A Visit to Etowah Indian Mounds

April 10, 2018

On the way back from a two days at Cloudland Canyon State Park (blog coming Sunday) I stopped by the site of the largest Native American settlement in the Etowah Valley.  This site, containing three Indian Mounds was occupied from about 900- 1550 A.D. The largest mound was a temple area, while the the second was the site of the chief's house and the third was a mortuary ground. Hernando De Soto visited the area in 1540, bringing English diseases which decimated the colony and bringing an end to this culture.

The site has a barrow bit around the part that once curved from the river, around the entire community, and back to the river. Behind this barrow ditch, was a row of embedded logs which formed a palisade which offered great protection from enemies.

Thismodel of a wattle house, used by the natives here, was built by volunteers 

Detail of the roof structure from the inside it had a large smoke hole. 

View of Mound A, foreground and Mound B background. Mound A was a temple area while B was the site of the chief's house. 

There is a path leading to the top of Mound A

This is Mound C, which held burials and is the only mound to be completely excavated and rebuilt

I took this picture of Mound A and visitors from the top of Mound B

The riparian area along the Etowah River was beautiful with newly leafed out trees, some also blooming. 

Such beauty

This shows the fish dam that funneled the fish to a small opening where they could be easily caught

I enjoyed finding a mullein plant - brought by the Europeans for medical purposes, it is now found in all fifty states

Loved this tree at the top of the fish dam

A medium sized tree was awash with these blooms

This was an especially pretty violet plant

It was almost closing time and most of the people were headed back to the Visitor Center

I was surprised to find a single red clover blooming

View from Mound A - I enjoyed the varied colors of new leaves for most of my trip

The Visitor Center was open later than the outside areas.  I had to rush to see most of the outside area but had plenty of time to enjoy the museum and watch a movie.  The outside had a row of these disks.  I asked the ranger about them and he said they were copied from necklaces.

These two figures were excavated from Mound C - this culture must have had some excellent artists

This is a model of what the entire village looked like, based on data gathered from the site. 

The museum had several displays of artifacts found, I think as funeral artifacts.  This was part of the ax display. 

Some of the axes found here

The last Native Americans to live in this area were the Cherokee and the trail of tears started here. I wanted to visit two other sites involving the Cherokee, but they are not open on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Tuesday was my last day off, so maybe next year, I'll get to them.


I'm looking forward to a visit from my new new friends and owners of Nearly Native Plants. They are coming for a tour and supper on Sunday.  And today I had a serendipitous meeting with the director of Georgia Parks. She is also passionate about pollinator gardens. I'm going to share my pollinator meadow and bog plans with her.

I can't believe I only have four more full time days to work.  I'll leave the 19th and visit friends as I head west to Utah, then I'll zip up to Montana for summer about May 10th.

A Visit to Thomasville Rose Garden

I was feeling the need for a rose fix, so I looked up rose gardens in Georgia.  I found one a little over three hours away that was open from seven to seven,  and touted itself as having fifteen hundred  roses on five acres. That is the description of the Thomasville Rose Garden, which is maintained by the city.  I counted back and figured I needed to leave by 4:00 AM to get there to catch the good light. I didn't manage to leave until four-thirty, so didn't get there until almost eight. I barely managed to catch most of the roses before the dew was off them and until the contrast got too bad to want the pictures. I was amazed at how many species seemed to be doing well in a hot, humid area.

I spent an enjoyable few hours there, but then had to decide on what else I wanted to do.  I had come past Plains, Georgia on my way and thought about going back and visiting that historic site. But I had my bike with me and needed to ride, so started looking for bike trails. There were none close by, so I decided to take a small detour through Maconon the way home,  eat at an Indian Buffet and take a bike ride there.

I had a good time and finally got home just before seven. I would not advise you to spend a lot of time finding this garden, but if you are in the neighborhood, it is well worth visiting.

The site is big and open but backed by huge trees and a lake, with a walking trail around it

I only kept up with a few of the names of the roses.  But the next two pictures are both from one of my personal favorites, Mutabulis, known as the butterfly rose, for good reason.  I seems to grow without a lot of babying throughout the south.  There are usually a few more colors to the flowers but this one was just getting started on its blooms.

The next rose was my garden favorite just because it is so cute.  It is called Whimsy.

I'm getting ready for a camping trip at Cloudland Canyon State Park next Sunday  - Tuesday, my current weekend. And then I'll have to pull out all my stuff and start packing to leave. 'Tis a bittersweet time of the year for me but I'm anxious to meet up with my Montana friends and other friends along the way.

A Visit to High Falls

I went to Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge to see the first pair of Trumpeter Swans to be in Georgia. I also did a little hiking, and driving, but found little to talk about.  There was neither much scenery or birds.

On the way home, I stopped at High Falls State Park to check out the falls. It was strange because they were on the end of a dam.  But there was a hiking trail along the Towaliga river which was very wild below the falls.  This is the tallest falls in middle Georgia.