Menard County IL Archives News.....Unearth Burial Mound Atop Kingfisher Hill May 11, 1934 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Matthew F Menardhx@gmail.com September 17, 2018, 6:05 pm Petersburg Observer May 11, 1934 Unearth Burial Mound Atop Kingfisher Hill Noten Wiseman, Herbert Fairow, Unearth Skeletons, Pottery Kingfisher Hill, the highest point and the steepest hill in Menard county, is the site of what is believed to be a Mound Builders’ burial place the discovery of skeletons and other evidence having been made Sunday morning by Noten Wiseman and Herbert Fairow while they were digging a hole to set a flagpole. The discovery was made at the very top of the hill, and parts of three skeletons, some pottery, some beads and arrow heads were unearthed that day. The two men were engaged in setting a tall pole, to be used as a flag pole to mark the finish of a motorcycle hill-climbing contest, which is to be staged there next Sunday. Mr. Fairow was digging, and had gone down about three feet when the top of the spade struck and broke what the two men believed to be the bone of an arm. They examined the parts of the bone, and immediately decided to dig more carefully being versed in local legend to the extent that both knew that the region had at one time been used extensively be Indians. Proceeding more carefully and consequently more slowly with the work, they unearthed parts of three skeletons. Lying very close together were two, that of a grown person and a baby, believed to be mother and child. In a position that indicated that they had been around the necks of both were the remains of a strand of beads, held in place by the earth in which they were imbedded. At a place less than two feet from the two skeletons, were parts of another, and the work of excavating the earth from around this third one was going forward Monday, both men digging carefully in an effort to preserve the bones, in the position in which they have been lying for centuries. Placed one on either side of the skull of the third skeleton, were two pieces of pottery, one a small bowl, five inches in diameter and three inches deep. It is almost black, and the outside is covered with a series of designs that show a well-developed sense of proportion, although they are somewhat crudely executed. The other piece of pottery is larger, but shows the same sort of workmanship as the first, although the design is different, and the piece was badly broken. The smaller bowl is in an almost perfect state of preservation, only small piece being broken away. One of the interesting things found is the jawbone of some tiny animal. It is less than three-quarters of an inch long, has one sharp tooth in the point and several tiny teeth along the side. Numerous broken bits of bones, several teeth and some seventy-five beads of varying sizes completed the find, at the close of the first day’s excavating. News of the find spread during the day, and before night many people had visited the place. Mr. Wiseman with an eye to business, started charging admission before the day was over, and that night had a man stationed at the top of the hill to guard the place. People who have visited Dickson Mounds near Lewistown are of the opinion that further excavation will disclose the fact that this place is very similar. The setting is extremely picturesque. Kingfisher, long known as one of the steepest hills in this section of the country, is said to have a seventy-five degree gradient. It is about three miles south of Oakford, and about the same distance west of the White Crossing. Mr. Wiseman owns a small farm on which the hill stands, having purchased it only recently. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/menard/newspapers/unearthb40nw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ilfiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb