Indian Mounds Park, Minnesota

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The park overlooks the Mississippi River in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood[1] of Saint Paul, MN and is part of Battle Creek Regional Park.[2]

Entrance Sign

Park Plaque

History of the park

- As many as 37 burial Mounds were constructed by the Hopewell culture approximately 2000 years ago. The dead were buried with artifacts, indicating a religious tradition. The mounds built by the Hopewell culture were built in a distinctive fashion, burying the deceased's ashes; the Dakota Indians later used the same site to bury their dead, wrapping the bodies in animal skins.[3][4]
- From about 1600 to 1837 the Dakota Indians lived near the site of the Mounds.[5]
- 1837 - A treaty between Henry Schoolcraft and about 200 Dakota Indians displaced the natives from the site.[6]
- 1856 - Burial Mounds were first excavated by Edward Duffield Neill.[7]
- 1869 - Carver's Cave was destroyed during railroad construction. The rail yard between the Mississippi River and the remaining burial mounds was widened by 75 feet, destroying Carver's Cave and many of the mounds in 1885.[8]
- 1892 - 17 acres were procured by the city of St. Paul, including the Mounds Area.[9]
- 1896 - The park was landscaped, destroying 11 of the Mounds in the process.[10]
- 1900 - The park was expanded to 82 acres.[11]
- 1914 - A brick pavillion was built.[12]
- 1929 - An Airway Beacon was built.[13]
- 1981 - The Minnesota Historical Society mapped the Mounds. Six large Mounds remain. [14]
  
  Beacon Tower

Burial Mounds

Beacon Tower Plaque

Burial Mounds with Beacon Tower

Park Pavillion

View of the skyline of St. Paul from the park featuring the Minneapolis skyline in the background, the Mississippi River with barges, and a typical 1900s era home in the foreground.