Lewis, Theodore Hayes, 1856-

Theodore Hayes Lewis was the first archaeologist to systematically survey and record archaeological sites in Minnesota. He was born in 1856 and disappeared in Colorado in 1909. He was educated in Ohio and moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1878 where he worked as a surveyor investigating antiquities from 1878-1880. He began work on the Northwestern Archaeological Survey during the years 1880-1883 and became associated with Alfred J. Hill in 1881, who paid most of his research expenses and contracted with Lewis to complete a survey of Native American burial mounds in Minnesota and other nearby states.

Between 1883 and 1895 Lewis surveyed more than 12,000 mounds in Minnesota, Canada and surrounding states. From 1884 to 1907, he published over 50 scholarly articles about his research in Minnesota, which have formed the basis of knowledge about petroglyphs, incised boulders, burial mounds and cave art in the state. Many of these formations and archaeological sites have disappeared or been destroyed over time.

From the guide to the Theodore H. Lewis papers, 1860-1888, (University of Minnesota Libraries. University Archives [uarc])