Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Old stone walls and new structures - more Callahan State Forest
As I was returning from my walk, Sunday before last, I found an old wall that looked like a "short stretch", tracing diagonally up the hillside.
It looked like there was some kind of rock pile off there to the right. On closer inspection I could see a funny pile built between two trees.
It seems clear that this was built after the trees grew, in the last ten years or so. Also I supposed that the rocks were borrowed from a brief continuation of the prevous short stretch of old wall. The whole thing is tumbled down:
But isn't that a bit of a strange thing? Might there be any significance to the "V" in the pile, or is it just where one rock fell out of the structure. The notch frames the view in the direction down along the old wall. Looking at the slope, visible in the first and last pictures, there may be a few more things going on with the "natural" rocks.
It looked like there was some kind of rock pile off there to the right. On closer inspection I could see a funny pile built between two trees.
It seems clear that this was built after the trees grew, in the last ten years or so. Also I supposed that the rocks were borrowed from a brief continuation of the prevous short stretch of old wall. The whole thing is tumbled down:
But isn't that a bit of a strange thing? Might there be any significance to the "V" in the pile, or is it just where one rock fell out of the structure. The notch frames the view in the direction down along the old wall. Looking at the slope, visible in the first and last pictures, there may be a few more things going on with the "natural" rocks.
A small rock pile site in Callahan State Forest - Framingham MA
Not far to the south of the Wayside Inn and southwest of Nobscott Hill there are other hills, in Callahan State Forest. During the window of opportunity provided by the good weather two weekends ago, I explored a small part of this Forest and did actually find a small site and a thing or two of interest.
This small site is just west of Nixon Rd. in the woods. As I was walking, I came up first to an outcrop with a little bit of rock piling:
And then what I thought was an isolated rock pile:
But there was also another pile behind it, hidden in the saplings - a kind of elongated pile:
Another view:
Also a bit further, this split filled rock (also filled with forest debris).
These are distinct types of pile but not in an aggregate that I recognize. These are not features of something familiar. I think there are more woods to explore over there.
This small site is just west of Nixon Rd. in the woods. As I was walking, I came up first to an outcrop with a little bit of rock piling:
And then what I thought was an isolated rock pile:
But there was also another pile behind it, hidden in the saplings - a kind of elongated pile:
Another view:
Also a bit further, this split filled rock (also filled with forest debris).
These are distinct types of pile but not in an aggregate that I recognize. These are not features of something familiar. I think there are more woods to explore over there.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Modeling river flow
(Not directly rock pile related)
Reader Bruce A. write in with this link and comment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/science/18rivers.html?ref=science
Researchers failed to realize how modified the landscape had been in the past - an astonishing number of dams seem to have been unappreciated.
Reader Bruce A. write in with this link and comment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01
Researchers failed to realize how modified the landscape had been in the past - an astonishing number of dams seem to have been unappreciated.
Welcoming Theseventhgeneration
Theseventhgeneration has kindly accepted my invitation to post occasionally on this blog and supplement the great posts she is writing at "Two Headwaters. - Stone Piles", linked to at the right. Her first post is a couple down from this one.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Boulders and a Swamp
by theseventhgeneration
I visited a swamp today that is near a large cairn site in Delaware State Forest, NY. This part of the swamp is on the northeast side of an abandoned road, while the large cairns are on the southwest side of the road. There is a creek that runs under the abandoned road, and the swamp then continues near the large cairns. The majority of the swamp is on the northeast side of the road, where I explored today. This is a high elevation, 2015 feet, and the water here runs down into the Delaware River watershed.
At the back of the swamp, on the north side, I found a nice boulder that appears to have spring water coming out from underneath.
The snow is still a few inches deep, so any stones that are on the ground aren't obvious. But, as I looked around behind the boulder, there was evidence of stones near the boulder.
This view overlooks the spring boulder and down into the beginning of the swamp:
Looking around a bit more, I found more evidence of stonework, including 3 rocks or piles that seemed to be evenly spaced around the edge of the swamp. The spring boulder is barely visible to the right in this photo. The three rocks extend out, to the back, in the center of the photo:
And then this rock on rock, or rock on boulder...
...a close up of the rock on the boulder:
Then, this rock, I almost didn't explore because, from a distance, it looked like another uprooted tree. Boy, was I wrong. It reminds me of a manitou stone, but the shape is different, I think, from anything I've seen. It almost has an arrowhead look to it, like it's pointing down into the swamp:
This view looks over the top of the stone, down into the swamp:
There is more that I found today, including odd stone walls and some natural cliffs that are enigmatic. I'll follow up with another post on those during the week.
I visited a swamp today that is near a large cairn site in Delaware State Forest, NY. This part of the swamp is on the northeast side of an abandoned road, while the large cairns are on the southwest side of the road. There is a creek that runs under the abandoned road, and the swamp then continues near the large cairns. The majority of the swamp is on the northeast side of the road, where I explored today. This is a high elevation, 2015 feet, and the water here runs down into the Delaware River watershed.
At the back of the swamp, on the north side, I found a nice boulder that appears to have spring water coming out from underneath.
The snow is still a few inches deep, so any stones that are on the ground aren't obvious. But, as I looked around behind the boulder, there was evidence of stones near the boulder.
This view overlooks the spring boulder and down into the beginning of the swamp:
Looking around a bit more, I found more evidence of stonework, including 3 rocks or piles that seemed to be evenly spaced around the edge of the swamp. The spring boulder is barely visible to the right in this photo. The three rocks extend out, to the back, in the center of the photo:
And then this rock on rock, or rock on boulder...
...a close up of the rock on the boulder:
Then, this rock, I almost didn't explore because, from a distance, it looked like another uprooted tree. Boy, was I wrong. It reminds me of a manitou stone, but the shape is different, I think, from anything I've seen. It almost has an arrowhead look to it, like it's pointing down into the swamp:
This view looks over the top of the stone, down into the swamp:
There is more that I found today, including odd stone walls and some natural cliffs that are enigmatic. I'll follow up with another post on those during the week.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Stone wall ending in split boulder - a photo
To supplement the previous post, here is a clearer view of the split boulder where the wall terminates. That the wall leads right into the splot seems significant.
I had a strong feeling I had seen this before. A quick search with the text: "split boulder" finds almost the identical pictures indeed from the same place. I guess I was here Sept 21, 2007.
I had a strong feeling I had seen this before. A quick search with the text: "split boulder" finds almost the identical pictures indeed from the same place. I guess I was here Sept 21, 2007.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
More about "Indians did not build in stone" from Lion Miles via Norman Muller
Norman writes: More information on stone heaps from Lion. All this activity was in response to the section in the publication Terra Firma #5, which stated that the Indians did not construct large piles of stone.
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Hi Norman,
Here's another reference to a large Indian stone pile in Massachusetts. Ezra Stiles, Yale president and student of native cultures, wrote this in his Itineraries in 1762: "Mr. Williams told me that on the Road from Sandwich to Plymouth there is a large Stone or Rock in a place free of Stones; and that the Indians immemorially have been used, whenever & as often as they pass this large Stone, to cast a Stone or piece of Wood upon it. That Stones not being plenty, pieces of Wood is most commonly used, & that there will once in a few years be a large Pile on the Stone, which is often consumed by the firing of the Woods for Deer. That the Inds. continue the Custom to this day, tho' they are a little ashamed the English should see them, & accordingly when walking with an Eng. they have made a path round at a quarter Mile's Distance to avoid it. There is also at a little Distance another Stone which they also inject upon, but pass it with less scruple; but are so scrupulous that none was even known to omit casting Stones or Wood on the other. ... The Indians being asked the reason of their Custom & Practice, say they know nothing about it, only that their Fathers & their Grandfathers & Great Grandfathers did so, and charged all their Children to do so; and that if they did not cast a Stone or piece of Wood on that Stone as often as they passed by it, they would not prosper, & particularly should not be lucky in hunting Deer. But if they duly observed this Custom, they should have success. The English call them the Sacrificing Rocks, tho' the Indians don't imagine it a Sacrifice -- at least they kill & offer no Animals there, & nothing but Wood & Stones. N.B. There is such a heap of Stones accumulated from such a Custom of passing Indians, between New Haven and Milford about three Miles out of Milford upon the Road. Another Heap at Stockbridge by the Housatunnuck Indians."
There are some interesting observations here. One contemporary description of the Monument Mountain stone heap states that it was composed of both stones and wood. Over time, of course, any wood in these heaps would rot away. And, as stated above, the wood was often consumed by fire. This could lead an archaeologist, I think, to see only a relatively small heap of stones. And, of course, settlers often dismantled Indian stone structures for building materials. Common sense informs me that the throwing of stones on a pile over many generations would result in a large structure.
Lion
*****************************************
Hi Norman,
Here's another reference to a large Indian stone pile in Massachusetts. Ezra Stiles, Yale president and student of native cultures, wrote this in his Itineraries in 1762: "Mr. Williams told me that on the Road from Sandwich to Plymouth there is a large Stone or Rock in a place free of Stones; and that the Indians immemorially have been used, whenever & as often as they pass this large Stone, to cast a Stone or piece of Wood upon it. That Stones not being plenty, pieces of Wood is most commonly used, & that there will once in a few years be a large Pile on the Stone, which is often consumed by the firing of the Woods for Deer. That the Inds. continue the Custom to this day, tho' they are a little ashamed the English should see them, & accordingly when walking with an Eng. they have made a path round at a quarter Mile's Distance to avoid it. There is also at a little Distance another Stone which they also inject upon, but pass it with less scruple; but are so scrupulous that none was even known to omit casting Stones or Wood on the other. ... The Indians being asked the reason of their Custom & Practice, say they know nothing about it, only that their Fathers & their Grandfathers & Great Grandfathers did so, and charged all their Children to do so; and that if they did not cast a Stone or piece of Wood on that Stone as often as they passed by it, they would not prosper, & particularly should not be lucky in hunting Deer. But if they duly observed this Custom, they should have success. The English call them the Sacrificing Rocks, tho' the Indians don't imagine it a Sacrifice -- at least they kill & offer no Animals there, & nothing but Wood & Stones. N.B. There is such a heap of Stones accumulated from such a Custom of passing Indians, between New Haven and Milford about three Miles out of Milford upon the Road. Another Heap at Stockbridge by the Housatunnuck Indians."
There are some interesting observations here. One contemporary description of the Monument Mountain stone heap states that it was composed of both stones and wood. Over time, of course, any wood in these heaps would rot away. And, as stated above, the wood was often consumed by fire. This could lead an archaeologist, I think, to see only a relatively small heap of stones. And, of course, settlers often dismantled Indian stone structures for building materials. Common sense informs me that the throwing of stones on a pile over many generations would result in a large structure.
Lion
THE MYSTERY OF THE MONUMENT MOUNTAIN STONE HEAP By Lion G. Miles
[Forwarded by Norman Muller]
In 1882, Charles J. Taylor published his "History of Great Barrington," a generally well-researched account that still is the standard chronicle of the early days of that town.
As accurate as Taylor tried to be, some serious historical errors inevitably found their way into his book. On pages 60-62, he inserted the text of a letter that appears authentic but is actually a put-up job, if not an outright forgery. It contains information that has been accepted over the years, things like the word "Mahaiwe" and the size of the famous Indian stone heap that gives Monument Mountain its name, but recent research in primary manuscript sources tells a different story.
Taylor found the letter in a rather dubious source, The Berkshire Courier of November 15, 1866. It immediately becomes suspicious because neither the writer nor the recipient are identified. The dateline of "Indian Town" in November 1735 is anachronistic because there was no Indian town at that time, the Mohicans not receiving their grant at Stockbridge until the next year. In the letter's description of the Rev. John Sergeant's baptism of Chief Konkapot, it borrows word for word the profession of faith delivered by another Indian (Ebenezer) in 1734, the text of which is found in Rev. Sergeant's journal. In fact, there is little information in the letter that could not have been found in Sergeant's journal or other printed sources. The main exception is the name "Mahaiwe," which is not found elsewhere to my knowledge. Taylor said it is the Mohican word for "place down stream" but admitted it should be spelled "Neh-hai-we." While that may be true (the related Delaware tribe used the word "Nahiwi" for "down the river"), the confusion added to the suspicious nature of the letter.
Another anomaly in the letter is the statement that the "Great Wigwam" of Chief Umpachene was "at the ford a mile or two south [of Monument Mountain]." Presumably this is the spot now commemorated by a marker at the "Old Indian Fordway" on Bridge Street. The marker claims that there was a battle with the Indians there in 1676, but it is documented that the fight occurred further to the south, probably in Sheffield. The other error is in the location of the "Great Wigwam," which was on the Green River two miles to the south. Sergeant's journal clearly shows that two groups of Indians lived 8 to 10 miles apart, Konkapot in the meadow at Wnahktukook (Stockbridge) and Lieutenant Umpachene at Scatekook (Green River). When Sergeant first arrived at Great Barrington in 1734, he wrote that "I board at Mr. Ingersol's; and teach the Children at the Lieutnts. Wigwam." For the first six months of his mission Sergeant lived with David Ingersoll at his house near the present site of the Mason Library and taught the Indians two miles south at Scatekook.
The greatest fallacy in Taylor's letter relates to the stone heap at Monument Mountain. It is described as "a pile of stones some six or eight feet in diameter, circular at its base and raised in the form of an obtuse cone. It is raised over the grave of the first Sachem who died after they came into this region. Each Indian, as he goes by, adds a stone to the pile." This wording is so close to that in the 1829 "History of Berkshire County" that it suggests copying, but the text is different enough to indicate some alteration: "The pile was six or eight feet in diameter, circular at its base and raised in the form of an obtuse cone ... over the grave of one of the Aborigines. ... Every Indian who passed the place, threw a stone upon the tomb of his countryman." No source is given for the 1829 version, but it is possible that it was the creation of the Rev. David Dudley Field, who had collected the materials for the history. Curiously, it was his son, Jonathan Edwards Field, who had provided the Taylor letter to the Berkshire Courier in 1866.
Further evidence for the falsity of the Taylor letter is found in Timothy Dwight's "Travels in New England and New York" (published in 1821 but written in the 1790s), which states that the name of Monument Mountain "is derived from a pile of stones about six or eight feet in diameter, circular at its base, and raised in the form of an obtuse cone over the grave of one of the Aborigines," etc. Certainly this is the source of the quote in Taylor's book, a secondary account first written in 1798 and not an eyewitness report of 1735. Dwight did not see the stone pile himself and was relying on hearsay.
Until now, we have had only three published eyewitness accounts of the monument, none of which give specific details of its size and location. Sergeant wrote in his journal on November 3, 1734: "There is a LARGE Heap of Stones, I suppose TEN CART LOADS, in the Way to Wnahktukook, which the Indians have thrown together, as they pass'd by the Place; for it us'd to be their Custom, every Time any one pass'd by to throw a Stone to it; But what was the End of it they cannot tell" (Emphasis is mine). The Rev. Gideon Hawley wrote an account of a journey he made in 1753. Upon observing an Indian stone heap in New York State, he wrote: "The LARGEST heap I ever observed is that LARGE collection of small stones on the mountain between Stockbridge and Great Barrington." In 1761 David Ingersoll stated that "he saw a LARGE heap of stones on the east side of Westenhook or Housatonic River so-called on the southerly end of the Mountain called Monument Mountain."
I emphasize the use of the adjective LARGE to describe the monument. It seems unlikely that a stone pile of only six or eight feet in diameter would be sufficient to fill the ten cart loads mentioned by Sergeant. The truth is that the stone heap was quite large and obvious. In the fall of 1761, Colonel John Van Rensselaer of Claverack, N.Y., employed a surveying party to establish the boundary line between the Van Rensselaer and Livingston Manors of Columbia County. He claimed ownership to the Housatonic River and charged his surveyors to run the line 24 miles east of the Hudson River, bringing it into the present bounds of Great Barrington. On November 25, 1761, Jacob Philip, one of his chain men, deposed in Albany County court and declared: "they Run about half a Mile west of a Heap of Stones Standing on the Southerly End of a Mountain near the Road from Sheffield to Stockbridge -- that he and the Rest of the Chainbearers by the Surveyors Directions Measured the said Heap and found it Eighty two Links about the Bottom and seventeen Links high along the Slant of the Said Heap." A link of the chain equaled 7.92 inches so the monument in Great Barrington measured slightly more than 54 feet at the base and stood over 11 feet high, the size of a small house.
Other residents of Berkshire and Albany Counties testified to having seen the large pile and that the bottom stones were sunk deep into the ground, suggesting great antiquity. There was no evidence of a burial beneath the monument although the results of the survey did show two heaps of stones along the line in Columbia County "Erected by the Indians in Memory of two of their Sachems buried in that place." The English settlers at this time were dismantling the numerous stone heaps to obtain building materials, especially for chimneys, and the Great Barrington heap suffered the same fate. It was "all removed" by August 1762 and there has been no trace of it since, despite the many later efforts to find it.
Most contemporary accounts state that the monument was "near" the road (not "on" it) at the southern end of Monument Mountain, and none indicates that it was visible from the road. The earliest map of Stockbridge is a surveyor's plat dated October 15, 1736. On it at the northwest corner of Sheffield (now Great Barrington) is written the bearing of east nine degrees south, 932 perch (rods), "to the monument of stones," and another notation that the monument was north of Moses King's property, 60 perch. This stone heap was located on top of the mountain at the midpoint of the boundary between Great Barrington and Stockbridge and served as a marker between the two towns. It was not the large monument erected by the Indians.
The best evidence for the location of the Indian stone heap comes from the court depositions of those settlers who actually saw it before it was removed. Captain Johannis Hogeboom of Claverack testified in 1762 that it stood "some rod[s] over the Westenhook [Housatonic] River under a Mountain." The half-blood Indian, Joseph Van Gelder, testified in 1768 that it was "on the East side of Westenhook River has been close to it often it is about a Mile from the River." Timothy Woodbridge of Stockbridge deposed that it was "in the Monument Mountain Made of Wood and Stones ... It lies in Great [Barrington] 3 Miles south of Stockbridge." John Philip, the chain man, ran his survey line along the Housatonic "about half a Mile west" of the heap. These distances give us an approximate location of the monument somewhere east of the river at the foot of the mountain and south of Risingdale, far from the traditionally-accepted spot but close to the site of the Indian hunting camp excavated in 1991.
By all accounts, the stone heap bore the Mohican name "Wawanaquasick," a lovely word that might have graced the new schools at Monument Mountain instead of the unimaginative names selected last year. It meant "offering place" and was applied to other Indian stone heaps in our area. Jehoiakim Van Valkenburgh, a Dutch settler who spoke the Mohican language, declared in 1768 that the Indians "added Stones to it and when they did so they said Grand father I recover you." The monument had a practical function as well. Chief Yocum explained in 1754 that there were two such heaps in Great Barrington, the one we are discussing here and the other where the Green River meets the Housatonic. They served as boundary markers between Stockbridge Indian chieftaincies and the Weatogue Indians of Salisbury, Conn.
Taylor wrote an essential history of Great Barrington, but the inclusion of a doctored letter has contributed to a number of misconceptions. The name "Mahaiwe" is possibly a made-up word, the location of the "Great Wigwam" is off by at least two miles and the great Indian stone heap at Monument Mountain was not only quite large but located "under the mountain" near Risingdale instead of on the mountain itself. Though it has been gone for 244 years, it remains in our imaginations as an enduring symbol of Berkshire County's first inhabitants.
In 1882, Charles J. Taylor published his "History of Great Barrington," a generally well-researched account that still is the standard chronicle of the early days of that town.
As accurate as Taylor tried to be, some serious historical errors inevitably found their way into his book. On pages 60-62, he inserted the text of a letter that appears authentic but is actually a put-up job, if not an outright forgery. It contains information that has been accepted over the years, things like the word "Mahaiwe" and the size of the famous Indian stone heap that gives Monument Mountain its name, but recent research in primary manuscript sources tells a different story.
Taylor found the letter in a rather dubious source, The Berkshire Courier of November 15, 1866. It immediately becomes suspicious because neither the writer nor the recipient are identified. The dateline of "Indian Town" in November 1735 is anachronistic because there was no Indian town at that time, the Mohicans not receiving their grant at Stockbridge until the next year. In the letter's description of the Rev. John Sergeant's baptism of Chief Konkapot, it borrows word for word the profession of faith delivered by another Indian (Ebenezer) in 1734, the text of which is found in Rev. Sergeant's journal. In fact, there is little information in the letter that could not have been found in Sergeant's journal or other printed sources. The main exception is the name "Mahaiwe," which is not found elsewhere to my knowledge. Taylor said it is the Mohican word for "place down stream" but admitted it should be spelled "Neh-hai-we." While that may be true (the related Delaware tribe used the word "Nahiwi" for "down the river"), the confusion added to the suspicious nature of the letter.
Another anomaly in the letter is the statement that the "Great Wigwam" of Chief Umpachene was "at the ford a mile or two south [of Monument Mountain]." Presumably this is the spot now commemorated by a marker at the "Old Indian Fordway" on Bridge Street. The marker claims that there was a battle with the Indians there in 1676, but it is documented that the fight occurred further to the south, probably in Sheffield. The other error is in the location of the "Great Wigwam," which was on the Green River two miles to the south. Sergeant's journal clearly shows that two groups of Indians lived 8 to 10 miles apart, Konkapot in the meadow at Wnahktukook (Stockbridge) and Lieutenant Umpachene at Scatekook (Green River). When Sergeant first arrived at Great Barrington in 1734, he wrote that "I board at Mr. Ingersol's; and teach the Children at the Lieutnts. Wigwam." For the first six months of his mission Sergeant lived with David Ingersoll at his house near the present site of the Mason Library and taught the Indians two miles south at Scatekook.
The greatest fallacy in Taylor's letter relates to the stone heap at Monument Mountain. It is described as "a pile of stones some six or eight feet in diameter, circular at its base and raised in the form of an obtuse cone. It is raised over the grave of the first Sachem who died after they came into this region. Each Indian, as he goes by, adds a stone to the pile." This wording is so close to that in the 1829 "History of Berkshire County" that it suggests copying, but the text is different enough to indicate some alteration: "The pile was six or eight feet in diameter, circular at its base and raised in the form of an obtuse cone ... over the grave of one of the Aborigines. ... Every Indian who passed the place, threw a stone upon the tomb of his countryman." No source is given for the 1829 version, but it is possible that it was the creation of the Rev. David Dudley Field, who had collected the materials for the history. Curiously, it was his son, Jonathan Edwards Field, who had provided the Taylor letter to the Berkshire Courier in 1866.
Further evidence for the falsity of the Taylor letter is found in Timothy Dwight's "Travels in New England and New York" (published in 1821 but written in the 1790s), which states that the name of Monument Mountain "is derived from a pile of stones about six or eight feet in diameter, circular at its base, and raised in the form of an obtuse cone over the grave of one of the Aborigines," etc. Certainly this is the source of the quote in Taylor's book, a secondary account first written in 1798 and not an eyewitness report of 1735. Dwight did not see the stone pile himself and was relying on hearsay.
Until now, we have had only three published eyewitness accounts of the monument, none of which give specific details of its size and location. Sergeant wrote in his journal on November 3, 1734: "There is a LARGE Heap of Stones, I suppose TEN CART LOADS, in the Way to Wnahktukook, which the Indians have thrown together, as they pass'd by the Place; for it us'd to be their Custom, every Time any one pass'd by to throw a Stone to it; But what was the End of it they cannot tell" (Emphasis is mine). The Rev. Gideon Hawley wrote an account of a journey he made in 1753. Upon observing an Indian stone heap in New York State, he wrote: "The LARGEST heap I ever observed is that LARGE collection of small stones on the mountain between Stockbridge and Great Barrington." In 1761 David Ingersoll stated that "he saw a LARGE heap of stones on the east side of Westenhook or Housatonic River so-called on the southerly end of the Mountain called Monument Mountain."
I emphasize the use of the adjective LARGE to describe the monument. It seems unlikely that a stone pile of only six or eight feet in diameter would be sufficient to fill the ten cart loads mentioned by Sergeant. The truth is that the stone heap was quite large and obvious. In the fall of 1761, Colonel John Van Rensselaer of Claverack, N.Y., employed a surveying party to establish the boundary line between the Van Rensselaer and Livingston Manors of Columbia County. He claimed ownership to the Housatonic River and charged his surveyors to run the line 24 miles east of the Hudson River, bringing it into the present bounds of Great Barrington. On November 25, 1761, Jacob Philip, one of his chain men, deposed in Albany County court and declared: "they Run about half a Mile west of a Heap of Stones Standing on the Southerly End of a Mountain near the Road from Sheffield to Stockbridge -- that he and the Rest of the Chainbearers by the Surveyors Directions Measured the said Heap and found it Eighty two Links about the Bottom and seventeen Links high along the Slant of the Said Heap." A link of the chain equaled 7.92 inches so the monument in Great Barrington measured slightly more than 54 feet at the base and stood over 11 feet high, the size of a small house.
Other residents of Berkshire and Albany Counties testified to having seen the large pile and that the bottom stones were sunk deep into the ground, suggesting great antiquity. There was no evidence of a burial beneath the monument although the results of the survey did show two heaps of stones along the line in Columbia County "Erected by the Indians in Memory of two of their Sachems buried in that place." The English settlers at this time were dismantling the numerous stone heaps to obtain building materials, especially for chimneys, and the Great Barrington heap suffered the same fate. It was "all removed" by August 1762 and there has been no trace of it since, despite the many later efforts to find it.
Most contemporary accounts state that the monument was "near" the road (not "on" it) at the southern end of Monument Mountain, and none indicates that it was visible from the road. The earliest map of Stockbridge is a surveyor's plat dated October 15, 1736. On it at the northwest corner of Sheffield (now Great Barrington) is written the bearing of east nine degrees south, 932 perch (rods), "to the monument of stones," and another notation that the monument was north of Moses King's property, 60 perch. This stone heap was located on top of the mountain at the midpoint of the boundary between Great Barrington and Stockbridge and served as a marker between the two towns. It was not the large monument erected by the Indians.
The best evidence for the location of the Indian stone heap comes from the court depositions of those settlers who actually saw it before it was removed. Captain Johannis Hogeboom of Claverack testified in 1762 that it stood "some rod[s] over the Westenhook [Housatonic] River under a Mountain." The half-blood Indian, Joseph Van Gelder, testified in 1768 that it was "on the East side of Westenhook River has been close to it often it is about a Mile from the River." Timothy Woodbridge of Stockbridge deposed that it was "in the Monument Mountain Made of Wood and Stones ... It lies in Great [Barrington] 3 Miles south of Stockbridge." John Philip, the chain man, ran his survey line along the Housatonic "about half a Mile west" of the heap. These distances give us an approximate location of the monument somewhere east of the river at the foot of the mountain and south of Risingdale, far from the traditionally-accepted spot but close to the site of the Indian hunting camp excavated in 1991.
By all accounts, the stone heap bore the Mohican name "Wawanaquasick," a lovely word that might have graced the new schools at Monument Mountain instead of the unimaginative names selected last year. It meant "offering place" and was applied to other Indian stone heaps in our area. Jehoiakim Van Valkenburgh, a Dutch settler who spoke the Mohican language, declared in 1768 that the Indians "added Stones to it and when they did so they said Grand father I recover you." The monument had a practical function as well. Chief Yocum explained in 1754 that there were two such heaps in Great Barrington, the one we are discussing here and the other where the Green River meets the Housatonic. They served as boundary markers between Stockbridge Indian chieftaincies and the Weatogue Indians of Salisbury, Conn.
Taylor wrote an essential history of Great Barrington, but the inclusion of a doctored letter has contributed to a number of misconceptions. The name "Mahaiwe" is possibly a made-up word, the location of the "Great Wigwam" is off by at least two miles and the great Indian stone heap at Monument Mountain was not only quite large but located "under the mountain" near Risingdale instead of on the mountain itself. Though it has been gone for 244 years, it remains in our imaginations as an enduring symbol of Berkshire County's first inhabitants.
More snow
Last Saturday was a productive day of exploration and photo'ing: a site in Tewksbury (Wamesit), the large cairn in Chelmsford, the enclosure on Fox Hill Billerica, and the stone wall "D". Later I'll post some few finds from Sunday. I made good use of the weather opportunity. But now, here is the view out my window.
There is supposed to be more snow tomorrow. See what I am up against?
There is supposed to be more snow tomorrow. See what I am up against?
A "D" shaped space enclosed by stone walls
This is an unusual feature visible from the road in Carlisle. Let me describe what we are looking at. This is a little valley with a water course going off to the left towards a wetland. On the far side of the water course a stone wall follows the side of the little valley. Roughly in the center of the picture there is a semi-circular stretch of stone wall that forms a "D" with the straight stone wall. The semi-circle opens towards the water.
If you go over to explore it (it is on private property but I had permission a couple times, and not a couple of other times), you find that there is no opening in the wall, no entrance. So this is an unusual feature. The comparison may be absurd but this "D" always reminded me of a miniature of the Poverty Point earthworks.
If you go over to explore it (it is on private property but I had permission a couple times, and not a couple of other times), you find that there is no opening in the wall, no entrance. So this is an unusual feature. The comparison may be absurd but this "D" always reminded me of a miniature of the Poverty Point earthworks.
A stone-lined hollow on Fox Hill Billerica, MA
Last Saturday afternoon, I climbed this hill with my friend from Carlisle (FFC). It is a sandy hill but he managed to find some rocks incorporated into what might be the only point of interest: a hollow in the side of the hill, that had been lined with rocks.
The hollow seemed to open to the south towards a distant hill but there is not much precision to that observation.
The hollow seemed to open to the south towards a distant hill but there is not much precision to that observation.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Iz'zat a rock pile ????
On the way back from Wamesit on Saturday, I was taking Rt 110 through Chelmsford and saw a big hill I did not recognize. It turns out this is the highest hill in Chelmsford, a hill I know from the other southern side. Anyway, I decided to drive up some of the side streets to see if there was any woods up there and I spotted this in someone's backyard.
There was no one home or I would have asked to take a closer look. Here is a zoomed photo.
I could not get a good view from above to see if this might be a water tower base. But it sure looks like a rock pile. It reminds of of that nicest pile at Miner Farm in RI. (see last picture here)
Slightly uphill, closer to the house, was another faint trace of a rock pile like structure.
What is this place? We are deep in suburbia here. Could there be some remnant? I think I can go back and talk to the homeowner, even if it is snowy.
There was no one home or I would have asked to take a closer look. Here is a zoomed photo.
I could not get a good view from above to see if this might be a water tower base. But it sure looks like a rock pile. It reminds of of that nicest pile at Miner Farm in RI. (see last picture here)Slightly uphill, closer to the house, was another faint trace of a rock pile like structure.
What is this place? We are deep in suburbia here. Could there be some remnant? I think I can go back and talk to the homeowner, even if it is snowy.
New England Sacred Sites Remain Threatened
From the forum.americanindiantribe.com [Click here]
More generally [Click here]
Update: Ah! I see this is from Jim P.
More generally [Click here]
Update: Ah! I see this is from Jim P.
Vottovaara Follow-up
Geophile
A blog post by Finnish-Canadian blogger and artist Marja-Leena Rathje links to the Rock Piles Blog and the article on the Portal. She adds some interesting links at the end, including a great one to a translated Swedish Wikipedia article which offers a wealth of links at the end of it. All of this gives me hope that eventually some pedestaled stones will be recognized as cultural rather than glacial artifacts. Subtle and out-of-the-way specimens can easily be missed, so maybe all of this exposure will encourage people here to keep an eye out for them.
A blog post by Finnish-Canadian blogger and artist Marja-Leena Rathje links to the Rock Piles Blog and the article on the Portal. She adds some interesting links at the end, including a great one to a translated Swedish Wikipedia article which offers a wealth of links at the end of it. All of this gives me hope that eventually some pedestaled stones will be recognized as cultural rather than glacial artifacts. Subtle and out-of-the-way specimens can easily be missed, so maybe all of this exposure will encourage people here to keep an eye out for them.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Wamesit - Once a Praying Indian village, now a Drive-In and Home Depot. Rock piles still to be found there.
Encouraged by the snowmelt, on Friday as I drove to work I started looking out the car window and speculating about exploring around the edges of a "Great Swamp" I see there on a stretch of Rt 495 just east of Rt 38, in Tewksbury. I mentioned this later to Bruce McAleer who pointed out that this area used to be a Praying Indian Village called "Wamesit". Sure enough the name persists on the topo map and on the local businesses. If I had known that, I would have been intrigued but, based only on driving bye, I could see an nice patch of woods between the highway and the Home Depot, with ups and downs and the kinds of rock and water that always looked worth exploring. So Saturday I went out and started poking around.
Right next to the highway was quarry hole in the schist bedrock. I try to imagine what would be worth quarrying coming out of schist? Some mineral or metal?
Anyway this left the vicinity pretty trashed out and the one hint of rock pile I saw, was not too compelling because of this trashiness. Here is a view back towards the quarry with a bit of a rock pile in the foreground.
I don't trust isolated rock piles. Perhaps there was something else nearby but just hidden under the snow. Anyway I poked around a bit here and then crossed a railroad track, east of the Home Depot, and found another small patch of woods, isolated, leading down to a wetland.
As soon as I crossed the tracks I thought I saw a rock pile. Here was the view:
As I looked at this first pile, I saw it was adjacent to a second one.
Here is a view back uphill from the lower pile:
The observation, which became clearer later and was only hovering at the edges of thought at this point, was that these two pile lined up the knoll with the edge of the swamp. Looking back uphill it looked like there might be a few other things along the line uphill. I did not check that out till later.
Then I found another pair of rock piles further back on the same knoll. In retrospect, these two also make a line from high to low, perhaps parallel with the first line, leading from the knoll down towards the wetland.
Walking around on top of the knoll I noticed a couple of rock-on-rocks. Then back down to the water to look back towards the knoll.
There was another pile down here, I would not have noticed unless standing next to it.
This looks a bit like an effigy, with that larger "head" rock to the left.
After this I climbed the knoll, to see where the "line" between the first two rock piles extended and to look around more carefully. Here is another look up that line:
The line seems to pass to the side of a rock and then goes through a gap between two rocks. Let's go up there and look back down the line:
I think gaps between rocks, like this, are important. They suggest a gateway, and this is re-enforced by the rock alignment passing through the gap. This structure of a pile-to-pile alignment passing though a gap is the most significant observation, to me, about this place.
There were a couple more rock-on-rock up on top of the knoll:
That one to the rear looks like a fallen off rock-on-rock.
Looking at the details, note the mark left on the lower rock, where the lichen growth stops leaving an imprint in the shape of the upper rock, where the upper rock once rested.
There was also a large boulder up there with a sense of an attached outline.
This, I thought, was where they "partied".
After this I poked around a bit more to make sure I had seen all there was to see (I doubt I did) saw a couple more rock-on-rocks, and this little upright stone at then end of an outcrop with a rock-on-rock on top.
All in all a typical small knoll-by-wetland site. Some subtle aligntment, hints of effigies down in the wetland; rock-on-rocks, and a few other hints. The site does not seem very ancient, too fragile to have been left unchanged for long.
Right next to the highway was quarry hole in the schist bedrock. I try to imagine what would be worth quarrying coming out of schist? Some mineral or metal?
Anyway this left the vicinity pretty trashed out and the one hint of rock pile I saw, was not too compelling because of this trashiness. Here is a view back towards the quarry with a bit of a rock pile in the foreground.
I don't trust isolated rock piles. Perhaps there was something else nearby but just hidden under the snow. Anyway I poked around a bit here and then crossed a railroad track, east of the Home Depot, and found another small patch of woods, isolated, leading down to a wetland.As soon as I crossed the tracks I thought I saw a rock pile. Here was the view:
As I looked at this first pile, I saw it was adjacent to a second one.
Here is a view back uphill from the lower pile:
The observation, which became clearer later and was only hovering at the edges of thought at this point, was that these two pile lined up the knoll with the edge of the swamp. Looking back uphill it looked like there might be a few other things along the line uphill. I did not check that out till later.Then I found another pair of rock piles further back on the same knoll. In retrospect, these two also make a line from high to low, perhaps parallel with the first line, leading from the knoll down towards the wetland.
Walking around on top of the knoll I noticed a couple of rock-on-rocks. Then back down to the water to look back towards the knoll.
There was another pile down here, I would not have noticed unless standing next to it.
This looks a bit like an effigy, with that larger "head" rock to the left.After this I climbed the knoll, to see where the "line" between the first two rock piles extended and to look around more carefully. Here is another look up that line:
The line seems to pass to the side of a rock and then goes through a gap between two rocks. Let's go up there and look back down the line:
I think gaps between rocks, like this, are important. They suggest a gateway, and this is re-enforced by the rock alignment passing through the gap. This structure of a pile-to-pile alignment passing though a gap is the most significant observation, to me, about this place.There were a couple more rock-on-rock up on top of the knoll:
That one to the rear looks like a fallen off rock-on-rock.
Looking at the details, note the mark left on the lower rock, where the lichen growth stops leaving an imprint in the shape of the upper rock, where the upper rock once rested.There was also a large boulder up there with a sense of an attached outline.
This, I thought, was where they "partied".After this I poked around a bit more to make sure I had seen all there was to see (I doubt I did) saw a couple more rock-on-rocks, and this little upright stone at then end of an outcrop with a rock-on-rock on top.
All in all a typical small knoll-by-wetland site. Some subtle aligntment, hints of effigies down in the wetland; rock-on-rocks, and a few other hints. The site does not seem very ancient, too fragile to have been left unchanged for long.
More snow
Well, there are now 6+ inches of fresh snowball snow on the ground. That window of opportunity for exploring over the weekend was pretty short and I only got lucky on Saturday (see next post). Sunday I went over to a hill in Framingham and found scant traces of stonework to report on.
So now the snow is tapering off. I have kept up the driveway shovelling so the plows have not succeeded in closing off my driveway (they put up a mound of snow when they pass) and I'll head out to work when it stops being blizzard conditions.
So now the snow is tapering off. I have kept up the driveway shovelling so the plows have not succeeded in closing off my driveway (they put up a mound of snow when they pass) and I'll head out to work when it stops being blizzard conditions.
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