Re: 4/27 you all want to hit up Robinson's Woods
Hey Bomber, around the corner from my house is a field that in the original 1838 plat maps shows a footnote that reads, "27 ancient mounds inside dotted lines" This is about a 10 acre plowed field that is now a district park. No evidence of the mounds remain, though with simple math you could surmize that up to 1000 or more locals were buried here before "modern" settlement in the 1830's. That makes it a very sensitive site for many.
From the same original plats, this one filed in 1840 in the federal land plat office in St. Louis, here's a shot of Robinson woods. Robinson has many descendents up on the reservation in Wisconsin and having partied with Menominee in the past. Well, I won't cross their sacred grounds. Federal laws apply here, and while the application of these has been virtually non-existant in the past, I wouldn't want to act in a way that might encourage future enforcement.
I can tell you this, I've hunted a local former (1840's-1940's) cemetery here in Elgin for the last year while running paths and playgrounds have been installed in what is now a schoolyard and park, no moral dilemma there, I've gotten lots of casket handles and coffin parts sent over to the historical society for their evaluation. Some nice old coins too. But it's not a federally protected site, it's a city park.
So I'd encourage everyone to check out the Robinson family history and respect the heritage of what is a unique site here in Chicagoland. I am confident site-specific markers will be on site soon or in the future, but there's too many other places still holding goodies too risk bad PR for the hobby here. Meanwhile the sign in the front by the small parking area at Lawrence and River road and the writing on that large glacial erratic (boulder, big rock) should suffice as limiting factors.
I'll be out your way on Rt. 72 Sunday if you want to get together for an old homesite hunt. The dog trainng area across from the entrance to Cabelas, east of Beverly Lake and just west of Old Sutton Road on the north side of Rt. 72. I've covered about .5% of this site and it's turned out a few goodies including barber silver and an old IOOF pin, old toys etc..
Lemme know if you can show up Sunday!
