Ancient Mound Cultures in the Midwest: Trempealeau’s Little Bluff

Sunday, Mother’s Day, my oldest son and I took a small hike in the Town of Trempealeau up to the ancient mounds of the Mississippians, who lived in this area overlooking the Mississippi River 1000 years ago. The property is now permanently protected by our local land trust, Mississippi Valley Conservancy, through a conservation easement. The land is called Little Bluff.

Besides learning from the wayside kiosks, we were looking at the spring ephemerals and trees. It was a beautiful, albeit short hike that transported you back through imagination to ancient times.

The Mississippians were platform mound builders and farmers of corn. Their way of life is described on the kiosks. They borrowed soil from one area of the forest to make the raised mound that you can clearly see when walking the trail.

The platform mounds, raised, rectangular and flat-topped, were used as spiritual temples and a place of residence for the group’s leader. The community’s hierarchy was stratified with a leader, elite, and commoners. The commoners lived below the mounds on land that is now the town of Trempealeau that sits on the edge of the Mississippi River. The large body of water supplied fish, while the surrounding woodlands provided deer and other game. The forest also provided many edible plants, as it does today.

Elm samaras were still dangling from the trees. I learned these are edible during a foraging class earlier this month. I’m not sure the Mississippians ate these but I found them quite tasty. Although we did not see fungi, I am sure those were plentiful on these ancient lands as well.

Besides having access to water and food, the area is beautiful. We saw shagbark hickory trees just staring to leaf out. As well as carpets of violets and Virginia Blue Bells.

It was an interesting hike in many ways, contrasting old and new in our minds as we traversed the mounds, looked down into the borrow pits, and out onto the review view below. We could see what would attract the Mississippians to settle on Little Bluff, even if one only considered the spiritual implications. Beautiful nature abounds!

Most of my information for today’s post was found on the kiosks or on the Trempealeau Interpretive Path website. On the website, you will find a lesson plan for elementary students, which also provides much of the background information I used today. It can be found here. If you are a local teacher or homeschooling parent, I would definitely consider a trip to Little Bluff in Trempealeau.

More can be found about mid-western ancient cultures at the Mississippi Valley Archeology Center at the University of Wisconsin — La Crosse. For more specific information on the Mississippians, check this page: https://www.uwlax.edu/mvac/pre-european-people/mississippian-oneota-traditions/mississippian-oneota-traditions-introduction/.

The highlighted pages in this post were used as sources of information or verification while writing today’s entry. Thank you to all the scientists who perform this work.

Originally published at http://theapplesinmyorchard.com on May 13, 2021.