The War in the Northwest 27 



foundations of ancient walls and embankments that 

 inclosed spaces of eight or ten acres. The Indians 

 knew as little as the whites about these long-van 

 ished mound-builders, and were utterly ignorant of 

 the race to which they had belonged. 17 



For some months the whites who first arrived 

 dwelt in peace. But in the spring, hunting and war 

 parties from various tribes began to harass the set 

 tlers. Unquestionably the savages felt jealous of 

 the white hunters, who were killing and driving 

 away the game, precisely as they all felt jealous of 

 one another, and for the same reason. The Chicka- 

 saws in particular were much irritated by the fort 

 Clark had built at Iron Bank, on the Mississippi. But 

 the most powerful motive for the attacks was doubt 

 less simply the desire for scalps and plunder. They 

 gathered from different quarters to assail the col 

 onists, just as the wild beasts gathered to prey on 

 the tame herds. 



The Indians began to commit murders, kill the 

 stock, and drive off the horses in April, and their 

 ravages continued unceasingly throughout the year. 

 Among the slain was a son of Robertson, and also 

 the unfortunate Jonathan Jennings, the man who 

 had suffered such loss when his boat was passing 

 the whirl of the Tennessee River. The settlers 

 were shot as they worked on their clearings, gath- 



" Haywood. At present it is believed that the mound- 

 builders were Indians. Haywood is the authority for the 

 early Indian wars of the Cumberland settlement, Putnam 

 supplying some information. 



