A mound of the kind found in our region is a very much flattened cone,
or round-topped hillock of earth. It is built usually, if not
invariably where the soil is soft and easily dug, and it is generally
possible to trace in its neighborhood the depression whence the mound
material has been taken. The mounds are as a rule found in the midst
of a fertile section of country, and it is pretty certain from this
that the mound builders were agriculturists, and chose their dwelling
places with their occupation in view, where the mounds are found. The
mounds are found accordingly on the banks of the Rainy River and Red
River, and their affluents in the Northwest, in other words upon our
best land stretches, but not so far as observed around the Lake of the
Woods, or in barren regions. Near fishing grounds they greatly abound.
What seem to have been strategic points upon the river were selected
for their sites. The promontory giving a view and so commanding a
considerable stretch of river, the point at the junction of two
rivers, or the debouchure of a river into a lake or vice versa is a
favorite spot. At the Long Sault on Rainy River there are three or
four mounds grouped together along a ridge. Here some persons of
strong imagination profess to see remains of an ancient fortification,
but to my mind this is mere fancy. Mounds in our region vary from 6 to
50 feet in height, and from 60 to 130 feet in diameter. Some are
circular at the base, others are elliptical.