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the center. I found hard undisturbed soil at the
surrounding level. At the center my trench was nearly four feet
deep.
The material thrown out consisted of a light
moved soil, nearly one-half of which was ashes; in places the
ashes rested in layers an inch or two thick, covering an area of
from one to four square feet; this layer did not rest
horizontally, but the part next the center of the mound was higher
than the part nearest the outer edge; the slope was from a
half-inch to an inch and a half to the foot. This seems to
indicate that the ashes had been thrown on a mound. The layers of
ashes were found at almost every level in the cross-section, and
in places soil was mixed with ashes to such an extent that, after
drying, the soil had the appearance of being all ashes. The
admixture of soil seemed to be black surface soil rather than the
light yellow subsoil with which the whole village site is
underlaid.
In a number of places a plaster-like substance
was found in irregular chunks. This had every appearance of ashes
when dried and powdered, except that it contained some grit or
fine sand; the chunks were as hard as lime mortar. One mass (of
which I secured a specimen) was as large as a water pail. These
chunks were found at various levels and in various parts of the
cross-section made.
The mound seems to have been erected from the
level, as the soil below the level seemed firm and undisturbed. No
evidences of posts having been set to support a roof were noted,
although I expected to find them and kept a careful watch. The
area of floor uncovered was so small, however, that the excavation
may have missed them. There was no evidence of fire having been
used save the scattered and intermixed ashes mentioned before.
There were a few bits of burned clay intermixed here and there,
but they appeared to have been brought with the ashes and not to
have been burned as they lay. Every cubic inch of the soil which
forms this mound seems to contain potsherds, broken bones, or
broken flints, and no part of the mound seems to have a greater
abun-
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dance. It seems strange, if this mound is an ordinary
refuse heap, how the distribution could be so evenly made.
A few perfect bone implements were found with a
number of broken or decayed bone implements. There are a great
number of shoulder blades (scapulae) of the buffalo, which show
evidence of use as a hoe or for other purposes. A few rib bones
and femurs that have been made into hide scrapers by notching one
edge of the end. Not a few small bones show evidences of use as
awls. These implements are very well preserved when buried in
ashes, but if found in soil that is comparatively free from ashes
they are somewhat decayed. A few calcified bones were found, but
they seem to be accidents. Dog bones are intermingled as well as
dog teeth and a few tusks, which may be those of the bear. Many of
the bones are broken, as the Indian is wont to do for the purpose
of removing the marrow. The state of preservation is remarkable;
many of the bones look as fresh and new as if placed there a year
ago. Other bones are in a very advanced stage of decay.
The pottery is of the older type; many very
artistic handles were found, and the curves of the edge pieces
show some of the vessels to be as large as twenty-four inches in
diameter. Most of the pieces are smooth on the outside; only a few
specimens have the fabric impressions; it is tempered abundantly,
mostly with fine gravel, although a few specimens have the broken
bits of pottery used as tempering. Mica is not often seen. The
specimens look very much like the Mandan pottery; the color is the
same and the shapes similar, but there is a marked difference in
the tempering. The Mandan pottery has abundance of mica, while
mica is scarcely seen in the specimens from the Barkett site. The
shape of the top is very different also. The tops at the Burkett
site show a narrowed neck two or three inches from the edge, which
is very marked, while in the Mandan specimens which we have here
there is but a very slight narrowing at the neck. The edges are
elaborately decorated and nearly every specimen shows that
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the vessel had handles. The same kind of pottery is
scattered along the Platte river in nearly every ancient village,
but few similar specimens are found on the Missouri front. The
pottery will prove one of the most valuable evidences in finally
determining the people who occupied this site.
The flint specimens are abundant; a small per
cent of these specimens are from the Nehawka quarry, a very few
are from the Blue river, but the greatest number are of the brown
and yellow material which came from the headwaters of the Platte
river. Occasionally a specimen of green quartzite from the
Niobrara river is seen, but I have never found a specimen of the
whitish-pink flint brought from Oklahoma and Arkansas by the
Pawnees. Specimens of catlinite are rare - so much so that I doubt
that these people ever visited the quarry. I have not found a
specimen of obsidian as yet.
These flint specimens lead one to infer that the
people trafficked toward the west.
The large mound house which I cross-sectioned is
seventy-five feet from a circle house ruin. This ruin is southwest
of the mound house; in the center of this circle is the fireplace
resting at the surface level. Large quantities of ashes and
charcoal were found in a circular firepot. The surrounding soil is
burned red for six or eight inches in all directions. The circle
is slight, probably little below the depth of present cultivation,
and one must observe carefully to note it at all.
Ten feet south of this ruined hut ring is a
cache. I discovered it by the appearance of the wheat stubble,
which shows the cache to be nearly 8 feet in diameter.
I cut a cross-section 7 feet long and 21/2 feet
wide near the south edge of this cache. Upon exposing the north
side of the trench I found the cache to be 4 feet 10 inches in
diameter in the narrowest place and about 8 feet at the level of 6
feet deep. It was dug in the shape of a funnel, the widest place
at the bottom. At 8 feet deep the yellow soil was brought up on
the spade. Numerous large bones were found, some ashes near the
bottom, and a number of large pieces of
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broken pottery. A half of a vessel which held less than a
quart was found in this cache. It will pay to remove all the loose
earth from this cache and thus restore it completely. This will be
done when help can be had and the weather is cooler. There are a
number of caches on this site in which some whole pottery vessels
should be found - this would be a nice addition to our museum, but
would not assist in the study of the people, so we can not afford
to do the digging now.
SUMMING UP.
In briefly summing up the conditions as noted
above, it seems likely that the Burkett site has been twice
occupied by the same tribe of Indians, and that some time elapsed
between the first village built there and the last one. The mound
houses, as I have called them, were made when the site was first
occupied, and the ruin of these houses was a simple hut ring when
the second village was built. These old hut rings were used for
dump heaps by the people of the second village; dogs dug holes and
buried their bones there, children played in the soft dirt, and
ashes were, dumped there by the squaws. Broken vessels and broken
bone implements were deposited there until the old hut rings
became heaps of refuse similar to the kitchen middens.
There are ordinary hut rings scattered over the
site; one is usually found not over 100 feet from the mound. The
mounds are scattered evenly over eighty acres of ground, and there
are about twelve or fifteen in all. Eight are large and well
defined, while the remainder are but slightly raised and often
show the hut ring well defined on the outer edge, with a slight
elevation in the center, showing that but little refuse had been
placed there. The only point against this theory is the total
absence of a fireplace in the center. The hut rings all have this
fireplace, while not a single mound house shows it. If they had
been used once as a house the old fireplace would show in the
center. This leads one to think they may have
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been storehouses, contemporaneous with the rest of the
village.
The whole village must have been of grass houses
or houses covered with skins and erected on the level, as the
outer circle of earth is so small that it can not represent more
than a low banking around the base of the house. There is not
enough earth in the ruin above the undisturbed soil to form a mud
house like those found south of Fremont, where white men saw the
Pawnees living in earth houses in 1854. It is not impossible that
these mound houses are ruins of storehouses where refuse was
dumped. I have thought they may be houses built for dogs, before
the advent of the horse. The village was in ruin before contact
with white traders even, as I have not found a single indication
of contact with white men. However, Mr. John Williamson says he
found a rusty knife three feet below the surface in one mound
house.
Peti-Le-Sharu, head chief of the Pawnees, said
there was no legend of the village in his tribe. They knew nothing
about it. He counted it very strange that any one should build a
village on these high bluffs, nearly a mile from water and wood,
and remarked that the Pawnees were not so foolish. Judge H. J.
Hudson, of Columbus, rode over this site in 1848 and it had then
the appearance of great antiquity.
DUNBAR TRIP.
Some years ago a Mr. Money, who lived near Dunbar,
gave me the account of finding a "stone sepulcher" containing not
only the bones of a human being but also some stone implements.
This information was filed away until such a time as it seemed
possible to investigate it.
July 30 I went to Dunbar to learn more about
this matter. I found evidences of a village site about two miles
southeast of town on the banks of a small branch of the
Nemaha.
This site covers a part of the N. W. 1/4 of the
N. W. 1/4, S. 19, T. 7 N., R. 13 E. It was inhabited before
contact with the whites, and the graves on the hill near have
every appear-
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ance of antiquity. A few hut rings are still visible in
the lowlands near the creek.
Mr. McWilliams, who lived near, found some stone
implements on this site a number of years ago, but the survivors
of the family were not at home. I gave the place but a hasty
examination and drew a plat of the village site which I have named
the Dunbar site. Careful inquiry among the settlers did not reveal
other evidences near there. The land is owned by Mr. J. J. Prey,
who does not reside there, consequently no excavation was
attempted.
ORLEANS TRIP.
August 12 I went to Orleans to investigate the
conditions surrounding the silver cross found by N. C. Sasse a
mile west of town. This solid silver cross was brought to the
museum by Mr. A. A. Nielsen, of Stamford. It was thought at the
time that the bones found with it might prove to be those of the
martyr Father Padilla, who accompanied Coronado on his march to
Quivera in 1541, but a careful examination of these bones proves
them to be Indian bones buried not over one hundred years ago.
Through the kindness of Mr. Sasse we brought the
bones to the museum. Every bone is carefully preserved, and we
hope to have the complete skeleton mounted, and then he shall
again wear his treasured crucifix.
The Indian was buried in the clean sand not many
rods from the banks of the Republican river. The bones are well
preserved.
The theory is advanced by some of the early
settlers that this Indian may have been killed near the stockade
which was built in 1870 on the N.E. 1/4 of S. 17, T. 2 N., R. 19
W. This was built by the early settlers as a place of safety in
case of an Indian attack. Tradition has it that two or three
Indians were killed in the vicinity, but no one seems to know just
when or by whom. The bones were found in a sand dune on the
Republican bottom. The dune was probably
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eight inches above the level and covers a half-acre of
ground. Nothing grows there except a few scattering weeds. The
skeleton was placed in a sitting position, showing that red men
buried it.
Flag creek flows south and joins the Republican
at Orleans. James McGeachin told me that it takes its name from
the fact that a man by the name of Foster left the stockade and
first raised the flag on this creek as early as 1870. Some of the
builders of this stockade are still living, although their
handiwork has entirely disappeared. Frank Hauffnangle, Andrew
Ruben, Frank Bryan, and Mr. Wolworth were among the number.
Mr. James McGeachin very kindly accompanied me
on a trip of exploration five miles north of Orleans. On S. 27, T.
3 N., R. 19 W., near the creek bank, is the site of a stone age
village. Whole pottery vessels have been found near there. This
village had extensive caches along the creek bank; three of these
have washed out, leaving the top sod to cave in. The walls are yet
plainly defined and show the caches to have been from six to eight
feet deep and about seven feet across. Owing to the prolonged
drouth the soil is very dry, and one could not cut a satisfactory
cross-section, but I am satisfied there are a number of these old
cache holes which can be excavated to show the size and form. The
surrounding surface has the appearance of having been a cornfield,
and I think this site is where the Republican Pawnees raised corn
when Pike saw them farther east in 1806. In fact, from the brief
survey of the Republican region I am led to think that the
Republican Pawnees wandered along this stream in much the same
manner as their brothers lived and wandered along the Elkhorn and
the Platte.
One feature seen a mile north of Orleans must
not be omitted here. On the farm of O. H. Olson is a circle,
plainly defined, that measures 120 feet in diameter. The land has
a crop of sod corn this year, being newly broken. Mr. Olson said
that when this land was in pasture the circle showed
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very plainly. There is no evidence of earthwork except in
the center; there is a depression about eight inches deep in the
deepest place and not over ten feet in diameter. A slight ring can
be observed outside of this low spot, which is about twenty feet
in diameter. The vegetation always grows abundantly within this
slight ring. A strip surrounds the large circle and really defines
it, on which little if any grass grew when in pasture, and on
which the corn is very short and dried up. The soil seems packed
and is whitish in appearance against the soil from the center or
from the surrounding surface. This circular strip is about ten or
twelve feet wide and a perfect circle, the outer edge of which is
120 feet in diameter. The circle rests on sloping ground near the
top of the ridge and tips to the southwest. One can see this
evidence from the road, a half-mile away, very plainly.
I can not explain the phenomenon. We have the
legend of the "mystic circle" quoted by Abbé Em. Domenech.
This may be one of those "mystic circles." This of course does not
explain the strange phenomenon, and all I can do is to record its
appearance in 1907.
West of Orleans about five miles is a mound
which has every appearance of being a land slide from the main
bluff near by. It may, however, be an eroded extension of the
range of bluffs which it seems to terminate. From observation it
appears to be about fifty feet high and two hundred feet across.
The lowest stratum is a shale having streaks resembling coal.
Within five feet of the top is a stratum of what appears to be
drift pebbles, the largest per cent of which is flint in
stratified pieces two or three inches wide and half an inch to an
inch thick. Many bits are smaller. This flint seems water-worn, is
of good quality, and brown to light yellow in color. These pieces
bear a close resemblance to the material used so extensively for
implements along the Platte and Elkhorn rivers. How extensive this
deposit is I was unable to learn; I saw it in two places only,
although I rode twenty miles over the adjoining country. A feature
worth
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mentioning is observed on the top and sides of this
mound. At a point near the top a sand bank has been opened, and
one side of this exposes a cross-section of a sepulcher or some
similar earthwork. There are no bones, however, and this is not
strange when we consider how shallow the burial was made (not over
two feet deep) and how loose the soil is, as wolves are wont to
exhume the bones. But the strange feature is noticed in the pieces
of flint which seem to be burned. The specimens are abundant. They
are light and brittle, although in every other way they resemble
the flint specimens.
This mound may have been used repeatedly for
signal fires or the flints may have been burned in connection with
the burial, as they are most abundant in and near the four or five
graves which crown this mound. It was unfortunate that we had no
spade and a storm was rising. We were four miles from our shelter,
so the graves were left undisturbed. The calcined flint is a new
feature in this state.
The next morning we drove from Stamford
southeast to examine "Sappa Peak." This is the highest point of
hill in the surrounding country. The top is comparatively level
and is about an acre in area. A few inches below the top is a
layer of lime rock. This probably accounts for the lack of erosion
and explains why this peak towers above the surrounding hilltops.
Two broken flint arrow points were found on this peak and a number
of flint chips. There is indication of a burial, but the mound has
been opened by some one who was evidently hunting wolves. Early
settlers say that Sappa peak was strewn with flat lime rocks in an
early day, and that these rocks were placed in such a way that
they represented the outlines of the human form; however, at this
time none of these rocks are left. The top of this peak is strewn
with flint chips, and artifacts are frequently found. Mr. A. A.
Nielsen, of Stamford, who accompanied me on this trip, will use a
favorable time and cross-section the mound on top of Sappa Peak.
The earth was so dry and cracked that it was impossible to
excavate the mound satisfactorily at this time.
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On my return trip I stopped at Superior
and visited the Pike monument near Republic, Kansas. A number of
lodge circles are to be seen on an eminence commanding a view of
the Republican river, but the general appearance of the site is
disappointing. There are but few acres in the site, and after a
careful study of Pike's very meager description of the village,
which he visited in 1806, one can scarcely believe this is the
identical spot. Be that as it may, the state of Kansas and Mrs.
Elizabeth Johnson have done a noble and praiseworthy work in
marking the Pike village. If this is not the spot, it is at the
very least approximately correct, and the event is the main thing
after all. The real reason for marking the spot is the fact of our
flag being raised there in 1806. This event is fittingly
celebrated and the historical fact is commemorated by this shaft.
The petty contention for the exact spot should be laid aside and
all should join in gratitude to Mrs. Johnson and the state of
Kansas for their noble work.
No flint spalls were-found in or near this Pike
village site. It is stated that Pike moved his camp from the bank
of the river to a high point commanding a view of the village.
There is no such point of high laud near this monument. Nor is the
surrounding country exactly as one would expect to see from Pike's
description. I drove north and west from this monument to the site
of another village about three miles south of Hardy. This village
site is also in Kansas. It occupied an eminence about a mile from
the river bank. At the base of the hill there gushes forth a
spring that is known far and wide as "Big Springs." The water
flows out over a hundred acres of pasture land and joins the
Republican river. Near this spring I found a chipped flint 8 1/2
inches long and 4 inches wide which weighs 1 1/4 pounds. It is of
light brown flint. The flint was found by the Indians in strata
about an inch, thick, as can be seen by this specimen. The sides
still show the limestone which rested on either side of the flint
stratum. The specimen is very similar to the ones found on the
Platte and Elkhorn rivers, and if we did not
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know from history that the Pawnees once lived on the
Republican river this specimen would establish a relationship
between the people of the Platte and the people of the Republican.
It is Pawnee in size, material, shape, and individuality of
chipping. Where the material came from originally is yet unknown,
but very probably from Wyoming. Other spalls and broken implements
were found on the high point above the Springs, showing that once
a considerable village of Stone Age people lived here.
James Beattie once owned the land where this
implement was found, and he said that a number of lodge circles
were still to be seen near where the old fort was built when he
came to live there in the early '60s.
He also told me that two miles west of the Big
Springs was another ruin of an Indian village site.
A MOUND EXCAVATED NEAR ENDICOTT
August 9 I started for a brief view of the
field in Jefferson county. I had notes about a chipping field near
Endicott on the farm belonging to F. M. Price, but could find
nothing worth mentioning in that line; however, I found a mound on
this farm which seemed worth opening. A few arrow points had been
found in the vicinity, but I was not able to see a single one.
The farm is now operated by Mr. J. W. Edwell,
who very kindly gave his consent to open the mound. It was at the
highest point of a hill in a rolling pasture on S.W. 1/4 S. 17, T.
1 N., R. 3 E., and about two miles south of the Little Blue
river.
The surrounding hills are covered with a brown
sandstone, having irony streaks through it. In some places this
rock is soft and crumbles easily, while in other places it is as
hard as iron and contains small pebbles in a conglomerate mass as
if fused in iron.
These rocks cover a considerable area, but do
not extend very deep; they crop out at the top of the hills and
appear to
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be a cap which only extends half way down the hill.
Immediately under these rocks one finds a red and brown clay
The mound was in the midst of large, flat, irony
sand rocks and was about two feet above the surrounding rocks; it
was ten feet across and nearly circular. The soil which was mixed
with the rocks seemed darker in color and was more fertile, as was
evinced by the vegetation growing there, and it was probably
carried from the valley. This is what first attracted my
attention. The rocks at the edges of this mound sloped toward the
center, showing that they had settled. The mound was probably much
higher at one time. From the appearance, I concluded I had found
the sepulcher of some noted chief, and I concluded to open the
mound.
The rocks extended to a depth of four feet. The
mound had a covering of three courses of flat rocks about three
inches thick. They were so large that it took two men to get them
out of the hole. It seems that the oblong excavation was hollowed
out of the original rocky hill about five feet deep, and something
had been deposited there, as the soil for sixteen inches below the
rocks was mixed with some dark fibery substance which left a
whitish-green mould on the under side of the rocks.
There was not, however, a single scrap of bone
or any substance other than the mold and displaced earth which
would assist in determining what had been buried there. I doubt
that it was a human body, as the form of the bones would have been
found. It may have been meat, or it may have hides or blankets.
Whatever may have been placed there had so thoroughly decayed that
no proof was left to determine it.
I am certain the mound was erected by human
hands; I am certain coyotes could not have removed the bones if it
were a grave, and the only solution I can give is that something
had been cached there and then removed, the rocks and mound being
replaced, or that the substance cached has
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wholly decayed during the many years since the mound was
made.
A well-defined, rude wall surrounded the oblong
hole both above and below the flat rocks. The excavation was a
little larger than the rocks which covered it, so that their
weight rested on whatever was placed under them. This mound is
near the old trail and a spring is found near "Pulpit Rock," forty
rods south.
The hard sandstone which caps the hills in this
vicinity is the material which the Indians used to make "planers."
These are blocks of sandstone about one and a half inches each way
and from three to ten inches long. A groove is made lengthwise on
the flattened side and the other three sides are rounded. Two of
these planers are used together. A shaft which is to be used as an
arrow shaft is placed in this groove. Both are held in the hand
with the shaft held lightly between them. By drawing the arrow
shaft back and forth it is made straight and smooth; it is made
round by turning it as it is moved back and forth.
This irony sand rock made durable planers. They
are found on almost every village site in the state. A streak of
brown sandstone extends nearly across the state, but it is not
always suitable for planers.
DONIPHAN TRIP.
An interesting discovery was recently made in
the clay pit at the brick yard near Doniphan, two miles south of
the Platte river in Hall county. About twenty acres of the clay
has been removed to a depth of thirty feet. About the 1st of July
they began to remove the clay from a deeper level and uncovered an
area of several hundred square yards to a depth of thirty-six
feet. At this level the workmen came to black surface soil not fit
for bricks.
I investigated this locality August 23. I found
this stratum of surface soil to be about four and a half feet deep
-three times as deep as the black soil on the present surface.
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The loess deposit immediately above
this stratum of black soil is intermixed with charcoal and bones.
The bones are not human, and I saw no sign of a campfire or any
area where the evidences showed that man had resided, but one of
the workmen said that he saw two places which showed that a
campfire had been maintained for some time. If evidences of man
are found at this place there can be no question but he lived here
in interglacial days, as the locality is such that the glacial
loess alone could have buried this black surface soil. The area
which was uncovered to the deepest level unfortunately was covered
with water, and the spot where the workman saw the fireplaces
could not be seen. Later we hope to see the area drained.
By digging at a point near, we exposed a
cross-section of the black soil and were able to study it. This
black soil is underlaid with a tough clay intermixed with coarse
sand. It is it light yellowish-brown with a pea-green tint; while
the clay above lacks the tint of green and has rusty streaks
through it.
At one point in the cross-section was a crack
extending vertically the whole way down, through the loess above
as well as the black soil. This crack was one-sixteenth of an inch
wide and was washed full of very light yellow soil. The crack
appeared the same width all the way and extended across the
excavation, showing on both sides of the pit.
The bones, as well as blocks of the soil, were
secured for the museum. Mr. John Schwyn, who owns the brickyard,
is a student of archeology. He has kindly consented to keep a
close watch when the second level is being removed, and we hope to
secure reliable facts about this surface which was covered so many
years ago.
If evidences of man are found in this clay pit
it will forever settle the problem of the "Nebraska Loess Man."
The surface here is eighty feet above the Platte level, two miles
from the river, and on a level with the surrounding tableland. It
is in a comparatively level country where a "land slide" could not
happen.
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The same stratum of black soil has been observed in
excavating at Aurora and at other points near. It seems that a
large area of fertile land existed here in interglacial days.
NEHAWKA TRIP.
September 11 I briefly reviewed the vicinity
of the flint quarries near Nehawka, in company with C. C. Cobb of
York.
The only new point observed during this trip was
in a deep ravine which has been recently washed out to a depth of
sixteen feet, not far from the bed of the Weeping Water creek.
About half way from the creek to the base of the hill where the
flint quarries are found this ravine cuts a cross-section at right
angles with either. At a depth of sixteen feet below the present
surface I found a number of flint spalls as they were struck off
the nodules and rejected. I also secured a piece of limestone
reddened by heat which rested at the same level. This proves the
great age of these quarries. They have existed long enough for the
hill to erode and bury this burned rock sixteen feet deep at a
point 200 feet from the present foot of the hill and 100 feet from
the present bed of the stream. The stream now has a level of ten
feet below where this burned rock was found. No spalls were found
below the sixteen foot level, but above that level to the surface
the soil was evenly strewn with broken bits of rock, burned and
natural, as well as numerous flint chips.
This cut made by nature is an interesting study.
It shows the substance of a cross-section nearly twenty feet deep
and it is rich black soil all the way down.
ADAMS TRIP.
September 24 I visited A. H. Whittemore, of
Adams. Mr. Whittemore wrote me some time ago of his collection of
stone-age implements found near Adams, and I visited him for the
purpose of looking over his collection; and I succeeded in getting
his interest aroused to such an extent that he will attend to the
archeology of his particular locality. I
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brought to the museum one of the finest specimens of
Quivera tomahawk I have ever seen. It was found near Beatrice. It
shows much wear and appears to be very old. A few very fine blades
of Nehawka flint were found in the same locality. This is evidence
that the people who worked the Nehawka quarries trafficked with
the people on the Blue river, and probably were contemporaneous.
No specimens of catlinite are found about the ruins along the Blue
valley. If these ruins are Quivera in type, the Indians which
Coronado met evidently knew nothing of the catlinite quarries. Mr.
Whittemore loaned us a pipe made from a very fine grained
sandstone which Dr. Barbour calls Dakota cretaccous, intimately
cemented with red oxide of iron. This material evidently was found
in the drift and used occasionally for making pipes. This pipe is
a small disk pipe. A similar disk pipe was found near Genoa and is
in the Larson collection. Three or more have been found along the
Elkhorn river, and are in the Hopkins collection.
TRIP TO MARQUETTE.
In "Indian Sketches" by John T. Irving, Jr.,
you will find a very graphic account of a trip among the various
tribes of Nebraska Indians made in 1833 by Edward Ellsworth. He
made a treaty with the Otoes on the Platte, and visited the
Pawnees in three of their important villages. It has not been
difficult to find the ruins of the Otoe village near where Yutan
now stands, and the ruins which are found near Fullerton may be
identified as one of the villages visited. What I have called the
Horse Creek site, twelve miles west of Fullerton, is certainly the
Skidi village which Irving describes, but the Choui village,
situated south of the Platte, has thus far not been identified. I
have made inquiry of those living in Polk and Hamilton counties
without avail.
Tuesday, October 22, I went to Marquette to
begin the search for the ruin of the Choui village which was
visited by Ellsworth in 1833.
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Mr. Charles Green and his brother when
they visited the Museum during the state fair of 1907 informed me
that flint arrows had been found near their home and invited me to
explore the vicinity. At a point nearly north of Marquette on
sections 32 and 33 of town 13, range 6, on the farm belonging to
G. A. Reyner, is a point which corresponds geographically with the
Irving description of the surrounding country, but there is no
evidence of a ruin to be found near the place described. A few
graves are in evidence on the surrounding hills, but no earthworks
or chipped flints can be found in the valley where Irving says the
village was situated. I explored the south bank of the Platte to a
point two miles up stream from the Grand Island bridge, but could
find no evidence of the old Choui village. It still remains to
explore on down stream into Polk county.
Irving says they forded the river with the
wagons and ox teams. He says that after traveling toward where
Fullerton now stands for a few hours they came to a "lone tree"
and refreshed themselves at the only stream they had found on the
trip. This stream must have been Prairie creek, but the "lone
tree" could not have been the historic Lone tree which once stood
on the bank of the Platte river. The very early settlers in
Merrick county may have seen a lone tree on the banks of Prairie
creek north of Central City, at the roots of which a small stream
flowed. There must still be considerable evidence of this Choui
village on the surface unless it be swept into the Platte. As this
stream has changed its banks but little in the later years, there
is hope that the ruin may yet be found. Irving says it was
situated at the base of a range of bills, fifty yards from the
Platte.
You will find circular depressions about forty
feet in diameter where this village stood. There should be broken
flints and pieces of pottery scattered thickly over the surface. I
shall continue my search for this ruin and will be very thankful
for any information you may be able to give.
Living on the very bank of the Platte river
about six miles southwest of Phillips is an interesting gentleman
by the
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name of Charles White, but known throughout this vicinity
as "Buckskin Charlie." He has a small collection of Indian
implements and quite a variety of firearms and other curios. This
gentleman is well posted on Indian history and tradition, having
scouted with the Indians on the frontier nearly all his life.
STROMSBURG TRIP.
It has been a matter of interest that the
exact location of the Choui village should be definitely
determined, and a second trip was prompted by additional
information secured from Mr. C. P. Peterson of Lincoln, after the
foregoing was put in type. The general location was known to be on
the bank of the Platte river, nearly due west from Osceola, but
there exists no record of its discovery.
I have mentioned Ellsworth, who negotiated a
treaty with the Choui band of Pawnees in 1833, and John T. Irving,
who wrote of the trip, gave a good account of the surrounding
country. George Catlin visited the village in 1833 and painted
portraits of a number of the leading warriors, among which was the
portrait of Shon-ka-ki-he-ga, (the Horse Chief), who was head
chief of the Choui (or Grand) Pawnees. The head chief of the Choui
band was also head chief of the confederated band of Pawnees in
later years, so this is doubtless the chief of the Pawnees in
1833.
Henry Dodge negotiated a treaty with this band
in this village in 1835, and says the head chief was called Angry
Man, while Irving does not mention the name of the chief at all.
From the descriptions given by these early travelers the
geographical surroundings may be recognized at this time. Just
when the village was built is not known, nor is it known just when
it was abandoned, but, from the authority at hand, I suspect it
was not occupied in 1810. About that date the Choui band moved to
the vicinity of the Loup river, near the other bands, as all the
strength of the Pawnee tribe was necessary to resist the
Sioux.
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NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
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The ruin of the Choui village is in
Polk county about eighty rods northeast from the end of the Clarks
bridge over the Platte river. It lies in section 17, township 14
north, range 4 west. The land is owned by W. S. Headley, who
purchased it in 1892. Samuel Baker bought the land from the
railroad company in 1870, and broke out the field, which has been
in cultivation ever since. The village occupied about forty acres.
It was destroyed by their enemies before 1833 and rebuilt by the
Pawnees. There is an abundance of charcoal intermixed with the
soil on this village site. This shows that the village must have
been destroyed by fire at last, although we have no record of it.
A number of iron implements have been found and the charred ends
of the tipi posts are still being plowed out.
No flint chips were noticed, which leads me to
conclude that this village was built after the contact with white
traders had been so close that practically all the members of the
hand used steel arrow points and knives. This condition was
brought about very rapidly when once the red men saw the white
man's implements. If the Choui band had occupied this village site
before they discarded the flint, the whole surface would be strewn
with flint chips, thrown off in making their arrows. The ruin
seems destitute of potsherds. This seems to indicate that kettles
made by white men had taken the place of the Indian-made pottery.
The Pawnees had ample opportunity to procure white man's
implements, as traders traversed the Platte valley even before the
Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804.
The importance of this village ruin is found in
the known condition in 1833. This is about as early as a written
account of any village in the state is to be found. By studying
the ruined conditions of this village, seen by travelers and
described in 1833, we may determine the approximate age of other
ruins. When I visited the ruin near Linwood I had nothing for a
comparison. Now I have a much greater respect for that village
ruin, which is doubtless older than this
© 2000, 2001 Pam Rietsch,
T&C Miller