SHEBOYGAN — Well before white man came to North America, around 700 B.C., big changes happened when plants and animals were intentionally cared for.
Early communities rose out of Woodland Indians of Wisconsin. According to Beth Dippel, retired director of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, those communities made pottery, were avid gardeners and created distinctive burial mounds.
This group of early communities became known as Effigy Mound builders and were prolific in the Black River area of Sheboygan County.
The "Effigy Mound builders" name was derived from their way of constructing earthen burial mounds in the shape of birds, reptiles and mammals. They also built mounds in linear, oval and conical forms, according to the Sheboygan Indian Mound Park guide.
Before white man arrived to early Wisconsin with his axes and plows, Sheboygan County had virgin forests with an abundance of fur-bearing animals. When white Europeans arrived on the scene in the 1700s, they traded items such as blankets, knives and axes for maple sugar and fur from the Indigenous people. The peaceful trading didn't last long, as the white man wanted command of the land.
Problems arose between Indigenous people and European inhabitants in the Midwest, which festered into the Black Hawk War. At the war's conclusion, Indigenous people ceded control of the lands, which eventually became the Midwest we know today.
Soon, inquisitive men such as citizen scientist Increase Lapham came on the scene in Wisconsin during the 19th century.
In 1851, he wrote a document titled "Antiquities of Wisconsin." It was a landmark publication filled with expert drawings that included the Seeley Hill mounds in Sheboygan. The Seeley Hill mounds, in town of Sheboygan, was named after Dr. J.F. Seeley, whose home stood nearby.
Lapham, however, did not describe or discover the Kletzien Mound group. In 1899 and again in 1900, Dr. Alphonse Gerend and George Wolff completed surveys of Sheboygan County's mound collection. The duo created important descriptions about the mound culture.
With the result of development of Wisconsin in general, many mounds were destroyed. Many areas within the central city of Sheboygan are an example. Pioneers, who excavated the area that is now Central High School, discovered some 30 skeletons in shallow pits. Other areas where burials were discovered include the land where today's U.S. Post Office stands, New York Avenue, Ninth Street and the intersection of Ontario and North Ninth Street.
Preservation issues arose in the early 20th century in the state. According to Dippel, the Wisconsin Archaeological Society reported some 12 groups of mounds were in Sheboygan County with a smaller number of solitary mounds. Today, the smaller number of remaining sites are protected under Wisconsin's burial site laws.
Pressure to preserve the existing mounds mounted in Sheboygan. Adam Kletzien gave his property to his three sons, and by 1952, one mound on the land and five mounds on adjacent property had been lost to the plow or bulldozer.
When some of that Kletzien property exchanged hands, 10 more mounds were destroyed.
The Juniper Garden Club initiated a "Save the Mounds" crusade in 1958 when the group caught wind of plans to subdivide more of the property and destroy 18 remaining mounds. The group was unable to get municipal funds to meet the developer's four-month deadline, so the club sponsored an auction, gave tours, held garden walks and with help from a Sheboygan Press campaign, collected $15,362 needed to purchase the 15.48 acres.
In 1960, the land was given to the City of Sheboygan for an archaeological park, the mounds were in disarray of sprouted saplings, brambles and weeds. The Milwaukee Public Museum director at the time, Dr. Stephen Borhegi, and the museum's curator of anthropology, Dr. Robert Ritzenthaler, agreed to be consultants.
Plans were developed with the city providing funds and labor for the project. Archaeologist Kermit Freckmann was hired for the work of restoring the mounds. The project was sponsored by the Town and County Garden Club, the city and other area garden clubs.
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Twelve years after the initial efforts to save the mound area from residential development, the Sheboygan Press noted in a 1968 editorial that Sheboygan became richer as a result of the preservation. The Press gave kudos to the innumerable volunteers who made the park a reality.
When the historic site marker was unveiled during a 1968 ceremony, notables giving comments included Sheboygan Press editor A. Matt Werner, Indian Mound Civic Committee chairwoman Mrs. John M. Kohler, Sheboygan Mayor Joseph R. Browne and Wisconsin Gov. Warren P. Knowles.
Today, Sheboygan Indian Mound Park continues its mission of preserving the past and educating today's population of the area's inhabitants of some 10,000 years ago.
