The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1875-01-07
THE MOUND BUILDERS OF ONO.


| f1H''N'Nf'"''N "" ~ ''N'' "
The first settlers of the Ohio and Mis-
sissippi valleys found various forms of
earthworks in the solitudes of the vii
derness, overgrown with dense forests.
| Ii il said that Ohio alone has 10000 of
these in the form Of mounds of various
sizes. and 800 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 pymmidal magnitude, like the
mound 1T Cahukia, Illinois, which has a
base q more than six acres, Il summit OF
nearly five acres in area, and a height OF
ninety feet. One of the most elaborate
of all these works is locled at Newark,
Ohio. Ii is mbyrinthne in structure,
containing some fifteen miles OF em0allk'
ment, and after years OF inVesllgauoh'
archaeoogists can do no more lhdh sur
mise as to what its uses were. Clearly
il can not have been built for archltectu-
raj purposes ,or the Enclosures in which
il principally consists, have the bitches
on the inside of the embankment, while
the outside presents no visible obstacle
to an invading army. OneO the largest
of tn ese Enclosures, and the best pre-
served, is known as the "Old Fort" and
stands one and half miles southwest OF
the city of Newark. 1t consists of cir
cular embankment of more than a mile
in circumference, entirely unbroken eX-
cept on the side toward the city, where
mammoth gateway, 100 feet wide, was
constructed by the builders. On each
side of this passage the ends Of the EN-
bankment project a little further from
the centre of the inclosure, and rise to a
height of twenty-five feet, while the gen
eral height is about eighteen. Upon tins
embankment and within the ditch on
| the inside, the trees are as large as upon
the undsturbed portions of the ground
around and within the fort. The citizen
still lives in Newark who cut an oak tree
upon this bank siXty-two years ago,
which numbered over $50 rings OF annu'
al growth.
From the mammoth gateway two par
allel walls Of earth a few rods apart,
lead to rectangular incosure over hall
mile to the northeast, which has an
area of about twenty acres; beyond
which, nearer the city, are still other
works, traces of which are somewhat OBJ
liberated. From this network, near the
city, two sets Of parallel walls run west
more than two miles to anotherlnclosure
in the form of an octagon, containing
about fifty acres, to the southwest OF
which, and almosl joining it IS another
circle about equal in size to the "old
fort" Both Of these are situated on
range of hills The plowshare has per
formed its work of demolition to some
extent upon the walls Of these latter en-
closures withthe exception of one point
in the circular embankment. This con
ssts of earth and stone somewhat lrreg-
ularIy built to the height Of twenty live
feet and. as it lies to the extreme south
west of the whole system Of works, it is
thought by some that this was the wa ch
lower or signal station of the West.
When. by whom, and for what pur-
pose those mammoth works were built,
are puzzles that have always batiiekihe
skill of archaeologists. Ii evident that
they were built long ages ago, for where
the timber has not been removed by CIV
ilized man, as in the case Of The old fort,
dense forests overed the works, wllch
must have required Il thousand years to
grow where they now stand. 1t rs not
altogether unreasonable to suppose that
generation after generation OF forests
has grown and decayed upon this soil
since it was built by the dusky savages
into the form we now find it. Also |
other things 90 to prove the antiquity of
these works. The Indian had no knowl-
edge or tradition concerning their cree
ton. Skulls found at the bottom of some
of these mounds differ greatly from those
of the Indian. Also a species of hemp
cloth has been found in some of them, a
thing unknown to the Indian. From
these and many other facts, one may
reasonably conclude that they were
erected by race of people anterior to
the Indian race, whom by common con-
sent we call the Mound Builders. For
what purpose these works were con-
structed has not been satisfactorily set
tied Some have the appearance of mil
itary structures others look though they
were built for purpose of observation and |
others seem to have been designed for
religious or burial purposes Some
mounds have the form of birds, SER
pents, alIigators or other animals.
The "old fort" at Newark has mound |
several feet high and fifty feet long, built |
in the shape Of an eagle with spread |
wings. Upon removing the earth from
the top of this mound, charred wood
and ashes were discovered. What this
indicates ii is difficult to tell. Perhaps |
the priest of some mighty nation once
offered sacrifice on this mound in the
presence of the assembled thousands,
Or it may have been here that the con,
Guiding ce emonyO of some national game |
was performed. Notwithstanding the |
manner of constructing the works, the |
appearance is decidedly military. 1t |
takes but little Imagination to fill that
vast arena with dusky savages, or to be-
lieve that the wall was once thronged |
with dark array. Perhaps that mighty |
gateway witnessed the final struggle Of
an extinct race. OUe of our besl hlsto
rians says: The American Indian,
when first known to the whites, was
destitute of all knowledge of the arts |
and sciences. 1t certainly was no bar
barrie skill that could trace out these per-
feet circles or survey those rectangles
and octagons, much less control tens of
tbousa DIS of laborers that must have
been necessary to construct these earth
en- walls But it is all mystery. One
can only wonder that sue mighty peo-
pie should so completely pass away, so
as 10 leave no trace Of their history but
these piles of earth.-(or. ~ Y. Tribune,
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RAINFALL TO THE SQUARE RoD.-Prof.
Edward 0rton, in lecture recently de-
livered in Cincinnati said;