The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-05-11

have all been supplemented 10y the invest
cations Of Professor Putnam. OF Harvard
university. who Is now engaged upon So
rics Of articles for The Century Magazine.
The fact of the existence Of these ruins
seems % have escaped the notice Of the
early explorers of the vast valley But
when settlement began attention was at
tractcd 10 the details of the new country.
Ia Vega and the chronicler Of the unior-
tunatc expedition Of DE Soto make incl
dental illusions 90 similar monuments IN
Florida. but the first mention OF those IN
the Mississippi valley was made 10y Carver
in l57G, and i'm l59l attention was drawn 20
them by Capt lIarte But these were bare
mentions. I'm 1906 Harris published long
account Of the ruins 40 Marietta, O. The
most important Of all the early accounts Is
that by Daniel Drake, VI. D., of the mounds
and monuments of Cincinnati and the Nj
ami country The first descriptive account
giving q general view of the works in the
Mississippi valley was written by Caleb
Atwatcr Of Columbus, o. Tt WAS illus
trated with plans from his own surveys,
embracing the famous structures at Mari
eta. Newark, Portsmouth. Circlevile and
Fort Ancient Early in ls45 began the cN-
tended Investigation under the auspices of
the Smithsonian institution. the results Of
which are embraced in the first published
volume OF the institutions records There
have been numerous later Investigations,
all Of less extent and detail, the latest and
most important being that Of Professor
Putnam.
These proofs Of prehistoric civilization
are found throughout the Mississippi val
ley from the Allcghanies Co the Rockies,
and from the lakes 10 the gulf, and there are
indications that they represent the frontier
life. rs it were. of the more advanced civil
ization of Mexico and Central America
They occur in greatest numbers in Ohio,
Indiana. Illinois. Wisconsin, Missouri,
Arkansas, Kentucky. Tennessee, Louisi-
ana, Mississippi Alabama, Georgia and
Texas and are mainly confined 90 the val
lcys OF large streams. They consist Of IN
closures for defense, Enclosures for sacred
purposes mounds Of sacrifice and scpul-
ture, mounds upon which buildings APP
pear Il have stood, graded ways for travel
or traffic and places of amusement.
The center of civilization i'm Ohio seems
10 have been Chilicothc Ross county. Of
WHICH Al4lliNklt II lllt NNlt Va jas w. NNiA4
tains over one hundred Enclosures and over
five hundred mounds, and there are in the
state Of Ohio not fewer than fifteen hum
dred Enclosures and ten thousand mounds.
The works are scarcely less numerous in
the valleys OF the kanawha in West Nir-
ginia, the kentucky in Kentucky the
White and Wabash i'm Indiana, the Icnne,-
see and Cumberland and other tributaries
Of the Ohio. When il is remembered that
they exist in great abundance throughout
the valley Of the Mississippi, one is inn
pressed with the multitude of the people
who wrought them and the years Of labor
bestowed upon them.
Lines of cmbankment varying in height
from five to thirty feet and inclosing areas
from one acre 10 two hundred acres are
quite common, aud some inclose as muCli
rs four hundred acres \ fortified bill IN
Highland county, o., has over mile and
a half OF heavy embankment, incl0sing
forty acres. The celebrated Fort Ancient
in Warren county, o., has four miles OF
from five TO twenty-five feet
in height, inclosing over one hundred acres.
The works at Portsmouth, O., cover over
two hundred acres, inclosed and defended