Sweet’s Prairie	by Carl R. Becker
Central States Archaeological Societies 2020 July Journal	Moro, Illinois

This is an excerpt from "Sweet’s Prairie". Read the complete column in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2020 July Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2020 Figure 1. The two points found in Sweet’s Prairie by the author, the Stillwell point at the top and the Sloan Dalton at the bottom. The Dalton measures 6 inches in length, with the top portion being found more than 10 years before the bottom portion
Two or three other collectors at different times thought my experiences over the years may be of interest to others. Hoping this is the case, I will share how two of my better finds came about (Fig.1) on what was known as Sweet’s Prairie in earlier times. Two-hundred years ago, the first settler came to the Prairietown area in northcentral Madison County, Illinois. His name was David Sweet, a native of Pennsylvania. The 160 acre land claim he filed lay on the southeast corner of a large prairie, which then became known by his name. Sweet’s Prairie is founded on the east by Cahokia Creek and by the Paddock Creek to the west, the confluence of these two forming its southern border. Numerous small creeks and streams, lined with oak and hickory, bordered the prairie, making the area abundant with wildlife. I moved to a farm in the middle of old Sweet’s Prairie in the mid-1970s. The land I farmed had been in cultivation well over 100 years and I never considered surface hunting fields. Several years passed and then, while cultivating soybeans,.....
Read the complete column in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2020 July Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2021