The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-07-08
The Mound Ruildnrs-

Iuerc naVc Deen OF late several indie.
pendent investigations into the character
and fate of the people who built the
mounds scattered so ex tensively over the
Western States; and while little that is
new and positive has been developed Ger.
tain general conclusions seem to be
strengthened. The works were construct.
ed, as appears by trees growing upon
them, at least five or six hundred yeurs
ago, and by a race quite dissimilar from
the present Indians. They were mainly
an agricultural people, as appears from
their favoritc locations along rich river
valleys. They had some engineering skill,
as their works abound in geometrical out.
lines squares, circles. octagons, ellipses
being often combined in one comprehen.
sive plan. The squares are so frequently
exactly two hundred and eighty feet on
side that their builders must have had
a standard Of measurement.
At the same time their civilization
must have been OF an humble grade
They used stone batchets, axes, arrow
heads and lance heads. They took great
pains to get native copper from Lake Su.
perior, but they had no knowledge Of
melting or casting the metal. hut merely
hammered 1t into utensils or ornaments.
Their pottery was superior 10 execution
and design to that of any of the
present Indian tribes. They were
great smokers, as is evident from the
numerous stone pipes they have left be.
hind, bearing marks of their choicest
carving. "ln fine," says one of the most
careful students Of the subject, Mr.. NJ.
Is. Force of Cincinnati, "the mound build.
ers appear to have been an agricultural
people, as we'll as hunters. capable of pa.
tIent toll, living under strongly central.
lied or despotic government, aud were
somewhat more advanced than the Indi.
ans who succeeded them IN the rudiments
OF civilization. They were, perhaps, on
level with the Zuni Of Pueblo Indians
of Arizona.
What became of them /? 1t has been
said, and truly, that civilization general.
~ radiates from centre, and when it
fades out, contracts on that centre. IF
we concede, therefore. that the remains
u the mound builders ally them with the
ancient races Of Central America, who
have left such striking monuments of their
qualified civilization, We may conclude
that, after spreading northward and hold.
ing the country for long time, they were
gradually driven back by a more warlike
but ruder race, while at the same time
they may have been weakened by pesti.
lence. AT all events, the successive lines
OF Notifications show that they withdrew
southwark, and disappeared - possibly
died out-in that direction. And vet
not wholly, for it is curious fact that
there are tribes and parts of tribes vet
ex.ant which are so unlike the ordinary
Indian type as to suggest that they must
have been remnants of the mound build.
ers, separated from the main body, and
either by choice or subjugation detained
among the conquerors. Such were the
Natchez, now nearly extinct, the Man.
dams, called by Catlin "the white Indi.
ans" and other fragmentary tribes, whose
language and habits stamped them with
an exceptional superiority.
We are glad to see these researches
going on. Ours is called the "New
World" but it has an antiquity. rich and
instructive, which lies behind the curtain
OF our ignorance, and which may yet be
brought to view. Every fact adds some.
thing, and by and by the man will come
who will put them together and extract
their meaning.