Mississippi Coast Indian Mounds

Locals in a small Mississippi town by the coast claim recent attempts at dirt work on these small hills unearthed ancient Indian Artifacts. They are on a high bluff against the Gulf of Mexico, weathered in appearance, and extremely mysterious at 6 in the morning when the sun is rising over the ocean from the east. Either damaged by grave robbers or just warped by time, these small hills are an odd display amongst the modern buildings, sidewalks, and city dwellers of 2012. 

Historical Account of Local Indian Burial Techniques

East Hobolochitto Indian Mound

A circular formation in Picayune might be an Indian Mound. It is 180 feet in diameter and 4 1/2 feet tall at it's highest point. It rises like an ant mound from the swampy shores of the East Hobolochitto Creek. The amber creek runs through the north side of Picayune. If you look at the formation pictured below you will see the round mound just above the ridge. 

My friend and I forgot to bring the mosquito spray and a machete on our trek, so by the time we reached the mound we were being ate alive by monster mosquitoes and torn to shreds by sticker bushes. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time or patience to snap a National Geographic shot of the Mound but you can see the land rising in the distance of the photo below.

Henleyfield Indian Mound

I found a historical account in the Picayune Library referring to "someone's" house north of Picayune as the site of an ancient Indian Mound. A friend of mine from Henleyfield helped me find the house. When we spoke to "that person", he said that a man named Arjel might know where the Indian Mound is.

We drove a small white car to Mr. Arjel’s house. He wore overalls, spoke in a mumbled southern accent, and drew maps in the sand and on the dust of his big pickup truck in the middle of thoughts. He directed us towards an Indian Mound down an old dummy line road in a hunting reserve against the Pearl River. Can this Toyota make it? I asked. Sure, Arjel declared.  

So we went. The road was rough with deep muddy holes everywhere. I was straddling canyons in a small Toyota. The vegetation around us got green, thick and swampy. Eventually I got the car stuck, had to push it out, and headed back to the main road. The trip was not a complete failure because I did see a brilliant patch of wild cypruss trees and some Alligator tracks.

My brother was telling me about his new hobby, working with GIS maps. I described the directions that Arjel gave me to him and he located the mound on lidar. Lidar is an advanced mapping system that reads and displays elevation changes and land formations.

Notice the UFO looking formation in the middle of the blue flood plain. That is the Indian Mound in Henleyfield on the Pearl River. It is extremely circular and 185 feet in diameter. It is round like a gigantic tomato cut in half placed on earth with a planetary ring dipping into the soil around it. 

Mr. Arjel told me the Indians built a ditch from the mound to the river deep enough for a canoe. When I asked why he said it is a mystery. I don't see a ditch to the river but... 

A closer view of the mound shows a circular ditch around the mound. Perhaps it was a mechanism to catch fish when the flood waters rose?