The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-08-02
TRACING 4 b GONE RACE.
Prof Beyer's Explorations in the Louisi-
ana Mounds.


NEW ORLEANS. July 29.-Prof George
r. Boyer, curator Of tho Tulane Museum
and Professor Of Natural History I'm that
institution. has returned from his inves-
tigation Of the Indian mounds OF Gaia
houls. which he has been conducting under
the joint auspices Of the university and
the louisiana Historical Society. The
excavations. as far as they have gone.
have been eminently successful. Prof
Boyer secured large number Of valuable
archaeological specimens for the museum.
and brought out some interesting facts
about the Louisiana ahOrigines, but the
work is by no means complete. and Prof.
Boyer will soon go back to Catahoula 10
continue his explorations. which. 1t is
hoped. will solve some OF the important
points concerning the mound builders not
heretofore known.
The mounds explored are four I'm num-
her. recently discovered IN Lake Larto,
ln the swamp country Of Catahoula. The
mounds were thoroughly examined. but
not content with this. Prof Boyer ok
plorcd the surrounding country and dis
covered scores OF mounds throughout the
swamp region Of Catah0ula and the
noighboring parishes. Tho town OF Troy
Vile is built over score Of these mounds.
and large number Of the houses In that
section are erected on mounds which
render them safe against overflow. The
mounds are not high. Ike these in Ohio
and the central Western States. and the
reason why but little has been hitherto
known concerning them is because the
people living in tho swamps were not
aware that they were erected by human
hands. but believed them 10 be natural
aa. e.
drift. &c The Lake Larto mounds per
feet circle with connecting causew,
between them. were so clearly artificial
as 10 attract the notice Of the people liv-
ing I'm the neighborhood The other
mounds are more irregular in outline. or
more hidden away in the swamps. and lit
lie or nothing has hitherto been known OF
them. They are larger than the LartO
mounds. and may disclose more import
ant relics.
The mounds excavated have yielded a
number Of skeletons. crockery, arrow
heads mortars. and drills They show
that the mound builders wesa Of kindred
origin 10 the Indians. but that they lived
and died I'm the Louisiana swamps in pre-
Columbian times The early French and
Spanish settlers found no people living in
these swamps which before the DAYS OF
houses extended from the Sicily Hills to
those cast Ct tho Yazoo Valley. including
a region OF 1000 20 120nO square miles.
The mounds were evidently erected as
protection against the high water OF the
Mississippi which converted this vast re-
cicn into n lake in olden times. and. in
old days. must have appeared 10 be IS
lands. When not a lake. the country was
"A swamp. which an enemy would have
found il difficult 10 penetrate The mound
jewellers were large in size many Of the
skeletons being over SIX feet high and
were evidently q powerful race. for tho
number OF arrow-heads and tomahawks
show them 10 have been. ill-supplied with
arms. The arrow-heads. of a peculiar
white flint came from soma far distant
place probably from western Texas or
New Mexico. All the indications are that
these people were a scmi-civiized tribe
more advanced than tho Indian tribes OF
the eastern United States. They had
moved east from Mexico. and had finally
been forced 10 seek refuge I'm the Louisi-
ana swamps from the more savage and
warlke Indians around them.
The construction Ct tho Larto mounds
recalls the city OF Mexico as Cortez saw
n. They were once probably I'm the lake
they are now upon its very border. and
10 has sonsibly shrunk in area within his
torical timcs-a and were connected with
each other hy means Of causowavs. as al
Mexico. What style Of hahitation was
built on them IL IS impossible 10 say. fer
there are no relics save OF ashes The
NE Of the people is easily told from their
utensils. They were fishermen. rather
than hunters and used nets TO catch their
fish They must have lived on these Is
lands for centuries. for the soil and LAYERS
OF ashes and fish bones prove this When
they died or how they died is not known.
ncr was there any tradition among the
Indians concerning the swampers when
tho French came 10 Louisiana two CEN
turtles ago.
Whether the further explorations 10 be
made will reveal the Identity and story OF
these aborieines remains 20 be seen. II
viii only then be possible 70 determine
whether these swamp jewellers were the
original inhabitants Of the country. driven
cut by tho Indians. or whether they came
in later. What light these excavations
will shed on archaeology and aboriginal |
history remains yet to be seen.-New
York Sun.