ON THE MAN-SHAPED MOUNDS in Sauk County, Wisconsin

ON THE MAN-SHAPED MOUNDS OF WISCONSIN
BY I. A. LAPHAM, OF MILWAUKEE.
[Source: "REPORT and COLLECTIONS of the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of WISCONSIN
for the YEARS 1857 AND 1858".
VOLUME IV Madison, Wis.
James Ross, State Printer, printed at the "Patriot" book and Job Office. 1859
Page 365 to 368

Submitted by Diana Morse

I wish to announce the discovery by Mr. WILLIAM H. CANFIELD, near Baraboo, in Sauk County, of an ancient artificial mound, or earth-work, of the most strange and extra- ordinary character of any yet brought to light. It represents, as will be seen by the accompanying drawing, (see plate, fig. 1) very clearly and decidedly, the human form, in the act of walking, and with an expression of boldness and decision which cannot be mistaken.

The figure is no less than two hundred and fourteen feet in length; the head is thirty feet long, the body one hundred, and the legs eighty-four. The head lies towards the south, and the motion is westward. All the lines of this most singular effigy are curved gracefully, much care having been bestowed upon its construction. The head is ornamented with two projections or horns, giving a comical expression to the whole figure. The arms and legs are too short for the proper proportion, and the lower part of the body too narrow; but with these exceptions the general proportions are good.

The drawing is made from notes of a very minute and careful survey and measurement, by Mr. CANFIELD. The method of survey adopted was to run a straight line over the middle of the figure, lengthwise, and at intervals of every ten feet measure, at right angles to the bordering lines of the figure. This remarkable "man" lies on the north-west quarter of the south-east quarter of section twenty-eight, in township twelve north, and range seven east, about four miles east of Baraboo. It was surveyed July 23d, 1859.The discovery of mounds of the human form in Wisconsin, was first made known by Mr. R. C. TAYLOR, in Silliman's Journal of Science in 1888, where he has described and figured the mound represented on the accompanying plate, figure 2. It lies in an east and west direction, the head towards the west, and the arms and legs extended. Its length is one hundred and twenty-five feet; and it is one hundred and forty feet from the extremity of one arm to that of the other. The body or trunk is thirty feet in breadth, the head twenty five feet, and its elevation above the general surface of the prairie is about six feet. Its conformation, it will be observed, is so distinct, that there can be no possibility of a mistake in assigning it to the human figure. This mound forms part of a group near the old Military Road, about seven miles east of the Blue Mounds, in Dane County.

Again in Mr. STEPHEN TAYLOR'S paper, published also in Silliman's Journal, we find an account of a mound of the human figure, having two heads (see the accompanying plate, figure 3) reclining gracefully over the shoulders; the arms (not fully represented on the figure) are disproportioned, being much too long. This mound also appears to have been made with unusual care, all the parts being gracefully rounded. The principal dimensions are-length of body, fifty feet, of legs forty feet, of arms one hundred and thirty feet. The bearing is north and south; the head to the southward.This mound lies on the north side of the Wisconsin river about four miles west of the village of Muscoda.

Mr. S. TAYLOR has figured and described, in the same paper, several other mounds of the same general form, but with arms (or wings) which would indicate that they were intended to represent some bird, like the Forked-tailed hawk or swallow. Other mounds are without legs, or bifurcation; so that it is often quite difficult to decide whether the ancient artist intended to represent a man or a bird! In my Memoir on the Antiquities of Wisconsin, published in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, will be found figures and full descriptions of many others, in various parts of the State, with the same general form, and having the same uncertainty as to what they were intended to represent. Indeed, with the single exception of the mound figured by Mr. R. C. TAYLOR, (figure 2 on the accompanying plate) we may doubt whether any of the so-called man-shaped mounds hereto- fore discovered were really intended to represent the human figure.

But whatever doubts may exist in regard to other mounds, there can be none whatever, with respect to the one discovered by Mr. CANFIELD, and now first publicly noticed.
It would be idle to attempt to speculate upon the object and meaning of the strange mound here represented. The reader may indulge his own imagination on that subject, and he will perhaps arrive as near the truth as could the most profound antiquary.