The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1859-01-27
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For the News.
indian Remains at Frankfort,
Ross County.
'OH ChaLicothe'-THe SLo,ruee 7riJe
Of hdianS- Their Capture and Treat
mcnt Of Boone origin and Charac-
ter Of the TriJc-THeir Hgstatiy to tie
White ScHlers, DEC. &c
FRANKFORT, Ross Co., ONO.
Mr., EDrToa-Your request to con-
tribute an occasional letter to the NEWS,
induced an examination of the carly
history of this place, which may per-
haps interest some Of your readers
There are associations connected with
this spot, of a by-goue age and people,
upon which contemplatiye tcmpera-
ment would love to linger. 1t has Wit
messed many daring adventures and bold
tragedies, and the old men who now
smoke their pipes ia their peaceful
homes. tell uuwrittCn legends of the Pi-
oneer age, more thrilling than tho
dreams Of gallant knight and lady love,
in Eastern story.
A short distance below Frankfort is
the stream upon whose banks the In
dian town of "Old ChilIicothe' stood.
1 wandered there to-day, and tried to
recall the scenes of the'past, which civ
| ilization has swept away forever Here,
| for generations no man can number, the
dusky tribes gathered by the campfire,
and fought the cold destiny Of their
race. Here, for untold ages, Che bridal
song was sung, and the dcath-chaut
over the freshly-broken turf Here,
the young brave wooed the dark-eyed
maiden Of the forest, in the enchant-
ment of the crescent moon. Here the
fearful war-whoop broke the solitude,
and the veteran chicftains, by that
winding stream, after the fcvercd strife
/ of a hundred years, died with the set.
/ ting sun--and here, too, occurred those
vicissitudes Of war which decided the
fate Of large and happy population,
| now gone forever.
/ Iondor is a mound, from which hu-
man. bones, bows and arrows and t0ma-
| hawks have been ezcavated Indicating
/ il to be a tomb. There it stands. part
/ Iy demolished, however, an epitaph Of
/ buried generations 1t is Of frequent
occurrence in digging wells and cistorns
in this place, to find the remains of hu-
man beings There is an enbank-
mcnt, embracing circumference of five
miles, surrounding Frankfort and it's
immediate vicinity, supposed 10 have
been used for military purposes by tho
race which preceded the Iudian-which
to a great extent, in the improvement of
the country, has been obiitcrated. A
necessity Of civilization, not much to be
admired, for all such mcmcntoos Of an
other population, whose history consists
in these works alone, should be presorv-
en- unimpaire !, because a deep interest
will ever cling around them. 20 those
who have minds to think and souls to
feel. The man who will plough up a
forti6cation, invested with an antiquity
as remote as that associated with tho
| pillared wonders Of the Nile, to raise
a row of corn, or tear down its mason
ry TO lay the basis of a smoke-house,
does not deserve our sympathy. It is a
species of vandalism, not very eulogis
tic Of the intelligence or refinement of
the perpetrator.
Fort Hill in your own county, has
suffered similar depreciation. The
stone-work has been mostly taken down
for building purposes, and if it were
not for the groundwork, there would
be no traces Of the fortress. There
are trees standing upon the cmbaukment,
which Mr.. Locke, who was out on geo
logical excursion from the National
capital, pronounced to be more than
seven centuries old. We should not be
surprised if they were cut down some day
for timber to build a pig-pen or i'm
prison an unruly shanghai.
"Old Chillcotho' was the head-quar-
quarters Of the ShaWnees, and the rem