10 ABORIGINAL M N IT M»E N T S OF NEW YORK, 



subject of frequent remark, as the tide of emigration flowed westward; and various 

 detached notices of their existence were, from time to time, made pubhc. No 

 connected view of their extent or character was, however, given to the world, until 

 1817, when De Witt CHnton, wliose energetic mind neglected no department of 

 inquiry, read a brief memoir upon the subject before the " Literary and Philoso- 

 phical Society of New York," which was published in pamphlet form, at Albany, 

 in 1818. Mr. Clinton in this memoir did not profess to give a complete view of 

 the matter ; his aim being, in his own language, " to awaken the public mind to a 

 subject of great importance, before the means of investigation were entirely lost." 

 It consequently contains but httle more than notices of such ancient earth-works, 

 and other interesting remains of antiquity, as had at that time fallen under his notice, 

 or of which he had received some distinct information. Its publication was, how- 

 ever, without any immediate effect ; for few individuals, at that period, felt the 

 interest requisite, or possessed the opportunities necessary, to the continuance of 

 the investigations thus worthily commenced. Nothing further, it is believed, 

 appeared upon the subject, until the publication of McCauley's History of New 

 York, in 1828. This work contained a chapter upon the antiquities of the State, 

 embodying the essential parts of Mr. Clinton's memoir, together with some facts 

 of considerable interest, which had fallen under the observation of the author him- 

 self Within a few years, pubhc attention has again been directed to the subject 

 by Mr. Schoolcraft, in his " Notes on the Iroquois." Some detached facts have 

 also been presented in local histories and publications, but usually in so loose and 

 vague a manner as to be of little value for purposes of comparison and research. 



The observations of all these authorities were merely incidental, and were limited 

 in their range. By none were presented plans, from actual surveys, of any of the 

 ancient works of the State ; a deficiency which, it is evident, could not be supplied 

 by descriptions, however full and accurate, and without which it has been found 

 impossible to institute the comparisons requisite to correct conclusions as to the 

 date, origin, and probable connections of these remains. It has all along been 

 represented that some of the enclosures were of regular outlines, true circles and 

 ellipses and accurate squares — features which would imply a common origin with 

 the vast system of ancient earth-works of the Mississippi Valley. Submitted to 

 the test of actual survey, I have found that the works which were esteemed entirely 

 regular are the very reverse, and that the builders, instead of constructing them 

 upon geometrical principles, regulated their forms entirely by the nature of the 

 o-round upon which they were built. And I may here mention, that none of the 

 ancient works of this State, of which traces remain displaying any considerable 

 degree of regularity, can lay claim to high antiquity. All of them may be referred, 

 with certainty, to the period succeeding the commencement of European inter- 

 course. 



Mr. Clinton was unable to learn of the occurrence of any remains upon the first 

 terrace back from the lakes, and, upon the basis of the assumed fact of their non- 

 existence, advanced the opinion that the subsidence of the lakes and the formation 

 of this terrace had taken place since these works were erected — a chronological 

 period which I shall not attempt to measure by years. This deduction has been 



