they
were the sites of dwellings, placed on them to be out of the mud in
wet weather; and that they were in the nature of garden beds, thus
elevated for growing any food products which needed a comparatively
dry soil, or might be injured by temporary accumulation of water from
excessive rainfall.
But they were not "residence mounds" or "house sites" in the sense
that they furnished a base or foundation for structures which were
used as dwellings; for there has never been found on their surface or
in the earth immediately around them any of the débris invariably
accompanying Indian huts or houses, such as fireplaces, ash beds,
burned rocks, broken implements, or fragments of bones and pottery.
These considerations also interfere with a full acceptance of the
hypothesis that they are remains of houses built of wood and covered
with earth. It is true that such evidence is very frequently found in
other localities; but to establish the fact that they were residence
sites, refuse of this kind should be found wherever the mounds occur.
J.B. Thoburn arrived at this conclusion from the resemblance of some
of them in their outlines to the grass-covered houses of the Pawnees;
and it is believed that this tribe in its migration from the south
followed approximately the route along which these small elevations
are found. When the Pawnees--assuming they were the builders--passed
on westward they could not procure timbers of sufficient strength to
hold up the earth, so they used light frames and covered them with
grass.
Bushnell arrived earlier at the same conclusion. He says, concerning a
few mounds of this character in Forest Park, St. Louis: "In the case
of the seven mounds on the elevated grounds, the finding of potsherds,
pieces of chipped chert, and the indication of fire, all on what
appeared to have been the original surface, would point strongly to
their having been the remains or ruins of earth-covered lodges." He
gives citations from early explorers in support of this theory, and
adds, "But in other mounds these indications did not occur."[4]
Such an explanation finds support in the vast number of these
structures. In building, the aborigines naturally chose the sort of
timber which was soft and light, consequently easy to cut and to
handle, such as willow or cottonwood. This soon decays. But no matter
what variety of wood was utilized, not many years would be required,
under the conditions supposed, to weaken its fiber until it could no
longer uphold the weight of earth on the roof, and a new house must be
erected. Several such renewals would be needed in the course of a
century; so that the ruins of an ordinary village might create the
impression that a large settlement had existed on its site.
The explanation of "agricultural use" is probably correct in some
instances, for frequently the mounds are made of earth gathered up
around their base, and so not only would be of value in a wet season,
but would afford a much greater depth of fertile soil for sustenance
of plants. In some localities modern farmers find that on such mounds
crops are much better than on the low spaces between them. On the
other hand, a majority of the small mounds in the lower counties of
southeastern Missouri are composed either of the hard, reddish, sandy
clay which forms the subsoil of the land above overflow; or of the
tough, waxy, black "gumbo" of the swampy or flat lowlands. In either
case they are almost invariably sterile, so that in a cultivated field
the position of a mound is easily determined even from a considerable
distance by the feebler growth on its surface. Moreover, in many
places, hundreds of them occurring within an area of a few square
miles are built on clay lowlands where crawfish abound, within a few
rods of sandy, well-drained ridges whose soil is never muddy more than
a few hours after the hardest rain, and produces as fine corn and
wheat as can be raised in any part of the State.
In short, no matter what suggestion has been offered as to their
purpose or uses, objections to it can be brought and sustained. It is
not improbable that, in the end, it will be found the difficulty lies
in trying to place in a hard and fast category a variety of structures
which are similar in appearance but which were intended for various
uses. With more comprehensive study, it may be that a classification
is possible which will interpret what is now obscure. Instead of
uniformity, there was probably great diversity of motives, ideas, and
beliefs which led to the building of these as well as of other mounds;
and when the key is once obtained the explanation which will account
for one may be very different from that which as clearly accounts for
another.
A few of these mounds have been explored by the writer, but no
discoveries were made upon which can be based a definite statement as
to their probable purpose.
* * *
NEW MADRID COUNTY
On the farm of A.B. Hunter, 7 miles north of New Madrid, more than 60
of these mounds, irregularly placed, extend for half a mile along the
west bank of St. John's Bayou, the extreme width of the group being
about 200 yards. The largest mound, standing on the edge of the
terrace, was 6 feet high and 75 feet across. On the original surface,
over a small area at the central part, were decayed fragments of human
bones; so this was probably erected as a tumulus. The others were much
smaller; from a foot to 3 feet high, and 30 to 50 feet in diameter.
Six of these, varying in size from the largest to the smallest, were
thoroughly excavated within the original margin and down to the
undisturbed earth beneath them. No artificial object was found in any
of them except here and there a fragment of pottery or a small amount
of ashes or a piece of charcoal, not intentionally deposited but
gathered up and carried in with the earth in the course of
construction. There were no distinct fire-beds or ash piles at the
bottom, or in any part of the mound; nor were there any holes in which
posts may have stood.
* * *
ST. FRANÇOIS COUNTY
Nearly 2 miles south of Farmington, on Quesnel's land, are about 30
very small, low mounds, none more than 18 inches high or 25 feet
across. They are on the general level, some of them on a gentle slope,
of the first upland above the St. François River and a mile from that
stream at its nearest point.
Half a mile to the south of these is a group of similar mounds on the
farm of Isaac Hopkins, on a gently sloping hillside, and from 30 to 40
feet above the level of the overflow bottom land. One of these has
been gradually worn away by the encroachment of a gully until more
than half of it has disappeared. While the curvature of its surface is
very apparent, and the remnant of its margin sufficiently distinct to
show its regularity of outline, careful inspection of the face formed
by the erosion fails to reveal any trace of stratification, or line of
demarcation between the bottom of the mound and the original surface.
There is precisely the same uniformity of change from the grass roots
to the underlying gravelly soil that exists in the exposed bank at any
point to either side of the mound. Mr. Hopkins, desirous of knowing
what might be in the mound, or why it was built, has noted the
appearance of the earth from the time the gully reached its margin. At
no time has its appearance differed in the least from what it presents
now.
On the river bottom portion of Mr. Hopkins's farm, and on the
adjoining Goings and Townshend farms to the southward, are many mounds
lying along both sides of the Belmont division of the Iron Mountain
Railway. Fully 100 were observed within a distance of a mile; and they
are said to continue both up and down the river. They are all above
flood stage, except in time of extreme high water. They range from a
foot to 3 feet high, and from 20 to 40 feet across; but some of them
have been lowered and broadened by cultivation. They are of the same
earth as the ground around them. Mr. Hopkins says crops are much
better on the mounds than on the area between them. This is no doubt
due to the greater amount of productive soil in the one case, and to
the excess of moisture in the other; the railway embankment impeding
drainage in the lower part. Oak trees 4 feet in diameter grew on the
mounds before they were cleared off.
Two of these mounds were completely removed, down into the subsoil.
The first was 18 inches high and 35 by 40 feet across; the variation
in breadth resulting from continual cultivation in one direction. It
contained nothing whatever of artificial character, not even a scrap
of pottery. There were no post holes, no indications of a fire bed, no
trace of a distinction between the mound and the soil below it. In
fact, except for the greater thickness of the superficial dark earth
there was no difference between the appearance of the face of the
excavation and that of a hole dug at random in the field.
The second mound was somewhat larger than the first, being 2 feet high
and 40 feet across, and at a little higher level toward the edge of
the field. It was the largest which could be excavated of this group.
As in the first mound opened, there was no worked object, if a small
flint flake be excepted; no ashes; no fire bed; no trace of
demarcation between the mound and the original surface of the ground,
though in each mound the excavation over the entire area was carried
down into the gravelly, hard-packed subsoil. Its artificial origin is
clearly proven, however, by four holes dug into the earth beneath it
before its construction. Nine feet a little north of the center, which
was assumed to be the highest point of the mound, was a hole (A) 12 by
14 inches and 14 inches deep, with a flat bottom, the sides as regular
as could be expected in hard soil dug out in primitive manner. Nine
feet west of the center was a hole (B) a foot across, 10 inches deep,
with a solid though somewhat irregular bottom. Near the center was a
conical hole (C) a foot deep and the same across the top. Four feet
from it, west of north, was another (D) of about the same size and
shape. The measures given are of course only approximate, as the sides
of all the holes were somewhat uneven, but they are practically
correct. The depth was measured from the top of the gravelly subsoil.
Fourteen feet east of south from the center was an irregular hole (E)
about 2 feet deep to the bottom of the loose dirt in it. This had not
been dug, but was due to the decay of a tree which grew here before
the mound was made. At the top of the dirt filling this hole was a
piece of decayed bark, apparently oak, which had grown in the air; and
farther down fragments of root bark. Eight feet east of the center was
a hole (F), similar to the last, 10 inches deep and averaging 2 feet
across. This, also, resulted from the decay of a stump.
A plan of the holes is given in figure 37. The dotted lines are merely
to show direction and distance.
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--Plan of House Mound in St. François
County, Mo.]
This mound offers confirmation of the belief that such structures, or
some of them at least, mark the sites of dwellings. With the two
trees, E and F, the posts, A and B, would form the corners of an
irregular quadrangle; the two posts, C and D, would support the inner
ends of roof timbers. While no trace of posts or roof timbers
remained, it is difficult to imagine for what other purpose these
holes would be dug; and in this heavy, wet earth all traces of wood
must in time disappear. Conversely, the total absence of a fireplace,
potsherds or other remains, and of any sign of a floor, would serve to
dispel the assumption that this spot was ever inhabited even for a
short time. The evidence is as strong one way as it is the other.
In short, the limited observations above recorded leave the question
of origin and purpose just where it was.
* * * * *
Some years ago one of the mounds at Ferguson, St. Louis County, was
opened. No remains of any sort were discovered, according to the
report of the excavators; but on the original surface, at the center
of the mound, was a fire bed in and about which were ashes, charcoal,
and fragments of rude pottery.
No excavations have ever been made in the mounds near Granite
Mountain; but a tortuous little stream has undercut several of them,
thus making vertical sections as in the case of the mound at Hunter's,
near Farmington. In some mounds only a small portion near the margin
has been removed; in others the erosion has progressed to such an
extent that observations were possible at varying distances, to and
beyond the center. In every instance a monotonous uniformity of
appearance prevails from the top of the mound into the underlying
gravel. At no level is there a sign of a floor, fire bed, or other
evidence of human work; and no difference can be detected between the
earth upon which the mound rests and that on either side. Yet the
mounds are indubitably artificial.
Exactly the same remarks apply to several mounds on the County Farm,
near Salem. A little creek and a drainage ditch have cut away varying
portions of them, and they merge insensibly into the soil and gravel
on either side.
* * * * *
In further support of the theory that these mounds are the remains of
earth-covered houses, a few extracts relating to the area under
discussion will be given from Dr. Cyrus Thomas in the Twelfth Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology:
Near "Beckwith's Fort," in Mississippi County, Missouri, are (p.
189)--
Low, flattish, circular mounds * * * [which] appear to belong to
two classes, those used for dwelling sites and those used for
burial purposes, the former being the higher and the color of the
surface layer darker than that of the other class. This darker
color of the surface layer is probably due to the fact that
immediately below it are found fire-beds with burnt earth,
charcoal, ashes, and the bones of animals, (mostly split). There
are seldom any human skeletons or entire vessels of pottery in
the mounds of this class though the earth is filled with
fragments of broken vessels.
In describing mound excavations in Crittenden County, Arkansas, the
explorer states (p. 227):
As an almost universal rule, after removing a foot or two of top
soil, a layer of burnt clay in a broken or fragmentary condition
would be found, sometimes with impressions of grass or twigs,
which easily crumbled but was often hard and stamped apparently
with an implement made of split reeds of comparatively large
size. This layer was in places a foot thick and frequently burned
to a brick red or even to clinkers.
Below this, at a depth of 3 to 5 feet from the surface, were more
or less ashes, and often 6 inches of charred grass, immediately
covering skeletons. The latter were found lying in all
directions, some with the face up, others with it down, and
others on the side. With these were vessels of clay, in some
cases one, sometimes more.
The positions of the skeletons in this mound would indicate that while
the inmates of the house were asleep the roof fell and killed them. It
was customary among some southern Indians to bury the dead under the
floors of the houses; but the text clearly shows that these skeletons
were lying on the floor. It would be supposed from most reports, not
only in the volume quoted, but from various other sources as well,
that only the walls of these houses were plastered with mud, the roof
being of thatch alone. It seems to be overlooked that the tops of the
houses would have even more need of such protection than the sides.
The marks indicating that the clay was "stamped apparently with an
implement made of split reeds" are only the impressions of the reeds
or saplings by which the clay was supported; the "brick like" or
"clinker like" condition of the clay being due, of course, to the
destruction of the house by fire.
Adair, in his History of the Southern Indians, says they daub their
houses with tough mortar mixed with dry grass; that they build winter
or hot houses after the manner of Dutch ovens, covered with clay.
Again:
They are lathed with cane and plastered with mud from bottom to
top, within and without, with a good covering of straw.
This seems to mean that the entire building was plastered with mud,
and then covered with grass to shed the rainfall.
In a mound in Arkansas County, Arkansas (Twelfth Ann. Rept. Bur.
Ethn., p. 231)--