Fort Flatmouth Mounds facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Fort Flatmouth Mounds
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1897 survey map of the Fort Flatmouth Mounds
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| Location | Address restricted , Mission Township, Minnesota |
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| Area | 9 acres (3.6 ha) |
| Built | Undetermined |
| NRHP reference No. | 73000975 |
| Designated | August 14, 1973 |
The Fort Flatmouth Mounds are an ancient Native American site in Mission Township, Minnesota. This special place has nine mounds shaped like a rough oval. There are also a few more mounds nearby.
When early European-American settlers found these mounds, they thought the area looked like a fort. That's why it got the name "Fort Flatmouth." But experts now believe these mounds were likely built for religious reasons.
This site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It's important because it helps us learn about the many ancient villages and mounds in this area. These sites show that Native Americans lived here for a very long time.
What are the Fort Flatmouth Mounds?
The Fort Flatmouth Mounds include eight long, straight mounds and one round mound. They are arranged in a shape that looks like a stretched-out circle. You can find them on a flat area near the Pine River.
When these mounds were first carefully studied in 1896, they were about 3 to 4 feet (91 to 122 cm) tall. The longest mound is about 250 feet (76 m) long and 26 feet (7.9 m) wide. It runs from east to west.
The mounds are laid out in a unique way. For example, four mounds on the south side are placed end-to-end for about 206 feet (63 m). There's also a mound in the middle of the group.
The way the Fort Flatmouth site is designed is different from other mound groups nearby. For instance, the Gordon–Schaust Site has mounds that lie end-to-end. The Upper Hay Lake Mounds are set up in parallel rows.
Who Named the Mounds?
The Fort Flatmouth Mounds were named after Esh-ke-bug-e-coshe. He was also known as Flatmouth. He was a leader of the Pillager Band of Ojibwe people in this area in the mid-1800s.
Flatmouth shared the location of these mounds with William Whipple Warren. Warren was a historian who was part Ojibwe. He wrote down many Ojibwe stories and traditions in a book.
Early settlers and even Warren thought the mounds were part of a fort. This was because an old logging road went right through the mound group. George B. Wright, another settler, wrote about the site in 1867. In 1896, Jacob V. Brower mapped the mounds as part of his work studying ancient sites in Minnesota.
Modern Discoveries
The mounds were looked at again in 1972 by the Minnesota Historical Society. They found that the mounds were still in very good condition. Today, most researchers don't believe the mounds were built for defense. Instead, they think the mounds had a different, perhaps spiritual, purpose.
