MOUNDS, FORTIFICATIONS, AND EARTHWORKS. 39 



thus successfully withstood the assaults of their enemies. The Riccarees and 

 Minetarees build and fortify their wigwams in the same way, but Catlin supposes 

 that they derived the knowledge from the Mandans. He finds a further confirma- 

 tion of his views in the fact that the pottery manufactured by the Mandans was 

 equal in beauty and excellence to that exhumed from the ancient graves and 

 tumuli of the Mississippi Valley. It is evident, therefore, that the art of fortifi- 

 cation, as well as the mode of constructing wigwams, and the art of fashioning 

 well-formed and ornamented pottery practised by the mound builders and stone- 

 grave race of Tennessee, were preserved by the Mandans up to the time of their 

 supposed extinction by the smedlpox ; and it is well known tliat, at the time of the 

 discovery of the American continent, various Indian nations and tribes fortified 

 their towns by earthworks and stockades, erected burial, sacrificial, and ornamental 

 mounds and earth pyramids, and possessed the art of manufacturing well-formed 

 vessels. The fact that the Mandans erected earthworks, constructed their wig- 

 wams in a certain manner, and practised certain arts, by no means justifies the 

 conclusion of Catlin, that these Indians were the exclusive authors of the extensive 

 works found in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Authentic historical records 

 exist to show that the monumental remains found in the Mississippi Valley, and 

 along the tributaries of this great river, must be referred to various aboriginal 

 nations. 



The hill on which the residence of Colonel Overton stands, about nine miles 

 from Nashville, was in former times occupied by an aboriginal settlement. The 

 circular depressions of the wigwams are still visible in this locality. The abo- 

 rigines appeared to have been attracted to this place by the noble spring which 

 bursts out at the foot of the hill. " Thousands of bones" were said to have been 

 exhumed in excavating the basement and cellar of the family mansion, and the 

 summit of the hill appeared to have been crowned by a burial mound which has 

 been almost entirely destroyed. The crest and southeastern slope of the hill are 

 covered with stone graves, many of which have been opened. A large number 

 are concealed by the rank growth of weeds and grass. Those which I examined 

 at this locality were all constructed on the same plan. Here, as elsewhere, the 

 graves were of various sizes, from that just sufficient to inclose the remains of a 

 little child up to the long stone coffin of eight feet. Upon careful examination of 

 the smallest graves, I found, that, so far from inclosing a race of pigmies, they 

 contained remains of children and infants. I found the teeth in all stages of 

 development, through the period of dentition up to the appearance of the tvisdom 

 teeth. 



The graves which I examined at this locality were all formed on the same plan ; 

 the earth having been excavated to the depth of about eighteen inches, and the 

 dimensions of the excavation corresponding to the size of the skeleton. The sides 

 of each were lined with carefully selected flat stones, forming a perfect parallelo- 

 gram, with a single stone for the head and foot. The skeleton or body of the dead 

 person was then deposited at full length. In the square short grave the skull was 

 placed in the centre and surrounded by the long bones. After great labor I exhumed 

 an entire skull from one of these square, short graves. The long bones were arranged 



