George Bryce - The Mound Builders
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George Bryce >> The Mound Builders
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THE MOUND BUILDERS.
by
GEORGE BRYCE, M.A., L.L.D.
Professor in Manitoba College and President of the
Historical Society, Winnipeg.
[Illustration: (Cup found in Mound at Rainy River, Aug 22nd, 1884.)]
Price, 25 cents.
(Season 1884-85, Transaction 18.)
(Historical Society.)
Manitoba Free Press Print, Winnipeg.
THE MOUND BUILDERS.
A Lost Race Described by Dr. Bryce, President of the Historical
Society.
SEASON 1884-85
Ours are the only mounds making up a distinct mound-region on Canadian
soil. This comes to us as a part of the large inheritance which we who
have migrated to Manitoba receive. No longer cribbed, cabined, and
confined, we have in this our "greater Canada" a far wider range of
study than in the fringe along the Canadian lakes. Think of a thousand
miles of prairie! The enthusiastic Scotsman was wont to despise our
level Ontario, because it had no Grampians, but the mountains of
Scotland all piled together would reach but to the foot hills of our
Rockies. The Ontario geologist can only study the rocks in garden
plots, while the Nor'wester revels in the age of reptiles in his
hundreds of miles of Cretaceous rocks, with the largest coal and iron
area on the continent. As with our topography so with history. The
career of the Hudson's Bay Company, which is in fact the history of
Rupert's Land, began 120 years before the history of Ontario, and
there were forts of the two rival Fur Companies on the Saskatchewan
and throughout the country, before the first U. E. Loyalist felled a
forest tree in Upper Canada. We are especially fortunate in being the
possessors also of a field for archaeological study in the portion of
the area occupied by the mound builders--the lost race, whose fate has
a strange fascination for all who enquire into the condition of
Ancient America.
The Indian guide points out these mounds to the student of history
with a feeling of awe; he says he knows nothing of them; his fathers
have told him that the builders of the mounds were of a different race
from them--that the mounds are memorials of a vanished people--the
"Ke-te-anish-i-na-be," or "very ancient men." The oldest Hudson's Bay
officer, and the most intelligent of the native people, born in the
country, can only give some vague story of their connection with a
race who perished with small-pox, but who, or whence, or of what
degree of civilization they were, no clue is left.
It must be said moreover that a perusal of the works written about the
mounds, especially of the very large contributions to the subject
found in the Smithsonian Institution publications, leaves the mind of
the reader in a state of thorough confusion and uncertainty. Indeed,
the facts relating to the Mound Builders are as perplexing a problem
as the purpose of the Pyramids, or the story of King Arthur.
Is it any wonder that we hover about the dark mystery, and find in our
researches room for absorbing study, even though we cannot reach
absolute certainty? Could you have seen the excitement which prevailed
among the half-dozen settlers, I had employed in digging the mound on
Rainy River, in August last, when the perfect pottery cup figured
below was found, and the wild enthusiasm with which they prosecuted
their further work, you would have said it requires no previous
training, but simply a successful discovery or two to make any one a
zealous mound explorer.
A MOUND DESCRIBED.
A mound of the kind found in our region is a very much flattened cone,
or round-topped hillock of earth. It is built usually, if not
invariably where the soil is soft and easily dug, and it is generally
possible to trace in its neighborhood the depression whence the mound
material has been taken. The mounds are as a rule found in the midst
of a fertile section of country, and it is pretty certain from this
that the mound builders were agriculturists, and chose their dwelling
places with their occupation in view, where the mounds are found. The
mounds are found accordingly on the banks of the Rainy River and Red
River, and their affluents in the Northwest, in other words upon our
best land stretches, but not so far as observed around the Lake of the
Woods, or in barren regions. Near fishing grounds they greatly abound.
What seem to have been strategic points upon the river were selected
for their sites. The promontory giving a view and so commanding a
considerable stretch of river, the point at the junction of two
rivers, or the debouchure of a river into a lake or vice versa is a
favorite spot. At the Long Sault on Rainy River there are three or
four mounds grouped together along a ridge. Here some persons of
strong imagination profess to see remains of an ancient fortification,
but to my mind this is mere fancy. Mounds in our region vary from 6 to
50 feet in height, and from 60 to 130 feet in diameter. Some are
circular at the base, others are elliptical.
MOUND REGIONS.
The mounds have long been known as occurring in Central America, in
Mexico, and along the whole extent of the Mississippi valley from the
Gulf of Mexico to the great lakes. Our Northwest has, however, been
neglected in the accounts of the mound-bearing region. Along our Red
River I can count some six or eight mounds that have been noted in
late years, and from the banks having been peopled and cultivated I
have little doubt that others have been obliterated. One formerly
stood on the site of the new unfinished Canadian Pacific Hotel in this
city. The larger number of those known are in the neighborhood of the
rapids, 16 or 18 miles below Winnipeg where the fishing is good. In
1879 the Historical Society opened one of these, and obtained a
considerable quantity of remains. It is reported that there are mounds
also on Nettley Creek, a tributary of the lower Red River, also on
Lake Manitoba and some of its affluents. During the past summer it was
my good fortune to visit the Rainy River, which lies some half way of
the distance from Winnipeg to Lake Superior. In that delightful
stretch of country, extending for 90 miles along the river there are
no less than 21 mounds. These I identify with the mounds of Red River.
The communication between Red and Rainy River is effected by ascending
the Red Lake River, and coming by portage to a river running from the
south into Rainy River. Both Red and Rainy River easily connect with
the head waters of the Mississippi. Our region then may be regarded as
a self-contained district including the most northerly settlements of
the strange race who built the mounds. I shall try to connect them
with other branches of the same stock, lying further to the east and
south. For convenience I shall speak of the extinct people who
inhabited our special region as the _Takawgamis_, or farthest north
mound builders.
MOUND VARIETIES.
The thirty or forty mounds discovered up to this time in this region
of the Takawgamis have, so far as examined, a uniform structure. Where
stone could be obtained there is found below the surface of the ground
a triple layer of flat limestone blocks, placed in an imbricated
manner over the remains interred. In one mound, at the point where the
Rainy Lake enters the Rainy River, there is a mound situated on the
property of Mr. Pither, Indian agent, in which there was found on
excavation, a structure of logs some 10 feet square, and from six to
eight feet high. In all the others yet opened the structure has been
simply of earth of various kinds heaped together. It is possible that
the mound containing the log erection may have been for sacrifice, for
the logs are found to have been charred. One purpose of all the mounds
of the Takawgamis was evidently sepulture; and in them all, charcoal
lumps, calcined bones and other evidences of fire are found. It would
seem from their position that all the mounds of this region were for
the purpose of observation as well as sepulture. The two purposes in
no way antagonize. For the better understanding of the whole I have
selected the largest mound of the Takawgamis yet discovered, and will
describe it more minutely.
THE GRAND MOUND.
It is situated on the Rainy River, about 20 miles from the head of
Rainy River. It stands on a point of land where the Missachappa or
Bowstring River and the Rainy River join. There is a dense forest
covering the river bank where the mound is found. The owner of the
land has made a small clearing, which now shows the mound to some
extent to one standing on the deck of a steamer passing on the river.
The distance back from the water's edge is about 50 yards. The mound
strikes you with great surprise as your eye first catches it. Its
crest is covered with lofty trees, which overtop the surrounding
forest. These thriving trees, elm, soft maple, basswood and poplar, 60
or 70 feet high now thrust their root tendrils deep into the aforetime
softened mould. A foot or more of a mass of decayed leaves and other
vegetable matter encases the mound. The brushy surface of the mound
has been cleared by the owner, and the thicket formerly upon it
removed. The circumference of one fine poplar was found to be 4 feet
10 inches; of another tree, 5 feet 6 inches, but the largest had
lately fallen. Around the stump the last measured seven feet. The
mound is eliptical at the base. The longest diameter, that is from
east to west, the same direction as the course of the river, is 117
feet. The corresponding shorter diameter from north to south is 90
feet. The circumference of the mound is consequently 325 feet. The
highest point of the mound is 45 feet above the surrounding level of
the earth. As to height the mound does not compare unfavorably with
the celebrated mound at Miamisburg, Ohio, known as one of the class of
"observation mounds," which is 68 feet high and 852 feet around the
base. In addition to its purpose of sepulture, everything goes to show
that the "Grand Mound" of Rainy River was for observation as well.
THE EXCAVATION.
Two former attempts had been made to open this mound. One of these had
been made in the top, and the large skull before you was then
obtained. A more extensive effort was that made in 1883, by Mr. E.
McColl, Indian agent, Mr. Crowe, H. B. Co. officer of Fort Frances,
and a party of men. Their plan was to run a tunnel from north to south
through the base of the mound. They had penetrated some ten or fifteen
feet, found some articles of interest, and had then given up the
undertaking. Having employed a number of men, settlers in the
neighborhood, I determined to continue the tunnel for a certain
distance through the mound, all the way if indications were favorable,
and then to pierce the mound from the top. The men in two parties went
industriously to work on the opposite sides, working toward each
other, making a tunnel about eight feet in diameter. The earth though
originally soft soil had become so hard that it was necessary to use a
pick axe to loosen it for the spade. A number of skeletons were found
on the south side, but all I should say within ten feet from the
original surface of the mound. As we penetrated the interior fewer
remains were continually found. The earth gave many indications of
having been burnt. At one point the pick-axe sank ten inches into the
hard wall. This was about fifteen feet from the outside. The excavator
then dug out with his hand from a horizontal pocket in the earth eight
or ten inches wide and eighteen or twenty inches deep, a quantity of
soft brown dust, and a piece of bone some four inches long, a part of
a human forearm bone. This pocket was plainly the original resting
place of a skeleton, probably in a sitting posture. As deeper
penetration was made brown earthy spots without a trace of bone
remaining were come upon. The excavation on the south side was
continued for thirty feet into the mound, but at this stage it was
evident that bones, pottery, etc., had been so long interred that they
were reduced to dust. No hope seemed to remain now of finding objects
of interest in this direction, and so with about forty feet yet
wanting to complete, the tunnel, the search was transferred to the top
of the mound.
THE UPPER CUT.
Beginning on the crest of the mound, the mould was removed over a
considerable space, and though some trouble was found from the
presence of the roots of the growing trees, yet three or four feet
from the surface human bones and skeletons began to occur. In some
cases a complete skeleton was found, in other cases what seemed to be
a circle of skulls, buried alongside charred bones, fragments of
pottery and other articles. Several different excavations were made on
the mound surface, and it was found that every part from the base to
the crest contained bones and skeletons, to the depth of from six to
ten feet as already said; bones and articles of interest were found
thus far; deeper than this nothing. I shall now describe the articles
found in this mound, and refer in some cases to what has been found in
the other mounds of the Takawgamis.
NATURAL PRODUCTS.
1. _Bones_. Of the bones found, the skulls were the most interesting.
In some cases it would seem as if they alone of the bones had been
carried from a distance, perhaps from a distant part of the mound
builders' territory, from a battle field or some other spot. In some
cases this was proved, by the presence in the eye-sockets and cavities
of clay of a different kind from that of the mound, showing a previous
interment. The mound was plainly a sacred spot of the family or sept.
Before you are pieces of charred bone. Of the bones unburnt some were
of large size. There are before us two skulls, one from the grand
mound, the other from the Red River mound opened by the Society in
1879. The following are the measurements of the two skulls which I
have made carefully; and alongside the average measurements of the
Brachycephalic type given by Dr. Daniel Wilson, as well as of the
Dolichocephalic:
AVERAGE RAINY RED AVERAGE
DOLICHO- RIVER RIVER BRACHY-
CEPHALIC. SKULL. SKULL. CEPHALIC.
Longitudinal diameter 7.24 7.3 in 6.7 6.62
Parietal diameter 5.47 5.8 5.5 5.45
Vertical " 5.42 6.2 5.8 5.30
Frontal " 4.36 4.2 3.7 4.24
Intermastoid Arch 14.67 15.3 15.6 14.63
Intermastoid line 4.23 5.8 4.3 4.25
Occipito frontal Arch 14.62 17.0 13.8 13.85
Horizontal circumference 20.29 22.3 19.6 19.44
From this it will be seen that the Red River mound skulls agree with
the Toltecan Brachycephalic type; and the Rainy River skull while not
so distinctly Brachycephalic yet is considerably above the average of
the Dolichocephalic type.
2. _Wood_. As already stated it is only in some of the mounds that
charred wood is found. This specimen is from the mound at
Contcheteheng, at the head of Rainy River. It stands beside the
Rapids. This mound has supplied many interesting remains. From this
fact as well as from its situation, I would hazard the opinion that
here, as at the great Rainy River Falls, three miles farther down,
there were villages in the old mound building days. It is a fact
worthy of notice that the site of the first French Fort on Rainy
River, St. Pierre built by Verandrye in 1731, was a few hundred yards
from this mound.
3. _Bark_. Specimens of birch bark were found near by the bones. It
was no doubt originally used for swathing or wrapping the corpses
buried. That a soft decayable substance such as bark, should have
lasted while a number of bones had decayed may seem strange. No doubt
this may be explained in the same way as the presence among the
remains in Hochelaga, on the Island of Montreal, of preserved
fragments of maize, viz., by its having been scorched. The pieces of
bark seem to have been hardened by scorching.
4. _Earth_. The main earth of the mound is plainly the same as that of
the soil surrounding it. By what means the earth was piled up, is a
question for speculation. It seems a matter of small moment. Possibly
that the earth was carried in baskets, or vessels of considerable size
is sufficient to account for it. My theory is that the mound was not
erected by a vast company of busy workers as were the pyramids, but
that it was begun at first for purposes of observation, that as
interments were from time to time made in it sufficient earth was
carried up to effect the purpose, until in centuries the enormous
aggregate of earth was formed. Among the earth of the mound are also
found in spots, quantities of red and yellow ochre. The fact that the
skulls and bones seem often to have a reddish tinge, goes to show that
the ochre was used for the purpose of ornamentation. Sometimes a skull
is drawn out of the firm cast made by it in the earth, and the cast is
seen to be reddened by the ochre which was probably smeared over the
face of the slain warrior. The ochre is entirely foreign to the earth
of which the mound is made, but being earthy remains long after even
pottery has gone to decay.
5. _Ore_. Lying near this skull as if they had been placed in the
hands of the corpse were two pieces of metallic ore, one of which is
before you. A fresh section of it shows it to be Arsenical Iron
Pyrites, each piece weighing four or five ounces. No doubt the shining
ore and its heavy weight attracted notice, although it is of no
commercial value. The probabilities are that this ore was regarded as
sacred, and possibly having been considered valuable was placed beside
the corpse as the ancient obolus was laid beside the departed Greek to
pay his fare to crusty Charon.
[Illustration: FIGURE 1. MOUND BUILDERS' IMPLEMENTS.]
MANUFACTURED ARTICLES.
1. _Stone Implements_. The stone articles found, no doubt form a very
small proportion of the implements used by the lost race. I am able to
show you three classes of implements.
(_a_.) _Scrapers_. (See C. Figure 1.) These were made after the same
manner and from the same material as the flint arrow heads, found so
commonly all over this continent. They are usually of an oval or
elongated diamond shape, of various thicknesses, but thin at the
edges. Their purpose seems to have been to assist in skinning the
game, the larger for larger game, the smaller for rabbits and the
smaller fur bearing animals. Probably these implements were also used
for scraping the hides or skins manufactured into useful articles.
(_b_.) _Stone Axes and Malls_. In the mound on Red River was found the
beautiful axe of crystalline limestone, which approaches marble. From
the absence of stone so far as we know of this kind in this
neighborhood, it is safe to conclude that it came from a distant
locality. There are also gray stone celts and hammers used for
crushing corn, for hammering wood and bark for the canoes, and other
such like purposes, in time of peace; and serving as formidable
weapons in time of war. In the mound on the Red River a skull was
discovered having a deep depression in the broken wall, as if crushed
in by one of these implements.
(_c_.) _Stone Tubes_. (See B Fig. 1.) These are among the most
difficult of all the mound-builders' remains to give an opinion upon.
They are chiefly made of a soft stone something like the pipestone
used by the present Indians which approaches soapstone. The hollow
tubes (see figure B.) vary from three to six inches in length, and are
about one-half an inch in diameter. They seem to have been bored out
by some sharp instrument. Schoolcraft, certainly a competent Indian
authority states that these tubes were employed for astronomical
purposes, that is to look at the stars. This is unlikely; for though
the race, with which I shall try to identify our mound builders are
said, in regions further south, to have left remains showing
astronomical knowledge, yet a more reasonable purpose is suggested for
the tubes. From the teeth marks around the rim, the tubes were plainly
used in the mouth, and it is becoming generally agreed that they were
conjuror's cupping instruments for sucking out as the medicine men
pretended to be able to do the disease from the body. The custom
survives in some of the present Indian tribes. A lady friend of mine
informs me that she has a bone whistle taken from a mound in the Red
River district.
2. _Horn Implements_. (See D. Figure 1.) The only implement of this
class that we have yet found is the fish spear head (Fig. D.). It was
probably made from the antlers of a deer killed in the chase. Its
barbed edge indicates that it was used for spearing fish. It is in a
fair state of preservation.
3. _Copper_. No discovery of the mounds so fills the mind of the
Archaeologist with joy as that of copper implements. Copper mining has
now by the discovery in the Lake Superior region, of mining shafts
long deserted, in which copper was quarried by stone hammers on a
large scale, been shown to have been pursued in very ancient times on
this continent. It is of intense interest for us to know that not only
are there mines found on the south side of Lake Superior, but also at
Isle Royale, on the north side just at the opening of Thunder Bay, and
immediately contiguous to the Grand Portage, where the canoe route to
Rainy River, so late as our own century, started from Lake Superior.
According to the American Geologists the traces for a mile are found
of an old copper mine on this Island. One of the pits opened showed
that the excavation had been made in the solid rock to the depth of
nine feet, the walls being perfectly smooth. A vein of native copper
eighteen inches thick was discovered at the bottom. Here is found
also, unless I am much mistaken, the mining location whence the
Takawgamis of Rainy River obtained their copper implements. Two copper
implements are in our possession, one found by Mr. E. McColl in the
grand mound, and the other by Mr. Alexander Baker in a small mound
adjoining this.
(_a_.) _Copper Needle or Drill_. (See A. Fig. 1.) This was plainly
used for some piercing or boring purpose. It is hard, yields with
difficulty to the knife, and is considered by some to have been
tempered. It may have been for drilling out soft stone implements, or
was probably used for piercing as a needle soft fabrics of bark and
the like, which were being sewed together.
(_b_.) _Copper Cutting Knife_. (See E. Fig. 1.) This, has evidently
been fastened into a wooden handle. It may have been used for cutting
leather, being in the shape of a saddler's knife, or was perhaps more
suited for scraping the hides and skins of animals being prepared for
use.
Some twenty miles above the mound on the Rainy River at Fort Frances a
copper chisel buried in the earth was found by Mr. Pither, then H. B.
Company agent, and was given by him to the late Governor McTavish. The
chisel was ten inches long, was well tempered, and was a good cutting
instrument. Another copper implement is in the possession of our
Society, which was found buried in the earth 100 miles west of Red
River.
All these, I take it, were made from copper obtained from Isle Royale
on Lake Superior.
4. _Shell Ornaments_. Traces are found in the mound, of the fact that
the decorative taste, no doubt developed in all ages, and in all
climes, was possessed by the Takawgamis.
(_a_.) _Sea Shells_. Important as pointing to the home and trading
centres of the mound builders is the presence among the debris of the
mound, of sea shells. We have three specimens found in the grand
mound. Two of them seem to belong to the genus Natica, the other to
Marginella. They have all been cut or ground down on the side of the
opening of the shell, so that two holes permit the passage of a
string, by which the beads thus made are strung together. The fact
that the genera to which the shells belong are found in the sea, as
well as their highly polished surface show these to be marine; and not
only so but from the tropical seas, either we suppose from the Gulf of
Mexico or from the Californian coast.
(_b_.) _Fresh Water Shells_. In all the mounds yet opened, examples of
the Unio, or River Mussel, commonly known as the clam have been found.
They are usually polished, cut into symmetrical shapes, and have holes
bored in them. We have one which was no doubt used as a breast
ornament, and was hung by a string around the neck. In the bottom of a
nearly complete pottery cup, found in the grand mound, which went to
pieces as we took it out, there was lying a polished clam shell. The
clam still abounds on Rainy River. Six miles above the mound, we saw
gathered together by an industrious housewife hundreds of the same
species of clam, whose shells she was in the habit of pulverizing for
the benefit of her poultry.