The antiquities of Wisconsin : as surveyed and described . mooth. Again, in cleaning out one of these pits, at the depth of ten feet, the workmencame across a fragment of a wooden bowl, which, from the splintery pieces of rockand gravel imbedded in its rim, must have been employed in bailing water. Now, unless there is some mistake as to these facts, we are not disposed toattribute this work to the aboriginal inhabitants. The sleepers, levers, woodenbowls, &c, are rather indicative of Caucasian ingenuity and art. Nor do the copperknives of Lake Superior have the appearance of great antiquity.
The antiquities of Wisconsin : as surveyed and described . mooth. Again, in cleaning out one of these pits, at the depth of ten feet, the workmencame across a fragment of a wooden bowl, which, from the splintery pieces of rockand gravel imbedded in its rim, must have been employed in bailing water. Now, unless there is some mistake as to these facts, we are not disposed toattribute this work to the aboriginal inhabitants. The sleepers, levers, woodenbowls, &c, are rather indicative of Caucasian ingenuity and art. Nor do the copperknives of Lake Superior have the appearance of great antiquity. Their form indi-cates quite plainly the knife of the white man; although the method of attachingthe handle by turning up the edges, may be of aboriginal origin. See Fig. 33, whichis a half-size drawing of a copper knife from Lake Superior, presented to me by Mr. ANCIENT WORKS AT LAKE SUPERIOR. 77 O. Vandyke. Arrow-points were attached in the same way (see Fig. 34), as shownby one found at Menasha, on Lake Winnebago, and received from Mr. Curtis Copper Knife from Lake Superior. (One half natural size.) In the immediate valley of the Mississippi the animal forms do not appear to beas numerous as on the Wisconsin and in some other localities. So far as I can learn,they extend down only as far as Apple river, in Illinois, a few miles south of theState line of Wisconsin. Fig. 34. Indian Arrow-head, of copper. Natural size. There are occasional localities south of the Wisconsin river, where traces ofancient works can be seen; but the immediate bank of the Mississippi is so brokenthat it could not be explored without much labor and difficulty. The works at Prairie du Chien, heretofore described (page 66), are the mostextensive of any on the river; but these are too much injured to exhibit with dis-tinctness their original forms. Along the great dividing ridge between the Mississippi and the Kickapoo rivers,there are mounds in great numbers. Their general character is the same a
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