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→Medicine Mounds
Medicine Mound is near four dolomite hills known as '''Medicine Mounds,''' which are considered sacred by the Comanche and Kiowa Indians who believe that the landmarks contain mystical spirits to improve the quality of their lives. The mounds are on private property and not available for public tours beyond an outer five-mile limit. One can see for approximately fifty miles from the top of the mounds.<ref name=memories>"Memories of the Mounds," website of Downtown Medicine Mound Preservation Group, no longer on-line.</ref>
Medicine Mound is near four dolomite hills known as '''Medicine Mounds,''' which are considered sacred by the Comanche and Kiowa Indians who believe that the landmarks contain mystical spirits to improve the quality of their lives. The mounds are on private property and not available for public tours beyond an outer five-mile limit. One can see for approximately fifty miles from the top of the mounds.<ref name=memories>"Memories of the Mounds," website of Downtown Medicine Mound Preservation Group, no longer on-line.</ref>
John A. Bates of Ferndale in Oakland County, near [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], the former executive director of the Downtown Medicine Mound Preservation Group> and a cousin of Myna Potts, recalls having visited Medicine Mount when he was a boy: "The Comanche would come to the Medicine Mounds for their healing powers, often trading flint and other goods and racing their ponies around the mound below us. . . . We carefully descended about seventy-five feet or so to an almost imperceptible track that circled the entire mound, which was used by Quanah Parker's braves to test their horsemanship. [In 1966], this 'track' was still quite visible, especially for a young man with a fertile imagination. Sadly, it is slowly disappearing as the young [[cedar]] trees begin to reclaim the ground."<ref name=memories/>
John A. Bates of Ferndale in Oakland County, near [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], the former executive director of the Downtown Medicine Mound Preservation Group and a cousin of Myna Potts, recalls having visited Medicine Mount when he was a boy: "The Comanche would come to the Medicine Mounds for their healing powers, often trading flint and other goods and racing their ponies around the mound below us. . . . We carefully descended about seventy-five feet or so to an almost imperceptible track that circled the entire mound, which was used by Quanah Parker's braves to test their horsemanship. [In 1966], this 'track' was still quite visible, especially for a young man with a fertile imagination. Sadly, it is slowly disappearing as the young [[cedar]] trees begin to reclaim the ground."<ref name=memories/>
The mounds range in elevation from two hundred to five hundred feet and were used as Comanche campsites and ceremonial grounds. The mounds had abundant spring water which encouraged [[hunting]], the gathering of medicinal plants, and worship. The Comanche Nation still considers two of these mounds to be sacred: the tallest, Medicine Mound, and the second tallest, Cedar Mound. The Indians return to these sites to gather plants and herbs and to seek spiritual guidance.
The mounds range in elevation from two hundred to five hundred feet and were used as Comanche campsites and ceremonial grounds. The mounds had abundant spring water which encouraged [[hunting]], the gathering of medicinal plants, and worship. The Comanche Nation still considers two of these mounds to be sacred: the tallest, Medicine Mound, and the second tallest, Cedar Mound. The Indians return to these sites to gather plants and herbs and to seek spiritual guidance.