“It may come as a surprise to some people to learn that the Dells area was once in the center of what might be called a lost civilization.” (p. 10,
Dells Area Indian History Volume III by Ross Milo Curry, 1995.)
Ross Milo Curry, the Wisconsin Dells' area historian, reports in his Indian historical books that there were once 10,000 to 15,000 mounds in Wisconsin estimating that there were about 1,000 in the Wisconsin Dells alone.
Indian Mounds Pictures Flickr
The following pictures are all taken at Kingsley Bend unless otherwise noted.
If you look west over the train tracks you can see the Wisconsin River which is indicative of the prehistoric mound builders.
Just north of the Dells, as you drive through Mauston, you may want to check out the latest panther spirit mound rediscovery. The Panther Spirit Mound Project is dedicated to restoring and preserving an endangered 1000 year old Panther Effigy Mound that was recently rediscovered in the city of Mauston. The Project is a partnered effort between the Juneau County Historical Society and Olson Middle School with direct support from The Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center, The Ho Chunk Nation and The Wisconsin State Historical Society. The project is funded, in part, by a grant from the History Channel's Save Our History endowment.
According to Chloris Lowe, The Water Spirit is of the Under World and it can be represented by long tailed figures consisting of what today are sometimes identified as: panthers, lizards, turtles, snakes, horned serpents and other such beings. This is a very powerful spirit and it can protect man while on the life giving waters or it can harm him. This spirit resides in the waters of the world but it does come from the waters to sometimes aid man or to destroy him and as such this spirit must be recognized and cared for if man is to be safe on the earth.
Mauston's Panther Spirit Mound.
Peggy Hoehne notes in the article “
Woodland Culture of Wisconsin,” 2/29/04, that there were three Woodland eras; the Early Woodland stage was from about 500-100 BC; the Middle Woodland stage existed from about 100 BC-AD 500; and the Late Woodland stage ran from about AD 500-AD 1300.
“They frequently camped along the river valleys where they collected large numbers of freshwater mussels. The dense layers of these discarded shells mark their occupations and are one of the ways archeology knows where and how they lived."
In another article, Peggy Hoehne writes, “
Early Woodland Culture in Wisconsin," that after 1,000 BC the climate warmed and
where once the archeologists had identified earlier groups by the spear points they used, now groups were to be defined by the use of pottery, the construction of burial mounds and the cultivation of plants.
According to Tammy Kempfert,
PortalWisconsin.org ,
“While mounds can be found throughout North America, Wisconsin claims the largest concentration.” Tammy shares that
John Broihahn , through the Division of Historic Preservation, serves as state archeologist, and he shares his commitment to Wisconsin's Indian mound management alongside his colleagues and their desire to preserve ancestral land forms has brought state, local and tribal governments together with concerned citizens all around the state.
"
Indian mounds continue to appear across the state, in areas both urban and rural, often near rivers and lakes and on high ground. Researchers generally believe Native people began building earthen structures in the region at least 2500 years ago, and for reasons unknown to modern science, stopped building them around 1200 A.D. Their form varies—from cone-shaped mounds to flat-topped platforms to elaborate effigies of mammals, reptiles and birds that sometimes span hundreds of feet."
Jay Toth, tribal archeologist of the Ho-Chunk Nation, has worked hard to protect and restore ancestral mounds. The Department of Transportation returned a forty-acre tract of land containing the Kingsley bend mounds to the Ho-Chunk Nation earlier this year, after the DOT said it could no longer afford to care for the property.
State Archeologist Broihahn says Madison residents owe their thanks to the efforts of conservation activists like Charles E. Brown, founder of the
Wisconsin Archeological Society and former director of the
Wisconsin Historical Museum. Brown, who reportedly called Madison "mound city," saved numerous area mounds from the tractor blade during his 36-year museum tenure in the early 20th century.
Broihahn says the number of preserved mounds in Madison, while drastically lower than the original quantity, makes Madison unique.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) is also helping to restore the Kingsley Bend Indian Mounds that had been long overgrown with brush, pine, and invasive species. The Ho-Chunk Indian Nation plans to restore it as an interpretive educational site. WHIP will be helping the Ho-Chunk remove the brush and non-native trees and replant prairie grasses to restore the oak savannah.
Brian Bull writes on preserving Indian Mounds, 10/15/07, "Samantha Greendeer is a Ho-Chunk attorney. She's working with tribal, state, and federal officials to revive legislation first introduced by West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall. It would proactively protect burial mounds, rather than after they're disturbed:
....Jay Tooth comments, 'We seem to have to deal with this a little bit more just because a lot of the old ancestral mounds and burials of native people are not in organized European-type cemeteries that are zoned and properly accounted for. They don't get that extra bit of protection that a normal burial site would get.' "
"If passed, the federal government would have to deal with Native American and Native Hawaiian tribes before taking action that would affect any land deemed sacred. Attitudes about the mounds are changing."
Natural Bridge State Park features the largest natural arch in the state of Wisconsin. Directly beneath the arch is a rock shelter once used by Paleo-Indians. The oldest artifacts were pieces of charred wood, presumably from fire pits making this rock shelter." According to the park sign, this is one of the oldest dated sites for human occupancy in northeastern North America.
Dells historian Ross Milo Curry(pictured at Spring Grove Cemetery) notes, (p. 23,
Dells Area Indian History Vol. III),
“But once a year I go to the Spring Grove Cemetery(pictured) where on the far west side lie the remains of all my Indian friends. I am surprised it has not become a tourist attraction. 
....No Indian mounds are built in Spring Grove like many of the Ho-Chunk cemeteries. In some of them little spirit’s houses are also built over the graves.” (Picture: Dells' Indian Baptist Church graveyard;
ESCONI Club article on Indian mounds)
Ross Curry informs us that
the Blue Wing Cemetery near Tomah holds the graves of Roger Tallmadge Little Eagle, Nathan Bird, Howard Windlowe and Blue Wing himself, called Ah-ha-cho-er whom the men called Artichoker. Blue Wing lived to be 137 and Curry’s grandmother’s neice said her father used to play with him!
Dells Area Indian History
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