WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS? 267 



ments of them, made of well-tempered clay, bearing impressions of the straw or 

 wild hay with which they had been mixed, 



I speaking of the great mound at Seltzertown, Dr. Dickeson, who is quoted 

 by Squier and Davis, ^ alludes to the use of sun-dried bricks in its construction : 

 "The north side of the mound is supported by a wall of sun-dried bricks, two 

 feet thick, filled with grass, rushes and leaves. Angular tumuli mark the corners 

 which were formed of large bricks retaining the impression of human hands." 



Dr. Foster also alludes to the use of clay for building, * " Professor Swallow 

 has observed the imprint of human hands in the clay which enters into some of 

 the ancient structures in the region of New Madrid." 



Dr. Snyder says that "there is no foundation for a belief that they lived 

 under any form of political government or had any forinulated mode of worship, 

 or entertained religious sentiments more elevated than the grossest superstition ; " 

 and adds "This summary sketch accurately depicts the status of the mound- 

 builders, and is a correct representation of the condition of the southern Indians 

 when first discovered." From all that I have been able to glean by personal re- 

 search and from writers on the subject, I think he has been too hasty in arriving 

 at such conclusions respecting both the mound-builders and the southern Indians. 



C. C. Jones, Jr., says, ^ "Among the Natchez the machinery of temples, 

 idols, priests, keepers of sacred things, and sundry religious festivals was most 

 elaborate. The preservation of the eternal fire engaged their utmost solicitude. 

 The Sun (chief) ruled with despotic power and served in his person to unite the 

 privileges of king and high-priest. There were observed more emphatically than 

 among any other southern tribes, the distinctions of rank. The common people 

 were to the last degree submissive to the. nobility consisting of Suns, nobles and 

 men of rank." 



This is certainly an opposite condition to living "without any form of polit- 

 ical government or formulated mode of worship," and this is one of the nations 

 or tribes that Dr. Snyder himself puts on a level with the ancient mound-builders, 

 and I think with some degree of reason, as I beheve it quite possible that some 

 of their descendants may have existed among these and other southern peoples. 

 Dr. Snyder concludes his article with a quotation from the "Ancient Cop- 

 per Mines of Isle Royale," by Prof. N. H. Winchell. As that paper has been 

 answered by Mr. J. P. Maclean in "The American Antiquarian," who says " It 

 is remarkable for its erroneous statements and its misapprehension of facts ; " I 

 shall jnerely notice a few inaccuracies that have escaped Mr. Maclean's notice 

 which afford additional evidence of its unreliability as an authority. 



Prof. Winchell devotes more space to the question of the identity of the 

 mound-builders, than to the ancient copper mines, and uses the same line of argu- 

 ment as Dr. Snyder relating to the building of mounds by modern Indians ; mak- 

 ing quotations from several authors to support his position, one of which reads as 



7 Ancient Monuments, pages 117-118. 



8 Pre-Historic Races, page 113. 



9 Antiquities of Southern Indians, page 22. 



