USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume I > Part 43
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383
" THE BARRENS"
1788 had a grant, and near him William Boyce (Boise) located, who died in Ste. Genevieve in 1793. Still farther up the creek and where the forks of St. Cosme creek and the north fork of the Saline interlock, Isadore Moore in 1801 opened a farm near the present Perryville, 84 and Barnard Layton secured a grant where now is situated the town. Near his grant on the south fork of the Saline, and where the head- waters of this stream approach nearest to the headwaters of the St. Cosme, then called "The Barrens" (because an open prairie), a large settlement of Tuckers, Moores, Haydens, and Laytons, all from Kentucky, and Catholics in religion, was established in 1800-1-2-3.85 Near the mouth of the Saline, the ancient salt works, antedating as
84 On this stream we also find Henry Smith (1800), who came from Saline, where he was compelled to abandon his claim; William Dunn (1801), on The Barrens, between this stream and the Saline. This Dunn, it appears, had a grant of 7.056 arpens on the rivers Cuivre and Femme Osage, in St. Charles dis- trict, in 1802, granted by De Lassus, and assigned same to Arend Rutgers. John Fisher (1801); Aquilla Hagan (1801), from Kentucky, settled near the Saline, and in 1803 asks an additional grant on this stream; James Berry (1801); Benjamin Cox (1802) and his son, Benjamin. This Benjamin Cox, most likely, is a cousin of Zachariah Cox, who, in 1799, passed down the Ohio, and after- ward wrote Benjamin Cox from there, giving an account of his journey, as fol- lows : "On the 15th of July, I set out from Smithland, Christian County, Ky., for this place, with a view of accomplishing a commercial establishment. A number of the good citizens accompanied me with a view of exploring the country west of the Mississippi, provided they could obtain the approbation of the Span- ish government. With much abuse and difficulty from the officers at Fort Massac we passed that garrison and arrived at New Madrid July 25th. The commandant of that fort treated us very politely, and with much respect, but, he not being authorized to permit the company with me to pass into the country they had a desire to explore, the company all returned to Smithland; some of the men who ascended the Ohio in company with me passed Fort Mas- sac by land, under care of Captain Samuel Hancock, by authority of Colonel Moses Shelby." James Moore, Senior (1802), no doubt came over from Kas- kaskia and settled on this creek, said that he was fired on by Indians, who pur- sued him for several miles; his son, James Moore, also lived here; William Mid- dleton (1802); Theopolis Williams; Bernard Smith (1803); Clement Viriat (1803); Samuel Hinks, Senior, on this stream and on Big river; Clement Knott (1803); Charles Lee.
85 Joseph Tucker, Senior, in 1801 undertook to construct a grist-mill on the south fork of the Saline; his son, Joseph, Junior, also lived here; Michael, Peter, William, Henry and John Tucker (1801), from Kentucky, all lived near Joseph, and may have been his sons or relatives; a John Tucker in New Madrid district in 1797, on Lake St. Mary, and on the Mississippi in Cape Girardeau dis- trict; Clement Hayden (or Headen) in 1803 sold his grant to Thomas Riner; Bede Moore (1803); Simon Duval (1803); Isidore Moore (1801); John Layton, Senior (1802), and his sons, John, Junior, Bernard and Ignatius, from Kentucky, also had property on the Saline; Jonathan Preston (1803), on The Barrens, between St. Cosme and the Saline; Thomas Quick (1803), on The Barrens, also Elizabeth Quick; James and Joseph Miles, on The Barrens; John Duval from Nelson Co., Kentucky, in 1799 married Anna Donoughoe, daughter of David Donoughoe of St. Marie Co. William Cowan, John Hawkins and Leroy Elliott were witnesses, on St. Cosme.
384
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
we have seen every settlement, when Louisiana was acquired, were operated by Israel Dodge and his son, of New Bourbon. Farther up this stream, near what is now known as Coffman, Thomas Mad- den, slave owner and deputy surveyor under the Spanish government, had his residence and here erected a grist-mill. Job Westover, a carpenter on the Aux Vasse, was employed to build the mill in 1800, but was fired on by the Indians and left, consequently the mill was not finished until about 1803. In 1799 Madden bought the improve- ment of Thomas Dodge on the Aux Vasse, and built a distillery on it, which was afterward destroyed. John Hawkins had salt works on the Saline in 1800, near the Bois Brule bottom, and also worked for others; he married the daughter of "Dame Kaster."86
86 Others on the Saline were Ephraim Carpenter (1797), from Kentucky, first settled at Kaskaskia, came to Louisiana with the Strother party, settled on the Saline, but was driven away by the Osage Indians, and sold his property to James E. Piller, then kept a ferry on the Mississippi in 1798; married a daugh- ter of Captain Sampson Archer, at this time resident of New Madrid. Car- penter afterward moved to Natchez, because, as his wife writes her mother from Ste. Genevieve, she found that "it would not answer for them to live among French people." Jean Marie Lagrande (1797); Samuel D. Strother (1797), with Benjamin and William Strother from Virginia; James, Samuel, and Henry Starke, all from Kentucky, had received a joint grant on this river. Samuel D. Strother in 1800 had a separate grant on which he made sugar, and in 1802 was on Randal creek, in Cape Girardeau district; was in Bellevue valley in 1799; Benjamin Strother also had another grant on condition that he should establish a mill, which he did; Philip Emdic (1798); Joseph Belcom (1798), came to the Spanish possession in this year from Kaskaskia, had a claim in the tract originally conceded to Philip Renault in the little village of St. Phillipe; Stacy McDon- ough (1798); Raphael St. Jeme (1798); Job Westover (1798), a carpenter and millwright, lived on this river, following his trade; Thomas Chalfal (or Chaffin) (1799), came to the county several years prior to this time; James Francois Dil- lon (1799), a Frenchman; James Ferrell (1799), afterward removed to Con- cordia parish, Louisiana; James P. Piller (or Pillows) (1799), purchased an improvement from Ephraim Carpenter, but one of the Vallés took away his im- provement by having it surveyed into his claim in 1802. Vallé took one-half of his crop for rent. This man afterward bought property from Samuel D. Strother in Cape Girardeau district; James Thompson, Junior (1799); John Hawkins (1800), worked in salt works on this river in this year, had a place on the south fork; Rowland Boyd (1801), on the south fork; Jacob Boyce (Boisse) (1801), from Kaskaskia, also at Old Mine; Archibald Huddleston (or Hudas- ton), Hubert Fluellen, his attorney; James and Tunis Quick (1801), lived on the Saline and at other points in the Ste. Genevieve district, and Benjamin and Daniel Quick, who had grants in the St. Charles district, apparently all are members of the same family; Henry Grass (1802), on the south fork, in 1804 bought of Joseph Motley, assignee of Francois Maraman (Moreman), assignee of David Yarbrough, who settled it, and had a number of sugar troughs; Amos Rowar (or Roark) (1802), on the south fork of the Saline, afterward a pioneer in Gasconade county; Bernard Cecil (or Cissell) (1803), on the south fork; Francois Kenner (1803); Luke Matenly (or Mattingly) (1803), on the south fork ; John Newman (1803), on the south fork; Thomas Riney (or Riner) (1803), near Bois Brule; Andrew Chevalier; Joshua and Benjamin Delaplane; Joseph Mating (or Mattingly), on the south fork; Rowland Meredith; Louis Robarge
385
AUX VASSE
The Aux Vasse is a stream running east and west through what is now Ste. Genevieve county, parallel with the Saline, and about two miles north of it. The headwaters of this stream interlink with the Saline in the granite hills of St. Francois and Madison counties. Like the Saline, it is a stream of picturesque beauty, running over gravelly beds. Some of the early Spanish grants on the Saline cov- ered the territory between the two rivers. Thus the grant of Henri Peyroux de la Coudreniere, made in 1787, was bounded by both rivers. Peyroux never lived on this grant, but undoubtedly he had some small improvements made on it, operated salt works and a stock-farm, "vacherie." It is said that when he went to Europe he left a tenant in possession of his property, but that after the cession of the Louis- iana territory this tenant combined with some speculators, and mak- ing a fictitious claim against Peyroux, caused this land to be sold to pay the fraudulent claim. Thomas Dodge settled near the mouth of this stream in 1797, having acquired the claim of De Guire, who first lived there. Dodge sold to Madden, as we have seen.87 In 1802, Vallé had a water saw-mill on the Aux Vasse at a place called the "Pineries," likely some distance up the stream.
The Brazeau bottom and creek, also known as "Obrazo" creek, is located in the southeast corner of Perry county. The creek empties into the Mississippi near the present town of Wittenberg. This place is located on a Spanish grant made to Joseph Manning. The first settler in Brazeau bottom was George A. Hamilton, a Kentucky Catholic, who opened a farm in 1797 in the bottom fronting on the river. He was a brother-in-law of Thomas Fenwick.88 Adjoining (or Robar), in St. Louis district in 1766; Swanson Yarbrough (or Borough), on the south fork.
87 Stephen Paggett, in 1797, built a furnace on the Aux Vasse and made sugar, was also at St. Genevieve; a French-Canadian from Kaskaskia (1781) was on this stream, had a grant near New Bourbon in the common fields of Ste. Gene- vieve in 1797, was also on Grand river, and in 1800 one of the first settlers of St. Michael. A Pierre Chevalier in 1800 had a concession on Lake St. Thomas; William James (1797), a slave owner from Kentucky; Antoine Dielle (1793); Jean Baptiste Datchurut (1787), between this stream and St. Laurent, at a place called "La Saline," probably the Jean Datchurut, already mentioned, who bought salt-works on the Saline in 1767; in 1799 a Baptiste Datchurut in St. Louis; John Myer (1807), bought property here of J. Guibourd, which had been cultivated since 1800, including a tan-yard, and which had been abandoned to him by Pascal Detchemendy as part of his concession, also bought another tract of J. Guibourd adjoining; Richard Madden and brother Thomas, Junior, sons of Thomas Madden, Senior, claimed large tracts on this stream, also Francois Madden.
88 Other settlers in Brazeau bottom and at Brazeau creek were Robert
386
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
and west of Hamilton, William Hinkston, in the uplands, had a grant, and so also not far from him Gen. Ben. Harrison, who moved into this district from New Madrid. The town of Altenburg is located one-half mile north of the Harrison grant.
On Establishment creek some early settlements were made, but to what extent cannot now be definitely determined. It does not seem that many settlers lived there, although large land grants were made. Thus to Francois Coleman, a grant of twenty-five hundred arpens; Francois Vallé, 7.056 arpens, and Francois Poillevre 1.600 arpens. These grantees never made settlements, but Nicolas La- plante dit Plante in 1797 made a settlement on the Duclos fork of this river, and with him Vincent Lafois. Laplante for a time lived at Ste. Genevieve prior to 1803.89
In addition to settlers already mentioned, we find that Joseph Loisel or Loiselle, from Kaskaskia, in 1786, lived on the river near Ste. Genevieve, but in 1788 was at Carondelet, and may be the same as one Joseph Loise who lived in St. Louis. In 1787 Louis Lasource dit Moreau had a concession on the Mississippi near Ste. Genevieve, but on account of the overflows of the river petitioned for a grant farther back from the river; also owned property at Mine à Breton, and in 1789 in St. Louis, and in 1797 at Carondelet.90 A number of settlers also had grants and lived on and between the forks of the Gabourie northwest of Ste. Genevieve.91 Odonis creek empties into Hinckson (1800); Joseph James, in 1801, under verbal permission of De Luziere, commandant of New Bourbon; David L. Johnson (1802), on forks of the creek; William Johnson (1802), from Kentucky, a William Johnson on River St. Francois, and seems at one time to have lived at New Bourbon; Charles Duncaster, according to Henry Riley, lived here prior to 1803; Samuel Hinch.
89 Thomas Clem in 1788 lived on this stream adjacent Colman; Francois Poillevre of St. Louis district was another claimant, but it is not certain whether he actually lived here.
90 These settlers on and near the Mississippi were Michael Mackay (or McCoy) (1798), at a point opposite Isle Aux Chevaux (Horse Island, near Chester) who in 1803 sold to John McGee, who in the same year sold to Michael Quinn of Cape Girardeau, and he in 1805 sold to Charles Gregoire of Philadelphia, but residing in Ste. Genevieve, and he again sold to Robert McMahan of Randolph county, Indiana territory (Illinois); Noel (or Neal) Hornbeck (1798); Mark, James, and John Manning (1802) all lived on this river; Thomas Rardin (1802), on this river near the Plattin; John Solomon (1802); Spencer Adams (1803); James Hutchins (1803); Michael Quinn (1803); John Patterson, probably the same person who afterward was a blacksmith in the Cape Girardeau district, and then lived between New Madrid and Little Prairie; Joseph McGee.
91 Joseph Bequette (1787) had a grant on this stream with others, and in 1788 asks for a grant on the Aux Vasse and Mississippi, was in Ste. Genevieve in 1793, also at Old Mine; Louis Carron (1790), between the forks of the Gabourie, three miles north of Ste. Genevieve; John Windle Engle (1796), probably a
387
SETTLERS ON RIVER
the river at Wood island, and at the head of this creek, at Odonis spring, James Bradshaw and Jacob Odum had a location, which was sold successively to John McFerran and Andrew Kenney, early settlers. The "Armstrong Diggings" were claimed by Abra- ham Armstrong. Thomas Alley claimed the "Alley Mine" under a concession of DeLassus of 1801. Joseph Girrard dit Megar and Patrick Fleming were the original owners of " Mine à Joe," which was granted to them by Don Manuel Perez in 1790. Joel and Laurent McGagne were associated with them, but in 1793 the mine was abandoned on account of Indians. In 1800 one of the McGagne brothers died and the other disappeared.92
On Apple creek, not far from the big Shawnee village (la grand village du sauvage), Thomas Fenwick, in 1797, received a grant of several thousand acres. Here a settlement sprang up, on Prairie Spring creek, which became known as the "Fenwick settlement." Thomas Fenwick was related to the Maryland family of that name and to the distinguished prelate of the Catholic church, Edward Fenwick, first bishop of Cincinnati.
Generally, it may be observed, that in all the outlying regions of the Ste. Genevieve district in 1800, the American and English speak- ing element of the population had become predominant.
German, in 1797, was at Ste. Genevieve, and in 1802 was on the Saline and at Marais des Liards; Jean Marie Pepin, in 1797 lived two miles northwest from Ste. Genevieve, on this stream; Hypolite Robert (1797), was also interested in mining at Old Mine and Little Mine river, mineral being found near his place there, in 1799 was at Fourche à Courtois.
92 Other residents and claimants in this district were Elijah Smith, who claimed a league square, and also nine lots in St. Louis, before the board of land commissioners; Samuel Phillips, on Prairie Spring creek - a place not identi- fied; Gideon W. Treat, who had a tan-yard there; Larkin Walker, on the St. Francois, in the Murphy settlement; Wm. Ward, in Bellevue valley.
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
I
The so-called "stone-house" near Louisiana, described by Rev. Salmon Giddings, and of which full mention is made on page 90 of this volume, but erroneously placed in section 11, township 55, range 3" west, has recently been carefully examined by Mr. Gerard Fowke, the distinguished archaeologist now making a study of the pre- historic remains in Missouri. Mr. Fowke does not think that this "stone-house" in any way resembled the plan of Giddings published in Beck. In a letter addressed to me he says:
"The 'stone-house,' so-called stands on a high hill, known as the ' McMoore hill' from a former owner. Nye creek flows along the west side and north end; on the east is a deep ravine; on the south a low gap. The slope is so steep as to be quite difficult of ascent on all but the south end. The summit of the ridge is very narrow, and there is no level land on top. The 'walls' are on the south end of the ridge, probably fifty feet lower than the highest point, and are somewhat to the westward of the crest, making the natural slope within them from the northwest to the southeast corner; the south end of the structure is fully three feet lower than the north end. Bed- rock crops out below and on both sides of it. The whole place has been so thoroughly ransacked by relic hunters that no trace of a wall was visible at any part at the time of my visit in August, 1907; but many stones, from small angular fragments like gravel to slabs weighing probably 300 pounds were scattered confusedly over the surface. These covered a space 65 by 42 feet. There is enough stone to make a mound about 50 by 25 feet and 2 feet high. The south end looking west may be seen in the photograph No. I.
"A trench was run around the outer side, to include the portion on which it seemed probable the wall was built, if any ever existed ; bedrock was found within a foot of the surface everywhere, inside and out, except against the north end where the wash from the hill had covered it a little deeper. From this trench, excavations were made toward the center line from every side to see whether any stones of the wall might remain in place; but none such were found except for 12 feet south, and 153 feet west, from the northeast corner. At
391
No. I
No. 2
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APPENDIX
this corner were two large slabs, as heavy as two men could handle, one at the beginning of each wall. All except the two corner stones were small and thin, and not more than four were superposed at any point ; usually there were only one or two as shown by photo- graph No. 2.
"Abrupt 'steps' along the bedrock in the interior indicated that the aborigines had pried off all they could of the projecting outcrop.
"When the excavating was completed, the measure from the northeast corner to the point where it seemed the northwest corner should be, was 22} feet; to a similar point at the southeast corner, 48} feet.
"The width of the east wall, at bottom, just at the junction of the two inside, was six feet ; of the north wall, four feet. These measures are on stones that are still as they were originally placed.
"Col. Richard Hawkins says he first saw this place in 1867, and the wall was then two feet high in some places. On the other hand, Mr. Homer Reed, whose father formerly owned the place, says he has a distinct recollection of it since 1868, and that it was not then essentially different from what it is now - a pile of stones without any regularity, and certainly with no appearance of a 'wall' at any point. The senior Reed excavated the cairn pretty thoroughly, finding some 8 or 10 skeletons lying rather close together, but each in its own 'grave.' They were laid on the surface - a 'dug grave' would be impossible - and covered or protected by rocks set along each side of the body and inclined inward at the top.
"It is apparent that the wall, whatever its thickness, had its bot- tom layer on the ground, and was not laid up either vertically or lon- gitudinally in a manner more symmetrical or accurate than is possible with rough slabs having a wide variation in size and shape. More- over, it is said in the text that the walls were partially demolished before the sketch was made. In view of these facts it would seem .clear that Mr. Giddings saw only a portion of the structure, and that his drawing, as given by Beck, is largely conjectural. Instead of separate stones being shown as they would actually appear, in form and dimensions, the drawing itself is witness that spaces to represent each rock are marked off along nearly uniform lines. In- deed, it is quite likely that his original sketch was rather crude, its present finished appearance being such as would accord with the ideas of a draughtsman who made the stones after the 'conventional' manner of text-books.
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"Evidently, this whole structure is only a series of walled graves, built in conjunction and not covered over. The fact that chamber E was 'filled with rubbish,' and that 'in G human bones have recently been found' is exactly in consonance with the view that such is its purpose.
"The explicit statements of Mr. Giddings and Colonel Hawkins of Louisiana that they saw the walls can not be set aside. Walls of some sort, though not as pictured, certainly existed. There is evidence of a vertical face at the outside northeast corner. The bottom rocks here were never disturbed by relic hunters, consequently had any brace rocks been piled against the outside they would no doubt still be here. But there are none. Again, there is not now enough earth on the upper part of McMoore's hill to build a mound completely over this structure. So, only one explanation offers itself. The aborigines constructed walled burial chambers on the summit of a hill, where neither earth nor additional stones could be readily procured even in sufficient quantities to brace the outside in the usual manner. Consequently, another wall, facing outward, was built around the vaults, the two probably leaning slightly toward each other and thus affording mutual support.
"It may be objected, and with good reason, that no example of this method is known; but neither is one like the Giddings' sketch, and the wall had to be supported in some way.
"The 'wall No. 2' of Giddings' drawing is fully half a mile in a direct line east of this work. It, also, is on a hilltop. As there are two such structures here, within a few feet of each other, it is singular that Mr. Giddings did not mention both, as he could not examine one without seeing the other. From their present appear- ance, they seem to have been only ordinary cairns, the interior being cleared out and the stones thrown toward the margin on every side. There is no sign of a 'wall,' and Mr. Reed says there never was. The outline of the base in each of these cairns is an irregular circle, with no indication that any part of either was ever in the form of a square as shown in the plan."
II
Of the prehistoric remains, mentioned on page 90 of this volume as being in section II, township 55, range 3, west, found on the north side of Salt river in Pike county, Prof. Broadhead made a
APPENDIX
395
sketch, which was published in the Smithsonian Report of 1879. These remains, which should not be confused with the stone-house near Louisiana, evidently ancient walled burial places are located on the summit of a ridge 250 feet high, rising abruptly from the banks of Salt river. The walls are constructed of rough limestone and enclose two vaults, each 9 feet square, and about 2 or 3 feet high. Broadhead says that he saw only a few fragments of human bones and gives the subjoined plan of the relative positions of these vaults in his report.1
A
3
B'S
C.
3 jt
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Fig. 2
Han Fig. 1
Fia &
A
III
Mr. Gerard Fowke has also discovered a stone structure on the Osage river, near the "Painted Rock." It is a rectangular space surrounded by a stone wall about three feet high. But so far from being a well laid wall, these stones seem to have been piled along both sides of the four boundary lines, without any effort to lay them in order, and Mr. Fowke says that the result is just such as would follow the attempts of men to throw stones in a somewhat straight line in as narrow a space as possible, without having regard to the position in which any particular stone would lie.
IV
A most interesting discovery of prehistoric sheet copperplates was recently made in Dunklin county. These plates of which I 1 Smithsonian Report of 1879, p. 351.
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APPENDIX
here insert photographic copies (kindly furnished by Mr. Wulfing, of St. Louis, owner of the plates) are very remarkable, representing eagles, double-eagles, and what looks like a man-eagle. They would seem to indicate that the so-called mound-builders of south- east Missouri had at least commercial intercourse with the people of Mexico and Central America. These plates were plowed up by a Mr. Ray Groomes, on the farm of Mrs. Baldwin, two and a half miles south of Malden, within a few yards of the county road and Cotton Belt railroad, and only a few rods from the house. Mr. Gerard Fowke, who made a careful investigation of this subject writes me as follows :
"Mr. Groomes makes the following statement as to the manner in which they were discovered: He was plowing much deeper than usual, probably sixteen or eighteen inches. His attention was at- tracted by something shining or glittering on the land turned over by his plow at this point, and he stopped to examine it. He found a few small scraps of copper. On looking at the bottom of the furrow whence these had come, he found that his plow had struck the upper end of these copper pieces, which lay in close contact, 'with the heads down,' and inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees. He saw no evidence that they had ever been wrapped in cloth or any other substance, either separately or together. He dug around them with his pocket-knife, the loose sand and soil being easily removed, and drew them out of the earth one by one. There was something with them which looked to him like a small piece of 'slate' (shale) such as he had frequently noticed in this land in plowing; and some 'white substance' not saved or identified. Mr. Wade is inclined to believe that this is a fragment of pot or vase of sun-dried or soft- burned clay, which went to pieces in the earth, and of which, perhaps, only a fragment or two remained. Mr. Groomes, however, is posi- tive in his statement that the specimens were in immediate contact, as he lifted them out one after another, and they lay so close together that very little earth had worked in between them.
"The specimens were brought to Malden, and lay in the show-case in the store of Mr. A. S. Davis for several months in the hope that they would be observed by some one who might be able to tell what they were. Mr. Groomes, having no use for the specimens, attempted to sell them; but no one appeared to recognize their value, and the best offer he could receive for a long time, was fifty cents. Finally Mr. Wade and Mr. Davis concluded to purchase them, not with any
733 TUNKLIN CON
IM.WULFIN'S STLaHt
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APPENDIX
idea of their value but merely to possess them as curiosities. From these gentlemen they passed to Mr. J. M. Wulfing of St. Louis.
"Mr. Groomes afterward did a little digging at the spot, but found nothing more except a few small fragments which his plow had broken from the objects. Neither he, nor any one else consulted, had ever seen or heard of any evidence of a village or settlement anywhere in the vicinity; no flints, shells, bones, or pottery, had ever been observed. Nor are there any mounds within several miles, the nearest group being at Bernie, about nine miles to the northward. From here, the land for many miles south stretches in a dead level to the east and west swamps which bound it on either side.
"It is altogether probable that the articles were simply a cache, made by some aboriginal trader who never returned for them, or was unable afterward to find them.
"Objects very similar to these, in fact almost identical, have been discovered in the Hopewell mound-group near Chillicothe, Ohio; and in the Etowah mounds of Georgia. Others, like them but not so well-made, are from Illinois; and designs of the same character are not uncommon on shells from the Tennessee river region and, sparingly, from other localities. The figures are plainly of Mexican origin, although we have no record that such plates are made there; and whether made in Mexico, or by a denizen of some point in the Mississippi valley who had learned the art in the southern country, point to a system of traffic between that country and places as remote as those mentioned. They were not made where found, nor do they have any bearing upon the artistic abilities of the mound-build- ers. That is to say, we can not adduce these coppers as evidence of the fact that the mound-builders as a community, had any hand in their fashioning. However, as stated, individuals may have learned the art among these people, as they and others may have learned to engrave the shells of the upper Tennessee country."
Mr. F. N. Putnam, Director of the Peabody Archaeological In- stitute, of Boston, says, in a letter to Mr. Wulfing: "I have never seen anything like these figures in copper. They have much in common with Mexican and Central American culture, and this is to me one more fact showing connection in early times between the Mexican Central peoples and our old mound-builders of the Missis- sippi valley." He considered them of such great interest, that he writes that he "shall make a careful study of them in connection with Central American designs." He also says that the "symbolic
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APPENDIX
eye" is very marked and that "the wings are of exceeding interest," and that "the combination of the eagle and the human figure, and in one case evidently the tiger and the human, are of very great im- portance in connection with the study of Mexican symbolism."
Mr. Clarence B. Moore, of St. Louis, thinks "that the double- headed eagle is particularly interesting," because these "objects seem to be purely aboriginal."
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