Ohio annals : Historic events in the Tuscarawas and Muskingum Valleys, and in other portions of the state of Ohio, Part 3

Author: Mitchener, Charles Hallowell, ed
Publication date: 1876
Publisher: Dayton, Ohio : Thomas W. Odell
Number of Pages: 380


USA > Ohio > Ohio annals : Historic events in the Tuscarawas and Muskingum Valleys, and in other portions of the state of Ohio > Part 3


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28


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distance from this ditch or moat was a mound on higher ground, on the summit of which large trees were growing when the first white settlers reached the valley. Partial excavations made many years ago exhumed arrow heads, dust as of earthen-ware that had been burnt, and the cal- cined dust of bones supposed to be human, from which the mound was judged to be the sepulcher of a noted person of the by-gone times, and has never been opened since.


Near the town of New Comerstown, and on the bank of the Ohio Canal, below Port Washington, were found, when the canal was being constructed, the remains of earth- works and earth forts, similar to those discovered higher up the river. What is the more remarkable in this con- nection, is the fact that although stone was abundant near all the earth-works of those early colonists who constructed them, yet none appears to have been used, whether from religious prohibition, or inability to utilize the rocks of the river hills.


THE ANCIENT RACE AT COSHOCTON, MOUND, ETC.


In the county of Coshocton, as we pass west on the Pan- Handle Railroad, and just before crossing the Muskingum River, two miles, or thereabouts, from the county seat, is seen to the right a large plain in the river bend, of several hundred acres, and on the east bank of the river, a few hundred yards from the bridge, a large mound thirty or forty feet high, with trees thereon. In its vicinity, Zeis- berger settled Lichtenau, in 1776, and he was attracted to the spot from the numerous evidences of an ancient race having been buried there, more civilized than the Indians of his day. The missionaries have left but meager details of what they there found, but enough to clearly prove that the inhabitants understood the use of the ax, the making of pottery, and division of areas of land in squares, &c. In a large grave-yard, which covered many acres, human bones


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or skeletons were found, less in stature than the average Indian by a foot and a half. They were regularly buried in rows, heads west and feet east, as indicated by the en- ameled teeth in preservation, so that the disembodied spirits on coming out of the graves would first see the rising sun, and make their proper devotional gestures to their great Spirit or God. From approximate measurement this grave- yard contained ten acres, and has long since been plowed up and turned into cornfields. The race of beings buried there averaged four feet in height, judging from the size of the graves, and layers of ashes. Estimating that twenty bodies could be buried in a square rod, this human sepul- cher, if full, would have contained over thirty thousand bodies, and the ordinary time required to fill such a grave- yard, would not be less than five hundred years, in a city the size of Coshocton of the present day, assuming that the generations averaged thirty-three years of life. One skele- ton dug up from this grave-yard is said to have measured five and one half feet, and the skull to have been perforated by a bullet. The body had been dismembered, and iron nails, and a decayed piece of oak were found in the grave.


On the farm of a Mr. Long, about fifteen miles south-west of St. Louis, was found, many years ago, an ancient bury- ing ground, containing a vast number of small graves, indi- cating that the country around had once been the seat of a great population of human beings, of less than ordinary size, similar in every respect to those found near Coshocton. But on opening the graves they found the skeletons de- posited in stone coffins, while those at Coshocton bore evi- dence of having been buried in wooden coffins. After open- ing many of the graves, all having in them skeletons of a pigmy race, they at length found one, as at Coshocton, denoting a full developed large sized man, except in length, the legs having been cut off at the knees, and placed along side the thigh bones. From this fact many scientific men conjectured that there must have been a custom among the inhabitants of separating the bones of the body before


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burial, and that accounted for the small size of the graves. The skeletons, however, were reduced to white chalky ashes, and therefore it was impossible to determine whether such a custom existed or not.


A custom is said to have existed among certain tribes of the western Indians to keep their dead unburied until the flesh separated from the bones, and when the bones became clean and white they were buried in small coffins. The Nanticoke Indians of Maryland had a custom of exhuming their dead, after some months of burial, cutting off from the bones all the flesh and burning it, then drying and wrapping the bones in clean cloths, and reburying them, and whenever the tribe removed to new hunting grounds the bones of their dead were taken along. It is known that this tribe removed to western Pennsylvania, and por- tions of them came to the Muskingum valley with the Shawanese. Zeisberger had two Nanticoke converts at Schoenbrunn, and one of whom (named Samuel Nanticoke) affirmed-as tradition goes-that this pigmy grave-yard at Lichtenau was their burying ground, and contained the bones of their ancestors, carried from one place to another for many generations, and found a final resting place in these valleys, when their posterity became too weak, from the wastage of war, to remove them elsewhere.


THE MOUND AND FORT BUILDERS IN THE COUNTIES OF MUSKINGUM, MORGAN, WASHINGTON, AND OTHER LOCALITIES,


In the year 1826, an English traveler named Ash visited the ancient mounds and forts on the Muskingum, and made some explorations of them. , The party procured guides and workmen at Zanesville, and proceeded west five miles from that place, where mounds, barrows, forts, and ramparts of great variety and form were found, which then showed plainly their magnitude and magnificence. The works


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were of triangular form, and occupied almost the whole surface of a large plain that is bounded by ranges of high hills. The first excavation made was into a large barrow, which was found at the southern end of the group. At a depth of three feet from the surface the shovelers struck a fine mould, and under this were regular layers of flat stones, which had evidently come from the hills in the vicinity. Under the stones were the remains of human frames, placed in rows with a flat stone between them. The bones were in a very advanced state of decay, and instantly crumbled into powder when exposed to the air. A careful calcula- tion satisfied the party that this mound or barrow contained at least two thousand skeletons. In one of the little com- partments was found a stone pipe, carved to represent a bear's head, and some pieces of fine pottery.


The party next opened a large flat mound, situated near the center of the group, upon which nothing was growing but a multitude of different kinds of wild flowers. After throwing off the top of this mound to a level with the plain, nothing was found to indicate that it contained any remains. As the party were about to leave it and move to another, one of the men carelessly jumped from the outer bank into the excavation for a spade, when the ground gave way under all of them, and they went down about three feet. Upon. examining further it was found that a platform of decayed timbers had given way, which covered a hole meas- uring four feet by seven, and four feet deep. After con- siderable digging with the expectation of finding bones, the spades struck hard substances, which proved to be round stones like bodies, nine inches in diameter, and weighing about twenty pounds each. They resembled a mortar shell in size and general appearance, but upon being scraped with sharp instruments the surface became yellow like gold. At this discovery the workmen became almost wild with joy, believing that their fortunes were in their grasp. Upon consultation it was agreed to cover up the "diggings," take one of the "nuggets," and return to Zanesville to test it.


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After having arrived at the town a private room was secured, in which the party gathered to witness the trial by fire. A few moments after being placed in the fire the ball turned black, filled the place with a sulphurous odor, and then burst into ten thousand fragments. The inmates rushed from the house pell-mell into the street, and gazed upon each other in mutual wonder and astonishment. After the smoke cleared away they found their gold ball to be nothing more than a sort of metal called sprite or pyrites, com- posed of sulphur and iron, which abounds in the valley hills.


On the banks of a creek on the west side of the Mus- kingum, in Morgan County, were found numerous small mounds; the bases of which were composed of hard burned bricks about five inches square, and on the bricks were charcoal cinders mixed with particles of calcined bones of human frames. The general shape and size of the mounds showed that the bones had been first burned on the brick altars, and afterward covered with earth to protect them and mark the spots. One of these mounds was over twenty feet square, and the bricks plainly showed the action of the fire. This mound was covered with large trees, some of which were ascertained to be at least five hundred years old. Lying on the ground were found trees in a state of decay that had fallen from old age. From a minute calcu- lation of the age of the fallen trees and those yet standing, it was found that the mound was at least a thousand years old.


In Washington County, four miles from the mouth of the Muskingum, and not far from that stream, was found an eminence, evidently the work of human beings, the summit of which was flat, and the sides covered with growing trees. An excavation on the top of this eminence failed to dis- close any stones or other marks which might lead to the supposition of its being a place of interment for the dead. The land thereabout was undulating, but not sufficiently hilly to obstruct a view from this mound for several miles, which goes far to prove it a place for observation. It is reasonable to suppose that these eminences-there were


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others found in the vicinity-were the posts for lookouts or sentinels, from which an advancing foe could be seen in time to prepare for an attack. They may have been used as points on which to kindle beacon fires in the night time, such as were used on the heights of Scotland in the times of Bruce and Wallace, or those of the Persians, who in this way worshiped the Oramaze, the god who made all things.


On the west side of the Muskingum, a short distance further north, and on the banks of a small creek which empties into the river, skirted by hills, were found traits of a large number of people having once lived there. On each side of the creek were semi-circles of a huge rampart, con- taining at least three acres. The remains of two stone abutments were discovered directly opposite each other, on the banks of the creek, and at the center of the circle, which established the fact of there having been a bridge connec- tion between the two forts. The timber which grew on the ramparts and within the inclosure was large and of great age, some trees being seven feet in diameter.


Some distance further up the creek were found a great number of mounds, in regularly formed circles, and cut in two by the creek, or the large circle down the stream. At some distance back from the creek were two large mounds, about twelve feet high. They were composed principally of stone from the creek banks. Heavy timber grew on these mounds also. Here had been placed the remains of the people who inhabited the towns inclosed within the large circles. From all this it is highly probable that the mounds forming the circles were the dwelling places of the ancient race that inhabited these places.


On the east side of the Muskingum, on an elevated plain, about half a mile from the Ohio, were found a large forti- fication, or town, nearly a mile in circumference. One large fort was almost square in shape, and contained about forty acres, surrounded by a rampart of earth about eight feet high and twenty-four feet wide at the base. Three open- ings or gateways were on each side, the largest being the


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center one on the side facing the river. From this outlet was a road formed of two parallel walls of earth about two hundred feet apart. These walls were twenty feet high on the inside, five on the outside, and forty in width at the base. The road descended gradually toward the low ground near the river, which probably reached the ends of the walls when the works were constructed. Inside of this fort, at the north-west corner, was an oblong elevated square one hundred and eighty feet long, one hundred and thirty-two broad, and nine high, level on the summit, and nearly straight on the sides. Near the south wall was also an elevated square, one hundred and twenty by one hundred and fifty feet, and eight feet high, similar to the other, ex- cepting that instead of an ascent to go up on the side next to the wall there was a hollow way, ten feet wide, leading twenty feet toward the center, then rising with a gradual slope to the top. This was thought to have been a secret passage. A third elevated square was in the south-east corner, and measured fifty by one hundred feet, with ascent at the ends ten feet wide. In addition to this forty acre fort was one containing twenty acres, with a gateway on each side, and at each corner was a circular mound. A short distance from this smaller fort was a conical mound, over one hundred feet in diameter at the base, and thirty feet high. Around it was a ditch four feet deep, fifteen wide, and- defended by a parapet four feet high, through which was a gateway twenty feet wide. In one corner of the outside wall of the great fort was a reservoir, twenty- five feet in diameter, with its sides raised above the level four feet. It was thirty feet deep and tapered to a point at the bottom like a funnel.


On the west side of the Muskingum, Mr. Ash found an eminence which commanded a fine view of Marietta and the rivers, up and down, displaying a great distance along the narrow valley of the Ohio. After an inspection of this place it was believed to have been once occupied as a point of observation, or a strong hold. The summit denoted arti-


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ficial construction, and was oval in shape, being twenty- three by forty-five feet. Around the base was a wall of earth which was too much decayed to calculate its size when built. A heavy growth of timber grew over the whole. Upon closer examination a small hole or orifice was found below the roots of a large tree which grew on the very summit. Several flat stones were removed from around the hole, when other larger ones appeared below, and under these a bed of river sand a foot deep. Upon removing the sand a hollow paved with flat stones came into view. These being removed another bed of sand was found, and under it another bed of stones neatly fitted together. Under these was what seemed to be a lot of mats in a great state of de- cay, the dust of which being blown off revealed a beautiful tesselated pavement of small, colored stones; the color and stones arranged in such a manner as to express harmony and shades, and portraying at full length the figure of a man, at the feet of which was a snake coiled up. The body of the figures was composed of dyed woods, bones, &c., which crumbled into dust at contact with the air. The colors of the stones were white, green, blue, and spotted red and white. The whole was affixed in a thin layer of sand, and fitted together with nice precision. Under this was the remains of a skeleton, at least seven feet in length. By the side of the skeleton was found an earthen vessel or urn, in which were several bones and some white sediment. The urn appeared to have been made of sand and flint, and when struck would ring like glass. It held about two gal- lons, and had a top of the same material. Among other things found were a stone ax, twenty-four arrow points, some beads, a large conch shell, decomposed like chalk, some shreds of cloth and hair, brass rings, upon which were characters engraved, resembling Chinese.


Ancient remains exist at Circleville, also near Chillicothe, Portsmouth, on the Little Miami, at Cincinnati, on the north bank of Paint creek, along the Ohio, near Lebanon, on the Huron River, at the junction of all the rivers along the Mis-


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sissippi, on the Illinois River, on the Wabash, opposite St. Louis, down at Baton Rouge, and from the Atlantic to the Missouri, &c.


AN ANCIENT MOUND NEAR DRESDEN.


Samuel Park, Esq., who delivered an address in 1870 before the Pioneer Association of Licking County, on the Antiquities of Franklin, Muskingum, and Licking coun- ties, related among other facts the following: "Elder John Smock, a citizen of Perry County, Ohio, aged seventy-one years, and for fifty-one years a citizen of Muskingum coun- ty, says when twenty years old he was burning charcoal near Dresden, and with several others had the curiosity to open a mound eight feet high, about one mile north-east of Dresden. On doing so, they found in the middle of the mound, on a level with the surrounding plain, five human skeletons lying in a radiating position with their feet toward the center. With the bones were a large number of flint arrow points, some of them seven inches long, and they appeared to have been deposited in a wooden box, entirely decayed. They also found a stone hammer, shaped like a shoe-hammer, with a groove around the middle, instead of an eye through it. Also a blue marble pipe, eight inches long, one and a half inches wide, a half inch thick, with the bowl in the middle of it. There were three orifices drilled through to the bowl from each end. Mr. Smock said he had often smoked through each of the six orifices. The pipe was nicely executed and ornamented. A brass kettle was also found, of three gallons capacity, bruised and flat- tened by the weight of earth upon it. There was also found an ax of four pounds weight, long and narrow bit, badly rusted, but showed the iron and steel when ground to a smooth surface." Mr. Park, in commenting on this mound, remarked, " here were found several articles lying in juxta-


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position at the bottom of this ancient tumulus that evidently belong to ages not less than three thousand years apart, and with the mode of burial representing several nations."


FORTS AND MOUNDS IN LICKING COUNTY.


Professor Park spent much time visiting and examining mounds and fortifications in Licking County, in the vicinity of Newark, and the townships adjacent. Of mounds in that county there are about one thousand, three hundred of which had not been opened as late as 1870. Some of those opened had no human bones or articles in them; others had bones, remains of pottery, hatchets of stone, &c. Of the fortifications, of which there were many, eight had not been examined as late as 1870. Of those examined nearly all were constructed with the moat or ditch inside the wall. Many were small, not exceeding two hundred feet in diam- eter, while others inclosed many acres, inside the walls, which ranged from eight to thirty feet in height, made of stone, unburned brick, and earth, in true military form. The Licking County Agricultural Society's grounds are located in one of the largest ancient mound-fortifications, which incloses forty acres of land, and Mr. Park concludes that in it was probably a massive temple or palace of a ruling prince, who ruled over a city having a population equal to that of the whole State of Ohio at the present day.


The professor, after a full investigation, arrives at no defi- nite conclusion as to the origin of these ancient Americans, but thinks their origin may be traced to the general dis- persion from the plains of Shinar, and that the state of civilization to which they attained was not borrowed from any other division of the earth, but was the natural growth and development of their own system of mental culture.


31 LEGEND OF THE NORTHMEN, ETC.


It is evident that the men who erected the forts at the mouth of the Muskingum knew the mechanic arts, while those who erected the earth-works in Coshocton and Tus- carawas, and the stone altars in old Stark County, at the head of the river Tuscarawas, knew but little of those arts. Who they were and whence they came has been the study of antiquarians for nearly a century. One writer claims that America was peopled as early as the time of the siege of Troy. Another insists that in the time of Alexander the Great, his ships touched and landed some of his subjects on the American continent. A third argues that the Ro- man ships that carried Cæsar's army to Gaul, were of such huge dimensions that the soldiers had to jump into the sea to reach the land, and therefore those ships could cross the ocean in safety, and land the Romans on this continent. A fourth presumes that the Greenlanders, Scandinavians, Ice- landers, &c., reached the continent by reason of the numer- ous islands then in the Pacific and other seas. The North- men have a tradition that Lief, Biorn, and Eric, each visited this country at different periods between A. D 700 and A. D. 1000. Welsh writers give a tradition from Powell's history of Wales, that Prince Modoe sailed the second time from his country toward this continent with ten ships and was never heard of afterward. But that tribes of Indians have been found in the far West who speak a language in uni- son with the Welsh dialect is a well established fact, and the further fact that scraps of ancient Welsh armor have been found at several localities, and among others at the falls of the Ohio, has led antiquarians to believe that Mo- doc's ships being wrecked on the American coast, portions of their crews wandered among the Aborigines, and in the course of time became Indians. It has been lately avered that the Modocs of Washington territory, speaking as they do a language approximating the Welsh, were descendants of Welsh colonists.


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LA SALLE ON THE MUSKINGUM-TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO,


Robert Cavalier La Salle was born in France, 1635, edu- cated for the ministry, came to Canada, 1667, renounced his contemplated cloister life, and plunged into the wilder- ness to make a name as an explorer. After crossing Lake Erie in a small trading-boat of his own, he penetrated the wilderness in many directions, following the sources of the Mississippi and its tributaries, and also tracing other rivers. In 1667, he and a companion were among the Senecas, in New York State, seeking guides to lead them to the Ohio, and country of the Shawanese. They gave him a Shawanee prisoner for some hatchets and clothing, and learning the route he intended to take,-up Lake Erie and down the Miamies, they told him of a shorter route to the Ohio. If we take the map, we find a shorter route to the Ohio by leaving the Lake of Cats (Erie) more easterly than the Miami or Maumee, then going up the more easterly stream (Cuyahoga), crossing a short portage (the summit portage of this day), then down a branch of another river (the Tus- carawas), thence down a large river (the Muskingum) with few rapids in it for one hundred miles to the Oubach (Ohio).


There is no data to show that La Salle followed that route, but the facts that he had a Shawanee guide, and wanted to go to the Shawanese country, and the Ohio, by the nearest route, is strong presumptive evidence that he followed these rivers to Marietta, and from that point ascended and de- scended the Ohio. But here his record is lost for nearly three years, during which his friends had no trace of La Salle. It is in evidence, however, that he did examine the Ohio and its tributaries, and the three lost years may have been taken up in so doing, for a map was made in 1672 sup- posed to be from data of La Salle. The whole length of the Ohio is laid down with the name it now bears on this map. Whether he reached the Muskingum at its source


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or at its mouth-he was on it beyond a doubt-and being there it can readily be perceived that a man of his cast of mind would not have left the valley until he had examined the mounds, earth-works, and fortifications at Marietta, Zanesville, Newark, and other points along the Muskin- gum and branches described in the preceding chapter of this book. This would have taken up much of his lost three years, for such a prolific territory touching the an- cient Americans had not then been found in his travels.


He afterward returned to Canada, and in process of time wandered down the Mississippi, took possession of the whole country in the name of France, and called it Louisiana. Re- turning to Quebec in 1683 he sailed for France, came back to Canada, organized another expedition and reached Texas, where he charged one of his expeditionists with murdering his son, and this man shot the father also. Thus perished one of the four great explorers whose portraits now grace the walls of the rotunda at the city of Washington.




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