Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology/Antiquities of Fox River Valley, La Salle County, Illinois
ANTIQUITIES OF FOX RIVER VALLEY, LA SALLE COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
By W. Hector Gale, of Wedron, Ill.
Having recently had the pleasure of examining a portion of the Fox River Valley, about 8 miles from Ottowa, the capital of La Salle County, Illinois, the author gives below the results of his investigations. The valley abounds in picturesque scenery of rocky bluffs and wide, fertile fields. The surface rocks are the Saint Peter's sandstone and Trenton limestone of the Lower Silurian. The drift in many places is 40 feet in thickness, consisting of a bluish clay, very hard, which, when undermined, breaks into blocks with the regularity of stratified rocks.
The Fox River passes along the eastern side of the valley in this locality, and is, in ordinary times, very shallow and rapid. The stream has, in the remote past, covered the entire valley, about one-half a mile in width. The ground is eminently historical as being the region which was explored by those intrepid voyageurs, La Salle, Tonti, Marquette, and Joliet, also the scene of the almost romantic extermination of the Illini Indians by the Iroquois. Within a radius of a few miles, and especially within this immediate locality, were enacted some of the most sanguinary scenes of the Black Hawk War.
But relics of a still older people are unmistakably visible here. It may be well to add that the course of the river here is from north to south. Perpendicular bluffs, of Saint Peter's sandstone, rise along the eastern shore, which are washed by the waters of the Fox, even at low water, while along the western side of the valley are sloping bluffs from 20 to 60 feet above the river. My experience during the late war teaches me that, were an enemy expected from the south, this locality, on account of its natural advantages, would be fortified and made a very strong place. It would seem that this fact was not lost sight of by the prehistoric inhabitants. On the west side of the valley, on a point of the bluff highest above the valley, I find an earthwork commanding the surrounding country, and facing toward the east and south. The bluffs are divided from those south by the Indian Creek, which enters the Fox about one- quarter of a mile distant, coming from the west, and has cut out a valley from that direction. The general shape of the fortification may be seen by an examination of Fig. 1. The large mound at the corner is highest, rising some 5 feet above the natural surface of the ground. Some time since, an excavation was made in the center of the mound, and a few bones found, but they had perished to such a degree that it would be impossible to describe any of its characteristics in an intelligible manner. On either side of the mound referred to is a smaller one, about 2 feet in advance of the main line, giving a passageway, gate, or entrance on either side, yet not leaving space entirely open and unprotected. In the rear of the fort, Fig. 1, is a thick second growth of oak and hickory. Immediately in front there are very few trees, but whether they have been removed by the builders of the earthwork, by a more modern race, or have never existed, I am unable to state. The valley,
Fig. 1.
before cultivation, was a succession of mounds, crowded closely together, and the remains of many are still plainly visible. Some of these have been excavated, and in most cases found to contain skeletons, which, upon being exposed to the air, rapidly crumble away. In some cases stone axes made of syenitic rock were found, and in one instance to earthen vessels or jars of rude workmanship. Across the river, in an easterly direction from the fortification just described, is another fort, facing in the same direction. This was surveyed by Col. D. F. Hitt, in 1877, and from this I take the drawing (see Fig. 2). The sand-rock is from 35 to 40 feet perpendicular above the river, and on the eastern side of the bluff is a ravine 65 feet deep, nearly vertical. The earthwork extends from the bluffs on the river side to the bluffs on the western side of the ravine.
Fig.2.
In my examination I discovered a mound about 80 rods south of the fort which bore no evidence of ever having been disturbed, and, in company with Mr. J. I. Gibbs, of Vermont, and Thomas Belrose, of Wedron, Ill., gentlemen interested in archæology, made an examination of its contents. About 2 feet from the surface we discovered charcoal in quite large quantities, and the skull, thigh bones, a fragment of the collar bone, and one joint of the vertebra of what had once been a member of the human family. Underneath was a number of granitic bowlders of quite large size, placed in a circular form, inside of which was found charcoal. Were I to give an opinion, I should say that the fact of finding but a small portion of the skeleton and charcoal in so large quantity is conclusive evidence to me of cremation. The skull was very narrow, with a rapidly sloping forehead, extremely heavy under jaw, and large teeth. The skull retained its shape but a few moments, when it crumbled in pieces. It was, when discovered, lying with the face nearly downward, and the head to the east.