[p.643] Archeologists will be interested in the following brief notes of the localities of mounds in this district, to which reference has been made in Chapter XI, page 612.
Many mounds, probably not less than fifty in all, varying from 2 to 15 feet in height, are situated on the bluffs of both sides of Lake Traverse, Browns Valley, and Big Stone Lake.
Three isolated mounds, each about 5 feet high, were noted on the right bank of the Red River, in Wilkin County, Minn., one being about 12 miles east of Breckenridge, another about 4 miles north of that town, and a third in McCauleyville.
Close south of the Red River, near the mouth of Ottertail Lake, is a group of sixteen mounds, varying from 1 to 10 feet in height; and others, single or in groups, are found at many places in Ottertail County.
In Clay County, Minn., a small mound was noted near Muskoda, and another near the South Branch of the Wild Rice River.
(More detailed statements concerning these and the foregoing localities are given in the Geology of Minnesota, Vol. I, p. 631, and Vol. II, pp. 533, 558-561, and 671.)
Mounds and artificial embankments are situated on and near the beaches of Lake Agassiz in many places. In the greater part of these instances the earthworks have been already described, or at least mentioned, in this volume (pp. 284, 313, 347, 349, 354, 390, 412, 413, 431). Among all these localities the most notable is close north of the Forest River, about 6 miles northwest of Inkster (p. 349). According to a survey of this group of mounds by Mr. T. H. Lewis, they number about forty, ranging from 1½ feet to 13 feet in height, some of them being connected by low embankments.
In the south part of Crookston an aboriginal mound about 6 feet high and 100 feet in diameter lies on the south bluff of the Red Lake River, close east of Mr. Erskine's brickyard.
On the prairie, close west of the mouth of Red Lake and north of the Red Lake River, is a large mound about 15 feet high.
Beside the Roseau Lake trail, between 2 and 4 miles eastward from its crossing of the South Branch of Two Rivers, five oblong mounds or embankments, each about 3 feet high, are reported by Mr. Charles Hallock. These are on the crest of a beach ridge, probably the Tintah beach.
Two mounds, respectively 5 and 3 feet high, are situated about half way between Fort Pembina and the town of Pembina, being some three-fourths of a mile north of the fort and an eighth of a mile west of the Red River.
[p.644] In the vicinity of Devils Lake, Sweetwater Lake, and Stump Lake are many mounds, mostly 3 to 6 feet high, very rarely rising to 10 feet, occurring singly, as on the tops of the hills near Fort Totten, and in groups of several, or sometimes forty or more, as at the southeast end of Devils Lake. Other lone mounds and series of mounds are seen here and there along the bluffs of the Sheyenne and James rivers.
The largest mound known in Minnesota is 45 feet high, being the central one of a group of three (the two others only 8 or 10 feet high) on the south side of the Rainy River, close east of the mouth of the Bowstring River or Big Fork. This mound, partially excavated under the direction of Prof. George Bryce, was found to contain many skeletons, and also skulls without other parts of the skeleton, as if they had been collected on a battlefield. There were also found very interesting stone and copper implements, ornaments made from seashells and others of fresh-water shells, broken pottery, and a complete pottery cup having a diameter of 3 inches. Professor Bryce states that twenty-one mounds are discovered along the whole course of the Rainy River, one (peculiar in containing a structure of charred logs some 10 feet square and 6 to 8 feet high) being at the mouth of Rainy Lake and several at the Long Sault. On the Red River, in Manitoba, he reports one mound as formerly existing at Winnipeg, and several still to be seen near the rapids about 16 miles below that city. (Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Transaction 18, 1885.)
On the Souris River and its tributaries, the North and South Antler creeks, Professor Bryce surveyed twenty-one mounds within an area of 4 miles square, ranging from 4 to 7 feet in height. One of these mounds, containing a single skeleton, had with it nearly all the types of stone implements, copper and seashell ornaments, and pottery, which had been found in the large mound on the Rainy River, about 325 miles distant to the east, besides two pipes of red pipestone; but in each case no evidence of any intercourse with Europeans was found. (Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, Transaction 24,1886.)
During my survey of the shore-lines of Lake Agassiz in Manitoba and examination of the adjoining country on the southwest, I observed mounds in many localities, of which the following are the most noteworthy:
In the northwestern edge of the village of Arden the crest of the Campbell beach bears a round mound 4 feet high and 75 feet in diameter, with an embankment 2 feet high and 30 feet wide extending from it 50 feet northward. A mile south of Arden, on this broad beach, a few rods east of its crest and about 1 foot lower, is an embankment 20 to 25 feet wide, about 200 feet long from north to south, parallel with the beach crest, and 1½ to 2 feet high. Along its northern two-thirds this earthwork is straight, but its southern third curves somewhat eastward and this end sinks gradually to the general surface.
The formerly famous Calf Mountain, which was visited by Palliser's expedition and appeared prominent on most of the early maps of Manitoba, is an aboriginal mound, [p.645] probably built over a slight natural mound of the glacial drift. This earthwork, rising only about 15 feet above the adjoining surface, is near the north line of the northeast quarter of section 32, township 2, range 7 west. Its top is about 40 feet above Darlingford railway station and 1,601 feet above the sea. From it the land descends fast eastward to Thornhill and Morden, overlooking farther east the vast valley plain of the Red River. The earthwork consists of till, inclosing frequent bowlders up to 1 foot in diameter, with a considerable admixture of gravel, which was probably brought from the shores of a beautiful lakelet a few hundred feet distant to the north. The diameter of the principal mound, which is dome-shaped, is 95 feet, with a height of 15 feet. Thence an embankment about 2 feet high extends 10 rods southwest, and its farther portion, turning with a right angle, continues about 4 rods to the southeast. Excavation in the mound has brought to light human bones and many buffalo skulls, often much decayed and fragmentary. The name Calf Mountain, probably a translation from an aboriginal name, refers to this united sepulture of the remains of man and the buffalo.
Several round mounds, 2 to 4 feet high, are situated on the bluffs of Mowbray and Snowflake creeks. Two of these, near the southeast corner of section 9, township 1, range 9 west, were found to contain in each four or five skeletons.
On the top of Star Mound (p. 99) an artificial mound, built of till, with bowlders up to a foot in diameter, has a height of about 4 feet and diameter of 50 feet, with slight embankments extending beyond its circumference about 211 feet to the north and south. Similarly, the top of Pilot mound (p. 99) has an earthwork about 2 feet high and 50 feet in diameter. The crests of a few of the Tiger Hills are also crowned with small mounds, some of which have been excavated and are found to have been built for purposes of burial.
On the southeast bluff of the Cypress River, close east of the mouth of Tiger Creek, are three mounds, of which the most northeastern and largest is 6 feet high. These are on land about 25 feet above the general level of the surrounding country and 1,260 feet above the sea.
Besides the foregoing, which I have examined, my assistant, Mr. Robert H. Young, noted a mound about 4 feet high and 60 feet in diameter on the crest of the southeastern end of a beach-like esker in the southeast quarter of section 30, township 12, range 1 east, near the Grosse Isle (p. 187).
A very large mound, said to be about 10 feet high, is reported on land of Mr. William Rhind beside the White Mud River, about a mile west from Westbourne. On its surface, or not far below it, stone, pipes, pottery, and human skulls and other bones have been found; but at the time of this information no deep excavation had been made.
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