The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1885-08-14
rnE MOUNDS.
A Great Mystcry solved at Last...Ihe Mound
Builders Chlmerlcal'..A ucautlfui
Theory spoIled...And n Part or
uiStory shorne ar lts Magic
ana R0matIc Charms.

ASaluJNutho u'ouhds, "uSu su b'N"fSi
arc usually about the same size, but
they differ in different localities. Some.
times, when wo see one Of these mounds
arproximAtng small mountain, by
way Of distinction, We call IL potato
hill, or su gar-loAf, because /; Is similar
to one or tho othsr of these. We say,
also, such were produce 10y natural
iorces, why simply because tbs work OF
building sucn mound, or mountain, is
too largs for ordinary human enterprise.
| say again, ii such wesa hn,t ey man,
there woud ba neT by doep hollow,
or general depression corresponding to
the magnitude of the mound, which 10
not the case. Alas ! Alas For hu-
msn theories, human knowledge aud
human reasoning. No one ever drca,n-
ed that the mountains were produced
by human agency, they are to numer'
Gus, too large aud too diversified 10
every respect, no unity of design Is
coupled with ttuir general centour. No
one rightly viewing this sabjeos can
lme to any other conclusion than what
all these mountains, mounds, hills and
valleys are OF geological origin. Now
whatever produced one mountain pro-
duced all mountains, though the sgen-
cies were more active and more power
fal at one place and period than At an
o:her place and period, gre'ter and
more energetic in producing large
mountains than in producing small
mountains. We may readily presume
that the mountains wefe not all pro-
duced in the same period Of the worlds
history. The mounds are sometimes in
groups and sometimes sporadic, some
times uniform in size and sometimes
vary, bu. are always similar in out
ward appearance, whether large or
small, one or many. Now we affirm
that whatever produced one Of these
mounds produced them all, and we are
,eIined to believe they were all pro-
dlced at the same period Of time, for
several reasons which we will give
heresfter, if not ell at the same time
doubtless under similar conditions, the
D sriod in which these mounds were
formed, / shall designate as the
mound period, which is correct as =
geological specification OF time As We
said above the same forces that pro-
duced one mountain produced them all,
aud the same causes bat produced one
mound produced them al, and the phe-
nomenal indications are that the noun
tains were produced at different periods,
while the mounds were prodnced At the
,mo period. We arc told by geologis.s
rat all rocks were formed or grew in
sill water deep down under the surface,
aud that all uphevalS, have been pro-
duced by internal forces, and that these
forces wera under or in all nj hHaved
matter, We speak Of the dip Of l'i2ss
and strata. They do not dip uules, we
mean they dig upward. All lodges Of
rock more or less incline lin their for
nation they were horizontally in moun-
t.ins and uader mountains and on the
sides Of mountains to some angle to-
wards the mountain summit. This
shows that the forces which broke tbs
original rocks turned the fragments up
ward and also that these forces were
under all upheaved material, even If il
is as large as the rocky mountains.
N W this is the way the mounds wera
formed. Whatever produced them was
not above them, nor in them, but under
them, Let me illustrate. Ii little
boz in playing should get urder bed
aud stand up and make mound on
the bed with his head, no one could
believe that tho producing cause of the
bed mound was above the bed, rhere
would be no evidence, :f however on
examining under the bed we should
discover dent jnst under the bed
mound and corresponding with the
upper impression, the concavity beneath
corresponding to he c,nvexity above,
all would rcaaoTs'iy concluded that
whAtever produced the concavity be-
meath, produced the convexity above
and this would he reasonabls and GER
rect. Again. .if'it were known that
nothing could get under :hs be- but a
little boy, then all would know that a
little boy had produced trs bed mound
but how and when sre other questions
Just so with the formation and origin
of the earth mounds. / do not near
that they were produced by little boy
beneath them, but by something cor
| responding to the little boy. Let vi
bring our reasoninga little closer TO tht
main point. It anyone who has beer
interested in knowing the origin o
these mounds, had dag be..eath thei
natural base this mystery might have
been solved long ago If enc were t