viii A 1) \' K l{ 'I' I S K M E N T . 



It was submitted in accordance with the rule adopted, to a commission of exami- 

 nation, consisting of a conmiittoe of the members of the American Ethnological 

 Society, and on the favorable report of this committee and the responsibility of 

 the Society, the memoir was accepted for publication. The following is the cor- 

 respondence which took place on the occasion. 



C O 11 li K S P N D E N C E , E T C . 



Cmi.LicoTHE, Ohio, Mai/ 1.5, 1847. 



Dear Sir: — It is proposed in the recognized pl.in of organization of the Smithsonian Institution, of 

 which you are tlie executive officer, to pubhsh, under the title of " Smithsonian Conlribiilions to Know- 

 ledge," such original papers and momo'us " as sliall constitute vaUiable additions to the sum of human 

 knowledge." Under the belief that it falls legitimately within the scope of the above plan, the under- 

 signed herewith submit for acceptance and publication, subject to the prescribed rules of the Institution, 

 a MS. memoir entitled " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, comprising the results of Ex- 

 lensire Original Surreys ami Explorations : by E. G. Sijiier and E. H. Davis." The extent of these 

 investigations, and tlieir general character, are sufficiently indicated in the prefatory remarks to the vol- 

 ume. With high consideration, we are truly yours, E. G. SQUIER, 



"Joseph Henuv. Esq., Sfint.ii a Smithsonian Institution. E. II. D.VVIS." 



Princeton, ,Iune 2, 1847. 

 " Dear Siu : — 1 am authorized by the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, to publish, in the numbers 

 of the ' Smithsonian Cnntribiilions to Knowledge,' any memoir which may be presented for this purpose, 

 provided, that, on a careful examination by a commission of competent judges, the memoir shall be found 

 to be a new and interesting addition to knowledge, resting on original research. The accompanying 

 memoir, entitled 'Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,' etc. etc., having been presented 

 for publication, I beg leave to refer the same, through you, to the American Ethnological Society, with 

 the request that a committee of the members may be appointed to examine and report on the character of 

 the work, with reference to the particulars above mentioned. If the report of the committee be favorable, 

 the memoir, without further consideration, will be accepted for publication ; full confidence being placed 

 in the abilitv of the committee to judge of the article, and in their caution in making up their opinion. 

 " 1 liave the lionor to be, very respectfully, 



" Your ob't servant, Joseph Henry, 



"Secretary Smithsonian Inst. 

 " Hon. .\i.nEUT (tallatin. President .Vmerican Ethnological Societv." 



■' NewYorIc, June 12, 1847. 



" Dear Sir : — I have the honor to enclose a copy of the proceedings and resolutions of the New York 

 Ethnological Society, upon the MS. work on American Antiquities, by Messrs. E. G. Squier and E. II. 

 Davis, submitted with your letter of the 2d instant. 



" I approve entirely of the resolutions and recommendations of the Society. The publication of Mr. 

 C. Atwater, in the first volume of the Transactions of the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, 

 which appeared twenty years ago, is as yet, so far as I know, the only general account of the antiquarian 

 remains of the We.st, which is entitled to any credit. Yet, many mistakes have been discovered in it, and 

 it is very incomplete, and in no degree to be compared to the extensive researches of the gentlemen 

 above mentioned. What has particularly recommended their labors to me is their love of truth. 



" Such are the combined effects of the fondness for the marvellous, of the illusions of the imagination, 

 of credulity, thirst of notoriety and lack of discrimination, that, in many specific statements, and in almost 

 all the general accounts of our Western aiiti(juities, which I have seen, the most vague and fabulous 

 reports (independent of most groundless theories), and even flagrant impositions, are so mixed with true 

 accounts, as to render it almost impossible, even for the American reader, to make the proper discrimina- 

 tion, or arrive at a correct estimate of their I'xtent or character. 



