Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-08-02

half tracks OF that lofty and solitary rock.
What would 4 professional sculptor be
/ doing in that wild country at that early
| day? Could it have been some amateur
sculptor who had taken his wife and ''little
ones up the craggy steep to that storm
beaten rock to show them the wild and
picturesque freaks of nature, and then
carved their tracks upon the rock as a men,
Orial of the adventure? Why did lie not
grave their names and date? What Satis-
faction could he derive from imprinting
those tracks in a rock at a place where il
per chance they should be seen
by some occasional adventurer all
he would know after seeing
them would be the simple fact that they
were footprints, but as to who made them,
when made, OF how made, he would know
nothing. | am not geOlOgist enough to
know when or how the stone was formed
whether the material Of which it is formed
was ever soft enough on the surface to ne
ceive such impressions from the natural
foot. From the exposed condition Of the
rock to the in6ue lceS Of the sun, rains and
winds--beins the capstone of the clif, 1t
would seem very probable that they would
have been Obliterated by the joint action Of
those elements before they would have had
time to harden so as to withstand their ac-
ton.
The Indians who inhabited Tennessee
in-fast none who have been discovered in
North America, so far rs / know, have left
any monuments or evidences Of their skill
in sculpture that would support a cOnclu-
sion that the pFints- perfect as they are,
should have emanated from their chiSeL
r.. Il Nnu.
aboriginal PenIvianS, were much farther
advanced ia the ar.s, as well as otherwise,
aud were, perhaps. competent TO have
formed perfect footprints in stone But
there is no sufficient evidence that they
ever inhabited this region Of country.
But at some period in the tide of time
this continent has been inhabited by race,
or races, Of men, capable Of building large
and enduring mounds Of earth, temples Of
stone aud monuments Of sculpture. The
ruins Of those temples and monuments Of
| sculpture are to be found in Mexico, Cen
tral America, Peru and perhaps other pOr-
/ tiOns Of South America. And the earth
mounds are dotted all over the Mississippi
Valley, and perhaps OtherpOrtiOns Of North
/ America. But aside from the mounds
| themselves, the evidences left by their
builders of their proficiency in other arts,
and especially in sculpture, are very incOn-
siderable, at least in North America.
| Whether the temple builders and mound
/ builders were the same race of men We
know not. And whether the temple build
ers ever inhabited the Mississippi Valley
we know not, but the mound builders did,
| and occupied the identical spot where the
footprints are left, and left one OF the
monuments Of their work within one hun
dred or one hundred and fifty yards Of the
| rock in which the footprints are imbedded,
besides great number of others, andmuch
larger ones, within a mile Of the sane
| spot But where they lived, how they per-
ished or what became ofthem, neither his
tory nor tradition will undertake 10 tell Us.
But dropping all specUlstiOns as to
the race or people by whom the foot
prints" were made or the period in the
| worlds history when they were made, q
! most interesting question Yet remains, and
! that is, Why or for what purpose were they
made. Were they made for the mere
amusement Of some idle sculptor TO occupy
his leisure in the absence Of more profitable
! employment? The work IS more than
could be done at one sitting. lwOuld sup
pose he had to return TO it several times be-
fore giving i. the finishing touch; and It
would seem to require man Ofvery peculi-
ar temperament to ascend so often That
lofty, lonely cliff merely to practice his art
as an amusement, while he could have
! praeticed it quite as well, with much less
trouble and more comfort somewhere else.
Or were they made hierOgy yphieally-
have they q significance are they symbolic
do they tell in mystic lore Of some TO
mantle Cr tragic event, the principal scene
Of which was enacted on that rock?
Are those half tracks on the verge Of the
precipiCe the last footprints on this earth
Of some unhappy young mother who lelped
from that beetling height, beyond "the
! bourne from whence no traveller returns
There being but a single adult track would
| imply the other foot was in motion, and as
lie track points to the edge Of the cliff, al
advancing motion would &c in that dine
ton. 1t is but a step IRON the adult track
to the edge, and half the feet having pro
| iected over the pTecipice would seem TO in
dica.e a leap from thence
But the children's tracks being in pairs,
and parallel, that iS,neither foot in advance
Of tn other. would indicate they were mo
tionless and were left behind perhaps th'
only witnesses Of their mothers tragic end
But. having given the facts, l shall leave
| all further speculation to those more skilled
in mystic learning than myself.
NIB.