Part 12

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On top of Bryant's Bluff are four cairns, all of them torn up. The extreme limit of the scattered stone is about 20 feet; so the cairns were probably 12 to 15 feet in diameter.

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At the mouth of Turkey-pen Slough, 4 miles north of Arlington, is a terrace with steep banks on two sides, next to the river and to the slough. On this stood a village. Three house sites are plainly marked by the refuse around, and there may be others; vegetation is very dense. Mussel shells and burned stones are abundant, and many flint implements have been picked up.

CAIRNS AT SUGAR TREE CAMP (11)

Six miles north of Arlington is a clubhouse known as Sugar Tree Camp. A short distance from the building is a high vertical cliff rising almost directly from the Gasconade. The top of this cliff, near the front, is of solid rock, almost bare of timber or brush, and in a row along it close to the edge are seven cairns, all now so defaced that any attempt at investigation is useless. The smallest, at one end of the row, is of the common circular form, about 12 feet in diameter. Three others seem to be of the same type; but their appearance may be due to their destruction. One is shown in plate 13, a. The other three are walled vaults. The largest, at the other end of the row, was built up like a foundation wall of sandstone slabs. It is rectangular in form, measuring on the outside 16 by 28 feet. All the walls are more or less destroyed; the small portion of one remaining is shown in plate 13, b. Two "walled-up graves" reported on the first ridge north of Sugar Tree Camp, and one reported on the first ridge south, never existed. There is a small cairn on a high peak half a mile east of the camp.

TICK CREEK CAVE

In a ravine which joins Tick Creek about 2 miles from where the latter flows into the Gasconade, and about 12 miles north of Arlington, is a large cave known as the Saltpeter Cave.

The opening is wide and high, but the mouth and floor are much obstructed by large fallen rocks and the bottom is constantly wet from wall to wall with running and seeping water.

There is another entrance to this cavern around a corner of the bluff and much higher up on its face. This opening is small and the sloping passage from it to the cavern is almost closed in places by drip formation.

It was never inhabited.

CAVE IN POOL HOLLOW (12)

A mile east of Newburg a ravine now known as Pool Hollow, but formerly called "Strawhorn's" [Strawhan's] Hollow, opens into the right (north) side of Little Piney. Two miles from the river is a cave at the head of a little cove. The entrance, facing directly south and visible from half a mile down the ravine, is 12 feet high and 75 feet across. The rear wall, where the cave makes a turn at 150 feet from the mouth, is plainly visible from the outside.

At 60 feet within water reaches from wall to wall, and a constant stream flows along the left side. The talus at the mouth is of tough clay with many rocks scattered through it, and much of it has settled back into the cave. Water drips from many places in the roof, so that no part of the floor is ever entirely dry.

Some broken flints and chips were picked up about the mouth and in front of the cave, but nothing else could be found.

In dry weather there might be spots which would afford a resting place for campers, but no continuous occupancy was possible.

HOUSE MOUNDS NEAR ROLLA (13)

Nearly 2 miles northeast of Rolla is the beginning of a little valley which for a short distance is parallel with the Frisco Railway and close to the right of way; it then turns to the southward. Along this "draw" are numerous mounds, starting well toward its upper end and following its course for nearly a mile. They lie along either side, and reach into the tributary widenings. Most of them are on the flats; but they are also scattered along the hillsides, those farthest from the water having an elevation of about 50 feet above it. They vary from 30 to 60 feet in diameter and from 1 to 3 feet high. In all, they are scattered over an area of at least 100 acres.

HOUSE MOUNDS NEAR DILLON

Half a mile west of Dillon a ravine heads at the Frisco track, goes south a short distance, then turns southeastward. Near the track begins a group of mounds which reach for fully a mile along both sides of the little stream.

There are more than 100, most of them small, though at least one is 60 feet across and 3 feet high.

HOUSE MOUNDS NEAR ST. JAMES (14)

At the northern border of St. James is a small shallow valley with a northern and eastern trend, practically parallel with the Frisco Railway, and for 3 miles or more not over a fourth of a mile from it at any point.

Starting near the Soldiers' Home is a group of mounds which extend for fully 21/2 miles down both sides of the valley.

Some are partly cut away by the stream, others are on the narrow flat bottoms subject to overflow with every hard rain, still others are built on the slopes to an elevation of 40 feet. They are somewhat larger than the average, a diameter of about 60 feet and a height of 3 feet being not uncommon.

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PULASKI COUNTY

MCWILLIAMS CAVE (15)