WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS ? 661 



"If I had been inclined to be superstitious, I should have told you that I 

 had seen the devil appear to these nations under the figure of a snake. Many 

 missionaries have been willing to persuade us in their relations, that the devil ap- 

 pears to these people in order to be adored by them; but it is easy to see that 

 there is nothing preternatural in it, the snake of the pretended witch did not go 

 to her country, it was a mere juggle." Of the natural history of the country, 

 the author remarks: "In the country of the Missouris there are magpies, only 

 different from the European ones by their plumage, their black and white colors 

 being shaded. The Indians make ornaments for their hair of them. On going 

 towards the head of the river of the Missouris, you find all sorts of wild beasts. 

 The wild goats and their young ones are very common at certain seasons. These 

 animals are very lively and pretty. The French that have eaten of them assure 

 me that the young venison is as good as the best mutton." 



ARCH/EOLOGY. 



WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS? 



BY J. F. SNYDER, M. D. 



"The conviction is daily gaining strength that the race of Indians found in 

 occupancy of this country when it was discovered by the Europeans were the 

 people, or the immediate descendants of the people, who built the mounds; and 

 students of American Archaeology now agree that mound-building was practiced 

 by some of the tribes down to a comparatively recent date." 



This opinion I recently expressed in a paper, published vi\\\it Missouri Repub- 

 lican, on " the death and resurrection of Black Hawk," and it embodies two pro- 

 positions which I maintain to be true. It was quoted in the January number of 

 the Review with the following dissenting comment : " We doubt whether Pro- 

 fessor Putnam, or any other first-class authority, will endorse this statement with- 

 out considerable qualification." 



In this criticism I am left in uncertainty as to the exact nature and amount 

 of "qualification" the Review regards as "considerable" or essential for the 

 endorsement of my statement by first-class authorities; and also, as to precisely 

 who, in the editor's estimation, besides the eminent gentleman named, constitute 

 authorities of the first-class. Nevertheless, I will reiterate and specify, without 

 fear of successful contradiction, that the conclusions to which I have arrived, as 

 above quoted, are accepted with very slight, if any, quahfications, by such author- 

 ities as Professor Putnam and Lucien Carr, of the Peabody Museum of Ethnolo- 

 gy ; E. G. Squier, author of " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, 

 Etc."; Prof. Charles Rau, Curator of the Smithsonian Ethnological Department; 



