A standard history of Georgia and Georgians, Part 8

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 648

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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS

pestles. 9. Numerous fragments of pottery. 10. Head and neck of bird, a specimen of clay-baked. 11. Various little images. These remains were found upon the surface of the tumuli and in the fields around them. We may, therefore, eagerly anticipate the revelations which will come to light when the Herculean task of exploring them has been successfully accomplished.

Like the unsolved riddle of the Sphinx, there obtrudes upon the imagination this question, which time has not yet answered: Who were the mysterious Mound-Builders ? They must have been an extraordinary race of people to have reared such enduring fabrics. But the days when these primitive inhabitants roamed the continent lie far away in the remote background of the past, beyond even the shadowy range of tradition. The mantle of oblivion rests upon them. No historical records have been left behind; and only from the internal evidence of these tumuli can the least information be deduced. But Colonel Jones speculates interestingly upon the subject. Says he : *

"It will be at once remarked by those who even to a limited degree have bestowed any attention upon the antiquities of our State, that these remains are not at all Indian, in point of origin. They have nothing in common with those which were ascertained to have been constructed by the Indians who were here when the region was first peopled by the whites. We have also the positive testimony of the Cherokees to the effect that they retained not even a tradition of the race by whom they were made. The authors of these tumuli were probably idol worshippers. Among the Cherokees this religious custom was never known to exist. The belief cherished by them with respect to a future state forbids the supposition that the idols found in the neighborhood of these tumuli were fashioned by them. Again, no migratory or nomadic race of people would have undertaken the erection of such vast earth works, involving immense labor and designed for almost endless duration. Men must have emerged from the hunter state; they must have become more ad- vanced in civilization; population must have become more dense before the erection of such temples-such fortifications-could have been under- taken. There was not in the sixteenth century a single tribe of Indians, between the Atlantic and the Pacific, who had means of subsistence sufficient to enable them to apply to such purposes the unproductive labor necessary for the erection of such a work. Nor was there any in such a social state as to enable a chief to compel the labor of the nation to be thus applied. It is only under despotic forms of government that pyramids will ever be erected in honor of princes-or such huge earth works he dedicated to religious purposes. It is evident that these monu- ments were never constructed by the Indians who possessed this region when Georgia was first peopled by the whites. Without pausing to enumerate the proofs upon which the supposition rests, we may here state in general terms that all the probabilities point to Asia as the country whence came the earliest inhabitants of America. When or what place they located, eannot at this remove be definitely ascer-

* Ibid., pp. 37-41.

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tained. While there are indications now and then of what may be termed an intrusive type of civilization, referred by some to occasional adventures and migrations, having an impulse from the east toward the Atlantic coast, we ineline to the opinion which looks to Mexico as the parent of the immediate civilization which originated in this valley, and which resulted in these memorials to the industry, religious zeal and military skill of a people who, in the absence of some definite name, are denominated Mound-Builders. The remains which they have left behind them are in many instances precisely similar to those which have been exhumed in the valleys and at the base of these ancient temples, seated upon the plains of Mexico. Another fact worthy of notice is this : these remains are generally located upon or near streams, having communi- cation directly or indirectly with the Gulf." #

Since the locality in question was visited by Colonel Jones, light from other sources has been thrown upon these mysterious tumuli. The following item is copied from one of the old scrap-books of Judge Rich- ard H. Clarke. It reads :

"Several years ago an Indian mound was opened near Cartersville, Ga., by a committee of scientists from Smithsonian. After removing the dirt for some distance a layer of large flag-stones was found, which had evidently been dressed by hand, showing that the men who quarried the rock understood the business. These stones were removed, and in a vault beneath them was found the skeleton of a giant, measuring seven feet and two inches. His hair was coarse and jet black, and hung to the waist, the brow being ornamented with a copper crown. The skeleton was remarkably well preserved and was taken from the vault intact. Nearby were found the bodies of several children of various sizes. The remains of the latter were covered with beads made of bone of some kind. Upon removing these the bodies were found to be enclosed in a net-work of straw or reeds, and underneath these was a covering of the skin of some animal. In fact, the bodies had been prepared some- what after the manner of mummies and will doubtless throw new light upon the history of the people who reared these mounds. On the stones which covered the vault were carved inscriptions, and if deciphered will probably lift the veil which has enshrouded the history of the race of giants which undoubtedly at one time inhabited the continent."

Concerning the memorials of a prehistoric race to be found in the neighborhood of Rome, Col. Chas. C. Jones, writing in 1861, observes : + "The organic traces of the Mound-Builders are frequent in this neighborhood. . Just where the rivers meet, there once stood upon the point of land, whose base is washed by these streams, an interesting mound, circular in shape, some twelve or fifteen feet in height and, at the base, not less than fifty feet in diameter. The earth and clay which

* Charles C. Jones, Jr., in "Monumental Remains of Georgia," pp. 27-119.

+ "Monumental Remains of Georgia," by Charles C. Jones, Jr., pp. 82-83, Savannah, 1861.

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composed this tumulus have been almost entirely removed, the same having been employed in leveling the streets of Rome and in making a landing place for the ferry-boats. From this mound silver ornaments and beads of gold were taken. It was found to contain numerous skele- tons, pots, vases, stone axes, arrowheads, spearheads, shell ornaments, pipes, copper beads, mortars, circular stones, earefully rounded and polished, besides other relics of a less interesting character. Along the banks of the two rivers are numerous traces of inhumation. This spot appears to have been consecrated to the purpose of burial. The swollen tides never wash the shore, without bringing to light new proofs of this fact. In the immediate neighborhood were several other mounds of smaller dimensions, all of which seem to have been devoted to the pur- poses of sepulture. They are now nearly level with the plain. Upon the very spot occupied by at least two of them have been erected the dwellings and work-shops of another and a nobler race. The contents of these were all similar. They were composed of the blue clay and alluvial soil of the valley, interspersed with stones and mussel shells taken from the beds of the confluent streams."

But the Cherokees possessed no information concerning these mounds. They knew nothing whatever of the race of people by whom they were built. Says Colonel Jones : " "When questioned by the whites who first located here, they replied by saying that they retained not even , a tradition of those who construeted them." The story is shrouded in oblivion. With respect to the physical characteristics of the environ- ment, Colonel Jones waxes eloquent. Says he: "Beautiful in all its features is this necropolis of a departed raee. Standing upon the almost obliterated traces of the larger mound, whose base is washed by the con- fluent waves of the Etowah and the Oostanaula, the eye, gladdened by the joyful meeting, watches the stranger wavelets, now friends, as in joyous companionship they leap along the current of the softly gliding

Coosa. * * * The dark green foliage which crowns the left bank grows darker still as the shadow of the opposite hill-almost a mountain -settles upon the river; while the trees on the other side are joyously waving their beautiful branches in the soft sunlight which rests upon the valley beyond. Ou the right, hill succeeds hill in gentle undulation. Behind, stretches the valley of the Etowah, beautiful in its foliage, attractive in its graceful windings, as it bends over to guard in its accustomed channel, the stream which imparts its life and verdure. Upon the adjacent eminences, sits the village of Rome. The stately trees have fallen before the stroke of the woodsman. Broad bridges span the waters. The steamboat, freighted with the products of intelligent hus- bandry, stem their currents. Through the echoing valley of the Etowah are heard the shrill whistle and the rapid march of the locomotive. On every side are seen the traces of a new, a superior, and an advancing civilization. How changed since the time when the Mound-Builders fixed here his home, and above the remains of his family and friends, heaped these memorials of his sorrow-these trilfutes to the memory of the departed.

"Some eight miles above Rome, in a bend of the Oostanaula River,

* Ibid., p. 83.

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known as Pope's Bend, is a mount, at present some five or six feet in height and, at the base, some eighty feet in diameter. It stands in the middle of a field, which is said to have been cleared and cultivated by the Indians. Circular in form, its eentral portion is considerably de- pressed. In consequence of the exposure of this tumulus to the immedi- ate action of wind and tempest and due to its having been for years cultivated, its present proportions do not realize its original size. The walls of this mound must at first have been raised several feet above its eentral portion. In this respect, it seems quite unique. Now, how- ever, the outer rim has an elevation of not more than two feet. It is composed entirely of the sand and soil of the valley. Upon its surface were found broken fragments of pottery, a stone axe, a pipe, a soap- stone ornament, broken elay utensils and numerous fragments of human bones. This was, without doubt, a burial mound. Just across the river, and upon a neek of land formed by the confluenee of Armurchee Creek and the Oostanaula, is still another. The surface of the ground for sev- eral aeres here is covered with pieces of pottery, and a great variety of spears and arrow-heads. From this mound were taken a mortar of beau- tiful proportions, pestles, stone axes, ete. We are inelined to refer these last tumuli to an Indian origin. Certain it is that many of the remains found in and about them are purely Indian in character. It will be observed, however, that the same locality sometimes, and in faet not un- frequently, indieates the existence of remains peeuliar both to the Mound- Builders and to a later period.

* * From the best authority it appears that the Cherokees of this region did not, as a general rule, ereet mounds over the dead. The usual eustom was to hide the body in some roeky fissure, covering it with bark, depositing with it the bow and arrow, pots, stone axes, and other artieles, the property of the deceased, and then close securely the en- tranee. Often the hut of the deceased was burnt, and with it many articles used by the late owner. Sometimes they interred beneath the floor of the cabin, subsequently setting fire to the walls and roof, thus obliterating every traee of the inhumation.

"Again, they buried by placing the body underneath a ledge of roeks, or upon the slope of a hill in some unfrequented spot, heaping above it a pile of stores. Subsequently they adopted the plan of digging a grave some three feet or more in depth, into which the eorpse was lowered. Above it was heaped a small tumulus, some six or eight feet in length and two or three feet in height. Upon the range of hills run- ning to the south of Rome are several graves of this latter description. They lie north and south and are generally located in the vieinity of large trees. On the right bank of the Etowah River, near Rome, at a point known as 'Old Bridge,' a heavy ledge of roeks, projecting from the side of the hill, overhung the river. It was necessary to remove this, in order to construct the track of the Rome Railway. When foreed from its position by the blast, the fissures in the ledge were found to be filled with the skeletons of Indians. By many they were supposed to have been the dead killed in a battle fought but a short distance from this spot, and here seereted by those who survived. Upon the hill oppo- site Rome, known as 'Cemetery Hill,' many bodies have been discovered seeurely lodged in the inequalities of the hillsides, carefully covered Vol. 1-3

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with utensils of the chase, of war, and of domestic use, buried with them. Seattered throughout these valleys, however, there are mounds of mod- erate dimensions, cireular or ovoidal in form, which are doubtless to be referred to an Indian origin. Judging from the internal evidence, we are inclined to regard them as the oldest organic remains of the Chero- kees. Elevated spaces, perfeetly level at the top, are still to be seen. These were formerly used by the Cherokees for the purposes of sport, dancing, ball playing, and quoit rolling. In one locality, not far from . the village of Rome, was pointed out a track, some quarter of a mile or more in extent, which tradition designates as an Indian race-course. All traces of the dwellings have, of course, disappeared, with the excep- tion of some of the more modern buildings-such as the ruins of the house formerly occupied by John Ross, the chief of the national, beau- tifully situated upon a gentle elevation, on the edge of the Coosa Val- ley, near the inception of the river; and the former residence of Major Ridge, which still remains in good preservation [1861], upon the left bank of the Oostananla River, some two miles from Rome. These, how- ever, are modern in character and belong to the semi-civilized Indian, as modified in his tastes and habits by association with the white race." *

The aboriginal remains of these valleys may be divided into three classes: 1. Those which are to be referred to the Mound-Builders. 2. Such as are purely Indian in character. 3. Those which, although the work of Indians, were modified by intercourse and contact with whites or Europeans. Authorities: Jones, Adair, Bartram.

There is little room for doubt that the most typical as well as the most popular of American games, viz., baseball, originated among the North American Indians. As played by them the game was, of course, crude, and in some respects was not unlike the game of football. It is only by an evolutionary sort of process that the favorite sport of the modern college athlete can be traced to the primitive playgrounds of the savage wilderness, but the essential principles of the game were undoubtedly derived from the aboriginal inhabitants of the continent. Throughout the whole of upper Georgia, there are traditions without number concerning important issues, such as boundary line disputes, which were settled by the game; traces of the old fields can still be found on which the famous contests occurred; and in Cherokee County, not far from the Town of Canton, is a village which commemoratively bears the name of Ball Ground. To James Adair, the celebrated annalist of the North American savage, are we indebted for the following descrip- . tion of this favorite pastime of the Indian :

"The ball is made of a piece of scraped deer-skin, moistened and stuffed with deer's hair, and strongly sewed with deer sinews. The ball sticks are about two feet long, the lower end somewhat resembling the palm of a hand. They are worked with deer-skin thongs. Between these

* Charles C. Jones, Jr., in "Monumental Remains of Georgia," pp. 82-93, Savannah, 1861.

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they catch the ball and are enabled to throw it a great distance, when not prevented by the opposite party, whose effort it is to intercept its passage. The goal is some five hundred yards in extent. At each end of it, they fix into the ground two long, bending poles, which are three yards apart at the bottom, but reach much farther outward at the top. The party who succeeds in throwing the ball over these, seores one; but if the ball goes underneath, it is east back and played for as usual. The gamesters were equal in number on both sides; and at the beginning of every course of the ball they throw it high in the center of the ground and in a direet line between the two goals. When the crowd of players prevents the one who catches the ball from throwing it directly in front, lie commonly sends it in the right course by an artful, sharp twirl. They are so exceedingly expert in this manly exereise that, between the goals, the ball is mostly flying the different ways, by the force of the playing- sticks, without falling to the ground; for they are not allowed to eatch it with the hand. In the heat and excitement of the game, the arms and legs of the players are sometimes broken. The celebration of this game is preceded by fastings and night-watches, by those who are about to engage in it. They turn out to the ball-ground, in a long row, painted white, and whooping as if Pluto's prisoners had all broken loose. The leader then begins a religious invocation, which is joined in by his com- panions. Each party strives to gain the twentieth ball, which they esteem a favorite divine gift." From the foregoing description it will be observed that while the modern game of baseball differs materially from the primitive game played by the North American Indians, the equally popular game of football preserves many of the savage charac- teristies of its original prototype.

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But the primitive inhabitants of the state at the time of Oglethorpe's arrival upon the bluffs at Savannah were Indians. These, broadly speak- ing, were divided into four great tribes or nations: The Creeks, the Cherokees, the Chickasaws, and the Choctaws. It is only with the first two, however, the Creeks and the Cherokees, that Georgia's history is to any great extent concerned. The Chickasaws and the Choetaws re- sided in the extreme western part of Georgia and did not, therefore, come in contact with the early settlements.

The Cherokees were the prehistorie mountaineers, dwelling on either side of the lower Appalachians. At the outbreak of the Revolution, these Indians occupied a domain embracing 40,000 square miles. The chief towns of the nation were in East Tennessee, but its territory em- braced portions of all the adjacent states, ineluding Georgia, North Caro- lina, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia and Kentucky. On the eve of the final deportation, most of the Cherokee lands were in upper Georgia and East Tennessee, while the capital of the nation was at New Echota, in what is now Gordon County, Georgia.

The Creeks, or Museogees, comprised a great confederacy to which the Lower Creeks of Georgia, the Upper Creeks of Alabama, and the Seminoles of Florida, all belonged. The Yamaeraws, with whom Ogle- thorpe treated on his arrival at Savannah, were a detached tribe of Creek Indians, at whose head was the great chief, Tomo-chi-chi, of whom there

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will be much to narrate as this history proceeds. The Alibamons, a tribe from which the State of Alabama derived its name, the Uchees and the Natchez, also belonged to this confederation. The Hitchittees, or Flint Indians, though originally a distinct people, spoke the Mus- cogee dialect.

It was because of the beautiful country in which these Indians lived, a region watered by gently flowing streams that, in familiar parlance, they came to be known as Creeks. But ethnologically they were Mus- cogees. At least, the predominating element of the Confederacy, con- stituting eighty per eent of its warriors, belonged to this stock whose original habitat was in Northern Mexico; but the eastward migration occurred long before the coming of Oglethorpe to Georgia.

Obviously, in a work of this character, whose main purpose is to trace political events and institutions, only a limited space can be de- voted to prehistoric antiquities. We cannot, therefore, discuss the mani- fold peculiarities which differentiated these aboriginees into various tribes. But the proprieties of such a work will not forbid a brief sum- mary of general characteristics .*

As a rule, the Indians lived in small communities or villages, located on running streams or in neighborhoods where spring water was abun- dant. There were only a few centers sufficiently large to be called towns, in the modern sense, yet this term was often applied even to the smallest village. Tents or wigwams doubtless furnished them shelter at an early period; but contact with the whites led them to adopt many of the ways of civilization. We find them, therefore, living in frame structures, sometimes whitewashed both within and without, supplied with numer- ous conveniences such as cooking utensils, gardening implements, and the like. Among the Cherokees, at a late period, there were not a few

* GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDIANS-Tall, erect, copper-colored, with long, straight black hair, with prominent noses and cheek-bones, with regular features, arched brows, and eyes rather small but active and full of fire; usually grave in deportment, reserved in conversation, tenacious of natural rights, hospitable to strangers, kind to members of their own tribe, honest, haughty and ernel to an enemy, crafty, valiant, and often engaged in war; expert in hunting and fishing, fond of music and dancing, observant of festivals, nimble of foot; skilled in the use of the bow and arrow, the club, the axe, the harpoon, and the blow-gun; patient of fatigue and hunger, yet given to ease and frequent meals; addicted to smoking; acknowl- edging the existence of a Supreme Being; adoring the sun as the symbol of life and heat; entertaining some notions of a life beyond the grave; plagued with visions, dreams, trances, and the influences of malign and lesser divinities; worshiping the Deyil, and offering human sacrifices in propitiation of the Spirit of Evil; indulging to some extent in image worship, and perpetuating the memory of the distinguished dead by mounds and figures of wood and stone; excelling in the manufacture of fietile ware, boats of single trees, shawls, coverings, mantles beautifully woven and adorned with feathers, articles of dress made of the skins of buffalo, bear, and deer, carefully prepared, dyed and colored, fishing lines and nets of the inner bark of trees, mats and baskets of split cane, reeds and rushes, and laboriously constructed weirs for the capture of fishes; extensively engaged in the fabrication, use and interchange of various articles and implements of wood, bone, shell, copper, and stone, frequently monogamous-the contubernal relationship being dissoluble at the will of the male-the chiefs and principal men claiming as many wives as fancy and station dietated; ornament-loving, jealous of their possessions, given to agri- culture, obedient to kings,-thus runs a general description of these primitive inhabitants. ("History of Georgia, " Charles C. Jones, Jr., Vol. I, pp. 11-12.)

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substantial brick houses of modern design; and some of these Indians were men of means, owning negro slaves and cultivating large tracts of land. In prehistorie times, however, conditions of life were much the same : there were few inequalities. Each head of a family, in addition to his dwelling, if at all thrifty, had a corn house, a poultry house, and a hot house. The chief agrienltural product raised by the Indians was corn, or, as they called it, maize. Hunting was a favorite occupation ; but as the Indian became more and more civilized he became less depend- ent upon the chase as a means of livelihood and pursued it more as a source of enjoyment. The Indian hot house was not like ours, designed for the protection of potted plants. It was a house built of heavy tim- ber and plastered with mud, in which he found shelter during the win- ter months. It contained no opening except a low door, which when elosed made the interior practically an air tight compartment; and, though not to be recommended from the standpoint of sanitation, yielded some protection against the cold weather without. There was also a fireplace built into a crude chimney, and around the warm coals which were constantly replenished, the Indians gathered to smoke and to sleep.

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A standard history of Georgia and Georgians, Part 8

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868- Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 648

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 648