Cahokia

My wife and I recently visited the Cahokia earth mounds about 7 miles from downtown Saint Louis. I was very impressed by the facilities and the Museum (watch the orientation video if you visit). The folks there are doing a good job educating visitors about the largest pre-Columbian man made structures North of Mexico—and generating an understanding of the impressive, powerful culture which built them.

The Cahokia were the wealthiest and most powerful Mississippian indigenous people. Monk's Mound is the largest of the mounds. For 300 years the Cahokians carried dirt in straw baskets on their backs—collecting, moving, and depositing it to build the largest of these earthen mounds. Several other mounds dot the landscape, each impressive in its own right.

Monk's Mound from a distance. You can (barely) view two people on its top.

A view of two smaller mounds from the top of Monk's Mound.

Downtown St. Louis viewed from the top of Monk's Mound.