Prehistoric Mounds of St Charles - Episode 1 - The Antiquarians

In this viewer-inspired video series, we explore one of the prehistoric Native American mound groups set along the Fox River in Kane County, Illinois. This mound group goes by several names, including the Allen Site, the Wildrose Mound site, and the Ferson Mound site. (We'll refer to it as the Ferson Mound group, as this was the original name.) Dozens of prehistoric Native American mounds once existed along both the east and west banks of the Fox River in Illinois, but alas are no more.

In this first episode, we'll describe the first formal exploration of the Ferson Mound group in 1877, by a group of antiquarians from the nearby village of Geneva, Illinois, set on the farm of John Ferson, along the west bank of the Fox River, just a mile or so north of St Charles, Illinois.

Note that this mound site is no longer generally accessible to the public, although thousands of people pass within 100 feet of the site every day of the week, along Illinois Route 31.

Thanks for taking the time to watch. Please feel free to comment.

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Brian & Joyce


IMAGE CREDITS (NPR = www.newspapers.com, GB = www.google.com/books)
- US Library of Congress, www.loc.gov
- History Central, www.historycentral.com
- www.wikiwand.com
- www.wikipedia.org
- David Rumsey Map Collection, www.davidrumsey.com
- wellcomecollection.org
- Internet Archive Digital Library, archive.org
- Chicago Tribune, www.newspapers.com
- Manhattan Enterprise, www.newspapers.com
- Detroit Free Press, www.newspapers.com
- Philadelphia Inquirer, www.newspapers.com
- New York Daily Herald, www.newspapers.com
- Baltimore Sun, www.newspapers.com
- Oskaloosa Sickle, www.newspapers.com
- St Louis Globe Democrat, www.newspapers.com
- Star Tribune, www.newspapers.com
- www.ushistoryimages.com
- www.scienceviews.com
- Google Books, books.google.com
- US Census Information, www.familysearch.org
- Southwest Harbor Public Library, swhplibrary.net
- Smith College Libraries, libex.smith.edu
- US Bureau of Land Management, www.blm.gov
- www.findagrave.com
- Kane County Vital Records, www.familysearch.org
- New York Public Library, digitalcollections.nypl.org
- The Gutenberg Project, www.gutenberg.org
- Nether Providence Historical Society, nphistory.org
- Daniel Graf, www.researchgate.net
- www.chicagology.com
- www.tricountyindependent.com
- www.stltoday.com
- www.brewminate.com
- www.ohiohistory.org
- www.nebraskahistory.org
- St Charles Chronicle, www.idaillinois.org
- College of DuPage Courier, codlrc.org/intranet/archives/courier

AUDIO CREDITS (YAL = YouTube Audio Library)
- Opening and Closing theme includes the following:
- Native American Style Flute in A by Wood Flutes
License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Link: freesound.org/people/Wood_Flutes/sounds/333996/
- Native American Shaker and Rattle 01 by sandyrb
License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Link: freesound.org/people/sandyrb/sounds/86656/
- City highway busy cars pulling out by natemarler
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Link: freesound.org/people/natemarler/sounds/338675/
- Maestro Tlakaelel by Jesse Gallagher, YAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Charles Ellenbaum, who has been generous with his time in reviewing the 1972 dig
- Peter Geraci, who provided a significant amount of information relative to the mound site
- Brian Bardy, who provided the draft report of the 1972 dig, as well as important additional information
- Viewers Jack and Donna, who provided the initial information and spark for this investigation

TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:00:00 Titles and Opening
00:00:22 Introduction
00:01:47 Sources
00:02:55 Geneva Lyceum
00:06:48 Expedition North
00:08:55 Three Mounds
00:09:59 Southern Mound Dig
00:12:25 Summary of Finds
00:15:12 Changing Views
00:18:14 Next Episode
00:18:32 End Titles

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

#history #Illinois #kane #geneva #stcharles #prehistoric #burialmounds #nativeamerican #archeology #anthropology