The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-08-04

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ed with the care and design every
where apparent tN
Remembering that we are survey
ing ground that once was cleared of
forests and inhabited by n people
whose civilization was far superior to
that of the modern Indians, we walk
from the forced entrance through
which we have entered due eastward,
to the opening in the embankment,
which was the principal gateway at
the time when the builders of the for
tress inhabited it. On our right hand
the ground has long been c'eIrcd cul-
tivated, but, rich and productive rs
the soil is, we miss the layer of deep
black vegetable matter, the result OF
the growth and decomposition that
marks the spot where an ancient forest
has stood. Although large trees stand
about us, and trees five hundred years
old have been fclled from off the very
entertainments themselves, yet we see
that there is no evidence that the for
est is really much older than that
One thousand years will more than
suffice to account for the thin, dark
soil and the forest hat covers the
ground, since many thousand years
have been required to the gen
eral surface of our country with its
stratum of fertile soil.
A walk of third of a mile brings
us to the opposite or eastern side of
the ~inclosure. The modern roadleads
through the grand gateway, which is
now forty feet broad, the walls on 0ei-
ther side being over twenty feet high.
The original entrance was evidently
not so wide, and we may, by compar-
ing it with the sixty ;Other entrances,
safely conclude that wheeled vehicles
were not able to pass in and out, and
THAT consequently they were not used,
either in war or in peace, by the
mound-builders Beyond this entrance
is a curious, long parallel way, termin-
ating in a mound a quarter of a mile
distant. OF this we know, at pres
ent, nothing, but may conjecture that
it had todo, with the religious festivals
of the people, though it also served
admirably to divide up the hosts Of
an advancing enemy, and to prevent
him from makinga sudden attack sim
ultaneously upon the whole extent of
the weakest portion OF the west.
a THE EMBANKMENTS. q '
Leaving to a future visit the myste-
rious exterior mounds. and covered
ways, we will ascend the wall that sur
rounds the fort and trace it through
out its extent. Starting from the
main original entrance, the embank-
ments run for a mile northwestward,
then a third ola mile to the east, then
a mile northeast and a-third of a mile
to the west to the starting point. The
east and west sides are drawn together
at the middle so as to be but a few
hundred feet apart, thus forming two
large areas, connected by a narrow
passage-way. As we walk along the
top of the eastern embankment, we
are at once struck by the narrowness
of the path-way-barely two yards of
level surface. This certainly is not
the modern style of building, nor yet
does it agree with the walls surround
ing the towns of the Asiatic races,
many of which were broad enough for
chariots to pass each other. The earth
of which the mounds are builti is pack
ed down extremely hard, and there is
no evidence anywhere that it has was
ted or settled since the fortress was
abandoned. The tops of the embank-
ments are consequently of about the
same width and shape as they were
originally. Their narrowness was
doubtless in accordance with the mode
of warfare tEen practiced. Evident
ly the heavy engines of the ancient
Egyptians and other races of the East
we're unknown to them, The Mound
builders must have practiced in war
the tactics of light infantry, spears
and arrows and slings being their prin-
cipal weapons.
The embaukment being Is steep on
the inside as on the outside, and there
remaining no traces of any convenient
way to mount them from within, we
may fairly conclude that the enemy
were accustomed to make special ef-
forts to break through the gateways
rather than to scale the walls, and
that, therefore, no men we're needed
upon the entertainments beyond a COM
paratively few, who were sheltered
behind the palisades, and could make
good use of the bow and arrow. OF
these palisades there remains no trace,
and their former existence is at pres
emit quite hypothetical.
We shall not walk for many rods
along the crest Of the mound before a
break in the wall obliges us to de-
scend to very nearly the level of the
ground, but we may Immediately as
cend and continue our tour beyond.
These gaps in the embankment strike
us, at first, very strangely. They are
very numerous. and seem, at first,
like so many weak points in the forti-
feation. Here we must recall, how
ever, the character of the wars and
battles waged among this people,
whose only implements were of stone
or wood. Their battles were hand to
hand and man to man. Such nations
rarely engaged in a long siege, con-
sisting of a series of attacks and storm
ings. These sixty outlets Cor n to
every three hundred feet facilitated
the innumerable sallies and surprises
which constituted the main feature of
Indian warfare.
But as we continue u way over
the parapets, outlets, ravines and ditch
es, we notice another popularity with
regard to these outlets or gateways.-
The hillside is furrowed by innumera-