Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1908-11-05
The Greet Mound ot Moundsville.

ed effort l9 10 De maue Oh ciluoJ VA
his week by school children and others
to raise funds for the purchase and
preservation of the great Mound at
Moundsville, West Virginia, We pub
lish some interesting information in
regard to this wonderful prehistoric
monument. The following descrip-
tion is from the Cyclopedia Amer.
cana
One of the most interesting mounds
of North America is that known as
the Grave Greek Mound located in
Moundsville, West Virginia. The
Mound is situated on an elevated ta-
ble-lsnd, and is an artificial trun-
Gated mound, some 70 feet high and
900 feet in circumference at its base.
The Mound was built by race super
ior and previous to Indians, and is the
most notable mound in the Ohio Val
lev. It's cubic contents are equal to
the third pyramid Of Mycerinus, but
was heaped up by people destitute
of the knowledge Of iron, and who had
NO domestic animals. or machinery to
aid them. They were evidently peo'
pie like the Egyptians, ruled by some
one monarch, who was able to combine
vast numbers in the erection OF one
structure, and at the same time, able
to provide them with food in abund
ance. The mound builders cultivated
the soil like Egyptians, and had maize
for their food, as the date and lsek
and onion supplied the wants OF the
laborers on the Nile. No Indian was
ever known to toll in this manner.
No government existed among the In
dians that could bring them go such
servitude. The authority of chiet
or sachem is too sle lder thread for
such people. 1t must be remem-
bered that in Egypt to build one OF
the pyramids required the labor of
100000 men for 20 years. This
Mound was visited by white men at
very early date. for in 1918 one OF the
large tress growing Oh the Mound
bore the date of 1874, and several
names cut in the bark were YET dis
tinguishable. Tomlinson, the owner
of the Mound, was induced-by his
neighbors and friends in Wheeling
to = IN the Mound, which he did In
1SS From the north side he eI-
cavs.eg toward the centre an adit ten
feet high and 7 feet wide along the
natural surface. At the distance Of
Ill feet he came to vault that bad
been excavated in the earth before the
Mound was commenced 8 feet by II
feet square and 7 feet in depth.
Along each side. and across the ends,
upright ! timbers had been placed,
which supported timbers thrown
across the vault as a ceiling. These
timbers were covered with loose un7
hewn stone, common in the neighbor-
hood. The timbers had rotted, and
the stone tumbled into the vault. In
this vault were two human skeletons,
one of which had no ornaments. The
other was surrounded by $50 ivory
beads and an ivory ornament about
six inches long. A shaft was also
sunk from the top of the Mound to
meet the other. At 81 feet above the
first or bottom vault, was found an
other, similar to the first. In this
vault was found skeleton which had
been ornamented with copper rings,
plates of mica, and bone beads. Over
1000 discs cut from shells were found
here. The copper rings or bracelets
found weighed about II ounces.
The following article concerning the
mound was written by Hon. Virgil A.
Lewis, State Historian and Archivist
Of West Virginia
Among the most mysterious antiqui-
ties Of the Ohio and Mississippi VAL
leys, are the ancient tumuh or mounds,
the work of an intelligent but long.
forgotten people, vanished race.
These Mound Builders Who were
they2 Alas, we shall never know,
for when they were here the North
American continent was as sealed
book to the historian. They were
isolated from all the world besides,
and they disappeared therefrom leav-
ing no in history, and not in
blood, ma rs, speech, nor laws, have
they left p,ace behind them. That
they did disappear is not remarkable.
for we know that other tribes and ma
tions have done likewise; that there
have been wars, migrations. absorp-
tions. and extinctions ofpeoplss whose
prehistoric life is yelled in the mys-
tor;as of tba lonu distant Past. These