Uncategorized – Adventures in Driftlessness

Indian Park Update and Links to Download Presentations

by Terry Burns, Kristal Prohaska, and Laurie Graney

May 31, 2022

As some readers know, we have used this site to communicate our research into the history of Indian Park in Platteville, Wisconsin. Back in 2020, we posted three articles on this blog-site, then updated them in January 2022 with information obtained during research partially supported by a Wisconsin Humanities Mini-grant:

“The Mysteries of Indian Park—Part I” Available: https://driftlessroadtrip.com/the-mysteries-of-indian-park/

“Indian Park Part II: The Cholera Burial” Available: https://driftlessroadtrip.com/the-mysteries-of-indian-park-part-ii/

“Indian Park Part III: The Mystery of the Mounds” Available: https://driftlessroadtrip.com/indian-park-part-iii-the-mystery-of-the-mounds/

Since that time, we have uncovered more information and answered a few more questions.

Because of that, we’ve recently updated those articles. Because the articles did not contain any incorrect information, we decided to simply add the new information to those old articles. Where we have added new information, you will find that reflected in the articles.

The three of us have also given several presentations now on the history of “Indian Park” in Platteville. Here are the slides and handouts for that presentation:

Presentation slides Download

The-Mysteries-of-Indian-Park-Second-Presentation-handout Download

The square of land now known as “Indian Park” has had a plethora of names through the years. You can find a list of those here.

Driftless Lore by Nettie Potter

Serving up local history in several articles

Hello, everyone! As the temperatures drop, it’s a good time to turn inward. Our next several posts will concern the history of the area. We’re delighted to introduce local writer and filmmaker Nettie Potter, who will be sharing several articles on topics she’s presented on locally… the murder in Coffee Woods, the spirits of Walker House, the the “Nodolf Incident” at the Platte Mound. We’ll be running one of Potter’s stories each week for the rest of January and all of February (along with whatever other articles may pop up on here!)

Just in case you’d like a teaser, here’s a video of what Nettie will be talking about in her article on “The Spirits of Walker House.”

That William Caffee, by the way, has no connection (beyond the phonological one, and that Nettie Potter is writing on them) to the William Coffee of the Coffee murder.

Do you have a story involving local history? Write about it and submit an article to us! We’d love to read your work.

Conical Mounds, Linear Mounds, Effigy Mounds

Yes, the Driftless Region has the highest concentration of these kinds of mounds in the world. Wouldn’t you like to know more about them?

This page had that information, but I am revising it. However, the most comprehensive guide I know of, put together over many, many years, is here. On the main page, not only are you directed to many of the mound sights that have been preserved, but given a recommended reading list.

But if you enjoyed our early page on the large mounds in the area, including the Platte or “M” Mound parts one and two, you’ll also enjoy this piece. The large mounds–Platte Mound, Belmont Mound, Horseshoe Mound, Sinsinawa Mound–are not the same things as the much smaller conical, linear, and effigy mounds, those these small, and in many ways more fascinating, mounds can occur on top of the larger ones.

(Under construction– check back after the Spring Equinox!)