THE MUSEUM. 



21 



DAMON'S MOUND. 



A Lonely Mound in Southern 



Texas and Some of its 



Peculiarities. 



All readers are more or less acquaint- 

 ed with the mounds of Ohio and cir- 

 cumjacent states and all have to a 

 greater or less degree been regaled 

 with lengthy surmises as to the origin 

 and also the cause and manner of the 

 construction of these monuments to 

 the skill, energy and enterprise of a 

 truly pre-historic race. Nearly every 

 one who has traveled much in that 

 section of the world, has inspected one 

 or more of these mounds and is posess- 

 ed of his own theory in regard to those 

 who erected them. 



The sight of a hill or a small moun- 

 tain does not generally arouse much 

 curiosity in the mind of the beholder. 

 Many of us have been regaled by views 

 of the wild wierd scenery of the rugged 

 Rockies and also by travels among the 

 less rugged but equally beautiful Alle- 

 ghanies and Blue Ridges. 



We have read, ever since we could 

 read, many of the countless books, 

 pamphlets and wearying newspaper 

 and magazine articles in regard to the 

 mounds and mound-builders of some 

 of the Mississippi valley states. Even 

 in youth our minds were fairly well 

 Mled with varied conjectures in regard 

 : ) the social condition of these mound- 

 builders and also the manner and the 

 a use of construction of these now 

 [)parently useless heaps of earth. 



Then we reached forth in a hopeful 

 endeavor to solve the deep mystery 

 over-hanging the construction of these 

 untranslatable pages of history and to 

 throw light upon the unknown lives of 

 the builders and makers of these pag- 

 es; but our efforts have so completely 

 overwhelmed us with theories and sup- 

 positions that we are now actually be- 

 wildered by the multitude of our evi- 

 dences. 



While the mounds abounding in all 

 the states located in the great basin of 

 the United States have frequently been 

 visited and also honored with lengthy 



flowery descriptions, the mounds of 

 Texas have so far been totally ignored. 

 Few people, even in the immediate 

 vicinit)' of this mound have ever given 

 the subject any serious thought and 

 few people outside of the state have 

 ever heard of the existence of this relic 

 of a long gone race. 



The travelers over the limitless prai- 

 ries of southern Texas are burdened 

 with curiosity as they see in the hazy 

 distance a dark object piercing the hor- 

 izon. They cannot see it clearly 

 enough to distinguished what it is biit 

 at the same time the view is sufficient- 

 ly accurate for them to know that it 

 is not a cloud. Their speed is per- 

 ceptibly accelerated and could we be 

 near enough to hear their surmises in 

 regard to the unknown object they 

 would no doubt make interesting read- 

 ing matter. After an hour's journey- 

 ing toward it they are near enough to 

 see that it is a mound of earth majes- 

 tically careering heavenward. After 

 another hour's travel and after cross- 

 ing the winding Brazoo they find them- 

 selves at the base of this object of 

 wonder. 



Arrived there it requires only a mo- 

 ment for the eye of the experienced 

 traveler to make sufficient examination 

 to be confident that it is another page 

 in the voluminous history of the pre- 

 historic peoples 



This mound is situated down in the 

 southeast corner of Fort Bend county, 

 twenty-five miles from Richmond, and 

 near the line of Brazoria county. It 

 has a circular base covering more than 

 four acres of ground and its cylindri- 

 cal body reachest an altitude of more 

 than two hundred feet. From, its 

 summit the Gulf of Mexico is plainly 

 visible and the sullen roar of the crash- 

 ing breakers strikes upon the ear with 

 regular cadences. 



It is situated in the midst of a sec- 

 tion of a monotonously level prairie 

 country and stands forth a silent senti- 

 nel for all the adjacent lowlands. This 

 mound rises abrubtly from the prairie 

 and the line where the prairie ceases 



