Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-01-22
Jhe Daily 9ress aud patstaias.
YAM TON. x
Wednesday Evening, Jan. 22, 1879
o'NellL CITY RELICS.


Which Bothors Ills Understanding.
Correspondence Niobrara Pioneer.
Once again l knock at the door Of youi
sanctum with scroll in hand, aud ask Tor q
little space in your valuable Pioneer, not
for an itcmized packet of news, but simply
that l may describe q relic of by gone civi.
liked warfare aud enter the field Of aDt;qui-
ty for the purpose of inquiring sfler . los,
tribe or rsce-it msy be Of Indians.
Having recently visited Mr.. Oiando
butcher on Eagle Creek, and in the course
of Q conversation on Indian life, manner
and customs, he asked me i'll had<ver seen
the "breast works" on q hill near his house
and on answering him IN the negative be
said he would show them To me the next
morning, which he did.
The fortress, for such indeed itappears to
have been. is situated a little back from the
crest of II long, low hill or bluff rising over
and commanding the passage of the Eagle
valley. The hill is probably a mile and q
half long and about a quarter of a mile
vide, aud Is overlooked BY a piece of high
land, which is about rs or 80 feet higher
still. The "breast-wolks" are nearly circu.
lar. or rather oval shaped, and cover an area
of about three acres. The enclosing wall.
will now average about 215 feet in height,
and are from = to IL feet in thickness and
are cove red with close sward grass. The
material for building the walls has been
dug from the outside, and from the arpar.
ent unevenness of the surface surrounding
the wall, for about 80 or 40 feet, it is evil
dent that the spade was the instrument
used in its construction. Though Mr..
butcher has plouRhed some of the
ground covered he did not find anything to
indicate the nature of the construction. the
time of said construction or by whom II was
built, but he tells me that in exploring a
similar old fortress in Cedar county thew
found little piles of rocks from the size of 3
hens egg to that of a goose's, inside of the
enclosure. And they also found a hamme,
made of a peculiar kind of stone, taperina
down to both ends with a "belt ridge" in
the middle, for the purpose, I suppose, Of
being held and worked by means OF a withe
1t appears that the rocks have been used Al
ornaments by the peculiar people who in,
habited those old fortresses. Though til,
use of such rude materials of war as broker
rocks is an argument to show that those peo
pie were uncivilized, but on the other hand
when we take into consideration the fact tina
they built strong and substantial forts, ant
we're conversant with the use of the spade
we are forced to admit that they knew some
thing Of even the white mans civilization
These "works" are certainly not the worL
Of the Sioux, the Poncas, the .Santees. th,
Yanktonr, the Omahas or any other tribe o
Indians with whom we are acquainted, ex
cepting it might be of some half-civilize,
tribe Of Mexicans, or the lost "mount
builders" Of the past. This Eagle fortres
reminds me of the "Danish Raths" of Ire
land, built in the tenth and eleventh cen
turtles, only they are 80 much emaller, and
while it has four entrances. they have onl
one. Another point of difference is that tn
:" Raths" are built on the top of the highes
hills. Now the questions to be solved are
When were these fortresses built? VIII
built them? Were the builders civilized
and if SO, where are they now, or rattle,
where are their descendants? Hope you'll
pardon me for troubling your readers will
this long and rambling Litter.
ALPHA.