3G2 SKETCH OF ANCIENT EARTHWORKS. 



to each other in some places that I could step from one to the other. No op- 

 portunity was afPorded to explore any of these mounds, or to form any idea of 

 the purpose for which they were constructed. At the village of Savannah, ten 

 miles below, a parallelogram-shaped mound was observed, similar to those near 

 Pittsburg Landing, and some two hundred yards to the northwest of it a very 

 singular ancient work was noticed. Its form was that of a flattened cone, with 

 a base in the form of a well-marked circle, having a diameter of thirty-five steps, 

 and its apex, attained by a regular slope from all sides to the centre, was not 

 more than three feet above the base. The writer has no means of knowing how 

 much farther south these antiquities extend. No earth-works of any kind were 

 seen by him in Mississippi. 



Crossing the Mississippi river, ancient remains of a class and character entirely 

 different attract our attention. The practical succeeds to the fanciful; the pur- 

 pose is no longer mysterious, but obvious. The ruins of ancient towns and 

 cities occur so frequently in travelling through southeastern Missouri and east- 

 ern Arkansas as to leave no doubt that this portion of our country was once 

 very populous. 



The sites of those ancient towns and cities are indicated by a series of little 

 square-shaped mounds, raised above the general surfiice of the land but one or 

 two feet, all ranged in straight lines in two directions, indicating that the streets 

 crossed each other at right angles, and that every dwelling stood upon a street. 

 To be assured that these little mounds were the remains of mud (or adobe) 

 dwellings, several were opened, and, in turning up the earth, in every instance 

 wood ashes and charcoal, broken pottery similar to that found on the shores of 

 Lake Erie and throughout the Mississippi valley, flint arrow-heads, and stone 

 axes were found. In the rainless regions of the world, the sun-burnt brick, or 

 adobe, makes a substantial structure ; but in a country of so much rain as Mis- 

 souri and Arkansas adobe houses would soon moulder down to a heap, unless 

 well protected by a roof covering. In the implements and utensils found in 

 that country no essential difference, either in material or form, was observed, except 

 that some earthen vessels were found entire. The marks of the hapd left upon 

 the clay when it was plastic still remained upon the vessel. 



Where Fredericktown, the seat of justice of Madison county, Missouri, now 

 stands, was also the site of a considerable city. This town occupies the divid- 

 ing ridge between the waters of Castor creek and St. Francis river, which are 

 about a mile and a half apart. Several fine and large springs of pure cold water 

 flow out of the sides of this ridge, which, from indications, was the chief object 

 in founding a city at this place. Among those indications is the prominent fact 

 that nearest to the water were the largest mounds — largest not only in height 

 but in horizontal dimensions. Some of these exceeded twenty feet square in 

 base, while those most remote from the water did not exceed ten or twelve feet. 

 It is evident that the chiefs, or men in authority and influence, requiring large and 

 more commodious dwellings, settled nearer to the water, while the poor dwelt 

 further off. 



About four miles to the northwest of Fredericktown another site of a town 

 v/as examined, and this was also well supplied with water, as was every one of 

 the ancient remains which fell under the notice of the writer in Missouri. 



This hasty .sketch of some of the ancient remains in the Mississippi valley, 

 though the result of the observations of a lifetime, is principally drawn from 

 meinory, and no pretension is made to exactness. As, however, the preserva- 

 tion of a record of the site of every mound which has been observed, and of 

 every fact connected with it, is important to the student of archseology, this 

 sketch, brief and imperfect as it is, may afford some data of interest in regard 

 to the character of the race of men who once thickly peopled this country, and 

 who have left such surprising monuments of their arts and industry. 



