Kalamazoo Mi. Hopewell mound damaged.

[Uncle Trav]

Kalamazoo County’s only know surviving earthwork was damaged by a construction crew earlier this fall. The construction crew mistakenly thought the mound was just a nondescript pile of dirt. They parked the digger directly on top of the mound and started to dig luckily they were stopped before major damage was done. The mound has since been “restored”. The mound was first mentioned by pioneers in about 1832. The mound is believed to be a Hopewell construction and measures 50’ in diameter and 4’ high. Undoubtedly taller when originally built. The area where the mound sits was eventually set aside as a three acre park in the center of the growing village. Through the years the mound suffered the fate that most ancient monuments have. First dug by pot diggers and then had a root cellar dug into it for use by the city jail. It was again restored and finally professionally examined in the 1950s. Nothing was ever found within the mound. Only a layer of differing soil at ground level. Kalamazoo County had many many earthworks at the time of settlement including the enigmatic “garden beds” which there were many of but all have been destroyed. Sorry for the long winded post but I’m proud of our local history. Thanks for taking a look.

[Uncle Trav]

Here is an interesting link about the garden beds. Some interesting reading about a little know subject.

https://chequamegonhistory.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/ancient-garden-beds-of-michigan/amp/

[Kentucky point]

A random, grass covered pile of dirt in a park, yeah, let's dig it up. Stupid.

This is how all of the 25+ mounds in my area bit the dust, by careless farmers and ignorant construction workers.

[Uncle Trav]

Yep. A favorite use for the mounds in my area was a convenient pile of clean fill dirt to upgrade wagon rutted two track roads in the early days.

[SDhunter]

That was very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I find it hard to believe that “all their artifacts “ were wood. They had to have had some stone tools. Things to grind corn, wood working tools to make their wood structures. Seems inconceivable that they could live with only the use of wood.

[Lindenmeier-Man]

I find it strange too SD.

[Uncle Trav]

Our local archives have tons of pioneer recollections on file. Many of these may be taken with a grain of salt but some are rooted in fact. Many mounds were opened around here in the early days as well as burial grounds. Many reports were made of finding trade goods and skeletons but nothing more than a mention of lithic artifacts. Maybe because they more of a common find in those days. No real scholarly work on the earthworks was done until the late 1920s by W.B. Hinsdale. Hinsdale published his “Archaeological Atlas Of Michigan” in 1931 after touring the state and examining the then existing earthworks. Another round of investigations was made in my area in 1978 by Western Michigan University but little was left to be found. So much has been lost.