HILL ANTIQUITIES OF OHIO. 3G5 



twice superficially plowed. The sand-streak was evidently put there to 

 mark the precise point of the deposit. 



Sixty years ago, when the first of the pioneers began to settle in the 

 central parts of Ashland County, the northern section was a favorite 

 resort of the Delawares and Wyandots as a hunting-ground. About 

 twenty-five rods southwest of the slough are the remains of an Indian 

 village or camping-ground. Floors of broken bowlders and large peb- 

 bles were made by driving the pieces into the ground until a smooth 

 surface was obtained. About one hundred rods in a northeastern 

 direction from the deposit is another "cat-swamp" or slough, somewhat 

 smaller than the first, which will probably, upon examination, be found 

 to contain other deposits. A few rods east of this were also found two 

 stone floors, constructed of the same materials and in the same manner 

 as th-e other. They were twelve or fifteen feet in circuit each, and 

 had to be dug up before the ground could be plowed. About one mile 

 southeast of this ancient village was a salt-spring, which was a common 

 resort for the Indians and wild animals. Many relics have been dug 

 and i^lowed up in its vicinity, among which was a large pair of elk- 

 horns. Above this, on the flat, near the head branch of Black Kiver, 

 were several extensive beaver-dams. They were visible for many years 

 after the settlement of that region. 



In 1755-'56, James Smith, when a captive among the Wyandots and 

 Delawares, on his way to the Cauesadooharie, in company with his 

 adopted brother, Tontileaugo, passed this locality. He had traversed 

 the Jerome Fork of Mohican to its source, about three miles from the 

 head of the Cauesadooharie, or Black Eiver, and over the portage or 

 divide between the streams running south to the Gulf of jNIexico and 

 north to Lake Erie. At that time there was a large Wyandot village 

 near the falls, not a great distance from the present site of Elyria, in 

 Lorain County. The Black Eiver and its sources long furnished a hunt- 

 ing-resort for the Ohio tribes, and the locality where these implements 

 were found was often a great encampment for the Indians. 



There is a striking resemblance to each other in the implements 

 found by Mr. Briggs. They are generally leaf or pear shaped. They 

 are about three-eighths of an inch in thickness. The width of the largest 

 is two and three-quarter inches, and its length three and one-quarter 

 inches. The next largest is two and one-quarter inches wide, and four 

 inches long, running to a sharp point. They are all quite sharp around 

 the edge, and neatly and symmetrically chipped, and would answer for 

 cutting- tools. 



It is difficult to determine their use. They certainly were not used as 

 arrow-heads, being destitute of nicks to attach them to the shaft. They 

 are too small for agricultural instruments. They could not be used for 

 preparing dug-out canoes, being sharp around their edges, and too fragile. 

 They may have been used for skinning and cutting the flesh of animals. 

 Possibly they were used in dressing deer-skins. The entire lot was new. 



