Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Beneath Kosciusko County lies the past.
Ice Age mastodons. Early man. Indian artifacts. And old-time settlers.
The Kosciusko County Archaeology Society hopes to eventually dig it up and preserve it for the future.
County historian "Ron Sharp got this started. He's the founder," said Society chairman Bill Wilson.
Sharp said the county has many historical sites that have not been recorded. He thought an organization could do just that. Originally, the group started with 12-13 members. Now, it's up to 20 and growing and looking for more members.
"Right now," said Wilson, "we are being educated. That's the first thing."
Society secretary Deanna Wilson said the archaeology group has members with great knowledge of artifacts. Bill Wilson said Sharp knows of mastodons and Indian sites around the area. He said they want to not only educate themselves, but pass the information on to younger generations - "before it's all lost," said Deanna. Bill said they are trying to locate as many sites as possible.
Sharp said he knows of the locations from past history, newspaper stories and maps from the county surveyor's office. "The county surveyor has some of the maps with the old Indian villages on it." Word of mouth helps, too.
Villages of Pottawatomie Indians lay along the Tippecanoe River in the central part of the county. Chief Musquawbuck's village was on the south bank of the Tippecanoe where Oswego currently is. Chief Monoquet's village was north of Warsaw where the tennis club is now. Checose's village was on the western edge of Warsaw, said Sharp, while Mota's village was south near Atwood.
The big chiefs from the area were Miami Indian chiefs Flatbelly and his brother Waw-wa-esse.
Bill said there are 10 known sites of where mastodon bones have been found. "Whatever's not been destroyed or ate up by now."
All of this is to be found and hopefully explored, provided property owners give the Society permission.
"We'd like to see the younger generations get involved in this also," said Bill. "So this can be carried on."
Meetings are the second Saturday of every month at 9 a.m. at the Old Jail Museum, downtown Warsaw.
"We welcome anyone who is interested," said Deanna. Younger children may not be interested in the meetings, but may like checking out the dig sites once the Society begins visiting them.
"We're still in our infancy stage," said Bill.
Deanna said they plan to have different speakers come in and speak to the group.
"We are looking for an exciting year," she said.
Two big goals for the Kosciusko County Archaeology Society, said Bill, is to have an archaeological exhibit in the area and have items for sale.
For more information, call Bill at 574-491-2034.
