INDIAN MOUNDS & OLD ST. LOUIS ROAD

LOCATION: On the east side of the tennis courts on the Drury College campus.

INSCRIPTION: "THESE MOUNDS MARK THE SITE OF PRE-HISTORIC INDIAN HOMES. THEY ARE BELIEVED TO REPRESENT THE REMAINS OF THATCH-ROOFED CIRCULAR ADOBE HUTS, SIMILAR TO THOSE BUILT BY THE MANDAN INDIANS. THOUSANDS OF SIMILAR MOUNDS ARE WIDELY SCATTERED IN GROUPS THROUGHOUT THE OZARKS, BUT ARE BEING RAPIDLY DESTROYED BY AGRICULTURAL AGENCIES. THEIR BUILDERS ANTEDATED THE OSAGES. MEAGER EVIDENCE INDICATE A NON-WARLIKE AND AGRICULTURAL RACE. PROBABLY EFFACED EITHER BY PESTILENCE OR BY WARLIKE ENEMY TRIBES. ERECTED BY DRURY COLLEGE, OCT. 12 1927."

This is a double-sided marker. The inscription for the mounds is on the west side away from the road. The inscription on the east side is:

"100 FEET EAST WAS THE OLD ST. LOUIS ROAD WHICH ONCE RAN DIAGONALLY THROUGH THE DRURY COLLEGE CAMPUS FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHWEST. REMAINS OF THE EARTHWORKS THROWN UP TO FORTIFY THIS ROAD IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CIVIL WAR CAN STILL BE OBSCURELY SEEN ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE CAMPUS."