“Forgotten Places” – Native American Mounds at Madison’s Elmside Park

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Worldwide Panorama is collecting panoramic scenes with the theme “Forgotten Places”. Nancy suggested Madison’s Elmside Park. Here it is.


From Native American Mounds in Madison and Dane County (A Madison Heritage Publication):

At the corner of Lakeland Avenue and Maple Avenue overlooking Lake Monona are two well-preserved Late Woodland animal effigies now referred to as a lynx and a bear. These mounds were originally part of a dense and extensive cluster of mounds that extended along the north shore of Lake Monona. Once part of the Simeon Mills farm, this site was still a favored Winnebago campground as late as the late 19th century. Most of the mound cluster, which included a bird effigy with a reported wingspan of 568 feet, was destroyed by turn-of-the-century residential development. Nearby, the beautiful sculpture, entitled “Let the Great Spirits Soar,” was carved by Harry Whitehorse, a Winnebago whose ancestors have lived in the Four Lakes area for hundreds of years. The sculpture was carved from a storm-damaged hackberry tree and honors his Indian ancestors and the effigy mound builders.