294 



MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



may have been designod as sites forpii]>lic Iniildings, whether of a civil or religious 

 kind, and others no doubt were constructed for the purposes of war. Of this last 

 description is the Etowec mound. In proof of its suitableness for such a purpose I 

 need only mention that the C'herokees, in their late wars with the Creeks, secured 

 its smuiniit by pickets and occupied it as a phice of protection for hundreds of their 

 women and children. Gladly would I have .spent a ilay iu examing it more minutely, 



but my companions, 

 unable to appreciate 

 my motives, grew im- 

 patient, and I was 

 obliged to withdraw 

 and leave a more per- 

 fect observation and 

 descrijition to some 

 one else. 



This account is 

 particularly valu- 

 able, as it relates 

 to the condition 

 and appearance of 

 these works before 

 they were dis- 

 turbed by the 

 plow. We also 

 find in this ac- 

 count some items 

 of interest which 

 had disappeared 

 before the works 

 were visited and 

 described by the 

 more modern ob- 

 servers. 



The description 

 by Col. G.C.Jones' 

 is the best we find 

 hitherto pub- 

 lished. I there- 

 fore give it here in 

 full, together with 

 a reproduction ot 

 his illustration 

 (Fig. 180): 



Viewed as a whole, this group is the most remarkalile within the confines of this 

 state. These mounds are situated in the midst of a beautiful and fertile valley. 

 They occupy a central position in an area of some 50 acres, bounded on the south and 

 east by the Etowah river, and on the north and west by a large ditch or artificial 



Fig. 180. — Plat of Etowah group, copy of Jones's plat No. 1. 



'Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 136. 



