OR PANORAMA OF AMERICAN HISTORY BOOK I Discovery of the Western Continent CHAPTER I Strange People in a Strange Land Earliest Inhabitants of the United States-The Mound Builders-Remarkable Works Constructed by them-Evidences of a Primitive Civilization-Indications of the Antiquity of this Period-The American Indians-Division of the Country Among the Tribes-Names and Location of the Various Tribes-Organization and Government of the Indians-Their Dress, Manners and Customs-Villages-Indian Inventions-The War Dance -Legends of the Norsemen Respecting the Discovery of America. E do not know who were the inhabitants, or what was the history of North America previous to its discovery and settlement by the Europeans. That it was at some remote period occupied by a more civilized and powerful race than the Indians, found by the first explorers, is very certain; but who they were, what was their history, or what the cause of their extinction, are among the profoundest mysteries of the past. Traces as distinct as those which mark the various physical changes which the continent has undergone, exist to show that these primitive inhabitants were both numerous and far advanced in civilization; but this is all that we know concerning them. In various parts of the country, and especially in the valley of the Mississippi, large mounds and other structures of earth and | stone, but chiefly of earth, remain to show the magnitude of the works constructed by these people, to whom the name "Mound Builders" is generally applied. Some of these earth-works embrace as much as fifteen or sixteen miles of embankment. As no domestic animals existed in this country at that period, these works must have been constructed by bringing the earth used in them by hand; a fact which shows that the primitive population was a large one. The construction of the works proves that they had considerable engineering skill. The square, the circle, the ellipse, and the octagon are all used in these structures; being all combined in a single system of works in some places. The proportions are always perfect. The square is always a truc square, and the circle a true circle. Many implements and ornaments of copper, silver, and precious stones-such as axes, chisels, knives, bracelets, beads, and pieces of thread and cloth, and well-shaped vases of pottery have been found in these mounds, and show the exte... of the civilization of the "Mound | to the mouth of the Mississippi. Unlike Builders" and their knowledge of the arts. all the mounds in Mexico and Central and In the region of Lake Superior are found South America, those in our country have old copper mines worked by these ancient no trace of buildings on them. Why? people. In one of these mines there was Until I visited Arizona I had no answer. discovered an immense block of copper There the solution was easy. In those weighing nearly six tons. It had been left regions stone was abundant and timber was in the process of removal to the top of the scarce; here the reverse was the case. Our mine, nearly thirty feet above, and was sup- predecessors built of wood, the others of ported on logs of wood which were partly stone; the works of the latter remain to petrified. The stone and copper tools used this day, while wooden buildings would by the miners were discovered lying about leave no trace after one or two centuries, as they had been left by their owners ages if indeed they were not burnt by the savages before. At the mouth of this mine are piles as soon as abandoned. of earth thrown out in digging it, and out of these embankments trees are growing which are nearly four hundred years old. Who were the "Mound Builders"? The following interesting account of the mounds and their builders is from the pen of Mr. J. H. Beadle, who has kindly given us permission to quote from his valuable work, entitled The Undeveloped West: In his description, Mr. Beadle says: A people for whom we have no name, vaguely included under the general term of Mound Builders, have left evidences of extensive works in the vicinity of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries. These are of three kinds: mounds, square and circular inclosures, and raised embankments of various forms. Of mounds, the following are most important and best known: One at Grave Creek, West Virginia, 70 feet high and 1,000 feet in circumference at the base; one near Miamisburg, Ohio, 68 feet high and 852 feet in circumference; the great truncated pyramid at Cahokia, Illinois, 700 feet long, 500 wide, and 90 in height; the immense square mound, with face of 188 feet, near Marietta, Ohio; and some hundreds of inferior mounds from 60 to 30 feet in height, in different States, from Wisconsin Immense Structures. Of the second class the best known are: the square fortification at Cedar Bank, Scioto River, Ohio, with face of 800 feet, inclosing a mound 245 feet long by 150 broad; the works four miles north of Chillicothe, Ohio, a square and a circular fortification inclosing twenty acres each; the graded way near Piketon, Ohio; about a hundred mounds and inclosures in Ross County, Ohio; the pyramid at Seltzertown, Mississippi, 600 feet long and 40 feet high, and a vast number of mounds, inclosures, squares and pyramids on the upper lakes, and scattered through the Southern and Western States. Every State in this great region contains these ancient structures. By far the greatest division is in Central and South America; and here we find ourselves at the point where our ancient civilization reached its height, among works which are the astonishment of explorers and perplexity of scholars. Yucatan is a vast field for antiquarian research, dotted from one end to the other with the ruins of cities, temples and palaces. But in the great forest which covers the northern half of Guatemala, the southern half of Yucatan, and parts of other States, covering an area larger than Ohio, is |