CHAPTER III. THE MOUND BUILDERS The Great Serpent Mound—Old Stone Fort—Explorations of the Valley of Brush Creek. Scattered over the vast extent of territory stretching from the Alleghenies on the east to the Rockies on the west, and extending from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, are landmarks of an ancient people once inhabitants of this region, and whom, we, for the want of a more specific term, call the Mound Builders Whence they came is enveloped in impenetrable mystery. Some have supposed them to be the lost tribes of Israel, which hardly deserves passing notice. Others, and there is much to sustain the theory, suppose them to be of Mexican origin, having pushed gradually to the northward, where, in time, they were assailed by invaders from the northwest, who perhaps came from Asia when that continent was united in the region of Alaska to America, and who by reason of superior numbers or more warlike natures swept these people in turn back to the southward. At what period, of time these people flourished, or when they ceased to be, is problematical. The Indians had no tradition concerning them, In fact, it is very generally believed by those who have investigated the matter, that there was at least one intervening race of inhabitants in the Mississippi Valley prior to the advent of the Indians and following the disappearance of the Mound Builders. We refer to "The Villagers" who formed the "garden beds" found in northern Indiana, southern Michigan and lower Missouri. These "beds" are laid out with great order and symmetry and do not belong to any recognized system of horticulture. They are in the richest soils and occupy from ten acres to three hundred acres each. That they are the work of a race succeeding the Mound Builders, is evidenced by the fact, that some of these "garden beds" extend over mounds which certainly would not have been permitted by their builders. Again the formation of these "beds" cannot be ascribed to the Indians for no such system of cultivating grain or plant foods was practiced by them. And again, when the white man's attention was first called to the numerous mounds and enclosures in the Ohio Valley as being the work of an extinct race, it was observed that forest growths over these works were of the same species as those in the outlying regions, which would prove the great antiquity of these structures. It is well known to persons skilled in woodcraft that several generations of trees must come and go before barren soils will produce the variety and kinds of the virgin forest. As an illustration, the writer observed that the "old coalings" in the' vicinity of Marble Furnace in Adams County, are covered with a dense growth of red (20) THE MOUND BUILDERS - 21 oak saplings while the virgin forest consisted of ash, white oak, chestnut oak, hickory and black maple. On some of these mounds, as for instance, one at Marietta, Ohio, stood trees showing eight hundred, annual growths. When Squier and Davis made their surveys of the mounds of Ohio; in 1846, it is noted that a chestnut tree measuring twenty-one feet in circumference, and an oak twenty-three feet in circumference grew on the walls of "Fort Hill" in Highland County, in the. vicinity of Sinking Springs. From calculations based on periodical deposits of sediment at the mouth of the Mississippi, and the supposition that the mounds now existing along its lower course were originally built near the mouth of the, river, it is as certained that these works were erected from ten to thirty centuries ago. But whatever time may . have elapsed since the Mound Builders inhabited this region, it is nevertheless an undisputed fact that such a people once had their abodes here, and that they were a race distinct from the aborigines of whom we know something definite. They have left no written history to tell the story of their existence, but instead imperishable mementos in the form of mounds, enclosures, effigies, stone implements, and so forth. In all the vast region inhabited by the Mound Builders, to the archgeologist, the territory comprised within the state of Ohio is one of the most interesting sections. Within the limits of the state there are not fewer than ten thousand mound and one thousand five hundred circumvolutions or enclosures. These works are found in three great groups : the Muskingum, the Scioto, and the Miami Valleys respectively. Along each of these are groups of mounds marking prominent settlements of. this prehistoric race. And it is a singular fact, and one of the strongest to prove that these people were an agricultural race, that all the principal cities and towns of this state are upon the very grounds marked out as the villages and towns of the Mound Builders. The same advantages as to location from an agricultural and commercial point of view noted by the present Anglo-Saxon inhabitants, were observed by the Mound Builders centuries ago. Marietta, Portsmouth, Chillicothe, Circleville, Newark, Springfield, Hamilton, and Cincinnati are marked examples of this. All the monuments of this people in this state, may be classed under two general heads, mounds and enclosures, with three marked exceptions, viz.: the Whittlesey Effigy Mound, the Alligator Mound and the Great Serpent Mound. It is to the last mentioned effigy that the writer desires to call special attention. The Great Serpent Monad. Although the Serpent Mound is well known to archaeologists of both the old and the new world, yet until very recently there were many intelligent persons in the county wherein it is located who scarcely knew of its existence. When the writer first visited the Serpent Mound in 1883, he was astonished to learn from a gentleman of fair intelligence who had lived in the vicinity from childhood, that he had not seen the mound for over twenty years. This was the more surprising from the fact that scientific gentlemen from Europe had but a short time previous, spent several weeks in platting, photographing, and investigating this wonderful effigy ; and that Prof. F. W. Putnam, in behalf of the Peabody Museum, of Cam- 22 - HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY bridge, Massachusetts, was then, in company with other prominent archaeologists, on the grounds studying the design and features of the mound., But this only confirms what is too often true, that familiarity destroys respect and reverence for what is sacred or venerable. ' The Great Serpent Mound is located on the east fork of Ohio Brush, Creek, in Bratton Township, in the extreme northern portion of Adams County, within sight of the little hamlet of Loudon (Lovett P. O.) and about seven miles from the town of Peebles on the line of the Cincinnati, Portsmouth and Virginia Railroad It lies along the crest of a narrow spur-like ridge rising in its highest part to an altitude of one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the waters of Brush Creek which washes its western base. On the east, this ridge is cut by a narrow ravine which deepens and widens as it nears the creek to the north of the serpent's head. The ridge projects from the high table lands on the east of Brush Creek, and slopes gently down to a narrow, projecting bluff, something more than eighty feet high, overlooking the fertile bottom lands of the creek, both up and down the valley, and giving a commanding view of a broad expanse of country for miles in front and to the northward. The spur-like ridge along the crest of which the Serpent lies, is crescent-shaped, its concave side bordering on the creek. Along this western side of the ridge, its entire length, as also to the front and right of the serpent's head, the walls are almost vertical. About midway from where the ridge joins the table lands at the south of the triple coil of the serpent's tail as shown in the engraving, and the bluff at the north of its head, there is a considerable depression extending across the ridge from east to west. Beginning in a triple coil of the tail on the highest portion of this ridge, the Great Serpent lies extended in beautiful folds down along the crest ; curving gracefully over the depression in the ridge, it winds in natural folds up and along the narrow ledge, with head and neck stretched out, serpent-like, on the high and precipitous bluff, overlooking the creek and country beyond. Just to the north of the serpent's head, and partly within its extended jaws, is an oval or egg-shaped figure, eighty-six feet long and about thirty feet wide at its middle, surrounded by an embankment from two to three feet high and about twenty feet wide. A little to the north of the center of the egg-shaped figure is a pile of stones showing plainly marks of fire ; and some have supposed here once to have been an altar about which a benighted people performed the mystic rites of their religion. Prof. McLean, author of several popular works on archaeology, discovered that there are two other crescent-shaped elevations between the precipice and the north extremity of the egg-shaped figure, extending nearly parallel with the curves forming the north extremity of the oval, which he thinks are intended to represent the hind legs of a frog leaping from the precipice to the creek below. It is his theory that the frog, the oval, and the serpent are symbolical of the three forces in Nature : the creative, the productive, and the destructive; the frog representative of the first ; the oval, an egg emitted by it as it leaps from the precipice to the creek below, the second ; and the serpent in the act of swallowing the egg, the third. The Great Serpent is the only effigy mound of its kind in North America. It differs in its structure, also, from the various effigies in Wisconsin, THE MOUND BUILDERS - 23 its base being formed of stones, and the body of the work of clay and surface soil. The entire length of the serpent, following its convolutions, is thirteen hundred and thirty-five feet. Its width at the largest portion of the body is twenty feet. At the tail the width is no more than four or five feet. Here the height is from three to four feet which increases towards the of the center body to a height of from five to six feet. The total length of the entire work from the north end of the oval to the end of the tail of the serpent following its convolutions, is fourteen hundred and fifteen and the average height is about four feet. A recent writer says : "Persistent explorations of the mound and its immediate vicinity have resulted in many important discoveries, which have opened the field to conclusions of widespread interest. The mound is a voiceless evidence of the fact that certain forms of worship in all parts of the world were identical in prehistoric times, and from this some have come to the conclusion that the human race was everywhere alike in its earlier forms of development. Other scientists have reasoned, however, not that the race was one great family, undivided into tribes in that distant age, but that the different tribes touched elbows in some things. The form of the mound and the discoveries made under the soil of modern formation have led to the conclusion that the race known as the Mound Builders were addicted to the terrible worship of the serpent, of which little is positively known, and much is guessed. That human sacrifice formed a part of the rites of this worship seems certain from the evidence gained by a study of the mound. "How many centuries ago it was built will never be known until the great day when all earth's secrets are opened. The explorations have shown, however, that there are three strata of soil. First comes the superimposed layer of black soil composed of vegetable mold, which has been deposited since the erection of the mound. Second is the yellow clay of which the mound was built, and which was apparently carried from three pits in the near vicinity. Third is the grayish clay of the foundation. Evidently the soil, whatever there may have been at that time, had been cleared away until this clay was reached. Upon it huge stones had been carried with infinite labor from the bed of Brush Creek, far below, to form a foundation. This preserved it against the wash of rains, and upon this foundation the mound was built, of yellow clay, mixed in some places with ashes. The egg-shaped mound within the jaws of the serpent, is an oval, of which the walls are four feet high and eighteen feet wide. The oval itself is 120 by 60 feet. In the pit, in the center of the egg, the ancient altar as was placed. "Some of its fire-blackened stones are still there. Within the memory of men still living it was quite an imposing structure. The myth that treasure was buried in this ancient cairn had firm hold on the pioneers, however, and years ago the altar was torn down, in a vain search for gold and precious stones. So far as possible it has been restored., "The mound itself is built as all other serpent mounds are, no matter in what country. The head of the serpent, containing the altar, is on a high bluff overlooking Brush Creek. The first rays of the Sun God fell first upon this altar, and from it, far below, the priests of the ancient faith could see the *three forks of the river. This trinity, whether it be three * Baker's, Middle and West. See Bratton Township. 24 - HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY rivers or three mountains, is always to be seen from an altar of the serpent worshipers, and is always unmistakable. The. altar is invariably placed in the one spot from which the trinity may be seen. It is always placed where the first rays of the rising sun may fall upon it. From the neighboring lands the awestruck worshipers of old might see the priests perform their fearsome rites and watch the victim of the stone knives gasp out his last breath as the first tongue of flame licked at his still quivering flesh. Just what these rites were will never be known, in . all pro ability. But that fire and knife played a part in them can hardly be doubted from the mute witnesses found by modern searchers. "That the spot was revered as a shrine is certain from the character; of the remains found near it. Hardly a square yard of the surrounding territory is there that did not at one time hold a grave. The interments were evidently made with ceremonies of some nature. Ashes are frequently found in the graves though this is not often an indication of cremation. The human bones found are not calcined by fire. The ashes. are rather to be considered as the scrapings from the hearth desolated by the death of its protector. In them are found stone and bone weapons and ornaments and occasionally plates of native copper; rudely hammered out, or crystals of lead ore fashioned into rude ornaments. Smelting was not known then, and stone hammers took the place of the rolling mills of today. "From the position of these copper ornaments, they were evidently head and breast plate, probably burnished. They are in very rare instances of sufficient size to be considered as an early attempt at body armor. Flint knives of considerable elegance and of presumable utility are to be found in abundance, together with weapons in the process of making,. and the stone shapers and grinders by which the weapons were made. In one or two instances these stone knives have been found in such position as to inevitably lead to the conclusion that they were lodged in the body at the time of interment. Whether they were placed there before or after death is mere conjecture. In the ashes of the graves remains of rude pottery are also to be found. "From a careful inspection of the Serpent Mound, and an exploration of the graves and mound itself, scientists have formed several interesting conclusions. First, that the mound, corresponding as it does exactly in type with similar serpent mounds found in Asia, Africa and Europe. Central America, Peru and Mexico, points to the dissemination of serpent worship at one time over the then habitable world. Whether these mounds are of approximately the same date, or belong to different epochs, is yet debatable. That they belong to the same form of worship is indisputable. Human sacrifice is pointed at by the fire-blackened altars. The worship of the snake still exists among the Zunis and Moquis of our own country, though the more bloodthirsty portion of the rites is now omitted. All evidence points to such sacrifice at no distant date among them, however. "Structural peculiarities of the skulls point to a similarity of the Mound Builders with the Hindoos of the present day and with the ancient Peruvian races. The occasional presence of decapitated bodies in the serpent mound graves, or a bodyless skull, indicates that head hunting, even as it is now practiced among the Dyaks of Borneo, existed in those earlier days. Traces of paints occasionally are found on the disinterred THE MOUND BUILDERS - 25 skeletons together with lumps of the ochre used for such personal adornment, even as the American Indian does now where he has not come in contract with the influence of civilization. Lastly, the skulls found are those of men equal in brain capacity and muscular and bony structure to races in existence at present." In 1886 the trustees of the Peabody Fund of Harvard University, through the efforts of Prof. F. W. Putnam, purchased the Serpent Mound and several acres of the lands surrounding it from Hon. John T. Wilson. Under the directions of Prof. Putnam, the Serpent was restored to its original outlines, and the grounds surrounding were tastefully converted into a beautiful Recently the park—now known as The Serpent Mound Park. Recently the park has come into the possession of the Ohio State , Archaeological and Historical Society. It will be greatly improved and made a place of resort for pleasure seekers as well as for the graver students of the monuments of a lost race. Old Stone Fort. In the northern part of Tiffin Township, about one mile to the northwest of the now almost forgotten site of the old town of Waterford on Lick Fork, on lands now owned by William Smith and William Crosby, is “Old Stone Fort," an ancient structure, the work of the Mound Builders. The form of the fort is circular. The walls are from twenty to thirty feet at the base, and were when first observed by the early settlers from to three to five feet in height. They seem. to have been constructed of clay and surmounted with a heavy wall of stones. This theory is sustained from the fact that portions of the stone superstructure seem to have toppled over where the bulk of the stones lie on the outer edge of the, walls. In other portions there are but few stones remaining, the walls having been taken down and removed. The site of the fort was well chosen. It is on the highlands bordering Lick Fork of Ohio Brush Creek, and commands a sweeping view of the valley below and the country about and beyond. It is near enough the rich valleys of Ohio Brush Creek to afford a place of safe retreat for those engaged in cultivating the soil or fishing in its waters in case of attack. A little rocky stream known as Mink Run flows across the enclosure from west to east cutting it into two, equal portions. From the outer limits of each of these portions of the enclosure come little rivulets which enter Mink Run within it thus dividing it by a series of narrow longitudinal valleys affording shelter from the missiles of an attacking party from without the walls of the fort. Within the walls of the fort are three fine springs of pure water. The one on the east of the center of the enclosure would alone supply hundreds of persons and animals with abundance of water at all seasons of the year. There seems to have been constructed across Mink Run below this spring and near the eastern wall of the enclosure, a dam which formed a great reservoir of pure water in this portion of the fort. The walls of the fort itself have been much heavier in the portion where Mink Run passes through them than elsewhere. There are three gateways yet visible in the walls. One at the southwest, one at the west where Mink Run enters the enclosure, and one to the northwest. This last gateway is in a portion of the wall yet covered with forests and can 26 - HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY readily be seen. At the western gateway where Mink Run enters the enclosure are two circular structures, one on each side of the stream. These are each about thirty feet in diameter and were erected for the protection of this gate. Without the north and east walls of the fort are a number of small mounds. Within the eastern wall of the enclosure there can yet be seen a small mound about thirty feet in diameter, now about level with the surrounding surface, which at one time was several feet in height. This was opened many years ago by Samuel McClung who then owned the lands on which the fort is situated, and it was found to contain charred bones and some bits of earthenware. The walls of the fort proper enclose about thirty acres of land. *Explorations of the Valley of Brush Creek. This region is well known because in its northern part is located the famous Serpent Mound. The serpent itself has been the subject of much literature and considerable has been published regarding Fort Hill, in the edge of Highland County, but a few miles up Brush Creek from the serpent. But no one seems to have examined the remains lying between the serpent and the Ohio River. There are several branches of Ohio Brush Creek which also have remains along their shores, so that altogether there is about sixty miles of occupied territory along Brush Creek Valley. On the farm of James McCullough, about four miles north of Youngsville, a small mound was opened and a skeleton badly decayed found near the center, with head toward the east. Several flint war points, some bones, needles, and a few bear tusks were found near the shoulders. In a small stone mound on the farm of James Montgomery was found a cremated skeleton and one badly decayed. An earth mound three-fourths of a mile northeast of Montgomery's was opened and a hammer stone and decayed bones found. On the McCullough farm five miles south of Youngsville, three stone mounds, nine by eleven, seventeen by twenty-one, seven by ten, and each about one foot high were explored. They occupy a high point of land overlooking West Fork of Brush Creek. Bodies as in case of all stone graves or mounds lay upon the surface, and had been covered with bark and stones heaped on top. No relics accompanied the remains. On a spur of the same hill, lower down, say too feet above the valley is an earth mound, two feet high and thirty-two feet in diameter. In the center was found a skeleton buried about five feet deep. The skeleton was surrounded by large flat stones forming a kind of sarcophagus. On the Swearinger farm two and a half miles below Newport on Ohio Brush Creek is an earth mound. On the Plummer farm just below -Newport is a village site containing twenty-five acres, and must have had 200 lodges. There are numerous pottery fragments, flint chips, bones, and other remains scattered over the surface. Skeletons in graves have been found here. On the Florea farm at an elevation of 50o feet, commanding a view of the country for ten miles about, is an earth mound. *Extracts from Ohio Archaeological Report, 1897. THE MOUND BUILDERS - 27 On the Patton farm on Cherry Fork is a mound four feet high and forty feet base. In it was a badly decayed skeleton and two rare spearheads. A layer of charcoal two inches thick covered the skeleton. There are a number of stone graves on the farm of William McCoron mick on West Fork of Brush Creek. On the Williams farm across West Fork from McCormick's, on a hill 175 feet high is a mound four feet high and forty in diameter. In it was found burnt earth, charcoal, a cremated skeleton and one spearhead. On the Finley farm near North Liberty is a mound four feet high and fifty feet broad. Two skeletons were found above which were much charcoal and ashes and two fine spearheads of the "shouldered" pattern. About one-half mile north of Winchester is a fine mound and three circles, the walls of which were when first discovered about five feet high. These circles are about 150 feet in diameter. One mile north of Winchester on a branch of West Fork, Mr. James McNutt in 1896 found a cache or pocket of eighteen spears of fine workmanship, and constitute one of the finest deposits ever discovered. Above and below the village of Rome six miles above the mouth of Ohio Brush Creek are extensive village sites with refuse scattered over the fields in great profusion. Just below Rome on the high bank of the river 200 yards from the water, is a mound two feet high and fifty feet in diameter. In this mound were twenty-two skeletons. To the above we add the following : On Ohio Brush Creek, on the old Daniel Collier farm, there is a circular enclosure 200 feet in diameter and three to four feet high. This is situated on the broad terrace on the right bank of the creek about three-fourths of a mile below the Collier residence, and just below the old ford of the creek. The banks of the creek have been washed away until a portion of the circle is exposed giving a fine sectional view. There are fragments of human bones, shells, charcoal and flint chips extending through a vertical section of two feet. There are numerous stone graves on the high hills overlooking Brush Creek in region. At the mouth of Ohio Brush Creek is a village site, and numerous, kettle-shaped pockets of burnt earth, charcoal and other debris. On the Ohio River just below Vineyard Hill was a fine mound perhaps fifteen feet high and one hundred feet in diameter near which Israel Donalson was red by captured the Indians in April, 1791. When the writer visited this mound in 1883, the river had cut it nearly all away. In the archaeological report above quoted, the mound at Rome is said to be the place of Donalson's captivity. This is a gross error. Below the mouth of Island Creek and near the upper island is a mound and ircle. And at the crossing of Seventh and Broadway in the town of Manchester stood a most beautiful mound twenty or twenty-five feet high, and perfect as a cone. It is said that the Ellison heirs who owned the land had this beautiful tumulus dug down and carted away.