Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/54

 26 HISTOKY OF GOODHUE COUNTY pletion, a slate charm, pieces of lead, probably brought up from Missouri, bones of many kinds of animals, rough tools, etc. Vast numbers of pottery fragments and a few entire vessels have also been found. Also a copper spear at Spring creek, two large copper spuds near Diamond bluff, a small hoe made from a piece of rifle barrel deposited in one of the Indian graves where the Red Wing Seminary main building stands, and shell beads from the same locality. Space forbids a detailed, description of these relics. However, a few thoughts suggested by them relative to the state of culture, habits, modes of life and occupations of our predecessors may be mentioned. Fortified hills, tomahawks, bat- tle clubs, spearheads, etc., mean war. Arrows signify war and the chase. We do not know what human beings first beheld the beautiful hills and valleys of Goodhue county and claimed them as their home. We may never be able to look beyond the veil or penetrate the mists that enshroud the history of the past, yet we are not left in utter darkness. The relics mentioned tell us many interesting stories. The absence of great architectural ruins show that the mound builders lived in frail homes. The dearth of agricultural implements does not spell waving fields of golden grain. The ashpits and fireplaces mark the bare ground as the aboriginal stove. Net-sinkers imply the use of nets; ice- axes the chopping of holes in the ice to procure water, stone axes a clumsy device for splitting wood; stone knives for scalp- ing, cutting meat, leather and twigs; countless flakes mark the ancient arrow maker's workshop; cracked bones show the Indian's love for marrow; shell beads, charms and ornaments in the shape of fish and other designs reveal a primitive desire for ornamentation; chisels and gouges recall the making of canoes; sun-dried pottery made of clay mixed with coarse sand, clam shells or powdered granite and marked with rows of dots made with a stick, thumbnail or other objects, or else marked with lines, V-shaped figures or chevrons, all are an index of a rather crude state of pottery making. The hand supplied the lathe and the wheel. Inasmuch as some of the most ancient remains show great similarity to the more recent, we. feel certain that no great progress was made by these early inhabitants. A copper spear of recent date shows no more signs of smelting than does the copper blade that has been much corroded by a great lapse of time. Trees hundreds of years old give us at least some measure of estimating the age of the contents of the mounds on which they stand, and it also means that the mound builder lived there several hundred years, if not longer. By such proc- esses of reasoning we can learn a good deal of the social, indi- vidual and family life of the savage mound builder. Besides the mounds previously mentioned, which occur on