Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology/Antiquities of Wayne County, Illinois
ANTIQUITIES OF WAYNE COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
By H. F. Sibley, of Fairfield, Ill.
Wayne County is one of the larger counties of the State, located on the southern border of the prairie region. At least three-fourths of its surface was originally timbered land. The prairies are generally small. The principal streams are the Little Wabash and Elm Rivers and the Skillet Fork (a branch of the Wabash). The surface is generally rolling and elevated from 50 to 125 feet above the stream beds. The Wabash and Skillet Fork bottom lands are generally rather low and flat, with the exception of some few ridges of high land, ordinarily lying parallel with the watercourse. On the ridges generally we find the ancient tumuli of the Mound Builders. One of the most prominent places of ancient resort in our county was a ridge in the Skillet Fork bottom, now known as Fleming's Ridge, in Arrington Township. (See map.) The ridge commences at the river and runs almost due north to the prairie, and is from one-half mile to one mile wide. Near the south end of the ridge, about one-quarter to one-half mile from the river, is a group of mounds, seven or eight in number. Several farms have been opened up, and mounds are found all over the ridge. Two of them have been explored and the ordinary fragments of pottery, shells, human remains, &c., were found, but all seem to have been disturbed. Just to the southwest of the ridge I have drawn a half-moon shaped figure for a pond, or rather where a pond had been, but which has been drained for the fish. It is now known by the name of the Horseshoe Pond from its peculiar shape. It was probably an artificial fish-pond built by the Mound Builders, as it fills up when the river is high, but can easily be shut up even during high water. Southeast of the ridge are two more mounds, about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, and now 6 or 7 feet high. One of them was examined, and in it were found some flint arrow-heads (very rude), an immense number of turkey and wolf bones, together with deer-horns, &c., which seemed to have been thrown into fire, some of them being partially consumed. Human remains were also found, as well as some broken bits of pottery. There seemed to be no line of separation.
In the southwest corner of Big Mound Township are three mounds in one group which have never been examined. Northwest and near to them are two more, of which one was examined, and in it were found rude arrow-heads, broken pottery, &c., but could not get a skeleton in any state of preservation at all, so as to determine how they were buried.
On the east edge of the township, some 2 miles south of this place (Fairfield), are two mounds, one of which was slightly examined, and found to be a burial mound. One mile farther south, almost right in the center of Little Mound Prairie, is a natural elevation, topped out by the Mound Builders into a cemetery that can be seen for a long distance. It was the burial-place of hundreds who are interred in the stone cists, of which numbers have been examined. Axes, arrow points, &c., used to be found in abundance in the vicinity, but they are now about all picked up.
In Barnhill Township, 5 miles east of us, is a group of seven mounds, which have not been examined, but which were probably dwelling-places. They are small, about 90 feet in circumference, and from 2 to 3 feet high. In Leech Township, on the west side of the river, is a group of six mounds, which have not been examined; neither has the one which is on the east of the river at the Iron Bridge, where the stage road crosses the stream. About one mile east and one mile south of the bridge are three mounds, standing as shown on the map, one of which was examined, and found to be a burial mound.About 100 yards southwest of these mounds is a pit 10 or 12 feet square and 7 or 8 feet deep, and within 6 or 8 feet of the river bank. It has never been examined. One of the old men in the vicinity told me he had noticed it every year for a long time, and says it is not nearly so large as it used to be. Just below, at the mouth of the Pond Creek (on the west side of the river), is a square inclosure, said to be 100 yards or more square, called the Old Fort, but I have not seen it. In Massillon Township is a group of seven or more mounds, as shown on the map. It is a very high bluff, and has been a famous place for the ancient race. It is a good fishing and hunting locality, the river at that point containing a shallow rapid or riffle, and just across the river on the east side is a low, flat, bottom land, stretching around for miles, and has been one of the choice spots for game.
In the northeastern part of the county are two mounds, which, from the description given, must be the largest in the county, being 60 or 80 feet high and wide in proportion, but they have never been examined.
Our mounds, as a rule, do not at all compare with those on the Ohio River, about 60 miles south of us. They are small and scattered, and are generally found in groups of from 3 to 20. I must not omit to mention that there are a number of mounds outside of Wayne County, situated on the bank of a river in White County. I have never been to see them, but I have been told that they number between thirty and forty, all in a row and following the trend of the river. Throughout the county generally are found more or less of the stone implements, but they are much more plentiful near the streams and in the timbered lands, and are scarce on the prairie.
In the Smithsonian Report for 1876 (page 436) is cited a remark of Messrs. Squier and Davis relating to the disks of black flint. There have been two deposits found in this country, one in the county south of us (White), and one in the county west (Jefferson). The first one contained thirteen of them, of which I obtained eight, and the other contained forty-six, of which I obtained several. Speaking of the disks, on page 440 (1876), it is said: "Thus far not one of them has been found isolated or bearing marks of use." This is a mistake, if mine are of the same kind as those spoken of by them, as I have found those in this county, one at a time, and one of them not quite twice the size of a trade-dollar. They are of the same stone and the same shape, &c., but none bear marks of use. In addition to those given above, fifteen more mounds have been found in Massillon Township. They are on the west side of the river, about one inch (as measured on the map sent) from the north line, on a high bluff, hardly a quarter of a mile from the river. They are somewhat in this shape, the largest mound being in the center.
The mounds in Barnhill Township, just east of Fairfield, are seven in number. They were explored two or three years ago, but nothing but charcoal was found in the bottom. I have inquired of the man living on the farm, but he does not find many tools, &c. The mound in Big Mound Township marked is 3 miles from here. It is, probably, a large natural mound on the prairie, to which dirt, &c., has been brought from other parts, and so completed the cemetery. There are many graves, and several bodies or parts of bodies appear to be buried in one grave, but they are so decayed that no perfect skulls can be obtained. The graves are made by building the side and end walls of a hard sandstone, with a large one for the bottom and one for the top. The stone could not have been obtained nearer than 7 or 8 miles, on the Skillet Fork. Two trees are growing on the mound, one of them a catalpa and the other an oak, both of which have been planted, beyond a doubt. The catalpa is found in abundance in our river bottoms, but there are none on the upland. The other two mounds in the same township are also large, and located in the bottoms in the woods. One of them was found to contain human remains and a few broken pieces of pottery, but nothing of value. The other contained human remains, but not in any order of arrangements; also river shells, deer-horns, wolf jaws, &c.; also much charcoal and many small stones occur among the mass. The group of mounds in Four Mile Township is near the Skillet Fork. The one in the southwestern corner, marked "Explored," has been plowed over a great many times, and evidently contained human remains and flint tools. The second one above it was explored this spring, but not very thoroughly, as it was very warm and the woods dense. Human remains were found, and one broken piece of pottery, too small to tell its shape, and one flint arrow-point. The pottery was different from any I have ever seen, of bright-red clay and small pebbles. There are probably a great many mounds about 12 or 15 miles from here, in the woods, all of which are built on what is called Fleming's Ridge, mentioned above. Probably the Mound Builders settled on the same ground for this reason: the best ford on the river was just south of the mounds, in fact it is the only place I know of where it can be forded at all for miles. The place marked "Hay Pond" is a low place that used to be a kind of lake, which was drained by the inhabitants to catch the fish. The mound in Leech Township (on the north) is near my dwelling. Those south of it are three in number, situated as indicated in the drawing. Eight on the bluff is a square hole 10 or 12 feet in diameter. All of these mounds are unexplored. The square hole used to be much deeper than it is now, about 5 to 7 feet.