The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1885-07-31
TnE MOUNDS.
A Great Mystery solved at East..!rhc Mound
Builders Ghlmerleal--.A ncautiFui
Theory spelled...And Part OF
History Shorue OF its Magic
and teesMntic Charms.

but | will only speak OF those found IN
the United States. do not Affirm
that tho Pyramid builders did not build
any earth works in America /; but ! do
afliem that they did not build tbs
mounds of which ara speaking. That
there ara traces Of former occupancy
OF America hy man, ! am aware a, hnt,
| am talking only Of The mounds. Fas
works IL nature and the works Ut AZ
do not merge into each other as dn the
different shades of eoloFs, az The hnes
OF the rainbow or light and darkness,
or tho four seasons of the year. BIT
their limits are clearly dtfnahr aud
no Que recd mistake the one soi the
other. We cannot be at loss pt this
particular point amid all the o' jec's
around us. Every woik Of human orr.
gin shows marks and traces of human
skill and labor. The Rosetta stone
fouad in Egypt in 1893 was as readily
known to have passed through human
hands, as that the nummulities there
are known 10 be the product OF geolo-
gical agencies. The Pyramids Of Egypt,
though il is unknown, when, for what
purpose, or by wLem built, yet we
know iuss as we'll that they were built
by man as five had been there and seen
those huge piles going mp. Those pill
lars found in desolate places in the old
world are known to have been so forni-
oil by man. If every Chinaman had
died before civilization dawnSd upon
the western world and on account Of
that people or land bad ever been
known, still il party OF explorers
passing over that land of desolation bad
come upon the Chinese wall, ali would
pronounce il the work Of man, because
nature does not work in that way. On
the south coast of Wales, washed by
the Bristol Channel, is pile OF bousd-
ers about two miles long and about
three hundred yards wide. They are
filled in order, one upon the other,
higher than the tides were ever known
to rise. These bouldvrs arc round,
worn smooth 10y friction, and piled In
this marvellous way as though pu. there
for break water, for which they serve.
Yet no one believes this TO bn the work
Of man, though comparative order,
width and regularity characterize iss
whole general outline. The stonehenge
on the plains Of Salisbury, England,
which consists Of twelve stoncE, oi
which nothing ia known but the fact q
their existence aud order, are known to
be the result Of human labor and SKILL
Just as we'll and readily as if they had
been placed there in the memory o'
man. Fingaps Cave, near the west
coast Of Scotland, wonderful il IL
structural Formations, though ia '.AnJ
parts like mans work, is well known i
be 80 formed by geological agencies II
the past. A petriGed fossil Is as readi
| ly know to be produced by geological,
chemical agencies, as that vast pile o
broken rocks is known TO be produces
by geological, mechanical, agencies. Nc
one ever took, even lie rudest Indiai
arrow head, though found amid nil
lion of small stones, for a NATURAL.
worn rock, ncr the smoothest pebbl
found to be human polished stone.
have cited these instances TO impres
the fact that the works Of art and tn
works of nature are clearly dejnable
But here il a class Of works, the mounds
which Go not show single trace {
human skill, and human design, an
still we persist in saying they wer
built by some unknown race OF people
The only two reasons that l can imaa
inc why these mounds have been ascrit
ed to human agency are these: First
because we have heretofore known ab
soluteIy nothing Of their origin, anc
second. their close resemblance to I'll
old potato and tobacco hills of our fore
fathers. Gl,ich him ~ero known to
m.de. | am sometimes almost led
believe that much that-is called sciene
, consists more Of telling what one doe
not know. and what cannot be show
to be either true or false by reason
( analogy than by systematizing facts th'
arc known and from them establishin
theories and drawing logical deduction
!. The mounds and bills and mountains
mound shape were when the whites tir
came to America, and here they al
to-day, Just as they were then, whe
they have been unmoested. The L
dians knew nothing Of them then. I
Indian tribe could give any account
their origin, simply because the noun
were mounds, before the Indians "
Indian. Tho historian could ted not
ing Of their origin, because the moun
y we're mounds before history, and
ought I know, and as | believe, t
mounds were mounds before man "
min. Thei- origin Is not to be look