{"id":660,"date":"2014-05-16T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=660"},"modified":"2015-01-09T16:05:51","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T21:05:51","slug":"uncovering-the-mckees-rocks-indian-mound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/05\/16\/uncovering-the-mckees-rocks-indian-mound\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncovering the McKees Rocks Indian Mound"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"View <\/a>
View of the WPA quarry project with Bottoms in the foreground. (Sun-Telegraph photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Panoramic <\/a>
Panoramic view of the mound in 1946. (Sun-Telegraph photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Man <\/a>
Man and mound in the late 1930s. (Sun-Telegraph photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Newspaper <\/a>
Newspaper article about the mound in 1926. <\/div> <\/div>
\"WPA <\/a>
WPA quarried rock from the mound in 1938. (Sun-Telegraph photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

One day in the mid-1890s, a boy playing baseball with his buddies in McKees Rocks looked down and saw what he thought was a tree root sticking out of the ground.<\/p>\n

The boy had a bat, and so he took a swat at the root. What bounded out of the ground, however, was a shin bone, not part of a tree. He and his friends did what every other American kid would do \u2014 they dug further. Eventually, they unearthed a human skeleton.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one story of the discovery of the ancient McKees Rocks Indian Mound. We\u2019ve also read that early farmers in the area sometimes plowed up skulls of those buried in a sitting position.<\/p>\n

Few people talk about the mound anymore. But at one time it was one of the area\u2019s most striking features. It rises above the Bottoms neighborhood of McKees Rocks and overlooks the Ohio River near Brunot Island.<\/p>\n

In 1896, an Andrew Carnegie-funded excavation turned up the remains of up to 39 people, along with some pottery, beads, an axe and other artifacts of the Adena people who lived thousands of years ago.<\/p>\n

Since then, the mound has been mauled and otherwise mistreated. As early as 1926, The Pittsburgh Press worried that \u201cthe public is standing by in utter apathy and indifference while the mound is being hauled down and destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the Depression years, the WPA quarried rock from the mound. Kids climbed over its heights in search of arrow heads. People picnicked there. Later, an oil company and other industrial firms chopped into the mound and the once-imposing cliff at its eastern edge.<\/p>\n

In May 1951, newspapers made a big deal out of spirits rising up in revenge after two boys nearly got killed while digging a cave into the mound. The roof collapsed, burying the boys, ages 9 and 10. Two pals ran for help. The boys were uncovered after several minutes and, though unconscious, were revived.<\/p>\n

A marker on the site calls the McKees Rocks mound the largest Native American burial ground in Western Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

But the years \u2014 and development \u2014 have taken their toll. We glimpsed the mound yesterday while driving across the McKees Rocks Bridge. It\u2019s mostly covered in trees now and looks like any other rise in the Western Pennsylvania landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A boy with a baseball bat swung at a root. Except it wasn’t a root. It was a shin bone.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesUncovering the McKees Rocks Indian Mound<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[945],"tags":[969,985,1046],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_n5mz98XuOj1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C670&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1256,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/10\/30\/possible-mad-butcher-victims-in-mckees-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":660,"position":0},"title":"Possible \u2018Mad Butcher\u2019 victims in McKees Rocks","date":"October 30, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A search of other cars in the yard turned up two more bodies, also headless.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_mvfvvrbyTW1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1152%2C734&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2244,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/29\/christmas-shopping-in-1972\/","url_meta":{"origin":660,"position":1},"title":"Christmas Shopping in 1972","date":"November 29, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Pittsburgh\u2019s Downtown sidewalks were bustling and dressed in holiday style on December 22, 1972.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdr8mukqGt1rr5swxo1_500.jpg?fit=500%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2292,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/14\/gas-explosions-in-1927-on-pittsburghs-north-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":660,"position":2},"title":"Gas explosions in 1927 on Pittsburgh’s North Side","date":"November 14, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The tanks were never rebuilt. 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