The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-18
SOLDIERS OF THREE NATIONS
 OCCUPIED OLD FORT JACKSON


 lis literary treatment he says that so well has the ruthless blow done it's work that only one bastion of the en- tire fort remains. The history fails to say whether the author, in person, visited the historic spot
 To the eye of the layman, 1t looks as though the entire fort could be deci- phered in the ditches and depressions that mark the old spot. But 1t would take a practiced eye to decipher some of the lines and breastworks, built as it was of dirt nearly two hundred years ago.
 The ruins upon which the visitor is privileged to gaze today are nearly 4 250 feet long The face of the fort appears to front the Tallapoosa river rather than the Coosa or the junction Of the two rivers. The apparent rear of the old fort Is nearer the Coosa than the face of 1t is near the Tallapoosa. But between the face Of the fort and the TalIapoosa is a swampy depres- sion or savannah which local tradition says was cleared up only in recent years.
 The fort on a higher blun overlook ed this savannah and commanded the Tallapoosa river. All of which was quite natural. inasmuch as the fort was built by the French who came up the river from the southwest to pre-
  from the east and if the English came they would come down the Talfa- poosa.
 The present shape of the ruins. whether they be the ruins of the en- tire fort or the ruins of one bastion. is the shape of an hour glass. The rear and the face of the ruins are of the same extent, Between these liin- its the side walls of the fort break into acute angles, which break the side of the fort and do not offer to the enemy a solid parallel wall. This advantage displayed in these earthen works is an advantage recognized and appreciated by military leaders since the days of Caesar.
 Homes of the Garrison.
 Between the face and rear of the ruins and between, the sides, broke by their acute angles is a depression, from SIX to ten feet lower than the surrounding country. In this depres- sion there was no doubt the living and dwelling quarters of the garrison, as well as of the living quarters of the. women and children who might take rfeuge within the protection of the fort. It is a considerable space, not withstanding the soil that has been washed in by the ruins and the storms of nearly two centuries.
 The outer edges of the old dirt ruins are clearly defined. 4 new growth Of trees has covered them and part of them are even more clearly denied by a considerable entrenchment which ap- breaches the dignity of a moat. The face of the fort, if the opinion of 2 1ayman is correct, has been practical fy destroyed by cuivert which has emptied< the water flowing Into the ruins all these years. Only portion l of that part of the fort facing the Tal- Iapcosa now remains.
 The most striking feature of what | now endures of the old stronghold is q circular hole in the fort near the | rear, or that part of 1t which faces | the Coosa river. This circular hole l marks the site of the old magazine | And to this good day in the Twentieth 1 Century. there are to be found about the ruins some pieces of old fashioned l bricks with which this old magazine was once built The circular hole is surrounded with a circular enclosure of natural earth. and about this cir eular earth is an entrenhment, sur rounding 1t and separating it from the rear eartheh wall of the ruin.
 Ruins Plainly Outlined.
 whether this ruin is the remains of one bastion of the fort or the entire fort Is still an open question. But | to the laymen 1t looks as though the old fort or a greater part of the old fort can be outlined in the earthen ruins of today.
 It is recorded in history that when the garrison of French and Swiss sol diers rose and murdered Captain the French commander. the garrison consisted of captain. a/lieu- tenant. an ensign, a corporal and ] twenty-six soldiers. In the depres- 1 sion of today in the ancient ruin there is ample room for such garrison.
 The wisdom of the founder of the old fort is impressed upon the under 1 standing of the most casual observer. The military man who put 1t there knew his business. The fort Is full half mile from the confluence of me Coosa and the Taiiapoosa rivers. Un- til the record breaking flood of 1SS6 l the site of the old fort was five miles from the actual Junction of the two | rivers. But the, great overflow Of 1886 changed the course of the Taila- l poosa It caused the Taliapoosa to | it's old bed and make new junction with the Coosa to form the | Alabama It's old bed Is marked by a | lake which is only full of water dur | ing flood times.
 But where the fort Is, is high land | that Is never touched by river floods a high plateau, almost as level as a | billiard table. At this particular place l the Coosa curves in towards the Tal- | lapoosa, and the Tallapoosa curves in 1 towards the Coosa, until, less than 300 | yards of high earth separate them. On | this high earth the far-seeing Bien- | vile founded his fort and threw out l the feur-le-lis of France to the Ala | hama breeze.
 old Indian Mound.
 Between the fort and the point where l the two rivers run together there is, | on lower ground. 8 perfect Indian | mound now covered with trees and un- l derbrush. This mound is perhaps 60 | feet high. Like all the mounds of the l Upper Creeks. it is an observation l mound, and unlike the burial mounds | of the Choctaws in West Alabama | along the Tombigbee. In the West Alabama mounds, bones, pottery and | are found. but in the tall | mounds of Middle Alabama, nothing IS to be found because they were built | not for places of burial, but as places | for observation and for refuge, when | attacked by the enemies of the build | CTS. The tribal chieftain frequently | had his home upon the crest of his | with a narrow path leading l to it--a path so narrow that it could | be easily defended by the retainers of the chief.
 The average informed of mankind, l however, think that all Indian mounds | are veritable storehouses of all sorts of | aboriginal relics. This mound near old | Fort Jackson has been opened and a l shaft has been sunk into 1t by some un- knowing investigator. The man who l dug the shaft into the mound may have | been ignorant but he was not without l a sense of humor. for at the mouth or