Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/48

 20 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY fifty mounds. Many of these have been destroyed by building operations of the white man. but some still remain. On the extreme nort Invest spur of the fair grounds a few nice mounds overlook the Hay creek and Mississippi valleys. The city of Red Wing ought to make it a special object to preserve these and keep them intact as an object lesson for coming genera- tions. There will always be in each generation a certain number of people to whom the mounds will be of special interest, while a much larger number will always derive pleasure and recreation by an occasional visit to these historical remains. On Seminary hill, only two. almost obliterated knolls, remain on the extreme eastern spur of the bluff. These, together with the mound in front of the City hospital and the one on the wooded knoll in front of the ladies' seminary, are all located in places from whence a magnificent view of the valley, river, lake and wooded bluff can be had. The same practically holds true of the 200 mounds near Cannon Junction, some of which are located on the high brow of one of the finest glacial terraces in the country. From there the chain of mound groups extends with few inter- ruptions to Welch, and all of them are situated on the imposing remains which mark the former bottom of the glacial river whose raging flood in the long ago rushed through this valley, carrying with it untold quantities of sand, cobble stones and rocks, filling up the valleys in places to the height of eighty feet. During postglacial times, large portions of this deposit have been swepl ou1 by the Cannon river, and it is chiefly on the remnants of the glacial terraces that the mounds are located. A beautiful illustration of this is seen at Fort Sweney. Directly south of the Great Western station at Welch is a small area about an acre in extent which erosion has almost detached from the rest of the terrace. A long neck of land serves as an isthmus to unite this area with the rest of the terrace towards the south and thus prevents it from being an isolated knoll. On this unique elevation is the only prehistoric fort known in Goodhue county, but it is one of the nicest in Minnesota. It was discovered in the following manner: In the spring of 1902 the state archa'ologist, J. V. Brower, asked the writer to examine the region between Cannon Falls and Welch. On May 1st I walked from Cannon Falls to Welch without finding a single mound. Having half an hour left before the evening train arrived, I climbed the terrace to see how the valley looked. This brought the mounds on the hill into view, and a rapid inspection of the place revealed all the evidences of a strong fortification. Six mounds crowned the inclosed area, while a well pronounced embankment skirts the southern edge facing the terrace, which is separated from the fort by a deep, wide