STONE FORTS

Back in the Late Woodland time, "stone forts" were built but nobody knows why. Some people think that the stone walls were (1) defensive fortifications; (2) corrals for containment of wild animals; (3)game traps and; (4) ceremonial places. "Stone Forts" seem to form a broken chain between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. These "stone forts" have similar geographic sites. They are located on bluffs. Many of the walls were torn down by early white settlers and some stones were removed for building purposes.

Stonefort

Stonefort, Illinois got it's name from a near by wall called "Old Stonefort." It appears to have been a 300 foot oval shape wall. It is on a limestone bluff that rises more than 100 feet. The wall was torn down long ago and very little of it remains. For example, when the white men came they saw the walls and took the rocks for the foundations of their homes.

The Pounds

There is a walled bluff near Gallatin County. It has been known as The Pounds for over 150 years. The Pounds is in part of the Shawnee National Forest. On top of the bluff the stone wall encloses about fifty acres of land. This enclosure is the largest of any found in Southern Illinois. People think that it was used for a corral or pound in which animals were killed. This is how The Pounds got it's name.

Millstone Bluff

Millstone Bluff is located between the communities of Robbs and Glendale, Illinois. The groups that lived there are Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian. The people of the Late Woodland built a "stone fort" on Millstone Bluff. They took flat rocks and put them on each other. Also, at Millstone Bluff are some of the best preserved examples of Indian petroglyphs. There are rock carvings of a thunder bird , spirits, bear's paw, eagle, peace pipes, a cross with a circle, a sun wheel, an elbowpipe, and a corn plant.

War Bluff

The stone wall that's named War Bluff is in Pope County. The stone wall is about 100 feet long and about 50 feet wide. The wall fences in about two or more acres of forest . There are many local stories about the war with the white men and the Indians, but no one really knows if that is true or not . That's just how the site got it's name .

Giant City Park

Giant City Park near Carbondale, Illinois, is the site of an Indian "stone fort." The wall was built on top of a bluff. The wall was 285 feet long and about 6 feet high and wide. Part of the wall has been restored but most of it is in ruins.

Thomas Stone Fort

The Thomas Stonefort is another location that has been brought to the attention of the archaeologists. The stone fort is about three miles east of Cobden in Union County. Early settlers knew of the stone ruins, but they did't find it again till 1930. It was found by Joe and Charles Thomas of Cobden. That is how the " stonefort" got its name.

Hogg Bluff

Hogg Bluff is a "stone fort " in Johnson County, Illinois. This is in the Shawnee National Forest. Two parts of the "stone fort" were excavated at Hogg Bluff. The wall was nine feet across. There were only a few rocks left to show it's height. The stone wall would be really tall but it would be impossible to find out it's real height.There was a midden area, a place were they threw their trash. Things that they found at Hog Bluff were a metate, two of the round ground stone mullers, lots of pot sherds, a few knife blades, arrowheads, some flint chips, and daub. Daub is fire-hardened clay used for plastering structure walls. A metate is a large stone, containing a smooth dish-shaped depression used for grinding food. The midden area was a area of black soil. The area had lots of bone pieces, flint chips, and broken pottery pieces with only a few projectile points. They found seeds and they think that the Indians were eating there. They think that the Indians lived there for at least a half of a year.

Indian Kitchen

Indian Kitchen is in Pope County. Archeologist have found pottery and pieces of flint. The bluff is 150 feet wide and 700 feet long. Indian Kitchen is one of the least known sites where there is still a portion of the original stone wall intact. The stone wall enclosed about two and a half acres of land.

Draper's Bluff

Drapers Bluff is a 300 foot bluff on the east side of Lick Creek Valley in Johnson and Union counties. The south point of the bluff turns about 1000 feet into Johnson County making a ridge about 400 feet wide. In the center of the ridge are the signs of a stone wall the width of the ridge. Early settlers say the wall was about 6 feet high and 6 feet wide, and it enclosed 10 acres of land.

Cornish Bluff Fort

Cornish Bluff is located in Johnson County, a few miles from Reynoldsburg, Illinois. Cornish Bluff Fort differs from other forts because of its semicircular shape. At the west end of the bluff, the wall outline goes toward the east for thirty rods, then turns at a 45 degree angle toward the southeast for another thirty rods. The land had been in cultivation (the process of tilling or growing) for many years. The view from the bluff top is magnificent.

Trigg Stone Fort

Trigg Stone Fort was discovered on a high hill in Johnson County. It has been practically destroyed like other forts over the years. A reporter named L.O. Trigg reported that early farmers tried to make early settlers remove the stones, and they had success. The early settlers used the stones for foundations and other things. There is a so called "smoke tower" near Trigg. The Indians might have used this "smoke tower" for signals. This might be nothing but a pile of stones that might have been made by early white settlers.


In 1955 Irvin Peithmann in the book, "Indians of Southern Illinois", wrote about these two forts as different sites, but that was wrong. In 1973, two SIU students found out that they were the same site. Irvin had overheard that they were different sites. That is why people use the idea today.