The Schubbe Collection – Arrowheads
The collection of over 100 projectile points were found between 1880 and 1930 on the Schubbe farm southwest of the village of Monee in Eastern Will County.
William Schubbe bought 240 acres of prime farmland southwest of Racoon Grove and he and his son Hermann, grandson Ervin and great-grandson Bob, toiled the earth, growing corn, oats, and soybeans from about 1877 until about 1985. Cows, pigs, and chickens were also raised on the farm until the 1970’s.
The artifacts in the collection were found before 1940 when all of the tilling was done by horse-drawn plows. The winter freeze and spring thaw would bring the buried arrowheads and other relics of a forgotten past to the surface.
Indigenous People from all the ages lived around the Great Lakes Region, and many used the trails through Monee as can be seen in the collection from the Schubbe farm. Although there aren’t as many “Mississippian” people living in the Monee area between 1,000-500 years ago, there may be other nearby areas which were preferred that are not represented in this collection. The collection does suggest that many people lived in the area between the Middle and Late Archaic period (between 7,000-4,000 years ago). Some Middle Woodland “Mound Builders” arrowheads are represented in the collection. Mound building was taking place about 2,500-1,500 years ago. Late Woodland people 1,500-1,000 years ago also continued to make small mounds like “Briscoe Mounds” near Channahon, and also effigy mounds. This is around the time when the bow and arrow were finally introduced.
Monee is not mentioned as a major Native American village site; however, family bands would break up four times a year and travel many miles to different camp sites including Raccoon Grove. Also, native trails passed through Monee. Algonquin-Speaking Tribes known to have ranged through Illinois on these trails were the Illinois, Miami, Kickapoo, Mascouten, Sauk-Fox, and Anishinaabe (Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa) tribes. They had moved from the east coast and St. Lawrence Seaway on a long migration between 1,000 and 300 years ago. The Potawatomi, the “Keepers of the Fire” moved southward from Sault Ste. Marie and Green Bay about 1670 into Michigan and Illinois.
Artifact Details
