The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-11-11
correspondence Of the n. Y. Tribune.
NEWARK. O., Oct. 80 1874.

| SlSslppl NdlleNS lounu 'aiiouS ioiHiS VI
earthworks in the solitudes of the Wild
crness overgrown with dense forests. 1t
is said that Ohio alone has 10000 of these
i'm the form of mounds of various sizes,
and 1900 Enclosures are scattered
throughout the State. They are found in
Illinois, Wisconsin, and other Western
States, and in the Gulf States, varying in
size. Some are small hillocks two or
three feet high, while others assume al
most pyramidal magnitude, like the
mound of Cahokia, Ill, which has base
of more than six acres, summit of near
" five acres in area, and height
of ninety feet. One ofthc most elaborate
of all these works is located ut Newark,
Ohio. 1t is labyrinthine in structure,
containing some fifteen miles ofembank-
ment, and after years OF investigation
psychologists can do no more than sur
mise as to what its uses were. Clearly
il cannot have been built for military
purposes, for the enclosures OF which 1t
principally consists have the bitches Oh
! the inside of the embankment, while the
outside presents no visible obstacle to an
invading army. One Of the largest Of
these enclosures and the best preserved,
i known AS the "Old For" and stands
one and a half miles southwest OF the city
of Newark. 1t consists of circular EN-
bankmcnt of more than mile in circum-
ference, entirely unbroken except on the
side towards the city, where mammoth
gateway, 100 feet wide, was constructed
bv the builders. On each side OF TINS pass
ace the ends of the cmbankmcnt pro-
iect little from the center of the enclo-
sure and rise to n height of twenty-five
feet. while the general height is
about eighteen. Upon this elnbank-
ment, and within the ditch on the IN
side the trees are as large rs those upon
the undisturbed portions of the ground
around and within the fort. The citizen
still lives in Newark who cut an oak
tree upon this bank sKty-two years
ago, which numbered over 6oo rings ol
annual growth. From this mammoth
gateway two parallel walls OF earth,
few rods apart, lead to rectangular
measure over a half mile to the north
east, which has an area OF about twenty
acres, beyond which, nearer the city,
ar, still other works, traces of which are
somewhat obliberated From this net
work near the city, two sets OF parallel
walls run west more than two miles to
another enclosure in the form oi AN octa-
poa, containing about fifty acres, 10 the
southwest of which, and almost adjoining
il is another circle about equal III size |"
the sold fort" Both of these are stu
otcd on a range of hills. The plowshare
| has nerformed its work of demolition to
some extent upon the walls OF these lat
ter enclosures, with the exception "l one
noint in the circular embankment. Tins
consists of earth and stone somewhat lr-
REGULARLY built to the height Of twenty
five feet. and. rs it lies to the extreme
southwest of the whole system OF works,
| il is thought bv some that tins was the
watch-tower or signal station on the west
When, by whom, and for what pur-
nose these mammoth works were built,
arc puzzles which haze always bafilcd the
| skilI of psychologists. 1t is evident that
they were built long ages ago, Tor Whcre
the timber has not been removed DT
civilized man, rs in the case OF the oid
Cart dense forests covered the works
which must have required thousand,
years to grow where they now stand II
is not altogether unreasonable 10 suppose
,b.t generation after generation OF forests
has crown and dccaycd upon this SOIL
since il WAS built by the dusky savages
int, tho form we now find 1t. Also other
things 90 TO prove the antiquity OF these
works The Indian had no knowi-
q I've or tradition '-o"n"efh'hg tn'ir
ERECTION. skulls found at the bot
tom of some of these mounds diticr great
~ from those of tho Indian. AIS" Il
species Of hemp cloth has been i"uh" II,
some of them, thing unknown l" !hc
Indian. From these and many QUE!
facts one NAV reasonably conclude th"t
,h,v were erected by a race OF people an
,erior TO the Indian race, whom by CONF
ma, CONSENT we call the mound builders.
For what purpose these works were com
s,rnc,ed has not been satisfactorily SET
tied Some have the appearance OF NH
rorv structures; others look as though
tbrv were built for purposes OF ob>erVa-
ton while still Others seem 10 nave pe'h
des,rned for religious or burial purposes :.
Some mounds have the form vi
birds serpents, alligators, or ON
srimsls The "old fort at
Newark has a mound in the center sew
oral feet high and about fifty feet long;
built in the shape Of al eagle with spreau
WINGS. Upon removing the earth from
IN. IN, of this mound charred wood ana
RS were discovered. " hat his indi-
cstes il i difficult TO tell. Perhaps Inc
nr;,st of some mighty nation once offered
sacrifice upon this mound in the pre>en' ',
g ,hc assembled thousands; or II may
have been here that the concluding 'ere-
n,nny of some national game was per
formed Notwithstanding the manner
If constructing the works: 'he'r az.
nosrance is decidedly military. III
tates but little imagination I" NIL
hat vast arena with dusky savageS'
~ 70 believe that the wall was
once thronced with dark array. fer-
haps that mighty gateway w'thessea 'u. !.
final struggle of an extinct race: one VI
nnr hest historians says 1.-THE American
Indian. when first known to the whites
was destitute of all knowledge OF the arts
and sciences" 1t certainly was no par
baric skill that could trace out these per,
foot circle. or survey these rectangies ana
nctssons, much less control the tens OF
thousands Of laborers that must have oee''
necessary to construct these eartnen wai,s'
Rut i Is all a mystery. One can only
pa that such mi hty people should
60 completely pass away as to leave no
Ill history but these PILES oil