Indian Mounds Park (Saint Paul, Minnesota)

Other sites in the U.S. of similar history may be found at Indian Mounds Park

Entrance Sign

Park Plaque

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

[edit] History

As many as 37 burial Mounds were constructed by the Hopewell culture, one of several Native American Mound builders 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 pavilion 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	Burial Mounds with Beacon Tower	Park Pavilion
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.