



E. G. Sqaier on the Ancient Monuments of Kentucky. 13 



the country, extending from this work to a large mound one and 

 a half miles to the westward. This mound is one of a chain 

 which extends quite across the county in a northwest direction ; 

 for telegraphic purposes their position could not have been better 

 chosen by the most skillful engineer." 



There are a number of highly interesting works of similar 

 character in the neighborhood of those above described. At the 

 junction of Stoner's and Hinkston's creeks is a small circle with 

 gateways opening toward the cardinal points. Three miles dis- 

 tant, on Hinkston's fork, is a similar work, and a number of 

 mounds. Besides these remains, there are here many other vesti- 

 ges of an ancient population. Numerous graves are to be seen upon 

 ail the water courses ; sometimes they occur singly, but usually in 



groups. Single graves are generally indicated by broad flat stones, 



set in the ground edgewise around the skeleton. When a number 

 of skeletons are deposited together, a rude wall seems to have been 

 raised around them, and then covered with other stones. A large 

 cemetery and numerous traces of an ancient town are to be found 

 near the junction of Pretty-run and Strode'S creek. Thousands 

 of human bones are here found scattered indiscriminately over a 

 large area, just beneath the surface of the soil. Five miles below 

 Paris, on Stoner's creek, a cave has recently been discovered, con- 

 taining a number of skeletons. — Collins's Kentucky, p. 193. 



Allen County. — 1. One of the most remarkable defensive 

 works in the state of Kentucky, occurs on the confines of Ten- 

 nessee, in the western part of Allen county, thirteen miles from 

 Scottsville and eighteen from Bowling Green. "The fortifica- 

 tion is at once romantic and impregnable, presenting one of the 

 strongest military positions in the world. At this place, Drake 

 creek makes a wide bend, running one mile and then returning to 

 within thirty feet of the spot where the bend may be said to 

 commence. The partition which divides the channels of the 

 creek at this point is of solid limestone, thirty feet thick at the 

 base, forty feet high, six feet wide at the top, and six hundred 

 feet in length. The top is level and covered with small cedars. 

 The area included within the bend of the creek is to the east- 

 ward of this narrow pass, and contains about two hundred acres 

 of land, which rises from the creek in a gradual ascent of one 

 hundred feet, when it forms a level promontory. The summit 

 of this which is leveled, is covered by a rectangular enclosure 

 consisting of a wall and ditch, and having an area of about four 

 acres. I n the rear of this are many small mounds. The only 

 approach to this work is over the main causeway above described, 

 tall cliffs intercepting all access from the opposite banks of the 



^m^—Collins^Kmtucky, p. 167. 



*• A cave in which were found a large number of marine 

 shells. One was eighteen inches long, cut longitudinally in the 



middle, with a small hole near the smaller extremity.— 76., p. 167. 



