USA > Missouri > A history of Missouri from the earliest explorations and settlements until the admission of the state into the union, Volume I > Part 6
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97 Du Pratz's History of La., vol. i, p. 245 (London Ed., 1763).
98 Du Pratz's History of La., p. 293 (London Ed., 1763).
99 58 Jes. Rel., p. 97.
100 Bossu's Travels, vol. i, p. 112. Fifty years ago such scenes could still be seen, and were seen by the writer. Featherstonhaugh describes such an event in southeast Missouri, as follows: "A new and very interesting spectacle
39
WILD PIGEONS
Bradbury says that these pigeons "associate in prodigious flocks," covering several acres in extent, and are so close to each other that the "ground can scarcely be seen." "This phalanx," he says, "moves through the woods with considerable celerity, picking up, as it passes along, everything that will serve for food. It is evident that the foremost ranks must be the most successful, and nothing will remain for the hindermost. But that all may have an equal chance, the instant that any rank becomes the last, it rises and, fly- ing over the whole flock, alights exactly ahead of the foremost. They succeed each other with so much rapidity that there is a continued stream of them in the air; and a side view of them exhibits the appearance of the segment of a large circle, moving through the woods. " 101
In 1784 Smyth says that "Game of all kinds is also exceedingly plenty; a man may kill six or eight deer every day, which many do merely for their skins, to the great injury and destruction of the species." 102 On the Mississippi he saw thousands of water-fowl. Nor was game as shy as it became afterward.103 The wild
now presented itself, in the incredible quantities of wild pigeons that were abroad; flocks of them, say miles long, came across the country, one flight succeeding to another, obscuring the daylight, and in their swift motion creating a wind, and producing a rushing and startling sound that cataracts of the first class might be proud of. These flights of wild pigeons constitute one of the most remarkable phenomena of the western country. I remember once, when amongst the Indians, seeing the woods loaded from top to bottom with their nests for a great number of miles, the heaviest branches of the trees broken and fallen to the ground, which was strewn, with young birds, dead and alive, that the Indians in great numbers were picking up to carry away with their horses; many of their dogs were said to be gone mad with feeding upon their putrefied remains. A forest thus loaded and half-destroyed by these birds presents an extraordinary spectacle, which cannot be rivalled; but when such myriads of timid birds as the wild pigeon are on the wing, often wheeling and performing evolutions almost as complicated as pyrotechnic movements, and creating whirlwinds as they move, they present an image of the most fearful power. Our horse, Missouri, at such times, has been so cowed by them that he would stand still and tremble in his harness, whilst we ourselves were glad when their flight was directed from us .- Featherstonhaugh's Excursion in the Slave States, vol. ii, p. II.
101 Bradbury's Travels, p. 52.
102 Smyth's Tour in America, p. 337 (London Ed., 1874).
103 The birds were so tame on Galapagos Island that they could easily be caught .- Darwin's Journal of Researches, p. 298. Featherstonhaugh says that, in 1834, in St. Francois county, on his trip from the Iron mountain to Farmington, he saw a flock of wild turkeys moving about so unconcerned as to his presence that he got off his horse and attempted to catch one of the birds, but failed in the race that ensued. - Excursion in the Slave States, vol. I, P. 319.
40-
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
animals did not precipitately flee at the sight of man. "The animals, freed from ferocious man, fearless and undisturbed, had securely propagated and filled the wilderness with their numberless broods." 104 Wild turkeys were so many and gentle, Radison tells us, that "the boys threw stones at them for their recreation." 105 An- other observer says that clouds of swans, bustards, and ducks filled the air, and that the savages "set snares for them, and catch as many as fifty in one net." 106 Father d'Ablon remarked when he was in Illinois country in 1672, that "the wild cattle (buffalo) never flee."
As yet the serene quietude of nature had not been disturbed by the sharp and startling crack of the carabine.
104 Haywood's History of Tennessee, p. 26.
105 Minnesota Historical Collection, vol. viii, p. 314.
106 54 Jes. Rel., p. 218.
CHAPTER II
Extent of Pre-historic Remains-Mound-builders-Mounds Located by Lewis M. Bean and D. L. Hoffman-Mound Area of Missouri-About 28,000 Located-Antiquity of Pre-historic Works-Opinion of Stoddard and Others-Various Opinions Concerning Race of Mound-builders-Evidence Discovered in Mississippi County Tending to Show They Belonged to Nahua Race-Pottery Balls-Remains Discovered not Necessarily of Same Period-Center of Mississippi Valley Seat of Distinct Development -- A Distinct Sub-group in Southeast Missouri-No Systematic Exploration of Southeast Missouri Mounds-Many Ceramic Remains Destroyed by Plow- share-Primitive Inhabitants of the Central Mississippi Valley Advanced in the Potter's Art-Description of Some of the Ware Discovered-Brick and Tiles-Pemiscot Mound Covered with Brick or Burnt Clay-Bottle- shaped Carafe, Marked Feature of Ceramic ware of Southeast Missouri- A Unique Head of Woman of Grecian Type-Carved Sandstone Pipes -Extent of Pre-historic Population-Agricultural People-Sedentary- Habitat of Mound-builders on Good and Fertile Soil-Extent of Pre-historic Remains in Southeast Missouri-Where Located-In St. Francois Basin and on Slopes of the Ozarks-Large Mound of Pemiscot County-Descrip- tion of Various Mounds in Southeast Counties-Mounds in the Ozark Counties-In the Western Prairie Counties-On the Missouri River- In Northeast Missouri-In the Counties of Northwest Missouri .- Pre- historic Population Numerous.
In almost every section of Missouri silent memorials of a pre- historic people - the so-called mound-builders - are found. This history of the state manifestly would be incomplete without, at least, an attempt to record where this pre-historic race, or it may be differ- ent races dwelling in the land at different times or epochs, apparently had their habitat. Nor will it digress too far to make some obser- vations in a general way, on the character of such remains and relics as have been discovered and have escaped the wreck and storm of ages, the more ruthless plowshare, and the ignorance of destroying man. My main object, however, has been to accurately and defi- nitely locate every mound and settlement of these pre-historic denizens of the state, and to that end every county has been visited during the last two years, at my instance, by Mr. Lewis M. Bean and Mr. D. L. Hoffman. It is not asserted that they found every existing mound, or discovered every pre-historic settlement, but it is reasonably certain that all the most conspicuous and remarkable mounds have been by them definitely located. As they made progress with the work they found that the field was constantly expanding in possi-
41
42
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
bilities, and now they feel fully satisfied that, had they been able to give more time with deeper and more particular study to many locali- ties, they would have greatly enlarged the extent of what may be called the "Mound area" of Missouri. No attempt was made to locate mounds leveled by the plow, although very many instances of this came to their knowledge. In most unexpected places they also found indubitable evidence that the Mound-builders had lived there, that they had worked the soil; they found, or others had found, pre- historic spades and hoes, celts, arrow-heads, and broken pottery. Such places, however, are not particularly specified in the notes or indicated on the accompanying maps, prepared by Major James F. Brooks from the field notes furnished him. From them everything purely speculative has been excluded. But mounds located by early explorers, although now obliterated - such as the mounds at St. Louis, located by Major Long, mound located by Nuttall at New Madrid, the mound north of New Madrid along the St. John's bayou described by Brackenridge, others surveyed by the employees of the Bureau of Ethnology, pre-historic structures and stone sepulchres described by Giddings, by Peck, Broadhead, and others- are all noted, so that the student interested in the archæology of Missouri may learn the extent of the work and settlements of these pre-historic inhabitants of the state. Of course, it is out of the question to describe the 28,000 mounds, large or small, which have now been definitely located. At best, only the most conspicuous and noteworthy mounds, together with what would appear to be mound-settlements and mound- builders' fortifications, can be described, and these not with the pen of a professed archæologist, but of a layman. In appropriate notes, however, the reader of this chapter will find as he progresses, in addition to maps of some of the counties showing the topographical location of the mounds, also the precise section, township, and range in each county where the mounds, settlements, and apparent fortifications discovered by my explorers are situated.
The pre-historic works of Missouri attracted attention from the earliest settlement of the country. Stoddard says: "It is admitted on all hands that they have endured for centuries. The trees on their ramparts, from the number of their annulæ, or radii, indicate an age of more than four hundred years."1 Holmes says that the manufacture of the pottery-ware found in the mounds "began many
1 Stoddard's Louisiana, p. 346.
43
RACE OF MOUND-BUILDERS
centuries before the advent of the white race."2 The Indians found by the first white explorers did not recognize these mounds as belong- ing to them either by occupying or using them, or by their traditions,3 although the surprising number of such mounds in some sections of the country, many of them very large, singular in form, and conspic- uous in the landscape, must have attracted the attention of the most thoughtless amongst them. Marquis de Nadaillac says that these "mounds in North America are among the most remarkable known. "4 Featherstonhaugh was so impressed by these pre-historic remains in Missouri that he concluded that they were to the people that built them what the pyramids were to the ancient Egyptians.5
To what particular race the mound-builders belonged has been a subject of much discussion. Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg declares that the pre-Aztec Mexicans and Toltecs were a people identical with the mound-builder.6 It is also said that the mound-builders were of the same cranial type as the ancient Mexicans, Peruvians, and the natives of the Pacific slope as far north as Sitka; that is to say, brachycephalic; and Winchell thinks that "the identity of the race of mound-builders with the races of Anahuac and Peru will become generally recognized."7 Squier supposes that they belonged to an "extinct race." Atwater gives it as his opinion that the "lofty mounds" - ancient fortifications and tumuli --- "which cost so much labor in their structure, " owe their "origin to a people much more civilized than our Indian" 8; and Atwater was familiar with the capabilities and characteristics of the American Indian. Others, again, suppose that they were the same people who afterward came from the northeast into Mexico. Bancroft says that the "claims in behalf of the Nahua traces in the Mississippi region are much better founded than those which have been urged in other parts of the country." 9 He asserts that the remains in the Mississippi valley "are not the work of the Indian tribes found in the country, nor of
2 4th Report Bureau of Ethnology, p. 371.
3 Traditions of De-coo-dah, p. 17.
4 Nadaillac's Pre-historic America, p. 179.
5 Featherstonhaugh's Excursion in the Slave States, vol. i, p. 270.
6 Baldwin's Ancient America, p. 201.
7 Winchell, p. 340.
8 Atwater's American Antiquities, p. 18.
9 Bancroft's Native Races of America, vol. iv, p. 752.
44
HISTORY OF MISSOURI
any tribes resembling them in their institutions,"10 and that the "best authorities deem it impossible that the mound-builders were even the remote ancestors of the Indian tribes." In his opinion, there was an actual connection, either through origin, war, or commerce, between the mound-builders and the Nahuas.11 This he infers from the so-called temple-mounds, strongly resembling the pyramids of Mexico, implying a similarity of religious ideas; the use of obsidian implements; the Nahua tradition of the arrival of civilized strangers from the northeast. And Baldwin, in reviewing the various tradi- tions recorded by many of the earliest Spanish chroniclers of Mexico, concludes by saying that it seems not improbable that the Huehue, or "Old Tlapalan" of their tradition, was "the country of our mound- builders" on the Mississippi.12 Albert Gallatin thinks that the works erected indicate "a dense agricultural population," a population "eminently agricultural," a state essentially different from that of the Iroquois or Algonquin Indians. Yet, he also expressed the opin- ion that the earthworks discovered might have been executed by "a savage people."13 Brinton also thinks that these earthworks were not the production "of some mythical tribe of high civilization in remote antiquity, but of the identical nations found by the whites residing in these regions." 14 Schoolcraft says that the Indian prede- cessors of the existing race "could have executed" these works.15 Lewis Cass believed that the forefathers of the present Indian "no doubt" erected these works as places of refuge and security.16 Jones is of the opinion that the old idea that the mound-builders were a people distinct from the Indians is "unfounded in fact, and fanci- ful." Lucian Carr in an elaborate article says that there is no reason "why the red Indians of the Mississippi valley, judging from what we know historically of their development, could not have thrown up these works." 17 Dr. C. A. Peterson, in a paper read before the Missouri Historical Society in 1902, concludes that "there never was an iota of evidence in existence tending to establish the contention
10 Bancroft's Native Races of America, vol. iv, p. 787.
11 Bancroft's Native Races of America, vol. iv, p. 788.
12 Baldwin's Ancient America, p. 202.
Archælogia Americana, vol. ii, p. 149.
14 Floridian Peninsula, p. 179.
15 Indian Tribes of North America, vol. i, p. 62.
16 North American Review, January, 1826.
17 Smithsonian Report, 1881, p. 505.
45
POTTERY BALLS
that some people, other than the American Indian, erected the mounds and earthworks found in connection with them; and the physical condition does not justify the belief that any of them were erected more than one thousand years ago." In support of his view he says, "an immense memorial earthwork over the body of a popular Osage chief" was erected by this] tribe, citing Beck's Gazetteer.18 But Dr. J. F. Snyder asserts that the Osages "built no earthen mounds," and that the mound mentioned by Dr. Beck as having been built by them near the head-waters of the Osage was the result of glacial action.19 Snyder also quotes Holcomb, who states that "the myste- rious race of beings, termed mound-builders never dwelt in Vernon county," and that no fragments of pottery have been found there, nor noteworthy archæological specimens, and few if any flint arrow- heads, lance-heads, stone- heads, etc.,20 although he admits that the Osages erected stone heaps oc- casionally over the bodies of their dead to preserve them from the ravages of wild beasts.
One remarkable dis- covery made by Mr. Thomas Beckwith, who has devoted many years POTTERY BALLS to the careful and intelligent exploration of the mounds of Missis- sippi county, would seem to tend to support the contention that the more ancient mound-builders of the Mississippi valley, at least, belonged to the Nahuatl race of Mexico. It should be observed that in making his explorations Mr. Beckwith always proceeds with the greatest circumspection, not, like so many others, hastily digging and burrowing into mounds, looking only for perfect pottery-ware, carelessly overlooking and throwing everything else away; on the contrary, nothing is too small for his notice, and it is his invariable practice to gather up and preserve every fragment, small and insignificant though it may appear. The exploration of
18 Page 308 (1824).
19 Smithsonian Report for 1888, p. 591.
20 History of Vernon County, pp. 87, 88.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
the mound merely does not always satisfy him. In some instances where the surrounding country seems to warrant it, he also explores the soil for several feet below the surface at present surrounding the mound. In making such sub-surface explorations Mr. Beckwith, at a depth of three feet below the present surface, in a number of instances, found pottery balls imbedded in the clay, near mounds explored by him. During his various explorations of mounds, he has collected in this way perhaps half a bushel of such pottery balls of various forms, some ovoids, others round, about the size of a walnut, others again lenticular; the ovoids being in the form of Roman glandes, as described by Evans- that is, fusiform, or pointed.21 Such pottery balls of various shapes were in use as sling-stones among the Charrus of South America. The Marquis de Nadaillac says that the Chichimecs,22 who were of the Nahuatl race, in their wars used bows and arrows and "slings with which they flung little pot- tery balls which caused dangerous wounds." 23 Such artificial pot- tery sling-stones, being uniform in size and weight, gave a greater certainty and precision of aim an advantage which is recognized by the barbarous tribes of New Caledonia to-day, where sling-stones made out of steatite are used by the natives.24 The sling was an offensive weapon of the Aztecs,25 and the stones were thrown with great force and accuracy. Among the Mayas of Yucatan slings were also extensively used.26 But as an offensive weapon it was unknown among the North American Indians.
Another singular discovery was made some years ago on the Saline in Ste. Genevieve county, tending to show that the remarkable salt springs on that stream known and worked by the earliest white explorers and settlers were used by people inhabiting the land before the red Indian. It is well known that the Indians generally did not use salt when they first came in contact with Europeans excepting, however, the Arkansas Indians, who were found to use salt by Father
21 Evans' Ancient Stone Implements, p. 373.
22 An ancient tribe called "Chetimashas, "now extinct, radically distinct in language from the aborigines of lower Louisiana, and, according to Du Pratz, a branch of the Natchez, once lived at Ouma Point, 70 miles from New Orleans. Nuttall's Arkansas, pp. 127, 241.
23 Nadaillac's Prehistoric America, p. 279.
24 Evans' Ancient Stone Implements, p. 373.
25 Bancroft's Native Races, vol. ii, p. 408, and also Among the Wild Tribes of Mexico. H. H. Bancroft's Native Races, vol. i., p. 627.
26 Ibid, p. 743.
47
SALT
Du Poisson, when he lived among them from 1716 to 1726.27 The Nahuas also used salt, and a special religious celebration took place annually by the salt-makers (who were females) in honor of the Goddess Huixtocihuatl, supposed to have invented the art of mak- ing salt, this festival being held for ten days in her temple.28 Among all sorts of primitive vessels used in the manufacture of salt found on the Saline buried in the ground and scattered over and near the surface, near these ancient salt springs and salt wells, very ancient stone and concrete vessels were also unearthed, evidently of Nahua origin, which had been employed in the manufacture of salt,29 adding additional evidence to the conjecture that the Nahuas once dwelt in the Mississippi valley. The circumstance that salt was employed among the Arkansas in historic times occupying the same region from the Maramec to the St. Francois, where it may be supposed the Nahuas once had their habitat, would indicate that they learned its use in some way from them.
Without expressing an opinion on a subject requiring so much more knowledge than I possess, this, however, can be said, that it would be a mistake to suppose that the prehistoric remains found even in the same section or region in this state or elsewhere in the Mississippi valley must necessarily have originated at the same time or from the same tribe or race. Great and wide lines of demarcation are clearly traced by the archaeologists among the prehistoric remains and relics uncovered by the explorer, these remains and relics clearly showing periods of different development and great ethnical divisions.30
It is admitted that the center of the Mississippi valley was the seat of a great and striking development of a distinct prehistoric activity, a large section of the territory now within the limits of Mis- souri being within the limits of this region of activity, as well as portions of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Although even in this district well-marked peculiarities in the remains and relics show that various sub-groups or centers of distinct ethnical development existed. One of those sub-groups or centers is apparently found in southeast Missouri. From the mounds and ceramic remains in 27 67 Jesuit Relations, p. 257 (Burrows Ed.).
28 H. H. Bancroft's Native Races of America, vol, ii, p. 325.
29 See report of Phillips, Geologist, dated 1886, in possession of John Tlapek, Esq., of St. Marys, Mo.
30 4th Report Bureau of Ethnology, P. 371.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI
this section it is said that a connection with Mexico is clearly apparent.31 Nor need this surprise us when we know that within twenty days, or less, a journey could be made on foot from the val- ley of Anahuac to the valley of the Mississippi.
No systematic exploration of the mounds of southeast Missouri has ever been undertaken. Some of the mounds, because conspicu- ous land-marks, have been explored, often by ignorant and greedy speculators, dreaming that they might find, hidden in these dumb memorials of the past, gold or jewels. They found only earthen-ware and vessels, perhaps priceless on account of form, or because showing an intimate relation with the people of Mexico or Central America, but nevertheless ruthlessly cast aside as worthless. How much has been destroyed by the plow of the pioneer settlers of this section it is impossible to tell. Often the ancient sites of villages and cemeteries, overgrown with timber, were cleared and turned into corn-fields, and for years, in many instances, fragments of the potter's art of these oldest inhabitants of Missouri were turned up, annually, in the fur- row. Occasionally a polished stone or curious image or jar might even arrest the attention of a negro plowman, and thus be rescued for a time, as an ornament for his cabin home, only to be again cast aside, destroyed or lost. There is hardly a neighbor- hood in southeast Missouri where some farmer does not note the fact that in his fields are found such relics of the past.
In American archeology this one fact has been slowly established, in spite of the neglect of this interesting field, that in the potter's art the primitive inhabitants of the middle Mississippi valley were far in advance of the ancient potters of the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona as to the. variety and refinement of the form and work of their wares.32 From these remains it is also evident that the prehistoric inhabitants of this state, at least, were far in advance in civilization of any of the historic tribes which first came in contact with the white man.
It would lead too far afield to enter into a discussion of the precise uses for which the various articles and relics found in the mounds of our state were intended. Some were undoubtedly intended for domestic purposes; others decorative, ornamented, and carefully and delicately finished, of unusual shape and without any marks of usage,
31 20th Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 81.
82 20th Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 83.
49
BOTTLE-SHAPED CARAFE
were no doubt intended for mortuary, sacerdotal, or ornamental pur- poses. In color this ware ranges from a rich black to all shades of brown and gray, and in some instances white and terra cotta tones. In the opinion of Holmes, in pleasing outline and form, this ware, found in the middle Mississippi district, is superior to that found in the eastern part of the United States, more varied in shape than that found in the Pueblo country, but not as diversified as that of Mexico, Central America, or Peru, and " of higher rank than the prehistoric wares of northern Europe." 33 Much of the ware was artistically embellished, and the higher types of linear and plastic designs prevail to a greater extent in this district than elsewhere. It represents many animal forms easily recognizable. So, also, rectilinear forms, lozenges, quillochs, zizgags, checkers, and crosses, stellar forms, and curved lines of great variety.34 But with the rectangular linked meander, which was a favorite device of the people of Mexico and Peru, they were not familiar, perhaps be- cause they "had not felt the influence of advanced architecture as had the Mexicans."35 It has been assumed that the ancient people of this district were not familiar with the use of burned bricks or tiles, but this is an error. The investigations of Mr. Bean, on the ground, show that bricks were made and used among them. The sides of one mound in Pemiscot county appeared to him to have been covered with brick or burned clay.
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