USA > Georgia > Statistics of the state of Georgia : including an account of its natural, civil, and ecclesiastical history ; together with a particular description of each county, notices of the manners and customs of its aboriginal tribes, and a correct map of the state > Part 2
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Between Taylor's ridge and Pigeon mountain the Onon- daga gray limestone prevails, and is found at the tops of the northern spurs of the latter. A marked change however oc- curs in the crinoidea imbedded in it, and pentremites of the species florealis, globosa and pyriformis take the place of the usual large, smooth encrinital stems. Cyathophylla and favo- sites labyrinthica also occur. Proceeding to the west, on reaching west Chickaumagua creek the Delthyris shaly lime- stone, containing abundant impressions of strophemene appears, and continues to the base of the Lookout mountain. In all
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GEOLOGY.
the hills the comiferous limestone is succeeded by sandstone which continues to their summits.
The dip of the rocks from the Alatoona mountain, which is the western limit of the primary formation at that point, to the base of the Lookout mountain, is either nearly vertical or south of east. The strata of the Lookout mountain, on the contrary, all dip to the west. This circumstance indicates here, as it does father north in the same range of mountains, a violent contortion and folding over of the strata, presenting the ap- pearance of a succession of waves with their sloping sides to the east, and their crests curling over to the west. If it be imagined that the strata constituting the existing kinds of rocks were originally deposited in a nearly horizontal position ; that afterwards by the settling of the whole, from the contraction of the superficial crust of the earth, they were thrown into wave-like ridges, hanging over to the west; and that then, by the denuding action of violent currents of water sweeping down the narrow valleys, and acting with most force on their eastern edges, the superior strata were removed to the present depth, we shall have a correct idea of the character of the paleozoic formation of the State, and a satisfactory solution of the uniform dip of the strata, either in an eastern or nearly vertical direction, be obtained. The denudation has been greatest in the Oostanaula valley, and less in the small valleys between Chattoogatta, Taylor, Pigeon, Missionary and Look- out mountains. The abundance of the remains of crinoidea, cyathophylla, favosites and catinapora, proves the existence of extensive coral reefs along the northwest portions of the State at a period anterior to that of the Devonian and Carboniferous formations.
The Appalachian coal field merely touches the extreme N. W. corner of the State ; and the only deposits of bituminous coal hitherto found in Georgia are on the summit of Lookout mountain, and in the Raccoon mountain, which lies imme- diately to the west of it. Anthracite coal has not yet been found, although the formations in which it exists occur.
The primary rock formation, embracing the sedimentary non-fossiliferous strata, is, in a geographical, agricultural, and manufacturing point of view, by far the most important in the
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GEOLOGY.
State. It is no less so for its varied and abundant mineral wealth. Occupying the extensive belt that lies between the western base of the Blue Ridge and the western edge of the tertiary and cretaceous formations, it embraces that portion of the State which unites in the greatest degree a salubrious cli- mate with a fertile soil. Descending from the elevated table land of the Chattahoochee, by a succession of undulating and parallel ranges of hills to its junction at the heads of naviga- tion, with the lower formations, it presents a series of valleys of an originally rich soil, and abundantly supplied with streams of pure water. Interesting as this formation is to the mineralo- gist, and in reference to its influence on national wealth, to the geologist it presents, from its very uniform and simple con- stitution, but a limited field for remark. The rocks which compose it are, with but few exceptions, of a stratified or gneissoid kind. The western portion consists principally of rocks of a schistose character, as talcose slate, chloritic slate, and hornblende schist ; whilst the gneissoid rocks prevail to- wards the east, in the form of micaceous, felspathic and sien- itic gneiss. The exceptions to the stratified character are but few. The most remarkable of them is the Stone mountain in De Kalb county, which is composed of a compact light-coloured granite, of uniform composition, and which presents to the eye one enormous rock, of a dome-like form, towering above the surrounding plain like a huge boulder. Several quarries of a crystalline primitive marble, are found in this formation. In Cherokee county, statuary marble is met with; and in Hall and Habersham counties, darker marbles of excellent quality occur.
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A narrow, but extensive belt of elastic sandstone (Itaco- lumit)* runs from Hog mountain, in Hall county, to the N. E. corner of the State, in Habersham county. At Col. Young's, nine miles from Gainesville, it appears at the summit of the mountain ridge, and presents an outcrop of several hundred feet. As this rock is regarded as the matrix of the diamond, it may be expected, from its great extent, that the dozen that
* The public is indebted to Dr. W. C. Daniell for an accurate survey and map, made under his direction, by F. Schreiber, of this formation.
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GEOLOGY.
have already been found will be the precursors of a rich har- vest of this most precious gem.
The gold region of Georgia, from its richness and extent, is the most remarkable feature of the primary rock formation. Its western boundary is the western base of the Blue Ridge. The richest deposits are found occupying a belt along the east- ern slope of that range of mountains, varying in width from fifteen to twenty miles ; but gold has been discovered at various points one hundred miles to the east of it, as far as Columbia county, and thence in a line, nearly parallel to the principal belt, to Alabama. The gold is found in both vein and deposit mines. In the former it generally, occurs in quartose veins, running through rocks of gneiss, mica schist, talcose schist, and chlorite schist. The quartz forming the veins is usually of a cellular structure, generally discoloured by iron, and with the cavities more or less filled with a fine yellow ochre. The gold, which varies much in the size of its particles, is found either in small scales (its most usual form) in the cavities or the fissures of the quartz, or in the yellow ochre, or in combination with the sulphurets of iron, of copper, and of lead, or united with silver. It sometimes, but rarely, exists in the adjoining schistose rocks.
The deposit mines are of alluvial formation, obviously pro- duced by the washing down of the detritus of the auriferous veins into the adjoining valleys. The schistose rocks, which are of a more perishable character, having crumbled away, and left the quartz veins exposed, the latter have fallen down from a want of support, and have been swept by torrents into the valleys below. The quartz pebbles, and the harder por- tions of the including rocks, and the gold, being heavy, would be deposited at the bottom of the streams, and would occur in the greatest quantity when there were the greatest inequa- lities. The lighter materials would at first be swept down to a lower point, or be deposited along the borders of the streams; but, with a change of the beds of the streams, or a diminution of their velocity, these materials would gradually accumulate over the original beds of pebbles and gold, and the valleys would ultimately present the appearance which they now do, of a stratum of several feet of alluvial loam covering another
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GEOLOGY.
of water-worn pebbles of quartz and schist, containing particles of gold, the whole resting on an original bed of schistose rocks, similar in constitution and dip to those of the surrounding hills. The quartz pebbles are usually flattened on the sides, indicat- ing their compression in the veins, and are more or less water- worn, as they have for a longer or shorter period been exposed to the action of the currents of water.
Iron is found in abundance, and of great purity, in this for- mation, and Kaolin of a very fine quality.
Before closing this imperfect sketch, it will not be inappro- priate to notice the agricultural and industrial effects produced by the geological character of the different formations.
The tertiary formations, wherever they are of a siliceous constitution, show the usual sterility of that kind of soil. Of this character is the extensive plain between the head of tide water and the calcareous formation of the Eocene-a region which very scantily repays the agriculturist for his labour, and seems by nature destined to be appropriated to grazing pur- poses. The river bottoms of this district present a remark- able contrast to the sandy plain. These owe their fertility to the rich washings from the calcareous and primary rocks, brought down by the stream, and are found to be highly remu- nerative whenever inundations can be prevented.
Near the ocean, where the rise and fall of the tides admit of their being drained and flowed, they form the soils on which rice is cultivated. The yield of this grain, on such lands, pro- bably exceeds that of any other cereal that is grown.
The beneficial effect of lime is strikingly illustrated in the tertiary plain, in the admirable adaptation of the soil to the production of cotton, wherever this mineral occurs. On reach- ing the line of the calcareous rocks of the Eocene formation in the counties of Burke, Laurens, &c., a marked change in the fertility of the soil is perceived, and it is to the existence of this rock in great abundance, in the south-western counties, that they are found so productive in cotton.
In the primary rock formation, the accumulation of the washings of the disintegrated feldspathic and schistose rocks along the lower hills, and in the valleys, has produced a soil
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INDIANS.
originally of a productive character, and one well adapted to both grain and cotton.
On approaching the higher hills, these deposits become thinner, and the soil consequently less productive ; but fortu- nately, the inferior fertility is compensated for by an abundant water-power, rich minerals, and a salubrious climate, all of which mark out this part of the State as the future seat of ex- tensive manufactures.
Leaving the primary rocks at the western base of the Blue Ridge, a new formation occurs, in which limestone, and clay schists prevail. Here again the fertilizing influence of lime becomes conspicuous; and it is to the presence of this rock, that the richness of the valleys of the Cherokee counties is to be ascribed. Their peculiar adaptation to the growth of small grain and grasses, if experience had not already proved the former, might have been predicated in the constitution of the soil, and a knowledge that their rock formations are similar to those of the wheat-growing counties of the Genesee of New-York, the middle counties of Pennsylvania, and the She- nandoah valley of Virginia. The discovery of a bed of anhy- drous limestone, belonging to the upper Onondaga Salt group, at the Red Sulphur Springs, in Walker county, authorizes the hope, that at no distant day, plaster of Paris may be added to the agricultural resources of Georgia.
INDIANS.
AT the death of Col. Benjamin Hawkins, who was for many years the agent for the United States Government in its trans- actions with the Creek Indians, there were found among his manuscripts, some valuable accounts of their manners, cus- toms, and civil polity.
The compiler of this work has in his possession a sketch of the Creek country, prepared by Col. Hawkins, from which the following extracts are made :
The origin of the name Creek is uncertain. The tradition is, that it was given by white people, from the number of
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INDIANS.
creeks and water courses in the country. The Indian name is Muscogee .*
The Creeks came from the west. They have a tradition among them, that there is, in the fork of Red river, west of the Mississippi, two mounds of earth; that at this place, the Cussetuhs, Conetuhs and Chickasaws, found themselves ; that being distressed by wars with red people, they crossed the Mississippi, and directing their couse eastwardly, they crossed the falls of Tal-la-poo-sa, above Took-au-bat-che, settled below the falls of Chat-to-ho-che, and spread out from thence to Oc- mul-gee, O-co-nee, Savannah, and down on the sea-coast to- wards Charleston. Here, they first saw white people, and from hence they have been compelled to retire back again, to their present settlements.
CHA-TO-HO-CHE .- The name of this river is from Chat-to, a stone ; and hoche, marked or flowered ; there being rocks of that description in the river, above Ho-ith-le-ti-gau, at the old town Chatto-ho-che.
WAR .- This is always determined on by the great Warrior. When the Mic-co and counsellors are of opinion that the town has been injured, he lifts the war hatchet against the nation which has injured them. But as soon as it is taken up, the Mic-co and counsellors may interpose, and by their prudent counsels, stop it, and proceed to adjust the misunderstanding by negotiation. If the Great Warrior persists and goes out, he is followed by all who are for war. It is seldom a town is unanimous, the nation never is; and within the memory of the oldest man among them, it is not recollected, that more than one half the nation have been for war at the same time ; or taken, as they express it, the war talk.
The Great Warrior, when he marches, gives notice where he shall encamp, and sets out sometimes with one or two only. He fires off his gun and sets up the war-whoop. This is repeated by all who follow him, and they are sometimes for one or two nights marching off.
* G, g is always hard in Creek : J, j is used for the soft g. Mus-co-gee, a creek ; Muscogulgee, creeks : Che-lo-kee, a Cherokee ; Cheloculgee, the Cherokees.
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INDIANS.
PEACE .- This is always determined on and concluded, by the Mic-co and counsellors ; and peace talks are always addressed to the cabin of the Mic-co. In some cases, where the resentment of the warriors has run high, the Mic-co and council have been much embarrassed.
MARRIAGE .- A man who wants a wife never applies in per- son ; he sends his sister, his mother, or some other female relation, to the female relations of the woman he names They consult the brothers and uncles on the maternal side, and sometimes the father ; but this is a compliment only, as his approbation or opposition is of no avail. If the parties applied to approve of the match, they answer accordingly to the woman who made the application. The bridegroom then gets together a blanket, and such other articles of clothing as he is able to do, and sends them by the women to the females of the family of the bride. If they accept of them the match is made; and the man may then go to her house as soon as he chooses. And when he has built a house, made his crop and gathered it in, then made his hunt and brought home the meat, and put all this in the possession of his wife, the ceremony ends, and they are married ; or as they express it, the woman is bound. From the first going to the house of the woman till the ceremony ends, he is completely in possession of her.
This law has been understood differently, by some hasty cuckolds, who insist, that when they have assisted the woman to plant her crop, the ceremony ends, and the woman is bound. A man never marries in his own tribe.
DIVORCE .- This is at the choice of either of the parties; the man may marry again as soon as he will; but she is bound till all the Boos-ke-tau of that year are over, excepting in the cases of marriage and parting in the season when there is no planting, or more properly speaking, during the season the man resides at the house of the woman and has possession of her, during the continuation of the marriage ceremony ; in that case the woman is equally free to connect herself as soon as she pleases.
There is an inconsistency in the exception above ; since in fact, in such season, there can be no marriage ; but the chiefs, in their report on this article, maintained it as an exception, and
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INDIAN S.
this practice in these cases of half marriage prevails universally. As soon as a man goes to the house of his bride, he is in com- plete possession of her, till the ceremony ends; and during this period the exception will apply.
Marriage gives no right to the husband over the property of his wife; and when they part, she keeps the children and property belonging to them.
ADULTERY .- This is punished by the family or tribe of the husband. They collect, consult, and decree. If the proof is clear, and they determine to punish the offenders, they divide and proceed to apprehend them. One half goes to the house of the woman, the remainder to the family house of the adulterer ; or they go together, as they have decreed. They apprehend the offenders, beat them severely with sticks, and then crop them. They cut off the hair of the woman, which they carry to the square in triumph. If they apprehend but one of the offenders and the other escapes, they then go and take satisfaction from the nearest relation. If both the offen- ders escape, and the tribe or family return home and lay down the sticks, the crime is satisfied. There is one family only, the " Wind," (Ho-tul-ul-gee,) that can take up the sticks a second time. This crime is satisfied in another way, if the parties offending absent themselves till the Boos-ke-tau is over. Then all crimes are done away except murder. And the bare mention of them, or any occurrence which brings them in recollection, is forbidden.
MURDER .- If murder is committed, the family and tribe alone have the right of taking satisfaction. They collect, consult and decide. The rules of the town, or the nation, have nothing to do or to say in the business. The relations of the murdered person consult first among themselves, and if the case is clear, and their family or tribe are not likely to suffer by their deci- sion, they determine on the case definitively. When the tribe may be affected by it, in a doubtful case, or an old claim for satisfaction, the family then consult with their tribe; and when they have deliberated and resolved on satisfaction, they take the guilty one, if to be come at. If he flies, they take the nearest of kin, or one of the family. In some cases, the family which has done the injury promise reparation ; and in
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INDIANS.
that case are allowed a reasonable time to fulfil their promise ; and they are generally earnest of themselves, in their endea- vours to put the guilty to death to save an innocent person.
This right of judging, and taking satisfaction, being vested in the family or tribe, is the sole cause why their treaty stipu- lations on this head never have been executed. In like man- ner, a prisoner taken in war is the property of the captor and his family, it being optional with his captor to kill or save him at the time. And this right must be purchased ; and it is now the practice, introduced within a few years, for the nation to pay. The practice has been introduced by the agent for Indian affairs, and he pays on the orders of the chiefs, out of the stipend allowed by the United States to the Creeks. Claims of this sort of seventeen years standing, where the pris- oner has been delivered to the order of the chiefs, have been revived, allowed, and paid.
Boos-KE-TAU .- This annual festival is celebrated in the month of July or August. The precise time is fixed by the Mic-co and counsellors, and is sooner or later, as the state of the affairs of the town or the earliness or lateness of their corn will suit for it. In Cussetuh this ceremony lasts for eight. days. In some towns of less note it is but four days.
First Day .- In the morning, the warriors clean the yard of the square, and sprinkle white sand, when the a-cee (decoc- tion of the cassine yupon) is made. The fire-maker makes the fire as early in the morning as he can, by friction. The- warriors cut and bring into the square, four logs, as long each as a man can cover by extending his two arms; these are- placed in the centre of the square, end to end, forming a cross,. the outer ends pointed to the cardinal points ; in the centre of the cross the new fire is made. During the first four days they burn out these four logs.
The pin-e-bun-gau (turkey dance) is danced by the wo- men of the turkey tribe ; and while they are dancing the pos- sau is brewed. This is a powerful emetic. The possau is drank from twelve o'clock to the middle of the afternoon. After this, the Toc-co-yule-gan (tadpole) is danced by four- men and four women. In the evening, the men dance E-ne -- hou-bun-gau, the dance of the people second in command .. This they dance till daylight.
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INDIANS.
Second Day .- This day, about ten o'clock, the women dance Its-ho-bun-gau (gun-dance). After twelve, the men go to the new fire, take some of the ashes, rub them on the chin, neck and belly, and jump head foremost into the river, and then return into the square. The women having prepared the new corn for the feast, the men take some of it and rub it between their hands, then on their faces and breasts, and then they feast.
Third Day .- The men sit in the square.
Fourth Day .- The women go early in the morning and get the new fire, clean out their hearths, sprinkle them with sand, and make their fires. The men finish burning out the first four logs, and they take ashes, rub them on their chin, neck, and belly, and they go into the water. This day they eat salt, and they dance Obungauchapco (the long dance) ..
Fifth Day .- They get four new logs, and place them as on the first day, and they drink a-cee, a strong decoction of the cassine yupon.
Sixth Day .- They remain in the square.
Seventh Day .- Is spent in like manner as the sixth.
Eighth Day .- They get two large pots, and their physic plants. 1. Mic-co-ho-yon-e-juh. 2. Toloh. 3. A-che-nau. 4. Cup-pau-pos-cau. 5. Chu-lis-sau, the roots. 6. Tuck-thlau- lus-te. 7. Tote-cul-hil-lis-so-wau. 8. Chofeinsuck-cau-fuck- au. 9. Cho-fe-mus-see. 10. Hil-lis-hut-ke. 11. To-te-cuh- chooc-his-see. 12. Welau-nuh. 13. Oak-chon-utch-co. 14. Co-hal-le-wau-gee. These are all put into the pots and beat up with water. The chemists, (E-lic-chul-gee, called by the traders physic-makers,) they blow in it through a small reed, and then it is drank by the men, and rubbed over their joints till the afternoon.
They collect old corn-cobs and pine burs, put them into a pot, and burn them to ashes. Four virgins who have never had their menses, bring ashes from their houses, put them in a pot, and stir all together. The men take white clay and mix it with water in two pans. One pan of the clay and one of the ashes are carried to the cabin of the Mic-co, and the other two to that of the warriors. They then rub themselves with the clay and ashes. Two men, appointed to that office, bring
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INDIANS.
some flowers of tobacco of a small kind (Itch-au-chu-le-puc- pug-gee), or, as the name imports, the old man's tobacco, which was prepared on the first day, and put it in a pan in the cabin of the Mic-co, and they give a little of it to every one present.
The Mic-co and counsellors then go four times round the fire, and every time they face the east, they throw some of the flowers into the fire. They then go and stand to the west. The warriors then repeat the same ceremony.
A cane is stuck up at the cabin of the Mic-co with two white feathers in the end of it. One of the Fish tribe (Thlot- lo-ul-gee) takes it just as the sun goes down, and goes off towards the river, all following him. When he gets half way to the river, he gives the death whoop ; this whoop he repeats four times, between the square and the water's edge. Here they all place themselves as thick as they can stand, near the edge of the water. He sticks up the cane at the water's edge, and they all put a grain of the old man's tobacco on their heads, and in each ear. Then, at a signal given four different times, they throw some into the river, and every man at a like signal, plunges into the river, and picks up four stones from the bottom. With these, they cross themselves on their breasts four times, each time throwing a stone into the river, and giving the death whoop; they then wash them- selves, take up the cane and feathers, return and stick it up in the square, and visit through the town. At night they dance O-bun-gau Haujo (mad dance), and this finishes the cere- mony.
This happy institution of the Boos-ke-tau, restores a man to himself, to his family, and to his nation. It is a general amnesty, which not only absolves the Indians from all crimes, murder only excepted, but seems to bury guilt itself in obli- vion.
THE CEREMONY OF INITIATING YOUTH INTO MANHOOD .-- At the age of from fifteen to seventeen, this ceremony is usually performed. It is called Boos-ke-tau, in like manner as the annual Boos-ke-tau of the nation. A youth of the proper age gathers two handsfull of the Sou-watch-cau, a very bitter root, which he eats a whole day ; then he steeps the leaves in
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