Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve
Caspar Bluff Land and Water Reserve is an 85 acre conservation site in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, designated in 2008 by the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. The Bluff top reserve is location along the East side of the Mississippi River and overlooks the mouths of the Galena River and Smallpox Creek. The reserve features oak stands, restored prairie, walking trails, archeological sites, and vistas across the Mississippi River to the Iowa bluffs.
Archaeological Significance[edit]
Caspar Bluff Land and Water Reserve was the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission's first site to be protected based exclusively on its significant archaeological feature - a large portion of the Aiken Mound Group.[1] This 1-mile long Native American burial mound group was constructed by Late Woodland (A.D. 600–1000) people and consists of conical and linear mounds as well as a ritual enclosure and a large bird effigy. At one time, the group contained more than 50 mounds, but today, approximately 20 remain intact. The bluff spurs adjacent to and around the mounds also contain abundant evidence of habitation by a long sequence of Native American cultures over many millennia. These mounds are part of a larger sacred landscape that includes an almost continuous chain of mound groups extending from the Keough Effigy Mounds Land and Water Reserve southeast to the Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve.[2]
Knowledge of these mounds stems from the end of the 19th century, when William Baker Nickerson, an amateur archaeologist who worked for the railroads, documented 51 mounds at this location: 38 long, wall-like structures, 12 conical mounds, and one thunderbird effigy. Nickerson also observed an earth ellipse or hut-ring and two circular depressions. Nickerson’s limited excavation of the mounds produced pottery fragments, indicating the fill may have come from a nearby habitation site. In 2006, Phil Millhouse from the University of Illinois was able to relocate Nickerson’s original map, kept at the Illinois State Museum. Using GIS technology, the location of all 51 mounds documented by Nickerson have been identified. At the present, however, only 20 mounds can be visually identified on the ground surface. Agricultural cropping and grazing have no doubt affected the integrity of the mounds.
The Aiken Mound Group is part of the larger Effigy Mound culture that existed between A.D. 700 and A.D. 1000 in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. While most of what is known about the site is based on the mounds themselves, there is a possibility that there may still be intact archaeological features among the mounds. Skeletal remains from the Aiken Mounds have been found in adjacent crop fields. Habitation sites, while not mapped, were thought to occur in the nearby low-lying fields east of the steep river bluffs where the ceremonial mounds are located.
While the Effigy Mound peoples are thought to have abandoned the region after A.D. 1000, as late as 1875 members of the Ho-Chunk Nation performed ceremonies in the vicinity of Aiken Mounds and constructed a burial mound for the son of their leader, Green Blanket. This burial site is thought to be located one mile east of the reserve within the bottomlands of Small Pox Creek.[3]
Natural Burial Cemetery[edit]
A project to establish a “natural burial” cemetery in Jo Daviess County has secured approval from the county board. Jo Daviess County Board members this month voted, 11-3, to approve the request from the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation to obtain a special-use permit that allows for the development of the cemetery. Board Members Steve Allendorf, Robert Heuerman and John Lang opposed the motion, while Lucas Bourquin, Diane Gallagher and John Korth were not present. The foundation plans to create a 16-acre cemetery at Casper Bluff Nature and Water Reserve. The site would exclusively partake in “conservation burials.” Those buried at the cemetery would not be embalmed, and their coffins would be made of biodegradable material. No standing headstones would be allowed, and a section of woods would be dedicated for cremated ashes to be scattered. Foundation officials previously stated they hope to open the cemetery in October.[4] Script error: No such module "AfC submission catcheck".
References[edit]
- ↑ Kelly, Deb. "Casper Bluff: Where nature's treasurers meet with history's secrets". Journal Standard. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ↑ Samuel V. Panno,1 Philip G. Millhouse,2 Randy W. Nyboer,3 Daryl Watson,4Walton R. Kelly,5 Lisa M. Anderson,1 Curtis C. Abert,1 and Donald E. Luman (2016). "Guide to the Geology, Hydrogeology, History, Archaeology, and Biotic Ecology of the Driftless Area of Northwestern Illinois, Jo Daviess County" (PDF). ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Prairie Research Institute: 58.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
- ↑ "Casper Bluff Land & Water Reserve". Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation. Retrieved November 27, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Herald, Telegraph. "Natural burial cemetery gets approval from Jo Daviess County Board". TelegraphHerald.com. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
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