By W. B. Brigham, Assistant County Supt. of Schools.

One day many years ago while working in the field, my father picked up an Indian arrow-head. He gave it to me as a play-thing and it was much enjoyed tho soon lost; leaving me with a sad heart but a deep longing to find others. Twenty years later after I had roamed o'er the prairies and worked in the fields less than six arrow points were garnered and some of these were obtained from schoolmates. Yet my fascination for these relics has increased as we have learned more of the habits and haunts of the Indians, their different implements and the manner in which they were made.

The Indian hunters and warriors would often lose arrows while on the prairies, but we find them in greater numbers with other stone implements in some of the old village or camp-sites. These were generally on elevated ground in or near the woods and along the streams. The close observer will find little difficulty in locating these places by the presence of granite spalls and flint flakes which are readily distinguished from the pebbles of the glacial drift. This camp debris is sometimes covered by the alluvial from the uplands and is no longer to be found on the surface but is often revealed by diggings or by a washout.

Some years ago, Mr. Milo Custer located a camp-site in section sixteen Bloomington Township and made a good find. I took up his trail and frequently visited the field being always rewarded by finding something of interest, including arrow and spear heads, knives, scrapers, drills and human teeth. No large implements were found there by me. This site was located on the south slope of a hill running down to what had been a pond in early days, the water probably standing there several feet deep throughout the year.

These sites disclose some very interesting facts and furnish much food for speculation. The great variety of "finds" not only recalls many phases of the primitive life of the Indians but also shows that the "ancient arrow-maker" possessed patience and skill of the highest degree.

It is all the more wonderful when we consider that these results were obtained with such crude tools, and again that no artists of modern civilization can attain the technic or reproduce the work of these children of savagery.

In the accompanying illustration are some typical small flint or chert implements found in McLean County.