Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology/Mounds Near the National Home, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
MOUNDS NEAR THE NATIONAL HOME, MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WISCONSIN.
By George W. Barber, of the National Home, Wisconsin.
The mounds described in this paper are on land owned by Joseph Carey, nearly opposite the Dewy place (adjoining John R. Goodrich's farm), now occupied by E. P. Bacon. They are about one mile west of Milwaukee City limits, on the south side of National Home avenue, and on the west side of the Trowbridge road. The two that have been removed were upon land owned by William Trowbridge, lying south of and adjoining Carey's land. Two are in Wauwatosa township, two in Greenfield, and all are in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. They are situated upon a swell of land from 20 to 100 rods distant from what was once a shallow pond or lake. The land occupied by the lake has been partially drained within a few years, and is now a meadow. The surface around the mounds is covered with soil from 12 to 18 inches deep, and might have been used for cultivation. William S. Trowbridge and other old settlers have said that there are, or were a few years ago, hillocks or marks of Indian cornfields in this vicinity, and that they have seen Indian corn growing, planted by the Indians. The land to the west has been partially drained. There is no apparent arrangement of the materials. The center of the mound is not different from other parts. The material was probably obtained around the mound, as the soil is deeper under it than at its sides. All have been explored. I have taken bones from two of them, and have been told that pottery and bones were found in the other two. I have one good skull from No. 2, and leg bones, vertebrae, ribs, &c., from No. 1. No account of these mounds has ever been published, to my knowledge. Nos. 3 and 4 have been entirely obliterated for purposes of cultivation. No. 2 has been dug into. No. 1 is fast being undermined to obtain gravel for the streets of Milwaukee. For two years past I have watched with sad interest the destruction of this grand old monument of a decayed race, and secured the bones as they were exposed. It now presents a perpendicular section, running nearly through the center, of which a photograph might easily be taken. A maple and a redoak tree grew upon the mound, each 18 inches in diameter. There are two red-oak stumps within two or three rods of No. 1, 3 feet across the shorter, and 3½ feet across the longer diameter. Judging from the soil around them, these trees must have grown since the mound was built. I have counted the annual rings of growth of one, and found them to number 155. I assisted in taking out of No. 1 the fragments of three skulls, and other bones of three skeletons. The skulls, vertebrae, and hip-bones of each skeleton were on about the same level, and in a space not more than 15 inches square. In one case the crown of the skull was downward, and the top on a level with the hip-bones. This position at first puzzled me, but I suppose that the body was buried in a sitting posture, and the superincumbent weight of the earth, as it settled and the flesh decayed, turned the top of the head downward by the side of the body, and it continued to descend until it reached the level of the hips. The faces, judging from the position of the legs, were toward the west. The bodies were not inclosed. One skull was quite well preserved, but the other bones were considerably decayed.