Year: 1871




For the Republican.


FROM wAYNESvILLE.


EDITORS REPUBLICAN:


Dear rSirs--Thinking thai, t,perhaps, ,ther,
isenough Ofthe antiquarian spirit among
your readers to make them take an in.
terest in the ancient works of our State
1 venture to send you short account o
one, that l regard as one of the mos
intereresting monuments of past age
in Ohio. Fort Ancient is situated in
Warren County about thirty miles north
east from Cincinnati, and is built OF
one of the bluffs, which skirt the valley
of the little Miami river. l visited il
last summer in company with Prof
Beers of New York, and while wand
ering about these ancient works / eX-
perienced much of that peculiar sensa-
tion,that presume one feels in walking
among the ruins Of Italy or Egypt. The
date, and manner of the origin of Fort
Ancient,as of most of the ancient works
in this country, are matters of mere
conjecture, yet there is something about
it that gives one the irresistible impress
ion of antiquity; the very solitude of
the place makes one feel that he is tread
ing on ground sacred to something that
is not of to-day. The fort stands on a
nearly horizontal plain, about 234 feet
above the level of the Little Miami river.
The bluff on which it is built projects to
the southwest, and has very precipitous
banks on three of its sides. On ap-
preaching the fortification from the di-
rection of the river, the first object that
attracts ones attention is a circular
mound about thirty feet high, and per-
haps two hundred feet in circumference
at its base; it is built on the side of the
bluff, several rods distant from the
main fertilization, and seems to have
been constructed as kind of lookout
point. Standing on its summit one has
fine view Of the Little Miami valley
for some distance up and down. Pass
ing up the narrow road, short distance
from this mound you come to what ap-
pears to have been the principal gate
way of the fort. This is, at present, a
simple opening in the Notifications,
about ten feet wide, with no evidences
of any more permanent walls on either
side than the earth embankments.
There are in all about fifty-eight open
ings in the walls, which have the ap-
pearance of having been used as gate
ways. The wall is made of earth, and
throughout the greater part of its eX-
tent is built on the very brink of the
precipice formed by the bluff, so that ID
could have been easily defended by a
comparatively small force. The fort is
about mile in length in a direct line,
though from its zigzag course the en-
tire length of the wall is about five
miles; it is, at present, from six to eight
feet high though originally it was
probably much higher. In an account,
written about sixty years ago, 1 find
the following statement: "The wall on
the inside varies in height, according to
the shape of the ground on the inside,
being generally from eight to ten feet; :;
but on the plain it is about nineteen and
half feet high inside and out, on a
base OF four and half poles. In a
few places it appears to be washed
away in cutters, made by water collect
ing on the inside"-On the plain it is
now, perhaps sixteen feet high, so max
ing do allowance for wear,it must orig
inally have been q rather formidable
embankment. At about its middle, the
fort narrows down to width of only a
few rods, and is divided into two nearly
equal parts by wall about sixteen feet
high. About twenty rods northeast
from the main fertilization, are two
mounds about ten feet high; running
nearly north and south from these
mounds, are two apparently artificial
bitches, which communicate with the
gullies on each side of the bluff. EX-
tending ina north easternly direction
from the mounds, are two roads, about
one-fourth of mile in lenght; at their
extreme ends they unite in semicircle
around another mound, and are about
a rod in width, and perhaps two feet
high. 1t is hard to conjecture the pur-
pose for which they were used, but they
were probably intended as race course.
Between the wall and the river on the
south west,there are three circular roads
about forty rods in length, constructed
on the precipitous bank of the bluff, and
overlooking the river; from their posi-
ton one would infer that they were
intended as 4 standing place for SOL
diers,who were posted there for the pur-
pose of obstructing the passage up and
down the river. l was told, by a gen.
tleman living near the place that there
was formerly covered roadway lead
ing from the fort to the river, but did
not find sufficient evidence to make me
feel sure that such was the case. If il
ever did exist it was doubtless intended
as means of conveying water from
the river to the fort. At present, its eX-
istence is only traditional. 1t is said
that in excavating the walls, remains Of
pottery ware have been found at q