One very fine specimen somewhat of this form in
the State Exhibit, I obtained from Calhoun county; it is
six or seven inches long. We also have one from Jersey
county. I doubt if they were weapons or flint daggers.
All of this form we have seen are small and I shall be
inclined to place them in the list of tools.



297

There is another very interesting form of flint objects
generally classed as arrow points; some of these are
notched in a peculiar manner and all of them seem to
be worn smooth about the neck of the notch as if they
might have had a string about them and the string
had worn the notch smooth by suspension or otherwise.
There were quite a number of these in the State Exhibit.

There is still another form, called by some, knives,
which we can hardly accept, however. Some of these
flint objects are made with great skill in the chipping.
They are pointed at both ends and sometimes, although
not in every instance, the edges are beveled.




Flints in a War Club.

Many of the tools have their edges thus beveled off in
a very skillful manner. It is the general impression
among collectors that these objects are arrow points
made with the beveled edges so that they would twist
or whirl in passing through the air.

They were probably tools of some kind. We have
seen among the Ute Indians tools somewhat similar with
short handles.



298

There are a great many other forms of flint imple-
ments found in Illinois, the description of which, if ac-
companied with illustrations, would be of much interest.

There is one class of flint implements in which Illinois
is particularly rich and in which there are some forms
that might be said to be peculiar to the State. These
are agricultural implements. Whether Illinois had in-
digenous men, we only think possible, but have not the
evidence to make it conclusive. Paleolithic objects may
be numerous in our present age, but in the age beyond,
the glacial, there seems to be no sign of man whatever.
But it seems to be established that in our State there
were very early inhabitants and as the evidence from
our caverns and cave shelters seem to show they were the
veriest savages, possibly cannibals. After or among
these somewhat vague people comes somehow an im-
proved state of affairs with the inhabitants. Somebody
brings or finds a very primitive kind of religion and
ceremonials are instituted, mounds are built. Finally
these mound builders became a great nation with an
established religion and an organized government. They
lived in large communities on the rich bottom lands,
and their numbers and manner of life made it necessary
that sustenance should be provided in other ways than
that of savages or in the manner of our Indians. They
became tillers of the soil and had cornfields and were
not dependent on the chase or hunting. These people
became so numerous and strong and so well organized
that they were able to erect enormous temples or places
on which to have their ceremonies or religious obser-
vances. That there were other nations or tribes of people
in the land is quite evident from the fact that in
some places these mound builders had defensive works,
as is shown in Ohio. In Illinois, where their largest
temple and town was situated, this did not seem neces-



299

sary. The "Great American Bottom," as it is called,
an extraordinarily fertile tract of low laud on the Mis-
sissippi, seventy-five miles long and five to ten miles
wide, was their central dwelling place, with colonies
about them for a hundred miles or more; some of the
fine bottoms on the Illinois were occupied by their col-
onies, and here are found their great religious mounds,
and the rich bottoms on the Illinois, like the American
Bottom are probably to this day destitute of forests
where these people cultivated corn, vegetables and other
edibles.

From some of these mounds have been taken the most
advanced work of the stone age we have seen, and the
only chipped and ground implements we have met with.

Their agricultural tools were of stone and made with
a degree of skill that is unrivaled in the chipping of flint
tools. Some of the flint hoes when fastened on to a
handle in a firm manner were in fact no mean implement
with which to dig about the corn and growing crops.




A Hafted Spade.



The large flat, slightly ovoid, instruments, always wider
at one end and known as spades, were tools with which to
dig the soil. Some of these have seen so much use,



300

probably in a sandy soil, as to have a very nicely pol-
ished surface about the larger end, the smaller end having
doubtless been fastened to a handle. One splendid speci-
men in the State Collect ion was seventeen inches in length.
We obtained it in Randolph county; another fine speci-
men from Madison county was sixteen inches long: sev-
eral others from Madison and St. Clair were but little
smaller.




Flint Spade 17 Inches Long.

One fine specimen from Union county was polished over
its entire surface, showing that both ends had been used
in digging.

There were two varieties of the large spades that seems
to have been followed persistently. From certain evi-
dence it would seem to be quite probable that certain



301

persons or families were more skillful and followed the
business of making especial forms of stone implements.

Across the Mississippi river from Chester, Illinois, there
are a number of mounds in Perry county, Missouri. A
farmer here plowing over one of these mounds in his field,
felt his plow strike something, and upon looking to see
what it was, found buried there sixty-three flint spades.
None were less than a foot in length, all precisely of the
same form, and not one of them showed any signs of
being used. They were possibly new when buried there.
We were able to secure most of this find, every one of
which was perfect and a gem of its kind. We think one
person had made all these objects. In the northern part
of the American bottom, in the vicinity of Alton, the
common form of the large spade found has a broader
edge and straighter sides, showing the handiwork of
another family of artists which followed a peculiar out-
line in their chipping.

Agricultural implements of a smaller kind are very
common in the Illinois river valley, but not exactly of
the form of the larger one. Occasionally a specimen of
our more southern and larger forms is found as far up
the river as Peoria but they are comparatively rare there.




Notched Hoe.



The notched hoes or spades with notches for fasten-
ing to a handle are very much desired by collectors.



302

They are not so common as the spade and probably
were much more difficult to make, They are peculiar to
this region or at least very rare elsewhere.

Like the spades, there are two distinct forms of the
type one with straight sides and a broader edge, the
other more circular in outline. Occasionally these notched
hoes are found very much worn, showing that they had
doubtless been used for many years, for the attrition of
the soil must have affected their flinty surfaces but very
slowly. And then one is occasionally found so bung-
lingly and rudely made, that it is very plain that an
attempt had been made to evade an infringement of the
other fellow's patent.




v>

C C ~ '^IS^

W r* , ^^-^



'^^ (

9,^,




^^^^^^^ll



A Cahokia Mound 50 feet high.

When we speak of the use of these implements in the
cultivation of corn, how do we know they had corn?
We have found it in their mounds on more than one occa-
sion, sometimes in a charred condition and otherwise.



303

In excavating to the bottom of one of the CahoMa
mounds, we found, besides the grains of corn and some
cobs, bundles of cornstalks bound together with cords
or strings. We have some charred specimens of this
corn, as well as pieces of the cords and strings, as was
shown in the exhibit.

Corn Cob from Mound.

The corn we have found in the mounds was a rather
small ear with eight rows. The rows were in pairs and
between each pair of rows of grains was an interstice
or furrow. The grains must have been of good size, for
even the charred grain we have found were of fair size.

At the bottom of an excavation in one of the Cahokia
mounds not only were the remains of corn but seed of
melons like pumpkins and squashes. Some of these seeds
too were of large size. In the bottom of this mound we
found a number of strings and cords that seemed to have
been made of some kind of vegetable fiber.

We have found, in several instances, some of their
fabrics, too, preserved by being in contact with copper.
In some of the cloth, both of hair and vegetable fiber,
could be seen the warp and woof. All the fabric we have
seen, however, was coarse in texture, more like our bags
or sacking material.

That these old mound people who once lived on the
rich lands of Illinois had made a very material advance-
ment from the state of semi-savage or barbarian life of
our modern Indians there can be but little question.

We have but to point to the huge mounds in Madi-
son and St. Clair counties of which our modern Indians
know absolutely nothing and which no modern Indian
that we have any knowledge of had a capacity to make,
or ability to erect through insufficient organization,
want of numbers, manner of life and disinclination to



304

engage in physical labor. We are aware that an effort
has been made to show that all our mound builders
were simply the ancestors of our present red men. We
do not think it has been shown, but space prevents us
from going into this discussion.

That our red Indians are indigenous to the country is
probably true. But that another race or races lived
here and were much farther advanced than the Indians
and finally suddenly and totally disappeared we believe
also is true.

That this advanced race of mound builders had cus-
toms, religious or otherwise, which they learned in some
way from other countries we believe also.

We believe that when the mounds of Illinois are fully
explored we shall have sufficient proofs and have a his-
tory of great interest.



GLACIAL GEOLOGY.



BY OSSIAN GUTHRIE.



NTIL a very recent date, the glacial geology of
Illinois seems to have been almost entirely over-
looked, or, if not overlooked, misunderstood. Recent
researches, however, have developed the fact that the
prairies of Illinois not only owe their existence to glacial
action, but afford one of the richest fields on the globe
for the study of glacial phenomena.

Four great glacial streams invaded the area now in-
cluded within the boundaries of the State of Illinois.
Two of these came directly south from the Lake Super-
ior region, bringing native copper and rocks or boulders
of every variety found on the northern peninsula of
Michigan and in eastern Wisconsin. These streams en-
tered the domain of the State from the north, and scat-
tered their promiscuous cargoes along and west of the
Illinois valley. The pathways of these streams, or glacial
rivers, are easily identified. One scattered red porphyry
in great profusion, but scattered a comparatively small
quantity of copper. The other distributed copper in
considerable quantities, or more profusely than any other
stream, but no red porphyry, and both are distinguish-
able from the two Lake Huron streams, which invaded
the State from the east, by the absence of three distinct
varieties of conglomerate which are found together and
in profusion along the pathways of these streams.

One of the streams above referred to, left Lake Huron
at Saginaw Bay, passed diagonally across the State of
Michigan, entered the Kankakee valley near South Bend,
20 s*



306

and followed thence along that valley to the Illinois,
which valley it followed to the Mississippi river, scatter-
ing the red jasper or Huron conglomerate and two other
distinct conglomerates, all of Canadian origin, all along
its tortuous pathway. The other stream passed south
through Lake Huron, out of the west end of Lake
Erie, and thence along the Wabash valley. This line
seems to have been the one of least resistance, and
consequently, the pathway of the larger glacial stream,
for, in addition to supplying the Wabash valley proper,
it sent out a broad sheet, or series of inferior streams,
in a southwesterly direction, to the valley of the Illi-
nois. This statement seems to be amply, supported by
the fact that the three Canadian conglomerates are
scattered in profusion all along this line on the islands
in Lake Huron, and thence along the line to Lake Erie,
along the Wabash, and thence diagonally across Illinois
to the Illinois river valley. All doubt upon this subject,
if any there was, seems to be removed by the Guthrie
Collection in the Illinois State Building at the World's
Fair relating to the glacial geology of the State. This
collection contained about 1,000 specimens, almost every
one of which was either glacial-marked, or was a frag-
ment from a glacial transported boulder. Every speci-
men or variety in this collection is to be found in the
drift of Illinois. The glacial streams which invaded the
area embraced within our State lines, had swept over
an estimated area of over 700,000 square miles, and
gathered together probably a greater variety of rocks
and other material than any other glacial body had
ever delivered upon an equal area.

The glacial collection of Mr. Guthrie, and the geologi-
cal and relief maps of Illinois, especially prepared for the
World's Fair, and made from the most reliable data ob-
tainable, seemed to be in perfect accord. These features



307

of the Illinois Exhibit, which, as before stated, had hereto-
fore either been neglected or misunderstood, were visited
by many eminent scientists, whose admiration of the
exhibit was universal.

Recent exposure of glacial grooves on the floor of the
DesPlaines valley at Lamont, by the Drainage District
Trustees of Chicago, and the cutting through of the rock
barrier at Momence, have furnished the most conclusive
proof of the correctness of the conclusions above ex-
pressed.



FORESTRY.



BY MARTIN CONRAD, SUPERINTENDENT.



I OT WITHSTANDING the fact that Illinois has al-
Li4 ways been known as the Prairie State, early data
prove conclusively that, although unevenly distributed,
fully one-fourth of its area was covered with forests when
the white men first entered the territory.

There was probably no county entirely without tim-
ber, but the real forests were confined to the southern
portion of the State, the broad bottom lands of the
Mississippi and Illinois, together with nearly one-half of
the delta formed by these rivers.

Many counties throughout this section presented an
unbroken forest, chiefly of deciduous trees, rich in vari-
ety, and of a quality unsurpassed on this continent.
The growth on the margins of the smaller streams, areas
between forks of creeks, or wherever protected from fire,
including the "oak openings" peculiar to the broad roll-
ing prairies, consisted almost entirely of burr, black and
red oaks, which had expended their force in growing
lateral branches to such an extent that, viewed from a
distance the park-like groves, devoid of all undergrowth,
recalled the scenes where grew:

"The Baldwins and the Jonathans,
The Gillyflower and the Wine,"

at the old homestead, where "oak openings" and
prairies were alike unknown. There were also "oak
openings" of quite opposite development, since the wood
consisted of large burly roots, or "grubs", which had
been expanding their gnarled deformities for many years,

311



312

evidently by sending up shoots every spring, only to be
as regularly razed in the autumn, by the annual holo-
caust that destroyed everything of an arboraceous na-
ture, with the exception of these under-ground "grubs"
and mature trees whose heavy barks proved an efficient
shield against the recurrent seas of flame. Despite the
scientific theory that fire was a prime factor in the for-
mation of our prairies, the groves that dotted the land-
scape, and the presence of these trunkless living roots
in the ground, go far to prove the contrary, since the
former had attained mature growth, while the latter
evidently sustained saplings of no mean proportions
before the fire era.

The settlement of the State, through which the forests
yielded to the axe, brought with it by way of compen-
sation the gradual cessation of these fires, and thus gave
the "grub patches" that survived the plow of the hus-
bandman, an opportunity to spring up and expand in-
to beautiful groves, while the openings that appeared
to Col. George Rogers Clark, "like islands in the sea,"
are being gradually supplanted by vigorous young for-
ests, until the erstwhile characteristics so peculiar to
arborescent growth on our prairies have nearly all dis-
appeared.

Taking this spontaneous extension of the natural
growth of the prairies into consideration, together with
the fact that many forest trees have been planted where
formerly were only grass and weeds, it has been stated
with considerable plausibility that the forest area has not
been impaired; but this unfortunately is not borne out
by the facts, as it is safe to say that there has been no
increase since 1880, when it was estimated that there
were twenty-three counties in the northern part of the
State with seven per cent woodland; twenty-one counties
in the district extending from the Illinois river, below
Ottawa, to the Mississippi with fifteen per cent; seventeen



313

counties east of this with six per cent; in the district
south of this, comprising seventeen counties, twenty-
four per cent; thirteen counties in the Kaskaskia dis-
trict foot up twenty-one per cent; and the remaining
eleven counties averaging twenty-seven per cent making
a decrease, as will be seen, of about ten per cent, from
the original wooded area.

This loss is almost entirely due to marketing the mer-
chantable timber in the southern part of the State where
the production of lumber and cooperage stock has been
an important industry for many years. Owing to the ex-
haustion of the best grades of mature hard woods, the
business is rapidly diminishing, and as the present supply
is chiefly on lands not available for cultivation, the re-
maining area is not liable to furthur encroachments, and
hence it follows that the problem of to-day is no longer
a question of off-setting the destruction of forests at one
end of the State, by cultivation in the other, but rather,
that henceforth there will be a more uniform develop-
ment, which is destined not only to restore the original
area, but also to equalize the supply, so that every local-
ity in the entire State shall be blessed with woodland
shade and shelter.

The State of Illinois is three hundred and eighty-five
miles in length, ranging from the latitude of Boston to
that of Richmond, Va., and while the climate may not
vary in an equivalent degree, the prolific soil produces
an indigenous sylva ranging from the black cypress of
the semi-tropic South to the tamarack of the far North;
making a variety more than twice as great as that of
all Europe.

A proper exhibit of this great forest wealth was not
decided upon until the middle of August preceding the
opening of the World's Columbian Exposition, and it is
needless to say that thereupon every effort was put forth



314



to make a creditable showing within the limited remain-
ing time.

In pursuance of this decision, a Superintendent was
appointed and was afforded every facility to make the
exhibit worthy of its surroundings in the magnificent
Illinois Building, and through the valuable assistance of
Commissioner Washburn and other members of the Board,
the formal opening of the great Exposition found an artist-
ically arranged exhibit of indigenous woods on appropri-
ate rustic shelving, each specimen thoroughly finished,
duly labeled, and the whole catalogued, as follows:

Indigenous.



Genera.


Species.


Common


Name.


Anon
Anac
Betu
Bign<
Capri
Conif

Corni
Cupu

Eben
Hami


acess


Asimina triloba


Papaw ...




ardiace ....


Khus


Sumac




ace


Betula rubra


Red Birch




>niacete


Catalpa speciosa


Catalpa (West
Black Haw . .


ern)


foliaceee
eree


Viburnum prunifolium
Juniperus Virginiana




Red Cedar






Cupressus fastigiata


Cypress .




icero


Nyssa aquatica


Tupelo . ...






' ' capitata


Yellow Gum






' ' uniflora


White Sweet
Black Gum


Grum




' ' svlvatica






Cornus florida


Dogwood ....




iferre


Fagus f erruginea


Beech






Ostrya Virginica


Hornbeam . .






Castanea vesca


Chestnut.. . .






Quercus obtusiloba. . . .


Post Oak . . .






alba


White Oak...






aquatica


Water Oak . .






f alcata


Spanish Oak. .






tinctoria


Black Oak






rubra .....


Red Oak






prinoides... .


Chinquapin Of
Burr Oak


ik ..




macrocarpa






Michauxii


Basket Oak .






nigra


Black -Jack Oa
Overcup Oak.
Scarlet Oak . .


k.




lyrata






coccinea







Phellos
bicolor


Willow Oak...




Swamp Oak.




aceee


Diospvros Virginiana


Persimmon




unelacere ....


Liquidambar Styraciflua . . .


Sweet Gum, E


ed





315

Indigenous Concluded.



Genera.


Species.


Common Name.


Juglandacese Juerlans nicrra .


Black Walnut


i <
i <

<
Lauracets


' ' cinerea


Butternut


Gary a olivseformis


Pecan


' ' alba


White Hickory, Shellbark..
Big Shellbark


' ' sulcata


' ' tomentosa


Black Hickory


' ' porcina


Pignut Hickory. . .


Sassafras ofiBcinale
Gercis Canadensis


Sassafras
Red Bud


Leguminoseae ....
> <

Magnoliaceee
Oleacese


Robinia pseudacficia
Gleditschia triacanthos
Gymnocladus Canadensis . .
Liriodendron tulipifera. . . .
Magnolia acuminata


Black Locust


Honey Locust


Kentucky Coffee-tree ... .


Tulip-tree, Yellow Poplar. .
Cucumber-tree


Fraxinus sambucifolia


Black Ash




' ' Americana


White Ash


<


Forestiera acuminata . .


Privet


Platanaceaj IPlatanus occidentalis


Sycamore


Rosacese IPrunus serotina


Wild Black Cherry


" . . ICratsegus coccinea .. ,


Red Haw. .



Rutacece jPtelia trifoliata



Sapotace
Salicaceea .



.'Prunus Americana jWild Plum..

. jPyrus angustifolia Crab Apple.

Amelanchier Canadensis 'June Berry.

Water Ash .

Pricklv Ash.



Sapindacese



Simarubacese

Tiliacese

Urticaceea . .



iXanthoxylum Americanum.

Bumelia lycioides jlronwood

Populus alba jSilver Poplar, S. Maple



Populus monilifera

Populus grandidentata

Salix nigra

Acer nigrum

Acer dasycarpum

Negundo aceroides

Acer saccharinum

Acer rubrum ,

.ZEsculus glabra

Simaruba glauca

Tilia Americana ILind Basswood

Ulmus Americana i White Elm ,

' ' racemosa iHickory Elm ,

' ' fulva. Slippery Elm ,

' ' alata iCork Elm, Wahoo Elm

Morus rubra Red Mulberry ,



Cottonwood.

Poplar, White

Black Willow

Black Sugar Maple.
Soft Maple, White ..

Box Elder

White Sugar Maple ,
Soft Maple, Red

Buckeye

Paradise Tree. . .



Celtis reticulata.



Hackberrv



Elder, Hazel, Spicewood, Wild Grape, etc., etc.



316



Owing to the limited time in which the collection had
to be made, several kinds were unavoidably omitted,
among which may be mentioned White Pine (Lake Co.),
Yellow Pine (Union Co.), Birch, Wahoo, and other varie-
ties, which were well represented, however, in the exten-
sive display of cultivated wood, arranged and finished in
the same uniform manner and catalogued as follows
under the head of:



Cultivated Timber.



Species.


Name.


Years.


Height,
feet.


Diam-
eter,
inches


ANONACE2E.

Asimina triloba


Pawpaw








BETTJLACEJS.


White Birch


18


50


9


BIGNONIACE.E.

Catalpa speciosa


Western Catalpa..


10


22


5J


OAPKIFOLIACEJE.

Viburnum prunifolium


Black Haw








OONIFEK.E.

Larix Europea


European Larch. . . .


34


52


16


Pinus svlvestris


Scotch Pine


27


45


11


Pinus Austriaca


Austrian Pine . .


22


35


12


Juniperus Virginiana


Red Cedar


46


28


74


Larix Americana


American Larch .


36


50


12


Abies balsamea


Balsam Fir


25


38


10


Tsuga Canadensis


Hemlock . .


22


33


74


Picea pungens


White Spruce


19


36


8


Pinus Banksiana


Gray Pine .... ....


19


38


6


Pinus resinosa


Norway Pine ....


20


36


104


Abies excelsa


Norway Spruce


25


40


94


Thuja occidentals ....


Arbor-vita) . .