East of St. Louis, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, are the largest Indian Mounds in North America – Cahokia.
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We arrived at Cahokia excited to learn about the mounds and the people who built them. But we were sorely disappointed. The visitor museum was closed for renovations, and there were no interpretative signs outside to explain the history of the place. We were left on our own to decode the mystery of the mounds.
The Cahokia mounds are surprisingly tall and substantial. They’re randomly strewn across a large area, built eons ago by an unknown indigenous culture. How and why you might ask? That’s my unanswered questions, too!
A string of sidewalks leads you around the hulking earthworks. “I’m not walking that far,” Tim said. But we strolled the whole loop anyway.
In the middle of the mounds, an odd stand of logs had a sign that simply said: Stockade. Not a clue what the purpose was, or why it’s recreated here.
There were other signposts, color coded and alphabetized, with no explanation. We did find ripe pecan nuts. At least that tree was marked.
Across the street from the visitor center is the largest mound in the Americas – Monks Mound. A small sign focused mostly on the Jesuits who farmed there in the 1800’s, and said almost nothing about the ancient culture that built the place. My guess is they don’t really know.
A daunting stretch of stairs leads to the top of Monks Mound. “I’m not walking that far,” Tim said again. But we climbed up the whole staircase anyway.
You can see downtown St. Louis and the Arch from the top of Monks Mound. But like the rest of the park, there was no information posted. It was just a hefty climb up to a breezy flat patch of grass.
A short rest at the top, a long bounce down the stairs and we were done, having learned virtually nothing of the place.
Cahokia – it’s still a mystery to me!
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6 comments
As someone who owns an excavator, dump truck (and shovel!), those mounds are seriously impressive! To do that all without the aid of machinery is amazing. If you thought walking to the top was difficult… !
I’m not the tin foil hat type…but it sure looks like they had help!
You GO Tim, YOU Did it! of course no doubt encouragement from Richie, or you, Richie, you lead the way and Tim follows, not to be outdone! Tho disappointing to learn zero, your photos are amazing as always! Do you have an app to record your steps???? Wonder how many!!!!
Poor Tim. He was traveling on 4 hours sleep! Had a gig the night before, then I threw him in the car and we landed at Cahokia.
Well, you got a lot of exercise. We’ve got several mounds in Ohio. I think it’s the same people who built all of them. Not a construction team, of course, but people of a same time and possibly tribe. They just seem to be called “The Mound Builders”. Looks like, although the visitor center was closed for renovation, they were still cutting all that grass.
I suppose into every adventurer’s life there falls a dud trip. This was yours, Richie.
Without any context for reference, they all look alike!