new acquisition

The Conservancy Partners To Obtain Ninth Wisconsin Preserve

The Cade Archaeological District contains several prehistoric sites.

THE CONSERVANCy HAS PARTNERED with the Mississippi Valley Conservancy (MVC) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to acquire 70 acres along the Bad Axe River in southwestern Wisconsin. The property, the Bernice Cade farm, is the central portion of the Cade Archaeological District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The property has several significant archaeological resources including two effigy mound groups, two late prehistoric habitation sites, and an unexplored rockshelter that shows signs of prehistoric occupation.

The two well-preserved effigy mound groups are located in the wooded slopes overlooking the river. Effigy mounds date from about a.d. 750 to 1100 and are primarily found in Wisconsin. About 85 percent of Wisconsin’s effigy mounds have been destroyed, so the Cade property is “an opportunity to preserve what has become a rare and unique resource,” according to Joe Tiffany, Director of the Mississippi Valley Archaeological Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Paul Gardner, the Conservancy’s Midwest Regional Director,

The habitation sites in the river bottom were the focus of and Mississippi Valley Conservancy conservation specialist a field school lead by Jim Theler, an archaeologist with the Mis- Abbie Church at the rockshelter. sissippi Valley Archaeology Center. The excavation revealed, among other things, the presence of another habitation area that yielded pottery characteristic of the Great Oasis Culture of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. This was the first time Great Oasis pottery was discovered in Wisconsin, and it is also the farthest east that the pottery has been found.

The radiocarbon dates from the Cade site’s Great Oasis features indicate an occupation at about a.d. 1050, the time when the culture disappears from Minnesota and Iowa. The possibility that the Cade site holds important clues to the disappearance of the Great Oasis Culture makes its acquisition particularly rewarding.

When Theler learned that the Cade property was on the market for $210,000 he notified the Conservancy and suggested that we contact the MVC, a local land trust preserving natural areas in southwestern Wisconsin. The MVC was familiar with the Cade property, which is considered particularly desirable because it includes a large, unspoiled stretch of the river, and harbors at least seven species of state-endangered or threatened plants and animals.

Wanting to preserve her property, Bernice Cade agreed to a bargain-saleto-charity price of $165,000, and this allowed the Conservancy and MVC to purchase the property by each contributing $41,250, which was matched by a $82,500 Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Future use of the property is governed by a management plan endorsed by the Wisconsin DNR that provides for future archaeological research. According to MVC conservation specialist Abbie Church, her organization’s goal “is to involve and serve the needs of the public to the greatest extent possible while protecting all natural and cultural resources.” —Paul Gardner ConservanCy

Plan of Action

SITE: Cade Archaeological District

CULTURE AND TIME PERIOD:

Principally Effigy Mound Culture and Great Oasis Culture, circa a.d. 600–1100. STATUS: The sites are threatened by residential development. ACQUISITION: The Conservancy needs to raise $60,000. HOW YOU CAN HELP: Please send contributions to The Archaeological Conservancy, Attn: Cade, 5301 Central Ave. NE, Suite 902, Albuquerque, NM 87108-1530.