Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1908-11-06
THE MOUND
BUILDERS

Yesterday was celebrated by the
schools throughout the state as
Mound Day" and contributions
were maze by many OF the schools
- a fund for the preservat on of
the historic mound at Moundsville.
The following description OF the
mound by Prof. Virgil A. Lewis.
state II stor.an and Arehivist, will
be read with interest:
Among the most mysterious Of
she Ohio and Mississippi Valleys,
are the aaG,ent tumuli or mounds.
the work o; an intelligent but long
forgotten peopie-a vanished race.
These Mound-Builders! Who were
they? Alas. We shall never know,
for when they were here the North
American continent was as sealed
book to the hitor.an. They were
Isolated from all the world besides,
and they disappeared therefrom
leaving no place in history, and nos
in blood. manners, speech. nor laws.
have they lefj trace behind them
That they did disappear is not re-
markable, for We know that other
IF hes and nations have done like
wise; hat there have been wars,
migra.ee, absorptlons. and extinc-
Dions of peoples whose prehistoric
life IS ve'led the mysteries Of
the long distant Past. These Mound
Builders may have persisted at the
barbarous hands of the warriors OF
the Iroquois Confederacy. who
were the Romans OF the Western
World, or they may have been merg
ca into the Natchez of the lower
Miss ssippi Valley, or the Mayas OF
Yucatan, or the Aztees OF North
ern Mexico. Volumes have been
VIZ item 20 show how America was
orig ,nally peopled and still no salts
factory solution of the problem has
been reached. On the contrary.
these certain Little else than a mass
OF contradictions. Certain it is, we
may trace these people here, there.
and everywhere by mounds they
aave reared and by the weapons
utensils. implements and ornaments.
:o"nd therein or scattered over the
sur.ace of the land, or dug from
the sands and gravel-beds of the
rivers.
On what was known as Grave
Creek Flats, in what is now Mar
snail county, West Virginia, they
reared Mammoth Mound. Il has
given name-Moundsvill the
modern city which surrounds it. 1t
$ now slXty-n ne feet high. the top
aGVinS been graded off somewhat
!or platform, and in the shape of
the frustum OF cone, having a
circumference OF three hundred
yards at the base and a diameter
OF fifty feet at the top. 1t was
heaped up by a people destitute OF
knowledge of iron, and without do
NEST animals to aid them. 1t is a
vast monument TO the industry of
The ancient inhabitants OF -he Ohio
valley, a masterpiece of the works
of antiquity; a tremendous memoir
al OF The aborig nal life of a by
gone people. Standing there alone
IN its majesty 1t marks the site Of
an ancient metropolis of the Mound
builders Of this region and may
rest upon ruins still more ancient
than itself. It was discovered il
1910, by Joseph Tomlinson, the
hrst pioneer settler who reared his
cab n on the Grave Creek Flats.
While hunting in the vicinity, he
came suddenly to what seemed to be
a nil which reared is steep, cone
shaped form before him with its
summit the tree-tops OF 5he sur
round ding forest. Ascending II he
stood that day upon Americas most
noted artificial mound. From thar
me to the close Of the century
many persons stood upon it and
gazed In adm ration and wonder up
on the surrounding scene. Henry
Rowe Schoolcraft, The historian. as
cended Il in 1918; Joseph bod
fridge. author OF the Settlement
and Indian wars OF Western viz
gin ana Pennsylvania. was on II
IN 1919; and they, with many 9th
ers have left 20 Us their descr,p-
tons Of it. When was IL buil.2
What is its age? None know. nor
ever will know Tomlins stated
that when he discovered il. the
growth Of timber thereon was as
large and dense as any OF the sur
.ouyfty,, r,.-,..