Mound-Builders | Page 6

State of Wisconsin there is one symbolic mound more worthy of
notice than any other. It is called "the Elephant Mound," from the fact
that it bears the proportion and conformability of the Mastodon. This
people must have known something of this animal which in early times
roamed over this continent. I think we should not be going too far if we
supposed that the Mound-builders lived contemporaneously with the
last of these monsters of the Prehistoric forests.
Signal Mounds.--It seems quite in keeping with what we have already
seen of the sagacity of this wonderful race, that they should erect
stations of observation in various suitable regions, so that signals could
be given to the multitudes who dwelt in the plain, when they were
threatened by an approaching enemy. If a fire were lit on a much burnt
mound at the ancient fort near Bournville, it could be seen over a large
portion of the valleys, where numerous works are found. No doubt, this
was a signal mound, where the appointed watchman, like the watchman
of Scripture, could give the alarm of the coming foe, enabling the
industrious people to reach the fortress in safety.
On a hill 600 feet high, near Chillicothe, Ohio, there is a mound, which
in the days of the Mound-builders must have been a signal mound. A
light on this can be seen for twenty miles either up or down the valley.
The great mound at Miamisburg, Ohio, which is 68 feet high and 852

feet in circumference at its base, served, no doubt, this important
department of warfare, as a fire kindled on it could flash light into
Butler county, near Elk Creek, where it would again be taken up by the
watchman there, and light flashed in the direction of Xenia, and from
one signal mound to another until it would reach the great works at
Newark. Thus in the course of an hour the whole southern portion of
the State of Ohio could be warned of danger and prepare for combat or
shelter.
Such a system has been used by all nations, both civilized and savage.
We need not wonder that the Mound-builders with such sagacity and
forethought, should establish such a system of alarm by which the
inhabitants could be apprised of invasion.
Indefinite Mounds.--Of this class there are many. Thousands of such
indefinite mounds and squares and circles are to be seen scattered over
the various States of the Union. Their structure, composition and
contents, give us no clue by which they may be assigned a place. It is
believed that many of the strange works that abound in Butler county,
Ohio, and which cannot be classified, are among the incomplete works,
that is, works left unfinished by the builders.
IMPLEMENTS.--The people of Ohio have appropriated the
implements of the Mound-builders to a large extent. Almost every
homestead in Ohio is ornamented with some of those ancient
implements and relics, yet tons have been taken away to grace private
and public museums in all parts of this country, and even the museums
of Europe and Asia. Among the implements are to be found spear heads,
arrow heads; rimmers, knives, axes, hatchets, hammers, chisels, pestles,
mortars, pottery, pipes, sculpture, gorgets, tubes, and articles of bone
and clothing. Fragments of coarse, but uniformly spun and woven cloth
have been found, of course not in preservation, but charred and in folds.
One piece, near Middletown, Ohio, was found connected with tassels or
ornaments, and may be seen at the Smithsonian Institute at Washington.
In Anderson township, Ohio, native gold has been found for the first
time. Several small ornaments of copper have been found covered with
thin sheets of gold. Earrings also, made of meteoric iron, have been

found, and a serpent cut out of mica. Some terra-cotta figures also,
which give us an idea of the way the hair was dressed in the days of the
Mound-builders. I cannot here name all the implements and ornaments
that have been discovered. Though most of them are of hard stone, yet
many have been found made of copper.
MINING, ETC.--That these people were miners, is evident from the
prevalence of various mineral fragments and implements. At Mound
City, near Chillicothe, has been found galena, none of which can be
found in Ohio. Obsidian also is found in the shape of instruments,
which they must have transported from the Rocky Mountains. Ancient
mining shafts are found in Minnesota, where the solid rock had been
excavated to the depth of 60 feet. On Isle Royal there are pits 60 feet
deep, worked through nine feet of solid rock, at the bottom of which is
a rich vein of copper, and in the two miles of excavations in the same
straight line have been found the mining implements