USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > Steubenville > Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, 20th > Part 4
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B. G. Armstrong, of Ashland, Wis., in- vestigated this story and became satisfied of its truth. He added that, from all he could gather, these people, whom the Sions called Ground House Indians, built houses of logs and posts, around and over which they piled earth until it formed a conical mass extending several feet above the roof.
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They occupied a portion of western Wis- consin and eastern Minnesota, and some maps give a "Ground House" river in the latter state. The Sioux exterminated the tribe, the last survivors being an old man and woman, who had married Sioux; they were taken to the present site of Superior, near Duluth, where they died about two centuries ago.
Many of the Chippewas were familiar with this tradition, and one of them de- clared to Mr. Fowkes that he had heard the old men say these Indians erected their houses of wood and piled several feet of dirt over them, and buried their dead in little mounds out in front of their honses, a few hundred feet away. He told of a mound that was opened, in which the posi- tion of the skeletons, two or three of chil- dren being among them, showed as plainly as anything could that the inmates had been sitting or lounging around the fire, when the roof fell in and killed them. There are thousands of small monnds in that neighborhood.
It is a well known fact that Indian tales, and so-called traditions, like some other tales, must be received with a great deal of cantion, but there is a circumstantiality about this which at least gives it an air of great plausibility. If the " Ground House" people referred to were indeed the remnant of a vanishing race, then their final exter- mination took place less than three cen- turies ago, or near the beginning of the seventeenth century. They no doubt had disappeared from the Ohio Valley a con- siderable time before that.
That the Indians themselves were mound builders, to some extent, is attested by members of De Soto's expedition to the Mississippi in 1541, when they found among the Cherokees many villages built on monnds erected by those people. Early accounts of the Natchez Indians describe the king's honse as on a high mound, with the dwellings of the chiefs on smaller mounds about it. When a king died, his successor did not ocenpy his house, but built another on a new monud. Even the
Iroquois built mounds in their own country, and so did other Indian tribes. Hence the conclusion is irresistible either that the Indians found here by the first European discoverers were direct descendants of the Mound Builders, who had changed their habits and mode of living owing to con- stant wars and other causes, or that they had exterminated the former people and occupied their country. And from some incidents given above, the latter process would still seem to have been going on at the time of the arrival of Columbus. Of course, the origin of the Mound Builders is a different matter; they may extend back to the Glacial period, but this is mere speculation. Of late, the trend of seien- tific belief has been towards the theory that they were simply ancestors of the Indians. but were they ancestors of the more eivil- ized Aztecs and Pernvians? Data on this subject are yet too meager to dogmatize with any certainty.
In this connection, as an illustration of how even scientific men allow their imagi- nation to run away with them, and draw deductions from insufficient data, we copy the following from Prof. J. S. Newberry's chapter on the physical geography of Ohio, in Volume I of the Geological Survey, pub- lished in 1873:
** During the last two seasons, which bave been un. usually dry, the waters in the Ohio and its Tributaries sank down lower than was ever known before. At Smith's Ferry. where the Pennsylvania Line crosses the Ohio River, a ledge of rock was, by the continual drought, laid bare in the bottom of the river, which had never been so fully exposed to the observation of the present inhabitants of This region. Ou this ledge, a surface from fifty to one hundred feet wide and sev. eral hundred yards long, was found covered with in- scriptions, such as are usually useribed to a race which densely populated this country anterior to the advent of the nomadie Indians. The existence of these an- cient hieroglyphics, now almost constantly buried he- neath the waters of the Ohio, seems to prove that these rocks were once longer and more fully exposed than they now are, and that the volume of water in the Ohlo was then less than now. The facts I have stated. associated as they are with others of similar import which have come to my knowledge, indiente a period when ont climate was drier than now, or one when from natural or artificial canses the oscillations of level in the Ohio were greater than they have been during the last fifty years. It is among the possibilities that we have bere the record of the effect produced upon the
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elimale of this portion of our country through its oreupalion during hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years hy a dense, agricultural population."
.
It would be difficult to compress more misinformation, and consequently more faulty conclusions, within the limits of a single paragraph than is found in the above. The one single correct statement in the whole article is that a ledge of rock at Smith's Ferry does contain certain markings, as can be verified by the huu- dreds who visited the spot last summer und fall, when the river was lower than in
marks nt Steubenville showed five inches on the bars, with a probable depth some- what greater. No levels were taken, along the ledge, but a reasonable estimate placed the flat surface on which the figures were ent at not less than 18 inches above the water level, some of it higher. So, in order to cover the figures, the channel marks at Steubenville must show a depth of 23 or 24 inches. Now, there has been scarcely a season within the historie period when the river Is not dropped below two feet at some time during the summer or
INDIAN CARVINGS, SMITH'S FERRY. NO. 1.
the previous record- breaking years. But the markings were not "found" on either of those ocensions. from the simple faet that the "oldest inhabitant" heard of them on his first arrival. They have been known und talked about ever since the settlement of this valley und before, for the Indians met here by the first settlers, although they were familiar with the marks, did not know, or pretended not to know, by whom they were made. At the time the writer visited the spot last fall (1908), the river
full, frequently remaining below that figure for quite a while. Thus, no special nridity Wils necessary to give opportunity for this work. The rocks were exposed probably for a longer period in 190% than nt any other time in their history. As to aserib ing the carvings "to n race which densely populated this country anterior to the ad vent of the nondie Indinns," or "that we have here the record of the effeet produced upon the climate of this portion of our country, through its occupation during
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hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, by
one side, turtle or tortoise, an Ohio River a dense agricultural population," that is Hellbender with some nondescript lines. all the veriest nonsense.
As to the real origin of these carvings, there is little doubt that they were made by the "nomadic Indians" aforesaid, some time anterior to the arrival of the whites in the valley. Their location is twenty- eight miles north of Steubenville, where the river has cut its way down to the Piedmont sandstone, the layers lying here practically horizontal.
In the first illustration accompanying
There are other markings, but not of spe- cial importance.
The tools used may have been flint or copper, more likely the latter.
Now, at the advent of the whites, the Iro- quois confederation controlled the upper Ohio Valley. They were divided into eight clans or families, each tracing its descent to a common ancestry. This has nothing to do with their nationality, and for a description of the eight clans in the con-
INDIAN CARVINGS, SMITH'S FERRY. NO. 2.
this chapter, reproductions from a photo- graph, may be traced the outline of at least five animals, and it is not unreasonable to assume that they represent respectively a deer, a turtle or a tortoise, a bird, a beaver, and a crawfish. The other cut evidently shows part of a man's body, a large bird, apparently hovering over a papoose, and a large, composite figure , which probably in- cludes two or more animals. The writer also made rough sketches of a number of other figures, including a man, boy, wolf, two birds, a bear, fish with both eyes on
federacy of five nations, the reader is re- ferred to Parkman. Each of these clans was named after some animal, which was at once its symbol and evidence of kinship. The eight clans of the Iroquois were the Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Tortoise, Deer, Snipe, Heron, Hawk. There is no difficulty in identifying the above named animals along with others. These figures were regarded of sufficient interest to have plate casts made of them, which were exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair and placed in the Carnegie Museum at Pittsburgh. Their
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antiquity than if made by the Iroquois, for or by some tribe that untedated them. It the Algonquins were the predecessors and is possible that the figures are of Algon- enemies of the Iroquois in this section. quin origin and, if so, they are of greater been also suggested that the marks indi- ente tribal boundaries, records of visits as of a modern traveler to a hotel, a good fish- ing point, or possibly simply the work of some prehistorie William Stubbs, who eer- tainly had no idea of becoming famons. However, some of them are at least signifi- cant. even lines drawn apparently at run- One of the figures bears a striking resem- blance to the thunder bird of the Ojibwas, whose home is now in Canada. Some draw- ings made by Ojibwas while sojourning in northern Michigan last summer were strik- ingly suggestive of this carving. It has been suggested that a prayer for rain is carved here, which would be evidence, ns is indeed
INDIAN CARVINGS, BROWN'S ISLAND, NEAR STEUBENVILLE.
the location of the figures, that dronghts dom; but to theorize would require vol- are not confined to recent periods. It has mmes. story, if they have any, has never been translated. In some other instances of snch work there has been some elne by which an interpretation could be worked ont, but here there is none.
It has been suggested that they mark the location of some tribe, but ns has been stated the Iroquois took care that no other tribes should remain hereabouts, so that the marks were made by their young men
The Piedmont sandstone in which the fig. ures are ent shows the marks of the wave. lets when this section was an estunry of the Carboniferous nge, which incheated to some of the visitors that the current of the river at one time flowed in an opposite direction. But the river wus not there until ages later.
There is another set of carvings on the West Virginia side of the river, opposite
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Brown's Island, six miles above Steuben-
sary to suppose that this work was all ville, quite as interesting as those at done at one time, although it could easily have been accomplished during a single dry season, but may have been added to at different times, as the tribes passed and repassed.
Smith's Ferry, although not so numerous. One represents a wild turkey and is about life size. Stretched across its neck, ap- parently in flight, is a wild goose with neck extended at full length. The heart of the goose is indicated by a small circle, with a line extending to the head. Such lines are frequently found, and appear to have some religious or legendary significance. Good photographs have been obtained of these and other animals, variously supposed to be a fox, bear, etc. There are also some out- lines of feet and numerous strokes which are evidently parts of figures worn away and obliterated by the running waters. The river current is much stronger here than at Smith's Ferry, which would ac- count for the more rapid obliteration of the figures, outside of a possible difference in the character of the sandstone. The lines of the figures are grooved, about the size of a small finger, and appear as though they were made by rubbing, and not by chipping, although long action of the water has doubtless contributed towards wearing down the sharp edges. While we cannot say positively that metal instruments were not used in their construction, yet the indi- cations point to the use of flint or some other hard stone.
Some skepticism has been expressed as to the genuineness of these figures, and in- stances have been related of white boys cut- ting marks here in recent years. There are some modern imitations of the original carvings, but there is not the slightest diffi- culty in distinguishing the modern from the ancient inscriptions, and they really furnish strong testimony in favor of the genuineness of the older work. The figures are located at the upper entrance of Holli- day's Cove, already referred to in connec- tion with river terraces, and very possibly are on the line of an old Indian trail lead- ing across the river, just as the ones farther up the stream find their natural location at the mouth of Little Beaver. It is not neces-
Like the ruins of Phila, what is left of these designs will soon be buried perma- nently beneath the waters. The slack-water system inaugurated by the Government is approaching completion on the upper Ohio. When that is accomplished these records will be permanently covered. Fortunately, they have been pretty thoroughly recorded by means of photographs, drawings and "squeezes," and in a few instances by the removal of the rock itself, so that for philo- logical purposes they will still be accessible.
In this connection, it may be of interest to note that, a few years ago, while exca- vations were in progress for the construc- tion of the Pittsburgh, Wheeling & Ken- tucky Railroad at Short Creek, on the opposite side of the river from Warrenton, quite a large bed of freshwater mussel shells was encountered. The species was the same as in the adjacent waters. The collection, however, was evidently of arti- ficial origin, indicating that the family or settlement there had used these bivalves for food, and thrown the shells in the most convenient place, which was, no doubt, the door of their dwelling, if they had any.
Amongst other fantastic ideas in this connection, it has been suggested that the great serpent mound in Adams County is symbolic of events in the Garden of Eden, which was located in Ohio. If a site for the garden were to be chosen at the present day, no doubt Ohio would have preference over the Euphrates Valley, but it is hardly worth while to discuss that proposition.
It is frequently asserted that the streams in this vicinity in the early days were prac- tically the same the year round. This is not correct. No doubt the removal of the forests has made the shallow period longer and tended to increase the flood height, but the Indian carvings above described prove
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that there was low water in the Ohio River before the advent of the white man, and there are plenty of Indian traditions as to floods. The record flood at Steubenville was February 7, 1884, when the marks showed 49 feet 1 inch. In 1907, it reached 48 feet 3 inches. The Pittsburgh marks, however, are as follows:
February 10, 1832
35.0 feet
April 19, 1852.
31.9 feet
March 18, 1865. 31.4 feet
February 10, 1866.
32.0 feet
February 6, 1884
33.3 feet
February 18, 1891.
31.3 feet
March 2, 1902.
39.4 feet
January 23, 1904
30.0 feet
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CHAPTER III
THE INDIAN TRIBES
Jefferson County and Neighboring Aborigines - Their Locations, Traditions and Mythology-Indian Character Generally.
It seems to be conceded by the generality We know that in historic times numerous vessels have been driven by storms from the Japanese coast towards the west, some of them as far as America, and this has probably been going on from the time the first sea-going fishing boat was constructed. It would be unprofitable to follow all the speculations on this subject, and we shall only refer to a late theory which has been advocated with considerable confidence by Prof. William E. Griffis, who, for a number of years, was a resident of Japan and mem- ber of the faculty of the University of Tokio. His published works, The Mikado's Empire and Evolution of the Japanese People, are recognized as standards. He comes to the conclusion that the original settlers of Japan were the Ainos or Ainus, a miserable remnant of which still exists in the northern part of the empire, having been forced thither by the Mongol and Malay invasions. These Ainos he con- sidered to be degenerate descendants of the Aryans, who, according to late authori- ties, did not make a migration westward, but eastward from their home in Central Europe, not Asia, until some of them, at least, reached the islands of the Pacific. From there, as we have already shown, the passage to America was comparatively easy. He does not claim that they were of scientists that man in America is not autochthonous, but has migrated at some period, perhaps at various times, from the Asiatic Continent and perhaps from En- rope, although little consideration is given to the latter. Even if it be conceded that man has descended (or ascended) from the Simian apes, no snch apes have been found in America, and while South America has plenty of monkeys it is agreed that the gap as at present disclosed is too wide to be bridged on any theory of evolution. Hence science and tradition are in accord on this point. Nearly all the Indian tribes seem to have beliefs or traditions more or less vague that their ancestors came from the west, and the partially developed civili- zation of the southern part of North Amer- ica and the northern part of South America bears some marked resemblances to similar work in the Eastern continent. That there are marked differences is true, but no greater than might have been expected in the divergence from a common stock through centuries of separation. That there could be a migration from the northi- east coast of Asia to the northwest coast of America is apparent by a glance at the Inap. The Aleutian Islands extend from Alaska so far out into the Pacific that San Francisco is actually the central city of the progenitors of the pre-Glacialites or the United States on an east and west line. the Mound Builders, but of the red Indian,
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and gives many facts to support his thearies. For instance, when he took In- dian photographs to Japan the residents there found a remarkable resemblance to themselves. Possibly the Indians, the JJap- anese and the white settlers of North America are more nearly related to each other than they have imagined.
Passing by all this for what it may be worth, we come to the actual condition of things when the first Europeans reached these shores. There were many tribes oe- cupying the country between the Atlantic and the Mississippi and between the lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, but two great com- binations overshadowed all others, and to a great extent controlled many of the smaller tribes. These were called the Lenni Lenape, known later under the general name of Algonquins, and the Mengwe or Iroquois. It is proper to say that there was great confusion in designating these tribes by the early settlers, and there is often considerable difficulty in properly locating them. The Lenape were some- times called Delawares by the English. from the name of one of the tribes. The Mengwe were also called Mingoes, this be- ing at first a corruption by ignorant white men and afterwards adopted by the Dela- wares as a term of reproach, it literally meaning absentee, or one away from home. The Virginia Indians who, for a while, had a strong confederacy, spoke the Algonquin language. We have already referred to the tradition of the Lenape or Delawares, that they came from the west and had a bloody war with the dwellers on what is now De- troit River, and from them we get the name Namoesi Sipu, or River of Fish, now the Mississippi, and Allegeni, from which we derive the name Allegheny. They united with the Mengwe after the Detroit River war, the latter keeping to the north along the Great Lakes, and the Lenape moving along the Ohio River and its tributaries, subsequently crossing the mountains and Before the English arrived at James- town, the Iroquois had completely subju- gated the Delawares, who with other tribes establishing themselves along the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Delaware and the Hudson, and finally stretching up into the in Pennsylvania were ruled by a chief sent
New England States. They left confederate tribes, as well as independents, in the Mis- sissippi Valley, who had their own troubles with the Mengwe who stretched along the lakes and touched the Algonquins at almost every point. The Long Council House of the Mengwe, whom we shall hereafter call by their French name, Iroquois, was lo- ented in the Onondaga Valley, New York, which may be considered their capital. Here they organized the confederacy of the "Five Nations," composed of the Mo- hawks or fire striking people, Senceas or Mountaineers, Cayugas, from the name of n lake; Onondagas, or hill-top dwellers, and Oneidas, or Pipe Makers. To these was added afterwards a sixth, the Tuscaroras, driven by whites from North Carolina in 1712. The original confederacy was organ- ized at least two centuries before that time. Each nation was divided into eight tribes or families, called after the wolf, bear, beaver, turtle, deer, snipe, heron and hawk. The Mohawks guarded the home field in what are now the valleys of the Mohawk and the Hudson, and their chief was also chief of the confederacy. The Senecas, with whom the denizens of this valley were most familiar, were the most numerous and warlike, and to them was intrusted the task of guarding the western possessions. The Onondagas had the chief sachem, to whom was referred all disputes. The Cayugas watched the Delaware and Susquehanna Valleys, while the Oneidas were stationed along the lakes and St. Lawrence. When their parliament met in the grand council house at Onondaga, their deliberations were grave, and their military expeditions were carried out in a manner that would not have discredited Hannibal or Alexan- der, while they were as merciless as they were fearless. They have been called, not inappropriately, "The Romans of Amer- ien." Their confederacy lasted about three hundred years.
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by the Iroquois for that purpose, very much after the manner of the Roman pro- consuls. Among these was the Cayuga chief, Shikellimus, father of the famous Logan, who dwelt at Shamokin, on the Sus- quehanna. In 1742 the chiefs of the Dela- wares were summoned to Philadelphia to make a "treaty," but really to force them to give up their lands along that river. Connossatego, an Iroquois, made a speech calculated to humiliate the Delawares to the bitter dregs. He called them old women, told them they had no right to con- trol these or any other lands, and ordered them and their whole tribe into the interior to Wyoming or Shamokin. Sadly, they left their homes for the Susquehanna, where the lands were already occupied by the Shawnees, who dared not protest; so some of the Delawares stopped there, and others crossed the mountains. Subsequently, they moved to Ohio, where we will hear of them later.
To go back a little, in 1650, the Iroquois invaded the territory of the Hurons on the eastern shore of that lake, almost extermi- nating them, the remnant finding a pre- carious home at the head waters of the Mississippi. The Eries living south of that lake were exterminated five years later, a few being incorporated with the victors or other tribes. The Andastes, in the Alle- gheny Valley, shared the same fate. In fact, the all-conquering confederacy carried its arms from New York to the Carolinas and from New England to the Mississippi. A certain writer says: "At the commence- ment of the eighteenth century, the terri- tory now Ohio was derelict, except as the indomitable confederates of the north made it a trail for further hostilities, or roamed its hunting grounds."
Hildreth, in his Pioneer History of the Ohio Valley, says: "Year after year the savage and warlike inhabitants of the north invaded the country of the more peaceable and quiet tribes of the south. Fleets of canoes built on the headwaters of the Ohio and manned with the fierce war- riors of the Iroquois or Five Nations, an-
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