The Osceola times., 1888-04-14
OsCEoLA, ARKANSAS, SATURDAY, APRIL ii. 1888.
Who Were the Mound
Builders ?
Tnx STATEMENT OF A SPANisn HIS.
pORIAN.

Soto and his expedition Of six hum
drsd Spanish soldiers, horse and foot,
crossed the Mississippi at the Fo~rth
Chickasaw Bluff, where Memphis
now stands, and asesnded the West
hank Of the river ~ high - the Mis-
souri, state line. This expedition was
accompanied by Luis Hernsades de
Beidaa, - factor for the King Of
Spain, 10 keep the accounts Of the
expedition. He wrote out . nara.
tive Of De Soto's ill-starrsd expedi.
ton, and presented Il 10 the King
and Couoeil in l544. It was dis.
covered in the archives of Spain,
about the middle of the present cen.
tury, and translated and printed in
Eaglish. 1t is eoacsdsd to be .
genuine document. In speaking Of
the densely Inhabited country
through which the expedition passed,
- it ascendsd the river, the following
remarkable passage ocesrs:
"The caciQues Tor ehiefs) Of this
country make . custom Of raising
near their dwellings, very high hills,
on which they sometimes build their
Huts. On one Of these we planted
the cross, and went with much devo.
tion on our knees to kiss the foot of
it."-( Beidma in Historical Collec.
tions VI Lousiaana, Vol. 2, p. 9O5.
Beidma was an intelligent observ.
or, keeping notes Of all he saw and
heard. He states the custom as q
fact, not as a guess. He was here
347 years ago, in what is now Mis-.
sissippi county. The 7xmaii, or
Mounds, which we still see and
guess about, he saw ages ago, and
evidently, his statement as to their
origin was the result of inquiry. If
this passage in Beidma has ever been
cited by any historian, or archeolo.
gist, l have not seen It. believe
It is decisive of the question a. to
who we're the mound buildersp
The rsce Of people living here at
that time, according to Beiama, and
the Portuguese eye witness Of the
expedition (known ~ the Gentleman
Of Elvas) were an agricultural people,
living in walled towns, and cultiva.
ting immense fields Of Indian corn.
They were subsequently driven
out by the 6ercer tribes of the north,
who came out of the Ohio and de.
scended the Mississippi; just as the
Iroqaois did in the seventeenth GEN.
tury. The Natchez and T-nsa. In
dians, living on opposite sides Of the
Mississippi, until about the middle
Of the last century, were living in
the same localities whom De Soto
viAitsd the country. They were
nearly civilized. In . great battle
which took place between the Nat.
chez and the Choctaws under lie
Sueur, . French commander, Janu.
ary 28, 1880, the Natchcz were dis.
astrouslY defeated. and the remnant
Of the tribe escaped across the Mis-.
sissippi river to the vicinity Of Nat.
shitoehss, and the 6rst thing thsy
did was 70 throw up . mound. The
incident was stated BY DR.. Sibly, in
bic report Of the Exploration Of the
Arkansas and Red Rivers, in 1904.
This fact, taken in connection with
the statement Of Bsidms, will assist
~ in reaching . oonoiusion - to who
were The Mound Builders. The
people who built the mounds inhah.
tied the country when De Soto Wis.
tied Il. The writer from whom I get
the statement - to the report of Dr..
Sibly, says: " This 10 the only record
! have seen of . mound being ,oon.
structed within traditional history"
Evidently this writer in the Smith.
sonian Report for 1870. had not seen
the state men: of Beidms.
Yours truly,