Figure 1. T.H. Lewis' 1884 surveying map of the Dakota Mounds superimposed on an aerial photo.

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Lewis surveyed this mound group on July 26, 1884. He wrote:

"Dakota Group of mounds, just above Dakota, about 30 ft. above the river. The group contains 20 mounds, of which No. 18 has been excavted. One has dimensions 35 ft. by 47 ft. by 3 ft. Another has a non-descript form, 110 ft. long. The center of the head is 2 1/2 ft. high. The tail is four-lobed, and on the body are three projections, suggesting that the mound is an effigy of a fish with fins. This is the first case that has been discovered of a fish with fins."

The direction of the fish effigy's motion appears to be the same as the flow of the Mississippi.