The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-06-07

populous town had once existed here, similar to
those of Mexico, described by the first conquer
ors. The mounds were sites Of temples, mon
uments to great men" Another later writer
sreferring to Cahokia. has said: 1T is probable
that upon this platform was reared capacious
temple, within whose walls the high priests
gathered from different quarters at state sea-
sons, celebrated their mystic rites whilst the
swarming multitudes below looked up In mute
alteration" Modern archaeology discredits the
'capacious temple although it accepts the
probability Of swarming multitudes and the
likelihood that one of the largest human made
piles of earth In the world had religious pur-
pose. Mr.. Bushnell is Of this opinion basing
his belief upon the fact that the largest struct-
'ures raised by humanity have almost invaria-
bly, proved to have religious significance
The age and actual purpose of the Cahokia
mound are questions which will perhaps nevet
be definitely answered, although for all that is
known at present. the answer may be patiently
awaiting the moment when the mound is care
fully tunneled and its contents investigated
Like that of other relics of the mound builders
9FSnaga4 was once thought to be undoubtedly
several thousand years. According to this belief
1T might have antedated the ruins It have
been discovered in Central America and a
-theory-h has ever been put forward that would
carry 1T back to the mythical days Of Atlantis
when q great CONFUSION of nature was sup
posed to have destroyed communication between
the eastern and western continents, before that
time united in single body of land Modern
archaeology has very much reduced without all
sofutely dfsproVing the likelihood of this re-
mote antiquity, and the evidence so far gath
cred from the almost countless ruins that dot
the valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries
dlSproVes also the earlier belief that the race
which made them must have been materially
different from the Indian tribes who afterward
inherited them. The absence of Indian tradition
concerning the mound builders is for examule
no longer taken as proof Of anything more than
a comparative antiquity for a study of tho IN
dian has shown that few hundred years would
have suff1ced as readily as a few thousand to
quite conceal the origin even of so remarkable a
mound as the great Cahokia
So. The habits of the modern Indian as he was
found in different parts of America have like
wise removed in the light of modern compara-
& tive study, the old idea that the mound build
ers were an agricultural people, living in fixed
communities while the Indians, on the other
hand, were series of roaming nations subsist-
ing chiefly by the chase It has been proved
that the Indians in many cases were quite as
p much farmers as hunters; that they cultivated
broad fields of maize and corn, and kept sup
plies Of provisions sufficient as sometimes hap
pened during the early conquests Of European
adventures, to provision entire armies for a
- long campaign. Thousands of the smaller
mounds, mere tumuli raised some inches above
the ground, are now believed to have been moth
~ing-more than elevations which the Indians
pitched their individual tents for the sake of
drainage and many of the other mounds, as
has BEEN proved by the contents, represented
forms of Indian burial that continued even into
the last century. In fact. there is nothing that
mas YET been found among the relics of the
mound builders that cannot be attributed to the
Is North American Indian, albeit, in higher state
o. savage cultivation than his present descend
ants. Thousands of minor relics-stone and
: metal implements. arrow-heads, pipes, among
them the finest Indian pipe ever discovered in
America; bones shells and miscellaneous arti-
cles of many kinds, found Cahokia, have
invariably corroborated this theory. even while
it Is admitted that man knows what might
result from further Investigation
In 1878 Prof. Putnam of the Peabody museum
made careful examination of Cahokia; his ac-
count, later published in reports of the Pea
body museum. is brief summary of the pur-
pose of Cahokia viewed in the light of mod
ern knowledge Probably this immense tumu-
luS, says Prof. Putnam was not erected Dri-
'marily as burial mound, though such may
prove to be the case. From the present evil
dence it seems more likely that it was made in
order to obtain its elevated site for some par
ticular purpose presumably important pub
. lie building One fact however, that observed
indicated that great length of time was occu-
pied In its. construction, and that its several
level platforms may have been the sites of
many lodges, which. possibly, may have been
placed upon such artificial elevations in order
to avoid the malaria of a district the settle
ment Of which in former. in recent times