720 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



ides J the locality iii Early county, (reorgia, marked by the Messier 

 mouuds; the " old town " of Apalachiicla, lueutioued by IJartraiu, which 

 could not have been far distant aud pertained to the same limited 

 tribe; the site of the Prince mouuds near Carthage, Alabama; the 

 Mauvilla of De Soto's day; Chisca or Chicasa, in northern Mississippi, 

 doubtless the chief village of the (Jhickasaws; and the vicinity of Nat- 

 chez. These localities, so far as known, are marked by mouuds and 

 the remains of other works. Even where we are unable now to deter- 

 mine them we have historical evidence that they were marked by 

 mouuds or othf^.r earthworks. I may remark in passing that the power 

 of the Chickasaw tribe does not appear to have reached its zeuith, in the 

 section in which they were then found, until after the date of De Soto's 

 visit. There are, in fact, some reasons for believing they had not then 

 occupied this locality for any great length of time. Judging by the 

 testimony of the mounds aud the narrative of De Soto's march, I am 

 not inclined to believe the statement of the ^S^atchez Indians regarding 

 their former great numerical streugth, controlling power, and extensive 

 sway, even after making due allowance for the usual exaggeration, 

 unless we can identify them with the builders and former occupants of 

 the great Cahokia group, which is very improbable. 



Judging by the progress made in the ceramic art, I should think one 

 of the most polished tribes of this region was located during the mound- 

 building age in that portion of the country extending from Early 

 county, Georgia, to the valley of the Ochlochonee river. The orna- 

 mentation and form of the pottery is somewhat peculiar, and judging 

 from the latter I am inclined to believe the makers had seen some ves- 

 sels manufactured by the whites. Are we to ascribe these to the Lower 

 Creeks or shall we attribute them to the Yuchi (Uches) ? The latter, as 

 we learn from Hawkins, were more "civil, orderly, aud industrious 

 than their neighbors, the Lower Creeks."' 



When we reach the northern portion of Georgia we tind indisputable 

 evidences of being in the marches, the debatable ground between con- 

 tending powers or hostile tribes. The site of the Etowah groups so 

 often mentioned must have been a place of some importance in mound- 

 building times. Here we find evidences of culture aud art equal to 

 that obtained from the mounds of any other locality in that portion of 

 the United States included in the scope of this W(U-k, not even except- 

 ing the far-famed works of the Ohio. The locality was well chosen 

 when we consider the means of security and defense adopted and the 

 necessity of relying largely upon the products of agriculture for sub- 

 sistence, yet the silent ruins, when compelled to yield up their hidden 

 treasures, give unmistakeable evidences of the ravages of war aud of 

 occupancy by different peoples. The fragments of stone inuiges found 

 liere are of such a character as to lead any one who examines them to 



' For a (Uartiasidii of the localities occupied by this tribe, the reader is referred to Mr. Gatschet'a 

 work, before nu'Utioned, vol. 1. jip. 17-24. 



