The Problem of Ohio Mounds | Page 9

a similar house in a large mound in the
same section.
From the statements of the early writers, a few of which are given here,
it is evident that the houses of the Indians occupying this region when
first visited by the whites were very similar to those of the
mound-builders.
La Harpe, speaking of the tribes in some parts of Arkansas, says: "The
Indians build their huts dome-fashion out of clay and reeds."
Schoolcraft says the Pawnees formerly built similar houses. In
Iberville's Journal [Footnote: Relation in Margry, Deconvertes, 4th part
(March, 1699), p. 170] it is stated that the cabins of the Bayogoulas
were round, about 30 feet in diameter, and plastered with clay to the
height of a man. Adair says: "They are lathed with cane and plastered
with mud from bottom to top within and without with a good covering
of straw."

Henri de Tonty, the real hero of the French discoveries on the
Mississippi, says the cabins of the Tensas were square, with the roof
dome-shaped, and that the walls were plastered with clay to the height
of 12 feet and were 2 feet thick. [Footnote: Relation of Henry de Tonty
in Margry, Decouvertes, vol. 1, 1876, p. 600]
A description of the Indian square houses of this southern section by
Du Pratz [Footnote: Hist. La., vol. 2, French ed., 1758, pp. 173-175;
English ed., 1764, p. 359.] is so exactly in point that I insert a
translation of the whole, passage:
The cabins of the natives are all perfectly square; none of them are less
than 15 feet in extent in every direction, but there are some which are
more than 30. The following is their manner of building them: The
natives go into the new forest to seek the trunks of young walnut trees
of 4 inches in diameter and from 18 to 20 feet long; they plant the
largest ones at the four corners to form the breadth and the dome; but
before fixing the others they prepare the scaffolding; it consists of four
poles fastened together at the top, the lower ends corresponding to the
four corners; on these four poles others are fastened crosswise at a
distance of a foot apart; this makes a ladder with four sides, or four
ladders joined together.
This done, they fix the other poles in the ground in a straight line
between those of the corners; when they are thus planted they are
strongly bound to a pole which crosses them within each side [of the
house]. For this purpose large splints of stalks are used to tie them at
the height of 5 or 6 feet, according to the size of the cabin, which forms
the walls; these standing poles are not more than 15 inches apart from
each other; a young man then mounts to the end of one of the corner
poles with a cord in his teeth; he fastens the cord to the pole, and as he
mounts within, the pole bends, because those who are below draw the
cord to bend the pole as much as is necessary; at the same time another
young man fixes the pole of the opposite corner in the same way; the
two poles being thus bent at a suitable height, they are fastened
strongly and evenly. The same is done with the poles of the two other
corners as they are crossed over the first ones. Finally all the other

poles are joined at the point, which makes altogether the figure of a
bower in a summer-house such as we have in France. After this work
they fasten sticks on the lower sides or walls at a distance of about 8
inches across, as high as the pole of which I have spoken, which forms
the length of the wall.
These sticks being thus fastened, they make mud walls of clay, in
which they put a sufficient amount of Spanish moss; these walls are not
more than 4 inches thick; they leave no opening but the door, which is
only 2 feet in width by 4 in height; there are some much smaller. They
then cover the frame-work which I have just described with mats of
reeds, putting the smoothest on the inside of the cabin, taking care to
fasten them together so that they are well joined.
After this they make large bundles of grass, of the tallest that can be
found in the low lands, and which is 4 or 5 feet long; this is put on in
the same way as straw which is used to cover thatched houses; the grass
is fastened with large canes, and splints, also of canes. When the cabin
is covered with grass they cover all with a matting of canes well bound
together, and at the