HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY
MONUMENTS OF THE PAST
By W. R. McCormick
“On the Saginaw River, towards its south, when we come to what is now the corner of Twenty-fourth and Water Streets, in Bay City, where the Center House now stands, we find the site of the old McCormick homestead. Here were two large mounds in the garden, which my father plowed and scraped down. They contained a number of skeletons, tone axes, knives, and quite an amount of broken pottery.
“Some thirty rods below, on Water Street, between Twenty-second and Twenty-third Streets, is an elevation the highest on the river, on which are located the Bay City Brewery, Barney Hotel, the residence of W. R. McCormick and other residences comprising nearly two acres. I wish to describe this elevation as I saw it, in a state of nature, fifty years ago. For many years it was considered to be a natural elevation of the land, but subsequent excavations have proved it to have been constructed by some remote race of people.
“When I first became acquainted with the location it was covered with a dense growth of timber, with the exception of the mound, and about an acre and a half in the rear of it where the earth was taken from it build the mound. It was then a duck pond, with water three feet deep, grown up with alder bushes. In grading Twenty-second Street through the north end of the mound, some years since, we found, at a depth of eleven feet, three skeletons of very large stature, with large earthen pots at the head of each. In excavating for the cellar of the Bay City Brewery, we found, at the depth of four feet, the remains of Indians, in a good state of preservation with high cheek bones and receding forehead, while below these again, at the depth of four of five feet, the remains of a more ancient race, of an entirely different formation of skull, and with those burned stone implements and pottery were found. I have been unable to preserve any of these skulls, as they crumbled to dust when exposed to the air. I found one skeleton in a sitting position, facing the west, with a very narrow head, and long, as if it had been compressed. I laid it aside in hopes to preserve it but in a few hours it had crumbled to pieces.
“This mound is full of the remains of ancient pottery and small stones that have been through the action of fire. A friend of mine found an awl made of copper, which was quite soft with the exception of about an inch from the point, which was so hard that a file would scarcely make an impression on it. This seems to me to show that the mound builders had the art of hardening copper. We also find that they had the art of working in metals, as we will show. This comprises the mounds on the east side of the Saginaw River.
“We will now pass over to the west side, near the mill of H. J. and C. J. Smith. There was here, nearly fifty years ago, a mound just above the mill, about 100 feet across, in a circular form and about three feet high. Originally it must have been much higher. I have never examined this mound, but have understood from old settlers that there were a great many stone implements found in it. The plow has nearly leveled it, so that it is scarcely noticed any more.
“The mound which was located near the west end of the Detroit and Bay City Railroad bridge, for reference I will call the Birney Mound, as it was located on the lands of that great philanthropist, the late Hon. James G. Birney. This mound was not so large in circumference, but much higher than the one just noticed. In this were also found human bones, in a much better state of preservation than any of the rest. I procured from this mound a skull with a hole in it just above the temple bone, produced by a sharp instrument, which undoubtedly caused death. This skull I presented to J. Morgan Jennison of Philadelphia. It was of an entirely different formation fro the Indian skull of the present day, as it did not have their high cheek bones nor their receding forehead, but a very intellectually developed head, showing that it was of a different race of people from the Indian. Some years since some boys were digging in the side of the mound, as they had often done before, to get angle worms for fishing, when they come across a small silver canoe, about five inches long. A gentleman who was fishing with them, offered them fifty cents for it which they accepted. After cleaning it up, he found it to be of exquisite workmanship, with the projecting ends tipped with gold.
“A rough copper kettle of peculiar shape and make, having been wrought into shape by hammering, without any seam, was also taken from one of these mounds, and is now in the State Capitol amongst Mr. Jennison’s collections of antiquity.
“The next mound was about half a mile up the river, an formerly stood in the center of Linn Street, West Bay City, but has been graded down many years since. I was not there at the time, but was informed by others that it contained human bones and stone implements. Charles E. Jennison, a pioneer of Bay City, informs me that he dug up two skeletons, many years ago, in the side of this mound. He found, with the skeletons, two copper kettles, which he has still in his possession. I am inclined to think these were not the remains of the original mound builders, but a race of a subsequent period.
“We now proceed a half mile more up the river, to the rise of ground in the rear of Frank Fitzhugh’s grist mill. This elevation, fifty years ago, when I first saw it, was the most picturesque spot on the Saginaw River. Here was also a beautiful spring of cold water, and it was a favorite camping ground of the Indians. It was also, according to Indian tradition, the original site of the Sauk village, and where the great battle was fought when the Chippewas exterminated that nation. This I will call the Fitzhugh Mound, as it is on the lands of Frank Fitzhugh.
“This elevation, comprising two or three acres, was always thought to be natural. But I am satisfied from recent excavations, and a low place to the southwest, that the earth had been taken from this point to raise the mound higher than the surrounding land, and that it is, therefore, mostly artificial. Then again the land adjoining on the north is a yellow sand, while on the south the land fell off abruptly, and from where the earth was taken is composed of the same kind of soil as the mound-black sand and loam. I am now speaking of this mound as it appeared fifty years ago. Since then, the railroad company have excavated a part of it for ballasting up their road, and many other excavations and alteration have taken place, so that it has not the same appearance it had when I first saw it. Some years since, Mr. Fitzhugh, or the village authorities of Wenona, now West Bay City, excavated a street through this mound, which brought to light many relics, and proved, beyond a doubt, that this eminence was a mound built in remote ages. A great many skeletons were exhumed, together with a great many ornaments of silver, broken pottery, stone implements, etc., and like the McCormick Mound on the opposite side of the river, was full of broken stone which had been through the action of fire.”
“There are also four fortifications on the Rifle River, in Township Twenty-two north. They comprise from three to six acres each, containing several mounds of large size. They are also situated on the bluffs. The walls can yet be traced, and are from three to four feet high and from eight to ten feet wide, with large trees growing upon them. A friend of mine opened one of these mounds and took from it a skeleton of a larger size than an ordinary person. He says he also saw several large mounds on the Au Sable River.
“I have thus given the reader an idea of how these mounds appeared before the hand of man had destroyed and leveled them down. Many of them can yet be seen, but the plow has helped to level many of them, with the exception of the Fraser, Fitzhugh and McCormick Mounds.
“And to prove that the last three are artificial and not natural, is the fact that in the rear of all these are low places showing where the earth had been taken from to build the mounds, which had taken the work of years.
“Again, the soil on the mounds differs from the soil around them, with the exception of the low places referred to, from where the earth was taken; and finally, the most convincing proof of all is that you can dig down until you come to the original surface, and will find various kinds of stone implements, broken pottery, and great quantities of stone broken by the action of fire. And in no part of the valley will you find those relics except in those mounds.
“The main objection to my theory is, how could such large elevations and of such extent as the Fitzhugh, Fraser and McCormick Mounds and the more extensive works found in Butler County, O., be built by so primitive a people. I account for so much small broken stone being in these mounds by the manner in which they cooked their food. As their pottery was not made to stand fire, the stones were heated and then put into the vessels to cook their food, which occasioned their breaking to pieces when they came in contact with the water.
“Michael Daley, an old Indian trader of the Saginaw Valley, in speaking of the Indian mounds of the rivers flowing into the Saginaw Bay, says: -‘On the Rifle River, some distance from the mouth, there is a regular ancient fort with mounds inside. This fort is located on the bluff, where it had a commanding view of the surrounding country and was a very strong location. The outer walls and mounds were overgrown with large pine trees three to four feet through.’ He also at another time crossed from the head waters of the Riffle to the headwaters of the Au Sable with a party of Indians purchasing fur. On their journey they camped near a beautiful little lake where they found a very large mound on its bank. One of the party wanted to open it, but the rest of the Indians were very superstitious and did not want it done. He however commenced the work; he had not dug long before he came to a large skeleton of immense size. Mr. Daley says it was seven feet long, and the skull was nearly twice as large as an ordinary person’s.
“On seeing it the Indians became more dissatisfied at what had been done and wanted it reburied, which was done. The next day they came to two beautiful little lakes close together and divided by a high piece of ground, on the top of which was a large mound, the position of which was almost impregnable, but they did not stop long to examine it. Mr. Daley also says while he was fishing on Duck Island, in Lake Huron, many years ago, he found large quantities of broken pottery, consisting of bowls, kettles, etc., the same as are found in the mounds where they have been opened or graded down at the present time.”