32 ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The Portfolio, in 1810, furnished an excellent plan of one of the most unques- 

 tionable works of defence to be found in the country, and also the most elaborate 

 and extensive, situated on the east bank of the Little Miami, in Warren County, 

 Ohio. In 1814, the same periodical contained other accounts and drawings of 

 remains found in different localities, and in that year Mr. Brackenridge published 

 his " Views of Louisiana," with a sensible chapter, and some notes, devoted to the 

 subject of antiquities. 



In 1812, an organization was first adopted for promoting the study of antiquities, 

 and collecting and preserving the materials of our national history. The need of 

 such a measure had become apparent ; objects of archaeological interest were known 

 to exist in great numbers ; but in the crude and defective state of information 

 respecting them, no inferences worthy the name of scientific deductions could be 

 derived from the features they presented. Not only accurate delineations and 

 trustworthy descriptions, but aggregation and classification, were wanting to a 

 development of their real nature and probable origin. Generations of forests, it 

 was asserted, had flourished and decayed over curious relics and surprising works 

 of art. Gigantic bones had been disinterred from the morasses of the West. Vestiges 

 of human forms of unnatural dimensions, were supposed to have been discovered. 

 The valley of the Mississippi was like a wonder-book, full of marvels and mysteries, 

 and productive of vague and dreamy lucubrations. While men of education were 

 reviving one or another of the many theories of colonization from the old world, at 

 some dim and distant period, faintly indicated by history or tradition, another 

 class convinced themselves that giants and pigmies had, in turn or together, inha- 

 bited that region. 



Among those who were impressed with the importance of subjecting these ques- 

 tions to scientific scrutiny, and seasonably securing facts of every kind, necessary 

 to the completeness of American history, in its relation both to the past and the 

 future, was Isaiah Thomas, an eminent printer and publisher, of Worcester, Mas- 

 sachusetts. He did not confine himself to personal influence and exertions, but, as 

 a literary nucleus to the proposed institution, offered the gift of his private collection 

 of rare and curious books, valued at not less than five thousand dollars. The design 

 found favor with many gentlemen of literary and political prominence ; and, in 

 October, 1812, the American Antiquarian Society was established, with an act of 

 incoi'poration from the Legislature of Massachusetts. It was supposed that the 

 United States Government had not constitutional power to grant charters to public 

 societies without the District of Columbia. For some reasons of convenience, to 

 which pecuniary inducements were afterwards added, the institution was located 

 at Worcester, the residence of Mr. Thomas, who had been chosen its President. 



The war with Great Britain, and the Indian hostilities which had been excited 

 throughout the West, rendered the period an unfavorable one for active researches. 

 Immediate measures were, nevertheless, adopted to awaken public attention, and 

 prepare the way for future success. Meetings were held at which addresses were 

 delivered that were afterwards printed and circulated. Members were selected from 

 all parts of the Union, and the correspondence of persons who had manifested an 

 interest in historical and antiquarian studies, was earnestly solicited. Valuable 



