Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-04-17
SIGNAL FIRES.
APREHIsroRIC LINE BETWEEN
CHICAGO AND MEXICO.

An Argument 20 Prove that the
Mounds Found Extending North
and South Through the Continent
Were Signal Stations.
There was system of telegraphy be-
tween the site of Chicago and that of
the City Of Mexico before the days of
Morse; before Franklin's discovery; be-
fore the discovery of America by Colum-
bus-perhaps before the days of Christ.
Such are the assertions of Chicago |
Tribune correspondent who asks consider
alton of his statements on the following |
basis:
Chicago was certainly the northern ter
minus of telegraph line whose other |
end was in. Mexico at so remote period |
of the worlds history that the very name
of the race that built it is buried in OBJ
livion. 1t was not the Indians. The an
cestors of old Tecumseh and Hiawatha
are moderns compared with the earlier
race.
The first telegraphic system was en-
| ployed some centuries ago by that curious
race of people that built the hugemounds
of earth that are met with everywhere in
the Mississippi valley and down the At
lantic coast. We call the people of that
| age simply Mound Builders for want of a
different name The race is dead. The
last man of them had passed to his
| eternal rest long centuries before this
| land became the home of modern red
men. But the mighty works of those
simple people live after them. We look
upon their great earthworks, and like
Volney among the ruins can only feel
that to them is due our veneration. For
them we must entertain at least feeling
of respect, being, as they are, the last re-
manning vestiges of race most remark
able and most interesting of all the men
of earth, springing mysteriously into
existence, living for centuries, and finally
disappearing as completely from the face
of the earth as though they had never
been born.
4 Being wholly unknown to other peoples
of their times, we have no data ON which
to base reliable history of this peculiar
race of men. Our antiquaFians tell us
that they built substantial cities; that
they knew the principles Of art; that
| they had written language and areligion;
that they had a commercial system; and
that they could send message across the
country with the velocity of light
A telegraph in prehistoric times, as we
look back upon it, seems certainly a
myth; yet it is after all the simplest
thing imaginable. The writer does not
claim for it the electric principle of the
Morse telegraph. The electricity which
Franklin found himself able to control
would have been totally unavailable in
the hands of primitive people.
The mound builders telegraphic system
consisted of chain of large mounds,
starting at Chicago, thence bearing across
the country to Prairie du Chen, Wis. ;
thence down the Mississippi to Arkansas,
and onward in amore or less straight line
to the terminus at the City of Mexico,
then the capital of the Aztec empire.
, These mounds were built in the most
suitable locations, so that the fire lighted
at one point could be seen distinctly al
the next, and thus that signal light
, could be hastily transmitted from one
! station to another over the thousands Of
! miles which separate the two terminal
points Of the line.
} The signal stations are located often al
! distance of many miles apart, perhaps
: half dozen spanning hundred miles
thus, as may readily be seen, danger
: signal could be sent across State with
the speed of light. Around these sigma
mounds are usually grouped thousands
/ of lesser size, and sometimes fortii-
cation or other earthwork, indicating
h that a city of large size had originally
existed on the spot. Thus at Toolesboro
Ia, in addition to one of the most re
markable inclosure earthworks of tn,
continent, there are mounds Of all shape
and sizes, the number running up int
s the thousands.
e No better selection of signal station
Q could have been secured than this. Oh
Q the very brow Of great bluff overlook
d ing the Mississippi are located the eigh
Q huge conical mounds of earth upol
!, which the signal fires were lighted, ava
is back in another age of the worlds his
= tory, telling tale Of danger or festiyity
d A light at this point would be instantl
% observed at Muscatine, the next station
u ~ AllllCS w bllC vi Alho hO'
8 Burlington, away in the hazy distance
e 30 miles to the south, and thence coult
/. be transmitted from mound to mound
n from station tostation, hundreds of mile
i in either direction.
t. The telegraphic system employed b
b the mound builders is the creates
t wonder Of the Western world. Nor is
is myth as SO frequently originates in th
Is fertile imagination Of the newspape
d writer; but the mounds and earthwork
h are there to show for themselves, an
i, their purpose isself-evident. Now forest
ID have grown up, so that between many (
il the stations the line of observation is CT
is off, hence the line is out Of repair; br
h. students of archaeology assert and beliey
4. that the thousands Of mounds in the lin
4. from Chicago to Mexico City were
le beyond doubt, signal stations in tt
" first and original telegraph system.
le Gold Underpinning.