position to the dignity of the person. Thus, the father would occupy the largest, and the children the smallest of the group.
The four mounds on the border of the prairie at the south part of Plate XV. may originally have been of imitative forms, but they are now much obliterated. From these the observer commands a distant view towards the south and southwest. In digging the well near by, sticks, and logs of cedar, or tamarack wood, were found at the depth of nineteen feet below the surface.
Waukesha is the next place which seems to have been occupied by the ancient inhabitants. It was formerly known as Prairie Village or Prairieville; and being on the main road west from Milwaukee, its mounds were early brought into notice. Their general distribution and relative situation, as well as the topographical features of the locality, will be found represented on Plate XVIII. It will be noticed that they occupy three different levels: those in the lower part of the village, mostly conical, are on the lowest ground; while those in the upper part are on what may be called the second bank; and the others are on the highlands east and south of the village.
Plate XIX. represents a group of works surveyed in 1836, with the assistance of Mr. Win. T. Galley. At that time the log-house near these mounds was the only evidence of civilization in the place; and the works were uninjured by the white man, except that the large mound was made use of for a root-house, or potato-hole. The turtle-mound was then a conspicuous object; and such was its resemblance to that animal, that it was pronounced a good representation by all who saw it. The mere outline of the ground plan, as represented in the plate, fails to convey an adequate idea of this resemblance. But it is better to give the [page 27:] outline correctly, than to attempt a delineation of what may be supposed to have been intended by the builders.
On this mound was, at that time, a recent grave, protected by pickets driven on opposite sides, so as to cross at the top, as represented on the plate. The Indians had but recently left the place, and the trail leading from the river to their wigwams ran directly over two of the mounds. This turtle was then a very fine specimen of the ancient art of mound-building, with its graceful curves, the feet projecting back and forward, and the tail, with its gradual slope, so acutely pointed that it was impossible to ascertain precisely where it terminated. The body was fifty-six feet in length, and the tail two hundred and fifty; the height six feet.
The ground occupied by this group of works is now covered with buildings. A dwelling-house stands upon the body of the turtle, and a Catholic church is built upon the tail.
Another turtle, represented on the same plate, was found on the college grounds, and differs from the other in being concave on the back, as shown by the section. It is also less symmetrical.
Plate XX. represents a group of structures occupying the very high hill a little east of the town. It consists of two round, four oblong, one turtle, and one bird-shaped mound. Of the last an enlarged view is presented on Plate XXII. No. 1, with its dimensions. Its position is peculiar, on a steep hill-side, with its head downwards. The general outline of the figure, and the shape of the head and beak, leave no doubt that a bird was intended to be represented; but whether an eagle, a hawk, or any particular bird, must be left entirely to conjecture. It will be observed that this bird is but a modification of other forms represented on the same plate (Plate XXII. Nos. 2 and 3); a slight curvature of the wings, and the addition of a beak, being the only difference: and this gradual passage of one kind of mound into another is often noticeable, as we shall have occasion to show elsewhere.
The very fine group, half a mile south of the town (Plate XXI.), fortunately is upon the grounds of Carroll College; and we may, therefore, hope it will be forever preserved as a record of the past. These mounds form a quasi inclosure, and hence, like many other g