La Crescent, Houston County, Minnesota
Figure 1. T.H. Lewis' 1884 surveying map of the Hein and Beranek Effigy Mounds superimposed on an aerial photo.
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T.H. Lewis surveyed these mounds on July 18, 1884. Regarding the Hein Mounds he wrote:
"On a plateau about 50 ft. above the flood plain of the Mississippi. This group of 22 mounds embraces four bird effigies, all of which, with straight broad wings, appear more like Greek crosses, with one arm too long, and the opposite one too short. As they are all headed, however, in the same direction, they appear to be a small flock of birds, and can hardly be separated from numerous others which are more evidently intended to represent birds in flight. One of the tumuli is egg-shaped, and they are all small, the largest being 32 ft. in diameter."
Figure 2. T.H. Lewis' sketches of the effigy mound groups near La Crescent, MN. The Hein Mounds (21HU15) are shown in the lower half of the diagram, and the Beranek Effigy Mounds (21HU14) are shown in the upper right hand of the diagram. The "frog" group (21HU13) is shown in the upper left hand corner and was probably located somewhere around the intersection of Kistler Drive with Hwy 16.
Regarding the Beranek Effigy Mounds Lewis wrote:
"[They are] located on a spur from a plateau, about 50 ft. above the river. This group consists of two, an elongated mound and a bird effigy, with the remains of an animal effigy on plowed land. the form which is called a bird effigy is hardly susceptible of that designation, as its wings are more like short, small, elongated mounds, and the head and body could beconsidered together as one elongated mound, crossing that of the wings nearly at a right angle. The body, however, is wider than the head."
Lewis wrote this description of the "frog" group:
"This [group] contains 10 mounds, of which three are effigies. The circular mounds are small and somewhat scattered. They are all situated on the plateau mentioned, one about 30 ft., and the other about 50 ft. above the river. The effigy which is on the lower terrace represents nothing so much as a cross, but it doubtless belongs to that class of effigies named bird effigies."
Winchell added:
"Mr. Lewis, in Science (Vol. 106, 1885), has designated another of these effigies a frog, and taken by itself it has the form of a frog more than that of any other animal, but it may rather be composed of two imperfect bird effigies, one directly in advance of the other and so near together that they are untited in one mound. This idea is rather favored by the fact that a third effigy, like a bird with spread wings, is very close in the rear, and by a little enlargement, either of the frog or this third bird, the three would be brought into union. the spread of the wings, the size and length of the body and the direction of flight are almost identical in the trio."
Considering that the "three birds in a row" theme was also seen at Five Hawks Effigy Mounds in Prior Lake, MN, it is likely that Winchell's guess was correct. The two nondescript forms in the Beranek Mounds could also, along with the bird, have originally formed another bird trio. The Hein bird effigies even share with the Five Hawks site the characteristic of having a fourth bird "flying out in front", and heading in a slightly different direction from the trio. These similarities may indicate that there was some connection between the builders at these two sites.
The direction of flight of all the La Crescent bird effigies approximately matches the direction of flow of the Mississippi River.
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