Racine High School - Kipikawi Yearbook (Racine, WI)

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K in. ,f+' ,,x A-ffrsrw A 1 .-fs,fw.M,.-- ,-.'. H--swwfzf x.-:f.1 4j.fQ1Q3-Q--445:15 .Q . 'ai'-n b . v-'N.1frf11..e: 1' .--' -f '... yr-f . -XL ,.-.. Mesa,--'ss hw.-...f'112sif. ' - -I evA-rw-vs-fan--'-re-'mfr-az-. . .- -- - .- - ' fr, ,N ,- 3' i f- Jas V -T. . A... ,, .. ,. ,Q X t i ii' . -Y if . l . X 2 .iff 3'i:q'R' ji- F. f p Imam ffik, +' ff.: m, iff' K W MOUNTDS AND MOUND-BUILDERS IN RACINE COUNTY Among the relics left by the Indians, the mounds are especially interesting. Wisconsin is one of the greatest mound districts in America, and Racine county is fortunate in having a large number of these antiquities. A detailed study re- garding every particular of the same was made and recorded by Drs. Hoy and Lap- ham. The theory which had been supported for the last century, namely, that the mounds were built by another and more singular race of men than the Indians found in Wisconsin when Hennepin first arrived, has very little justification by the leading archaeologists of today. The theory adhered to at the present time is that they were built by the ancestors of the modern Indians, and that as the white men appeared and forced them to discon- tinue many of their mystic rites and cere- monies, the manufacture of Wampum, flint and copper implements, so he also forced them to abolish their custom of mound- building. Although late investigations have been made, nothing as yet has re- vealed anything strange in the habits or characteristics of these Indians. It has been concluded, however, that Wisconsin had two or three generations of these tribes, who have left in the southern and eastern portions of the State many coni- cal, -eifigy, and elongated mounds. Wis- consin is famous for its effigy mounds, which are limited to this district, with the exception of three in Ohio and two in Georgia. We can, indeed, be proud of the antiquities left by the Indians in our State and city. One of the groups in this city was situ- ated upon an area of high ground, border- ing on Root River, about one to two miles west of the margin of the lake. This group consisted mostly of circular burial mounds of no great size or height. This cluster was carefully surveyed in an ef- fort to find some system of arrangement. None could be discovered, and it has been decided that the Indians merely selected a suitable spot and there deposited the re- mains of their deceased relatives and friends. One of these was opened by Dr. Hoy, who found several persons buried in a sitting posture, all facing the east. An- other of the same group contained a con- fused mass of bones of at least three per- sons. There were several other groups in our city, namely, the Erskine, Hoy, Bluif, Slauson, and Mound Cemetery groups. The twelve mounds in the cemetery group are now being preserved with great care. None of these, however. have been opened. During the earlier history of our city there were about one hundred twenty-eight mounds in this vicinity. The Hoy group, situated on the north' bank of Root River, contained a lizard 111ound eighty feet long, being one of the few ef- figy mounds near this city. Parts of this have been destroyed by cultivation of land. Many of the above-mentioned clus- ters have been opened, the majority of which contained several bodies, proving that the mounds in the vicinity of Racine were used for cemetery purposes. From a collection of the results from the various excavations of these earth- works it has been found that the average size is from twenty to thirty feet in diam- eter, from two and one half to four and one half feet in height, and the burial pit, about ten to fourteen inches below the surface of the surrounding ground. The bodies were regularly buried in a sitting or partly kneeling posture, facing the east. The pit was then covered with a log roofing over which the mound was constructed from earth. Sometimes bod- ies were found near the surface, but these were subsequent burials made by the modern Indians. A very few of the mounds contained rude pottery. Nature has made it possible to obtain some estimate of the age of the mounds in Racine. Upon one there was found a burr oak containing two hundred and fifty rings, upon another, a stump of an oak containing three hundred and ten