The Panther Spirit

Effigy Mounds were first reported at Mauston (then called Maus Mills) in 1852, when Increase Lapham visited on horseback and mapped several bird-shaped mounds near the mill dam on the Lemonweir River. Lapham was a surveyor, naturalist, and antiquarian who is often referred to as the grandfather of Wisconsin archaeology. Lapham did not; however, make mention of the panther mound a short distance upstream, and all of the mounds he mapped have since been destroyed. This mound was not reported until 1926, when Charles E. Brown of the Wisconsin Historical Society visited and made a detailed map of the panther and sketched it's location.

Brown was instrumental in collecting information on archaeological sites throughout Wisconsin from the early 1900's into the 1940's as the first true state archaeologist. His records survive in the archives of the State Historical Society, and those led to the rediscovery of the mound in 2004.

Browns records include his original sketch, which details the size and shape of the mound, and pinpoints it's location within the city. Accompanying the map is a 1926 newspaper clipping, which reports that city officials would follow Brown's advice and ensure preservation of the panther mound. That was the last formal record of the mound until 2004.

Re-Discovery of the Mauston Panther Effigy Mound:
In the fall of 2004, while reviewing the Charles E. Brown records for Juneau County, in conjunction with efforts to relocate other mound groups along the Lemonweir River, a 1926 map and newspaper article of the Panther Mound at Mauston was noted. Mr. Chloris Lowe, a member of the Ho-Chunk nation who resides in Mauston, used the map to relocate the site, and visited soon thereafter. Rather astonishingly, he found the mound to be intact within a scrub woods, and initiated the modern effort to preserve this mound. This has involved working with city officials, archaeologists of the Ho-Chunk nation, the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center, and the Mauston Schools.

Above is the map sketched by Charles Brown. It is the Mauston Panther Effigy Mound.

Charles Brown Panther Effigy document courtesy of Chloris Lowe