The Cahokia pottery which he found along the creek of that name
(Madison County, Ill.) he ascribes to Indians, and believes it to
be of comparatively recent origin.

Most of the mound pottery is mixed with pulverized shells, which
is also true of most Indian pottery. [Footnote: Dumont, Mem. Hist.
La., vol. 2, 1753, p. 271; Adair, Hist. Am. Indians, p. 424;
Loskiel, Gesell. der Miss., p. 70, etc.] Du Pratz says that "the
Natchez Indians make pots of an extraordinary size, cruses with a
medium-sized opening, jars, bottles with long necks holding two
pints, and pots or cruses for holding bear's oil;" [Footnote:
Hist. La., p. 79.] also that they colored them a beautiful red by
using ocher, which becomes red after burning.

As is well known, the bottle-shaped vase with a long neck is the
typical form of clay vessels found in the mounds of Arkansas and
southeastern Missouri, and is also common in the mounds and stone
graves of middle Tennessee. Those colored or ornamented with red
are often found in the mounds of the former sections. It is worthy
of notice in this connection that the two localities--near Saint
Genevieve, Mo., and near Shawneetown, Ill.--where so many
fragments of large clay vessels used in making salt have been
found, were occupied for a considerable time by the Shawnee
Indians. As will hereafter be shown, there are reasons for
believing this pottery was made by the Shawnees.

The statement so often made that the mound pottery, especially
that of Ohio, far excels that of the Indians is not justified by
the facts.