Devil's Lake Mounds
(Devil's Lake Effigy, Claude Group, East Group, Lynx or Terminal Moraine Group)
There are two clusters of mounds at Devil’s Lake.
One Bird Mound is on the south shore (see above). It’s often called Devil’s Lake Bird-Man Mound, although it's most likely
depicting swallowtail-like bird. It’s in decent shape, marked with plaques but was tractor-mowed and walked on just recently.
While visiting in 2013, though, I noticed the mound was covered in straw, apparently being prepared for planting of prairie grasses
to distinguish the mound from surrounding lawn and prevent people from walking on it.
The other cluster consists of three groups of mounds on the north shore of the lake, often collectively called Terminal Moraine
Mound Group, although this name is more often applied to the Lynx Group.
One group, called Claude Group, is closer to shore and consists of Bear, Panther and two Linear mounds, but used to have two
more Linears. All are well marked, but linears are tractor-mowed and suffer from heavy pedestrian traffic (see above).
The group higher up on the hill (next to the Nature Center) consists of Lynx and Conical, and called a Lynx Group (or Terminal
Moraine Group). While not subject to pedestrian traffic (well-defined path skirts the mounds), the mature trees growing on the body
of these mounds is of concern. Also, some brush and logs are scattered over the mounds. Interestingly, this group used to include
a Linear Mound almost two thousand feet east of the first two, near the campground. I don't know if that mound still survives.
You can read more about Devil's Lake Mounds at:
Don't forget to stop at the Nature Center, too - it has a wonderful exposition on local Mounds (see below).
Devil's Lake is a special place, featuring breathtaking vistas and
amazing geological features like Elephant Cave (left) and Elephant
Rock (below) - to me it looks more like a bison than elephant. It used to be called Spirit Lake by natives, reflecting its importance in the local lore.
Article from Devil's Lake Newsletter
Article from Baraboo Daily News,
1921
Article from Milwaukee Sentinel, 1921
The group to the east of the previous, and mostly to the east of the railroad, is appropriately called East Group. It consists of Linear
and Bear mounds. This group used to have two conical mounds and somewhere from four to six Linears (records differ on that).
I believe some of the linear mounds still survive, unmarked, by the railroad. While visiting in 2013 I noticed the bear and one linear
mound were covered in straw, apparently being prepared for planting of prairie grasses to distinguish them from surrounding lawn
and prevent people from walking on them (see above).
