History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 2

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490

USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 2

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THE MOUND BUILDERS.

The history of this West is a long his-

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

tory of war, from the earliest days even to our own century. This territory between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi is one of the greatest battlefields in the world. It is certainly the oldest and most renowned in our America. The first of our race to enter it looked with wondering eyes upon the monstrous earthen forts of a prehistoric race whom we have named from the relics they left behind the "Mound Builders." Of this race the In- dians knew nothing, save what the legends handed down by their fathers told of a race of giants which was driven out of the Central West, and sent flying down the Ohio and Mis- sisippi to reappear no more in human history. Antiquarians find that these forts and mau- soleums reveal little in addition to the bloody story told by crude implements of war, of

Old. unhappy, iar off things And battles long ago.

In certain instances great piles of human bones are found at strategic revetment angles where heaviest attack was made and stoutest resistance encountered. Here bones are some- times found pierced by death-dealing arrow- heads. What power hurled the flints of these warriors of prehistoric days? The Indian legend, that they were giants in strength, is easily believed. Nowhere else on the continent are found such forts as were built by these an- cient defenders of the Central West.

MOUNDS AT MARIETT.A.

The ancient works at Marietta occupied the "plain" and were included within the terri- tory north of Putnam street and east of Third ( with the exception of the graded way, ex- tending down to the lower river terrace, at a point between Second and Front streets ).

These works consisted originally of two enclosures (irregular squares, one of which contained about forty and the other twenty acres), together with several trun- cated pyramids or elevated platforms of earth, the graded way. the great mound how en- closed in the cemetery. several embankments

flanking it, and numerous lesser tumuli. The portions of this interesting group of works remaining on the two truncated pyramids known as Quadranaon and Capitolium, and the mere bed or bottom of the graded way. Sacra H'ia.

When the settlement was made at Marietta these works were covered with a heavy for- est. "When I arrived." says Dr. Cutler, "the ground was in part cleared, but many large trees remained on the walls and mounds. The only possible data for forming any probable conjecture respecting the antiquity of these works. I conceived, must be derived from the growth upon them. By the concentric circles, each of which denotes the annual growth, the age of the trees might be ascertained. For this purpose a number of trees were felled; and in the presence of Governor St. Clair and many other gentlemen, the number of circles was carefully counted. The trees of the great- est size were hollow. In the largest of those which were found there were from three to four hundred circles. One tree, somewhat de- caved at the center, was found to contam at least 463 circles. Its age was undoubtedly more than 463 years. Other trees in a grow- ing state were, from their appearance, much older. There were likewise the strongest marks of a previous growth, as large as the present. Decayed stumps could be traced at the surface of the ground, on different parts of the works, which measured from six to eight feet in diameter. In one of the angles of a square a decaved stump measured eight feet in diameter at the surface of the ground; and though the body of the tree was so mouldered as scarcely to be perceived above the surface of the earth, we were able to trace the decayed wood under the leaves and rubbish for nearly a hundred feet. \ thrifty beech, containing 136 circles, appeared to have first vegetated within the space that had been occupied by an ancient predecessor of a different kind of wood."

Upon the hypothesis that the growth which he saw had occupied 403 years, and that it

HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY.

had been preceded by one of equal size and age, Dr. Cutler estimated that at least 000 years had elapsed since the works had been deserted by the people who constructed them.

We may remark in this connection that Clavigero, in his "History of Mexico." says that the emigration of the Toltees commenced from their native country about the middle of the Sixth century.

The larger of the two square (or nearly square) fortifications, of which we have spoken, was commonly called by the early in- habitants of Marietta "The Town." The walls were, at the time when first observed and measured, from six to io feet in height, and from 25 to 35 feet broad at the base. Through these walls there were, upon three sides, three openings or gateways, of which the central ones were the largest. The central one in the front, facing the Muskingum, was 150 feet wide. Immediately in front of this great gate- way, and leading from it toward the river, its walls running at right angles to those of "The Town," was the immense graded way, sometimes called the covert, or covered way, and named by some pioneer, of classical educa- tion, Sacra Tia. This was a broad avenue, excavated so as to descend by a perfect grade to the lower or latest formed terrace of the Muskingum, at the foot of which it is sup- presed the stream flowed when the work was construcred. The grade remains, but the walls, thrown up at either side have long since been demolished. They began at a distance of 60 feet from the gateway, were exactly parallel, and 680 feet long. They were 150 feet apart at their bases, 230 feet at their summits, and the broad "way" between them was rounded and raised like a modern city street. At the base of the grade the walls were 21 feet in perpendicular height, measuring from the ir - side, while at the same point upon the outside they were from eight to io feet high, and much less at the i pper en Lof the avenue. This portion of the Marietta works alone would be a stupende ns piece of construction, even in this age: an ! in the era when it was executed must

have been a marvel of engineering and have re- quired the patient, long-continued toil of a vast number of men. Not less remarkable were the four squares or truncated pyramids (of which the two principal ones have been pre- served ), enclosed within the walls of the au- cient town. The largest of these, the Quadra- ndou, the location of which is now best de- seribed by saying that it is upon the west side of Fourth street, north of Warren, was in the northwest corner of the great enclosure. It was described by Squier and Davis in 1847 as being 188 feet long by 132 feet wide, and 10 feet high. Its apparent height is now a little less than this figure. It contains more than a quarter of a million cubic feet of earth. At the center of each of the four sides the earth projects, forming gradual and easy ascents to the top. The elevated square, next in im- portance, is the the Capitolumum, which is situ- ated upon the northwest corner of Washington and Fifth streets. The southern wall of "The Town" originally extended along Washington street, very near the Capitolium. This elevated square is 150 feet long by 120 feet wide, and is about eight feet high. Upon three sides are projections or inclined ways leading to the level platform, but upon . the south side the graded ascent is a recess, the measurements of which are equal to those of the projections, or abont 20 feet in width by 40 feet in length. East of this square there was originaly another and a smaller one, which was known in earlier days as St. Cecelia. It was a truncated pyra- mid. similar in general characteristics to the Quadranaou and Capitolium, 120 feet long by 50 feet wide and five or six feet high. It had graded ascents only at the ends. In the northern angle of the enclosure was another rectangular elevation, which was never of as great a height as the others, and, unlike them. had no ascents.

The purpose for which these elevated squares and the great graded way leading down to the Muskingum can. of course, only he conjectured. The former, it has been generally thought by students of archi-

of M

emetery

A MODERN VIEW OF MOUND CEMETERY.

Moundbuilders Barthworks

on site of Mariet

MOUND-BUILDERS' EARTHWORKS ON THE SITE OF MARIETTA.

IND REPRESENT LINE. CITIZENS.

ology, were designed as the sites of tem- ples, and were originally so occupied, but with edifices which, having been constructed of per- ishable material. long since crumbled into dust. The surface of the elevated squares which we have described is perfectly level, except where it has been upheaved by the roots of falling tres. or burrowing animals. The squares bear a close resemblance to the Teocalli of Mexico. upon which temples still stand. In Ohio there are but few of these peculiar formations in connection with the great groups of works. and, in fact, besides the Marietta squares there are none, except at Portsmouth, Newark, and in the vicinity of Chillicothe. At no one of these localities are the squares as large as those we have here described. Works of this kind occur more frequently in the South, and in- vestigators, who have traveled down the Valley of the Mississippi and thence into Mexico, re- port that there is exhibited quite a uniform and constant increase in the size of the squares until they lead up to the mighty temple-crowned Teocalli in the land of Montezuma. Upon the other hand, as we journey southward we find a decrease in the size and in the number of enclosures of similar nature to those which abound in Ohio.

We have so far said but little of the smaller of the two enclosures which existed at Mari- etta. As we have said, its area was about 20 acres. This area is now about equally di- vided north and south by Wooster street, and lies above Fourth street. This enclosure, which formed the connection in the great system of the Marietta works, between the larger enclosure and the great mound. was many years ago obliterated. Its walls were never as high as those of the larger enclosure called "The Town." There were openings or gateways at the center of each side and at the corners, which were de- fended by mounds. It is conjectured that these two enclosures were not designed for defense. although they may of course have served that purpose. The ditch or fosse which often oc-

curs in connection with the walls of similar enclosures was wanting here, but it is not im- probable that palisades were planted upon the top of the embankments.

The most reasonabe hypothesis to be adopted in accounting for the construction of the so-called "forts" is that they were simply enclosures designed to protect the temples and the sacred altars of the ancient people from the profane gaze or touch of an alien race, or to guard them from desecration by animals. They may also have served as the place for great civic or religious assemblages, or the practice of something analagous to the Olym- pian games. Very likely they contained the residences of the priests or rulers of the people.

Most of the earth of which the so-called "forts" were constructed must have been taken evenly from the surface of the ground within and around them, although excavations com- monly designated as "dug holes" were at an early day observable in several places not far from the works. Several of these have been supposed to be wells, funnel-shaped like those in eastern countries, so that the water carriers could go down into them.

The large mound now inclosed in the ceme- tery. the most interesting feature of the Mari- etta group of works, remains to be described. It is not larger than some others in Ohio, but is probably higher in proportion to its base measurement, and is unique in its accessories of embankment and fosse. It is 30 feet in heighth and its base is 115 feet in diameter. It is surrounded by a ditch about 15 feet wide and four feet deep, outside of which is a wall about four feet high, and twenty feet or more in breadth. There is an opening in this wall upon the north side and a filling in the fosse, each about 20 feet in width. The surrounding wall and ditch do not form a perfect circle, but an ellipse, the longer diameter of which is 230 feet, and the shorter 215 feet. Originally there were a number of fragmentary walls of slight elevation west and south of the great mound, forming an imperfect re-enclosure.

IIISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY,

There was also a wall extending from a point near the filling of the fosse toward the south embankment of a smaller enclosure.

its character. its unique accessory formations -the fosse and wall-would suggest that the builders had in view some other purpose than the rearing of a massive sepulchre. It may i have been utilized as a place for the observance of religious ceremonies.

The mound was described by Squier and Davis in 1847 as being truncated. It so ap- pears at present and the memory of the oldest inhabitant cannot recall a time when it was Small mounds are usually to be found upon the hills overlooking the larger works in the valleys. These are not wanting at Marietta. Harmar Hill and the other eminences in the vicinity of the great group we have described are crowned with them and they occur at in- tervals along the whole length of the Muskin- gum Valley, and also those of the Tuscarawas and the Ohio. It is conjectured that these mounds served the purpose of coignes of van- tage from which the approach of an enemy coutkl be descried, and also that they were sig- nal stations from which beacon lights have flashed forth at night and columns of smoke riser in the daytime as warnings of impend- I ing danger, or the means of conveying quickly other information. It will be found that from one of these mounds upon the valley wall. another similar mound can nearly always be seen, and that the second commands a third, and so on. It is probable that these mounds formed systems extending along the valleys and across the country. otherwise. The writer, however, has reason to believe that the mound, as originally con- structed, was a perfect mammalian. The Mari- etta mound is, doubtless, a sepulchral mound, and it is probable that it contains ( or did once contain ) two chambers like the great mound at the mouth of Grave Creek, in West Virginia -one chamber being situated upon a level with the surrounding plain, and the other mid- way between the base and the apex of the mound. The flattening of the top may have been caused by the crushing in of one or both of these chambers ( the chambers are in most cases constructed of timber ), or by the up- rooting of the great oak which Dr. Cutler's journal tells us stood upon the top in 1788. It is not generally known that the mound has been partially excavated, but such is the fact. Dr. Cutler, as quoted by Mr. Harris, says that "an opening being made at the summit of the great conic mound" (and it is worthy of note that he uses the word conic ) "there were found the bones of an adult in a horizontal position, There are in Washington County many small works and mounds, the most interesting of which are mentioned in the histories of the localities in which they occur. It is scarcely necessary to say that there are none which ap- proach in magnitude the ancient remains at Marietta. covered with a flat stone. Beneath this skele- ton were three stones placed vertically at small and different distances, but no bones were dis- covered. That this venerable monument might not be defaced. the opening was closed without further search." The skeleton found was doubtless not lower down than the middle of The pioneers of Marietta exhibited a land- able disposition to preserve the strange monu- ! ments left by a prehistoric people, and although inuich has necessarily been swept from exist- ence, the most interesting portions of the great system have been preserved, and nearly in the condition in which they were found. While the Goths and Vandals at Circleville were raz- ing to the ground the wonderful works which gave their town its name, the citizens of Mari- the mound, that is to say, 15 feet from the apex. In every one of the few large mounds excavated, which have a chamber near the top. there has been found another at the base, and hence there is presumptive evidence that the bones of some mighty personage of the ancient race lie as they were originally deposited in an unknown age, amidst the pomp and splen- dor of strange and superstitious rites. While this mound is undoubtedly monumental in : etta were taking steps not only to guard against

2 1

IND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

the immediate obliteration of the remains . square containing the Quadrandou had been within the town plat, but to secure their pro- . leased to D. Hartshorn and he had transferred tection for all time. The names which have been used in this chapter, Quadranaou, Capi- tolium and Sacra Fia, were bestowed upon the several works during the year 1788. . little later the Ohio Company passed the fol- lowing resolution, which was the first measure adopted looking toward the preservation of the ancient works :

Resolved. That Colonel Battelle. Colonel Crary, and Major Sergeant be a committee to leave the publi - squares (to Samud H. Parsons, Rufus Putnam and Gritti Greene, esqs. ), the ones on which the great mound stands, the Quadrandou and Capitolium, for so long a time as they are not wanted for the uses for which they were reserved. The committee are to point out the mode of improvement for ornament, and in what manner the ancient works shall be preserved. and also to ascertain the amount of what is to be given.

In March, 1791, the Company decided to lease Public Square No. I ( Marie Antoinette ) . containing the great mound, to Rufus Putnam for 12 years, on condition that he should set out trees and make other improvements. On similar terms it was proposed to lease Square No. 2 ( Capitolium), to Dudley Woodbridge for eight years, and Square No. 3 (Quadra- nuon), to Benjamin Tupper for 10 years. It was resolved at the same time that Sacra Via be not leased, but that General Putnam should retain control of it, seed it down, plant trees upon it. etc. It was specified that the trees to be set out on the ancient works were to be of native growth. Subsequently Rufus Put- nam. Paul Fearing, and Dr. Jabez True were appointed trustees to take charge of the pub- lic squares until the town should become in- corporated, and lease them to proper persons. the avails of the rent to be applied to the education of indigent orphans.

The large trees growing upon the Quadra- gained. The mound has since been kept, by in accordance with the requirements of the the best possible condition, as have also the

naout are all of second growth and were set out Ohio Company. This work, or rather the question of its preservation and the right of the lessee to obliterate or deface it, was the sub- ject of a very warm controversy in 1820. The 1

the right of possession to Rev. Joseph Willard. He began plowing down the truncated pyra- mid and the citizens protested. Caleb Emer- son, who was a member of the Council, was ac- tive in opposing Willard's action. The Council removed the square from Willard's possession and leased it to C. D. G. Bonny, and a num- ber of citizens turned out and repaired the damage done by the plowing. A discussion of the merits of the case was carried on for some months in the newspapers between a writer who signed himself "Fair Play." and Mr. Willard, and the case was carried into the court, where it was decided in favor of the town. The Council claimed the square as a reservation granted to the town for public works, or public buildings, and for the benefit of indigent orphan children.

The public squares had not been fenced, up to 1837, and some damage had been caused to the ancient works, but in the year mentioned the citizens raised a sufficient sum of money to repair the injuries effected and to build fences around the squares. Ichabod Nye and Thomas Vinton were appointed by the Council as a committee to make the needed improve- ments and restorations. The large mound has. perhaps, been injured more than either of the other remains, the water having washed the sides where the earth was loosened by the feet of climbers. The uneven places were filled, the defective trees cut down, and the entire sur- face of the mound sown with grass. In order that the symmetry of the mound should not again be intpaired by the displacement of earth consequent upon many persons climbing up its steep sides, a flight of stone steps was con- structed by which the summit could be easily occasional slight labor bestowed upon it, in other remains.

THE GREAT BATTLE-GROUND OF AMERICA.

Throughout the 18th century this West

HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY.

was a continual battle-ground. To it both France and England, in turn, clung with equal determination, and both tested the fool- ish experiment of attempting to win it back, when once it was lost, by means of the Indians who made it their lair.

THE HUNTING GROUNDS OF THE IROQUOIS.

When the first explorers entered the West. early in the 18th century, it was found to be the princely hunting ground of the Iroquois, , between the Miami and the Wabash. Ottawas

better known as the Six Nations. Of all American Indians the Iroquois were ever pre- eminent, invincible. The proud races of the furthest South had felt the weight of their tomahawks and the nations that camped about the shores of Lake St. John "kept their senti- nels pushed well southward in dread of their fierce invasion." As conquerors of half a con- tinent, the choicest hunting grounds were theirs, and so the forests, divided by the ()yo (Ohio), which took its rise in the Iroquois homeland south of Lake Ontario, was the na- tion's choice.

The hunting grounds of an Indian nation were not, in the nature of the case, located near the nation's homeland. The forests near In- dian villages soon became devoid of game, and the hunters were compelled to seek it at an in- creasing greater distance from home. And so it became customary for the stronger nations and confederacies to obtain by conquest of un- opposed occupation, great tracts of distant for- ests which should be their own peculiar prop- erty and into which vagrant hunters of other nations came only on peril of their lives. These hunting grounds were as stable and well de- fined as a nation's homeland itself, and, as among the Bedouin nations of the Levant, the degree of the conqueror's victory over his adversary was measured by the number of sheep; and camel purloined, so the victory of one Indian nation over another was measured. in part, by the extent of new hunting grounds in which it might thereafter roam without ; challenge. The hunting grounds were an In- dian nation's pride and came first in the na- [

tion's category. And so the "Happy Hunting Ground,“ alive with game, which no ruthless ! conquerer could wrest away, was the red man's happiest conception for a life everlasting.

Still, during Iroquois sovereignty over the Central West, it is not probable that they alone knew of the treasures of buffalo and turkey and pike which the land and its streams con- tained. In the far West the Iroquois left the Miami's nation undisturbed in their old home

"traders" from the North, who had never built a fire beside more splendid streams than the Central West contained, were at times vagrant, frightened, visitors to the lands be- tween the Great Lakes and the Oyo. Other scattered remnants of Indian nations are rt- mored to have built fires in the hunting grounds of the Iroquois; if so they hid their charred embers in the leaves, to obliterate all proofs of their sly incursions.

Ever and anon, from the Iroquois home- land. came great armies into the West in search of game. Launching their painted canoes on the headwaters of the Ovo (now the Alleghany and Ohio), they came down with the Hood tides of the spring and fall and scattered into all the rivers of the forest,-the Kanawha. Muskingum, Scioto, Kentucky, Miami and Wabash. Other canoes came up Lake Ontario to Lake Erie and passed up the Cuyahoga and down the Muskingum, or up the Sandusky and down the Scioto, or up the Miami-of-the-Lakes and down the Wabash. Then were the forests filled with shouting, and a hundred great fires illuminated the primeval shadows. After the hunters came the warriors in brightly colored canoes, their paddles sweep- 1 ing in perfect unison. And woe to the arro- gant southern nation whose annual tribute had failed to come! Down to the South the war- | riors sped. to return with terrible proofs of their prowess, leaving upon the rocks in the rivers haughty symbols of their victories.

WEAKENING OF THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY.

But, at last, the supremacy of the arrogant

AND REPRESENT.ITHE CITIZENS.

Six Nations was challenged, and the territory over which they were masters began to grow. smaller instead of greater. The white men came to America. Their "new" empire- were being erected on the continent. "New Spain" arose to the south: "New Sweden" was spoken of and "New Amsterdam." on Long Island Sound: "New England" was heard of between the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean, and "New France" was founded amid the Cana- dian snows, with its capital on the tumbling river of St. Laurant.

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History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 2

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1490

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490