CAST COPPER

VIKING WATERWAY

It was the summer of 1952. Donald Baldwin, a 13 year old lad from Oconto, Wisconsin, was exploring an abandoned gravel pit on the western out- skirts of the city, when he uncovered a cache of human bones. His discovery would lead to one of the most significant archaeological investigations ever under- taken in the state.

It would grow to involve not only the Milwaukee Public Museum, but the University of Chicago, the Natural History Museum of Chicago, and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Excavations were con- ducted jointly by the Oconto County Historical Society and the Wisconsin Archaeological Survey.

Young Baldwin’s find and sub- sequent discoveries at Oconto established the area as one of monumental archaeo- logical importance. Carbon-14 dating revealed human habitation there in excess of 7,500 years ago. The remains of at least forty five individuals and a virtual treasure trove of copper, bone and stone artifacts were the oldest (at least at that time) cultural materials found east of the Mississippi River.

The site contained the oldest known cemetery in North America. Artifacts and burials provided powerful new evidence about the antiquity, com- plexity and diffusion of ancient North America's Copper Culture. Yet, in the end, everything learned and gained from the discovery would be soon after packed away and virtually forgotten. But the Copper Culture tradition grew to repre-

Above: One of the 21 grave-pits uncovered during the Oconto excavation.Left: Informational sign greeting visitors to the site. Photographs courtesy of the Oconto Historical Society, Oconto, Wisconsin.

sent one of the most controversial inter- pretations of North American prehistory.

Currently a Wisconsin State Park and open to visitors, the archeologi- cal precinct is located some 150 yards from the Oconto River, and approximately three miles from where it flows into Green Bay. The site lies in a Pleistocene glacial till plain overlain with a 1.5-foot layer of

sand, and 0.5-foot layer of humus. The area surrounding the site was once a fairly level one, but gravel mining operations during the 1920s removed a substantial amount of the soil and substrata, destroying most of the site. Investigators estimate it originally may have contained as many as 200 buri- als. Both grave and cremation pits were found, but no mounds associated with them exist. Pit outlines were generally round for cremation and elliptical or rec- tangle for graves. In cross-section, they were basin-shaped. The incineration and burial areas were separated from each

other by one to five feet. In two instances, the burials

intruded into prior or adjacent graves. Eight cremation pits were found altogeth- er. They were generally two to four feet in diameter, one foot deep, and often did not penetrate into the gravel layer. Each cre- mation pit contained the remains of at least one individual. The presence of charcoal, blackened stones, and other evi- dence of fire on the sides and bottoms of

the pits suggests that cremation took place within the pits. Split bones, skull fragments, and the general chaotic posi- tion of the bones indicated the dead may have been dismembered, or given scaffold or tree-burials before cremation.

Altogether, twenty-one grave pits were uncovered during excavations. A total of 33 men, women and children were recorded. One of the pits was empty, eleven each contained a single individual, seven were occupied by two persons each, and one held three human remains. Five individuals were interred in a single pit.

Graves were dug into the gravel stratum (glacial till), while the burials were laid in and covered with sand. These pits were discernible by their gravel out- line when seen from above. The entombed individuals had been interred in several positions varying from prone to partially flexed (in the ancient Egyptian manner). A number of graves contained bundle burials, implying they died elsewhere and were reburied at the Oconto site.

Artifacts discovered at the site are perhaps the most telling evidence of the Copper Culture. They show that the Oconto site inhabitants used a deep knowledge of metallurgy, and established a strong economy based on extensive trade. Travel, too, would have played an integral part in their commerce, and is demonstrated by the many copper arti- facts found up and down the Mississippi

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Continued in Ancient American Magazine, Vol. 5 No. 4.

the vast majority of the ancient tools were cast

The Rediscovery of Lost America

Arlington Mallery and Mary Robison Harrison

1951

See above:"justify the conclusion that the vast majority of the ancient tools were cast."

OVERVIEW of VIKING WATERWAY

The copper haulers may have worked on a three year cycle.  The goal for the first year was to sail from from Norway to the Nelson River in time to launch the rowboats so they could reach Stakke Lake.  Ships timed the voyage to arrive at Hudson Strait when the ice was thawed.  At the Nelson river, the boatmen began the race agains temperature to reach Stakke Lake before the river waters froze.  In the spring the boatmen launched from Stakke lake. They rowed to Minneapolis to pick up 5 tons of pure copper.  Then they rowed down stream to the Yucatan to over winter there until the Atlantic hurricane season was over.  The three year cycle coincides with the voyages of Hiram and Solomon in the Bible.

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The boat route from Stinking Lake to Duck Lake is shown by the red-white trace on the left.  The view of the straight cut  is shown on the right.  This straight channel may have been an attempt by men to extent a channeled waterway through a marshy area.  The two hillocks in the distance appear to be created by man for some purpose.

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Then the boats had to be lifted 62 feet up this ramp.  Men with ropes standing above the boats may have helped to lift the boats that weighed up to a ton.  The ramp is on the right.  The Harbor at Duck Lake is on the left and shown in an overview at bottom right.  Note the man-modified berms extending from both shores and the symmetry of a harbor that could hold up to 150 boars.  Duck Lake may have been a temporary collection harbor as the boats were portaged to Stakke Lake.

The boat portage from Duck Lake to Stake Lake is a portage that requires gaining more than 60 more feet and moving the boats overland 4.1 miles.  There is evidence that an attempt was made to create a lake, which is shown as Park Lake, but the success of a man-made lake with no inflow is doubtful.  However they portaged the boats, getting to Stakke Lake appears to be the best route for the boatmen.

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The Jetty at Stakke Lake was the intermediate destination for the boatmen.  The hundreds of boats were strung out along the Red River and Buffalo River.  Food had been stored at Stakke Lake by the hunters during the summer.  Groups of boats would arrive at the Jetty.  They would raise the boats onto their oars to make living space.  They would rest and restore their energies until the spring thaw.  Then they would launch the boats with the intention to row to Minneapolis to pick up copper and float down the Mississippi.  An older jetty can be seen above the line of trees in the upper left of the picture.  When the lake elevation was raised to 1380 ft the older jetty was flooded.  The existence of two jetties in Stakke Lake is strong evidence that jetties were in use for many centuries.

The Jetty at Stakke Lake appears to be man-modified because the terrain contours of the Jetty are parallel for more than a 1,000 ft, the contours turn ninety degrees to make a 450 foot jetty.  The elevation of the Jetty is more than 1380 feet.  That elevation appears to be the height of the the dam at Middle and Big Cormorant Lake.  The Jetty may have been deliberately built at an angle so men, who were strangers to the area could identify the correct lake.  The Jetty also appears to have been deliberately built to create a secure harbor.  The fact that Stakke Lake has an older jetty almost cinches the hypothesis that the Jetty at Stakke Lake was man-made.

http://myronpaine.blogspot.com/2018/01/american-history-organization-update-9.html

The facts that the bus driver recognized the more ancient jetty and that Mark Hilde was able to guide the bus to a probable ancient gathering spot, means that the Viking Waterway tour was telling a plausible, but incomplete, story and that tour was following the correct route.

The VIKING WATERWAY TOUR BOOKLET is at FROZEN TRAIL to MERICA.

ANCIENT MAN-MODIFIED TERRAIN FOUND

ANCIENT MAN-MODIFIED TERRAIN 

FOUND IN WESTERN MINNESOTA

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The forty-five passengers of the VIKING WATERWAYS TOUR bus on Saturday, September 28, 2013 witnessed the unplanned re-discovery of two ancient man-modified terrain features in western Minnesota.
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Tour leaders Karl Hoenke and Dr. Myron Paine were telling them how the 1271-foot by 459-foot jetty at Stakke Lake was a strategic facility for the copper haulers of 3700 years ago.  Then the bus driver asked, “Are there two jetties here?  I see one ahead of me, but the one you want is over there.”

JETTY at STAKKR LAKR.

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This man-made jetty is located a strategic location.  The jetty is located seven miles from the Stinking Lake.  Stinking Lake is at the highest elevation of the Buffalo River that can float a boat.  The copper haulers, c1,700 to 1,200 BC, portaged the cargo directly from Stinking Lake to the jetty.  Then they moved their boats, which weighed a ton, via shorter portages through Duck, La Belle, Boyer, and Park Lakes to Stakke Lake. The jetty at Stakke Lake was a rendezvous place for hundreds of boats and thousands of men as they waited for the spring thaw.  When the thaw arrived, they launched hundreds of boats to transport 500 tons of copper away from Lake Superior.

This man-made jetty is located a strategic location.  The jetty is located seven miles from the Stinking Lake.  Stinking Lake is at the highest elevation of the Buffalo River that can float a boat. 
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COPPER MINE FIELD at ILLE ROYALE

The copper miners of 4,200 to 3,200 left behind nearly 10,000 pits near Lake Superior.

One estimate is that they hauled away 500 tons of copper per year for the thousand years.

The number of boats required to haul the copper is at least 100 boats per year. 

 The copper haulers, c1,700 to 1,200 BC, portaged the cargo directly from Stinking Lake to the jetty.  Then they moved their boats, which weighed a ton, via shorter portages through Duck, La Belle, Boyer, and Park Lakes to Stakke Lake. The jetty at Stakke Lake was a rendezvous place for hundreds of boats and thousands of men as they waited for the spring thaw.  When the thaw arrived, they launched hundreds of boats to transport 500 tons of copper away from Lake Superior.
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The bus driver had just seen another jetty, which may have been centuries older than the newer jetty that Hoenke and Paine were describing.

The Old Jetty at Stakke Lake

The old jetty at stake lake is the rectangle above "Lake" in the center of the image. This jetty appears to be the first jetty built in Stakke Lake.  The surface is just above the water level of 1364 feet elevation.  The ancient hydraulic engineers apparently determined they could raise the lake level to 1380 feet before the water would spill down Hay Creek to the north.  So they built a second jetty with an area as big as five city blocks and a surface at 1385 feet. [That jetty is off the picture just below the "Stakke" name]

The old jetty at stake lake is the rectangle above "Lake" in the center of the image. This jetty appears to be the first jetty built in Stakke Lake.  The surface is just above the water level of 1364 feet elevation.  The ancient hydraulic engineers apparently determined they could raise the lake level to 1380 feet before the water would spill down Hay Creek to the north.  
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So they built a second jetty with an area as big as five city blocks and a surface at 1385 feet. [That jetty is off the picture just below the "Stakke" name]
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Later analysis of the two jetties indicates an evolution that may have spanned centuries.  That evolution confirms Hoenke and Paine’s beliefs that the copper haulers raised the dam between Middle and Big Cormorant Lakes to an elevation of 1380 feet.   At that height Stakke Lake became nine miles long.  Stakke Lake enabled rowing between the new jetty at Stakke Lake and the dam between Middle and Big Cormorant Lakes.
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The thousands of men in hundreds of boats that left Stakke Lake jetty every spring rowed to Minneapolis to load five tons of copper in each boat.  They were part of the flotilla that removed 940 million pounds of pure copper from Lake Superior.
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Then Mark Hilde guided the bus driver to the Green Valley golf course to look at the mooring stones there.  There were four stones with holes in them.  Later analysis shows that the stone on the highest ground may have held a flagpole.
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The three other stones may have moored boats in a secure harbor.  The water level of that harbor would have had to be 1380 feet to make the secure harbor.
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STONES WITH HOLES at HOUGLAND LAKE

The four stones with holes at HOUGLAND Lake appear to indicate that the spot was either a gathering place, a command center, or both.  The three mooring stones neat the lake shore implies several boats loading or unloading at the same time.  The boats probably moved into the larger harbor to anchor.

That 1380 feet elevation fits the jetty and dam configuration.  The flag and mooring stones might have been a site for a gathering place or for high commanders of the Stakke Lake-Cormorant Lake operation during the copper hauling era. 
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The evidence provides strong support to the hypothesis that thousands of men and hundreds of boats launched from Stakke Lake in western Minnesota every year for hundreds of years.
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After those unexpected re-discoveries, the rest of the tour was interesting but anti-climatic.  The tourists accepted without comment the discussion of the dam that created Lake Alexandria.   They saw the still visible dikes that retained the water of Lake Alexandria into a seventeen-mile long lake.
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The Kensington Rune Stone, the 14th century artifacts from the Viking Waterway, the dams, dikes and harbors, and the two Viking Ships in museums all confirmed that the Vikings had come to western Minnesota 1,000 years ago because they had found the copper haulers waterway.  They knew how to restore the waterway operation. 
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The Vikings used the Viking Waterway to be traders from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico during the Mississippi culture period.

DEVELOPMENTS

The pictures for the 2013 VIKING WATERWAY tour are available.
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LIDAR confirms that thousands of people walked between
               Stinking Lake and Stakke lake.
              Also confirms PARK LAKE existed.
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ON GOING
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Sign up for Boarding Pass.  Tell you friends to get theirs.
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The best way to appreciate the VIKING WATERWAY is to:

   Study the VIKING WATERWAY short course* and

  purchase the VIKING WATERWAY booklet **
   BEFORE going on a tour with a GUIDE in the vehicle.

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       Self guided tours are not recommended.
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     The new stuff, like the terrain features we discovered
    on the 2013 tour, will be added to the 2014 booklet.

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Based on the 2013 tour, which was too long, the VIKING WATERWAY tours should be divided into six nodes:

                 1. Detroit Lakes,

                 2.  Pelican Rapid,

                 3.  Fargo

                 4.  Kensington

                 5.  Alexandria

                 6.  Moorhead
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Tours departing from Detroit Lakes, and Alexandria will take about four hours in a wheeled vehicle.  Moorhead has the Hjemkomst viking ship, which was built by Bob Asp and friends because he believed that Vikings had been in the area of Hawley MN.  The Pelican Rapid, Fargo, and Kensington nodes involve rivers.  The man made terrain along these rivers is distributed.  The best way to appreciate the river segments is by slow poke touring along the rivers with wheels, or by canoe and Kayak.

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*If enough people sign up to make a class and if one, or more, of the 2013 TOURists are willing to lead the discussion, then maybe the Community Education center in Detroit Lakes might offer to put the VIKING WATERWAY Short Course  on the curriculum.
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**VIKING WATERWAY booklets can be purchased from Midwest printing in Detroit Lakes MN.

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On November 10, 2014 Bob Hill wrote:

Dear Mr. Paine,

Thank you so much for you very interesting ideas about movements of the Greenlanders into North America and their possible refurbishment and use of the old copper trade routes. I have been interested in the Lake Superior copper mines for decades and your explanation of how the Viking Waterway may have worked is fascinating.

You likely have already seen this, but while looking at satellite photos of Stinking Lake,

https://www.google.com/maps/place/46%C2%B055'04.9%22N+96%C2%B008'15.7%22W/@46.917515,-96.138933,638m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

I noticed that there appear to be modifications to it on the eastern side that I do not remember you referencing. 

In particular, there is an odd ditch or trough located at 46.918035,-96.137704. 

MYRON: You are right Bob I did miss that ditch it does appear that the pond and the ditch define a man made campground. I estimate that about 100 tepee or wigwam would occupy that campground. I suggest that this might have been a permanent campground for the local hunter gatherers who may have hunted and fished for food supplies for the 3,000 that would be coming through the area. This permanent campground was probably placed on the other side of the lake from where the transient 3,000 men would have passed. Another possibility is that this was a permanent command center. But the key element that it does appear to be man made at sometime in the past. The picture below shows the profile elevation from the lake to the ditch. 

Picture and Profile from Pond to Drainage Ditch. Land are about 12 feet above the water channels. The living area would hold about 100 living units.

This profile across the end of the pond illustrates that this is man modified terrain which raised the berms to keep the water in the pond. 

Bob:

The trough itself seems to be on a roughly rectangular raised area similar to the jetty at Stakke Lake. Perhaps the trough was a sort of slipway for pulling up ships for unloading or for repair.

Myron: Bob, the ditch appears to be similar to drainage ditches throughout Europe to remove water and snow melt from swampy land. The ditch does not seem to be involved  with the boats that may have been used. I suggest that the ditch is primarily used to make sure that the living area was dry. 

Bob:

Additionally, immediately to the west is a roughly rectangular pond that may be the remnants of another man-made harbour. The location of this area would be just right for the route that leads to Duck Lake and beyond. To me, that makes a lot of sense. The route between Stinking Lake and Stakke Lake is perhaps the most difficult stretch. Having a good sized camp at Stinking Lake gives a sort of mirror site to the jetty at Stakke Lake, a place for storing goods, making camp, and possibly repairing any damage done to the boats during hauling.

Myron: 

I agree that the campground looks like it was part of the boat moving process, but as I said above it may have been a permanent campground for the local hunter gatherers or it may have been a command center. The LIDAR sensing shows that the ground around the pond and ditch had much human traffic. 

This campground is much smaller than the jetty at stakke lake as I said above this area would hold only about 100 tepee, wigwams, or inverted boats. Stakke lake would hold the entire estimated 200 boats and 3,000 men for most of a winter season. I think the ground traffic shows the the boats were unloaded on the South side of Stinking lake, thats why the mooring stone is there. The mooring stone enabled boats to unload their cargo and float to a new elevation in Stinking lake. 

Bob, I appreciate your interest and your observation of this campground. Perhaps you and I will resolve a better solution but for now my thoughts and your thoughts are interesting thoughts that may lead to even a better solution. 

VIKING WATERWAYS TOURS 2014

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Definitely will attend                          Interested
          Detroit Lakes
01                                                                          Jay Wakefield

02                                                                     Christine Gregory
03                                                                               Don Spohn
04                                                                   Edward Darrington
05                                                                  Frederick P Hoenke
06                                                                        Houssam Nassif

07                                                                             Jeffrey Lund

08                                                                         Lee Pennington
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          Pelican Rapids
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         Fergus Falls

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          Kensington
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          Alexandria
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          Hjemkomst, Moorhead
01                                                                         Markus Krueger

02                                                                          Skip Neilburger
03                                                                            William Davis
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Ancient History Text

ANCIENT HISTORY
BACK GROUND

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The women of Wisconsin (his wise woman) began to cast copper 7,500 years ago.  They used pure copper which was found on the ground around Lake Superior.  Copper trade routes through America can still be traced by following many north and south highways.

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About 4,200 years ago the first ships from the Mediterranean sailed into the region.  An engraving of what may be one of the first ships into the area still exists on Keewanee  Peninsula.  Keewanee means "Lake that turns."  The peninsula is almost made into an Island by a lake that turns.

The scant evidence available indicates that about 3,700 years ago, Norse people began to realize that they could sail into the big bay, (Hudson Bay) in large freight ships.   Those ships are called "Longships." Longships pulled a small knarr and, perhaps, carried two or more knarr on deck.  These knarr with crews of fifteen to sixteen mem were unloaded at the mouth of the Nelson river.  

Then the knarrs would be pulled up the Nelson river to Lake Winnipeg (Stinking Bay) and then the Red River to reach Wynland of West.  

Rowing up the Nelson and the Red Rivers took nearly a month.  The Pope at the Vatican in 1160 knew that the knarr took twelve days to return to Hudson Bay.

Starting 4200 years ago and continuing for 1,000 years enough copper was removed from Lake Superior to equip 300 ten thousand man armies.  That amount of armor represents the approximate quantity of the armor destroyed in the Mediterranean, Asia mInor, and Europe during the Bronze Age.  During the Bronze Age those areas of the world developed the warfare mentality that exists to this day.

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In North America trade may have been the core mentality of the people mining copper.  But there is evidence that the Copper Trade developed into an armed conflict.  Ships and men used all possible routes to and from Lake Superior.  There is evidence that armed conflict made some of the more practical routes, like the Mississippi, dangerous. 

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VIKING WATERWAY
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Just north of Fargo-Moorhead the crew on the boats could put up to 7 men with ropes on each side of the Buffalo River.  They would pull the boat upstream.  Ninty miles up the Buffalo River they would reach a lake now called Duck Lake at Lake Park, MN.

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From this location the knarr could row and occasionally portage all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.  At Duck lake, the boat crews had not yet crossed the north-south continental divide.  That would happen at Fergus Falls, MN (Worthy [to be called] "falls") where the crews would row up  a fast flowing river (Ottertail) and then carry the boats across a short portage into the Mississippi basin.

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The Bronze Age ended in 1,200 BC.  But the people of the sea still came to trade.  The Nelson River, Red River, and Mississippi River continued to be a waterway.  The Vikings came to Wynland of West after another ecological disaster in 535 AD.  Highway I95 from Moorhead to Minnesota still parallels the Viking Waterway.

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About 1,000 years ago Vikings spoke OlD Norse.  They had found the land north of Big Stone Lake (SD & MN) a fine land with plenty of grass,  meat from buffalo, deer, and fish.  They called the place Wynland of West."  They used the waterway we now call the "Viking" waterway.

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Europe and Asia Minor were only a few months away, but the warfare cultures over there probably led to the development of the Seven Fires Prophecy.  In the fourth fire prophecy the Viking traders were the friendly pale skinned people with the handshake The pale skinned people with weapons were people to avoid.  Most Americans knew the Seven Fires prophecy.  On first contact, Americans used the Seven Fires Prophecy to judge Europeans.

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Then came the Little Ice Age.  The nearly 4,000 Norse on Greenland were forced to migrate to the their kin in Wynland of West.

HUDSON BAY in the BRONZE AGE

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PICTURES of 2013 VIKING WATERWAY TOUR

Robin Mueller took 527 pictures.

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The links below will guide you to the best pictures with captions.
       Click on <-- (back) or --> (next) at the center bottom 
                to see other photos in the group.
      You can see all the thumbprints by clicking 
               on the square of nine dots at the center bottom.
                Click on Thumbprint to get new photo.
               Click on X on upper right of Thumbprints 
                       to return to photo.
Use the return arrow, upper left to get back to these links.

Enjoy.

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Rainy Morning

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Full Bus

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Stinking Lake

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The Straight Cut

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The Shallow Channel

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The Ramp

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Duck Lake

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Park Lake

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Jetty at Stakke Lake

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Surprise!  Another Jetty

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View of Jetty

Lake Alexandria Dikes

Map view of Alexandria Dikes