Pre-Historic Remains--Their Character--Where Situated, and their Use--The Mound-Builders--Who Were They, and What Became of Them?

The consideration of the question involved in the title to this article has, of late, become one of absorbing interest, and the investigations pertinent to the issue have been in the recent past engaged, and do now command, the energies of the best class of minds having a penchant for researches among the ruins of a lost race. Half a century ago, little was known, or cared for, concerning the existing evidences of a pre-existing people, endowed with many of the elements of genius, well developed in the remains so numerously found along the valleys of the principal rivers of Indiana, Ohio and other Middle and Western States. "These remains," says a recent writer, "have been carefully examined, and, after long and patient investigations, the archaeologist has arrived at certain definite conclusions, and so, apparently, accurate are they that we may safely say that we are very well acquainted with this lost race. By what appellations they were known during their existence is [yet] past finding out. They have been called the Mound-Builders, on account of the innumerable mounds which they erected, and which remained until the advent of the white man."* So numerous are these remains, that, in "Ohio alone, there are not less than thirteen thousand, including both mounds and inclosures. Within a radius of fifty miles from the mouth of the Illinois River, in the State of Illinois, there are about five thousand mounds." The extent and variety of these in the State of Ohio would seem to indicate that there the country was most densely populated by them, and, certainly, not without a purpose, since the region so generally occupied by them, consisting of a great system of plains, seem well adapted to the wants of a people apparently accustomed to agricultural pursuits, who, therefore, exercised great foresight and wisdom in selecting and occupying such a locality. "This whole country affords a perfect system of navigation. The alleghany rises, on the borders of Lake Erie, at an elevation of nearly seven hundred feet above the level of the lake and one thousand three hundred feet above the sea. A boat may start from within seven miles of Lake Erie, and almost in sight of Buffalo, and float down the Connewango or Cassadaga to the Alleghany, thence into the Ohio, and finally, into the Gulf of Mexico, the whole distance being 2,400 miles. Add to this the great natural advantages, and the fact that this is pre-eminently the garden spot of North America, with almost innumerable considerations, we may be able to judge of the wisdom of the Mound-Builders."
The following description of the general classes of these remains, copied from McLean's "Mound-Builders," will be found of interest, as giving the most recent expose' of the situation.

"The ancient remains, composed of works of earth and stone, naturally divide themselves into two general classes, viz., inclosures and mounds; and these, again, embrace a variety of works, diverse in form and designed for different purposes. The first is characterized by being bounded by embankment, circumvallations or walls, and include fortifications or stronghold, sacred inclosures and numerous miscellaneous works, mostly symmetrical in structure. Under the second head we have the true mound buildings, which constitute one general or single system of work, and include what has been specially designated sacrificial, temple, sepulchral, symbolical and anomalous."

"Inclosures.--The inclosures, to the general observer, form the most interesting class of these remains. They are massive, sometimes of great dimensions, and required great labor in their construction. Their number is great, Ohio alone containing over one thousand five hundred of them. They are composed of clay--sometimes of stone--the walls having a height ranging from three feet to thirty, and inclosing areas of from one acre to four hundred. Inclosures of from to fifty acres are common; of two hundred acres, not infrequent, and of greater extent, only occasionally met with."

"A large proportion of the inclosures are regular in outline, being constructed in the form of the square, circle, parallelogram, ellipse and polygon; the first two predominating. The regularly formed works occur on the level river terraces, and the irregular works, being used as places of defense, are made to conform to the nature of the brows of the hills upon which they are situated. The square and circle frequently occur in combination, and are either directly connected with each other, or else by avenues inclosed by parallel walls. Nearly all the embankments give evidence of having been fully completed. A few remain which were left in an unfinished state. The walls are usually accompanied by a ditch either interior or exterior to the embankment. From this ditch the earth was taken for the foundation of the walls. Where the ditch does not occur, pits or excavations are usually found in the immediate vicinity."

*The Mound-Builders--McLean, p.14.

DEFENSIVE INCLOSURES.

Of the several classes of inclosures those located and erected for purposes of defense are, perhaps, the most important, and involve a higher degree of skill in their construction. These were generally situated upon bluffs or hilltops, overlooking settlements in the adjacent valleys. Sites for works of this character are sometimes found surrounded by deep ravines, difficult of ascent, on three sides. Many of the also, are on isolated hills with broad and level summits, presenting all the requisites of a stronghold. When such sites are adjacent to an extensive valley, the works erected thereon appear to have been of more elaborate construction, with best adaptations to the per- poses of defense, and exhibit superior military skill; the sides most exposed to attack and approaches being protected by trenches and overlapping walls, more or less numerous, according to the circumstances, the trenches being usually found on the exterior of the walls. Not infrequently the gateways, situated at the points most easy of approach, are guarded by a series of over lapping walls, sometimes with a mound accompanying, which rises above the rest of the works, designed, perhaps, for the double purpose of observation and defense.

SACRED INCLOSURES.

These works are generally regular in structure and usually found in groups. While the military inclosures were uniformly situated on elevated positions, on bluffs and hills, the sacred inclosures occupied the lower and more level river bottoms-seldom or never upon table-lands where the surface is broken. Those of a circular form are generally small, having nearly a uniform diameter of from 250 to*300 feet, the larger ones sometimes reaching more than a mile. in circumference. The gateways to these inclosures usually face toward the east. In the immediate vicinity of the larger circles, small ones, varying from thirty to fifty feet in diameter, consisting of a light embankment and no gate way, are quite numerous. Compared with the walls of defensive inclosures, the walls of those appropriated to sacred purposes are comparatively slight, ranging from three to seven feet, occasionally, however, reaching a height of thirty feet. The walls are composed of surface material and clay. These works, many of them, are accompanied by parallel walls of slight elevation, while others arc more elaborate, sometimes reaching the length of 800 feet. In form, some of these works combine the square, circle, ellipse, octagon, also parallel walls, in their construction. A description of such a system of. works, how ever would be of too great length to be practicable in a volume of this magnitude. An excellent example of such a combination may be found at the junction of the South and Raccoon Forks of Licking River, near Newark, Ohio, and Wilson's "Pre-Historic Man," contains an account in descriptive detail, to which reference may be made. A very satisfactory description is found, also, in McLean's "Mound-Builders."

MOUNDS.

"The mounds proper form an interesting feature of these ancient remains; they have been carefully studied, and are undoubtedly of as much importance to the archeologists as the inclosures. Among the people generally, who live within the vicinity of the earthworks, the mounds are better known than the inclosures. On inquiring for the latter, great difficulty is often experienced in finding it, while almost any one could readily point out the mounds," which are more numerous. Works of this class vary in dimensions from a few feet in height and a few yards in diameter to ninety feet in height and covering several acres at the base. Usually, they range from six to thirty feet in perpendicular height by forty to one hundred feet base-diameter. Common earth is found generally to be the composition of these mounds, though not infrequently they are composed chiefly of stone. Again, they are found entirely of clay, while the material around is gravel or loam. The purposes for which mounds were erected were various, depending very much upon their location. Sometimes they are found on hills or higher elevations and occupying commanding positions. Generally, they are within or near inclosures; sometimes in groups, again detached and isolated.

TEMPLE MOUNDS.

A distinguishing feature of this class of mounds is their great regularity of form, and large dimensions. They are chiefly truncated pyramids, having graded avenues or spiral pathways to their summits Some are round, others square, oblong oval or octagonal. Generally, they are high, yet in some instances they are elevated a few feet only while covering many acres of ground. Another feature is, they are almost uniformly surrounded by embankments and ditches. In some instances, also, they are terraced, having successive stages. But, whatever their form, they invariably have flat or level tops, which were probably crowned with temples, but, being composed of perishable material, all traces of them have long since disappeared from view. The opinion is entertained, too, by some careful observers, that these temple mounds were frequently used for sepulchral purposes, and many instances are cited where vast quantities of human skeletons have been found. "The Grave-Creek Mound, which is in the form of a truncated cone-the flattened area on the top being fifty feet in diameter, and therefore coming under the classification of temple mounds-was found to inclose two vaults originally constructed of wood, which contained human skeletons." [ Pre-Historic Races, p. 187-8.] "The truncated pyramid," says the same writer, "is among the strongest links in the chain which connects the ancient inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley with those of Mexico and Central America. In the rude earthworks we see the germ of the idea which was subsequently wrought out in proportions of beauty and harmony, giving origin to a unique style of architecture."

SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS.

Descriptively, these generally consist of a simple knoll or group if knolls, of no considerable height, without any definite arrangement. "Examples of this character may be seen at Dubuque, Merom, Chicago, and La Porter which, on exploration, have yielded skulls differing widely from the Indian type. It often happens that in close proximity to a large structure there is an inconsiderable one which will be found rich in relics." In shape they are usually conical, but frequently are elliptical or pear-shaped, from six feet to eighty in height, averaging from fifteen to twenty-five feet in altitude, and are situated outside the walls of inclosures, at distances more or less remote. As a rule, when a number if these mounds are found connected, one of the group is uniformly two or three times larger in dimensions than any of the others, the smaller arranged around the larger at its base, indicating an intimate relation between them. Such mounds invariably cover a skeleton, sometimes more than one, near the original surface of the soil.

SACRIFICIAL MOUNDS.

This class, as compared with others, possesses many distinguishing features, one of which is that they are invariably situated within the inclosures, or in the immediate vicinity They are regularly constructed with uniform layers of gravel, earth and sand, alternately, in strata conformable to the shape of the mound, and are covered by a symmetrical altar of burnt clay or stone, upon which numerous relics are found-in all instances exhibiting traces of having been subjected to the action of fire, These altars are carefully formed, varying both in size and shape, some being round, while others are elliptical ; others again being in the form of squares or parallelograms. In size, they vary from two to fifty feet by. twelve or fifteen-usually, however, they are from five to eight feet. "They are modeled from fine clay and usually rest upon the original surface. In a few instances they have been found with a layer or small elevation of sand under them. Their height seldom exceeds a foot or twenty inches above the adjacent level. Upon the altars have been found claimed human bones, elaborate carvings in stone, ornaments cut in mjea, copper instruments, disks, and tubes, pearl and shell beads, pottery, spear heads, etc."*

* Mound-Builders, p. 47.

WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS?

In this day of ethnological investigation, when so much has been developed concerning the mysterious works of a race of people, who, in the remote past, erected, occupied and maintained them, the inquiry naturally suggests itself: "Who were, and whence came they and whither did they go?" All these investigations, while they elicit an interest sufficient to maintain a healthy progress in the work, awaken new zeal and induce greater activity in pursuit of additional information. Such interest is only equaled by the importance of the object to be attained. Great diversity of opinion and much learned discussion have been the result. With all this diversity, however, there are some points upon which little difference of opinion obtains. One of these points is involved in the answer to the query, "When came they?" It is now generally accepted by ethnologists that this people migrated from the region of the tropics, where these monumental remain most numerously abound. The status of this branch of the inquiry is well presented in the following extract from Baldwin's "Ancient America:" They were unquestionably American aborigines, and not immigrants from another continent. That appears to me the most reasonable suggestion which assume that the Mound-Builders came originally from Mexico and Central America. It explains many facts connected with their remains. In the Great Valley their most populous settlements were at the south. Coming from Mexico and Central America, they would begin their settlements on the Gulf Coast, and afterward advance gradually up the river to the Ohio Valley. It seems evident that they came by this route, and their remains show that their only connection with the coast was at the South. Their settlements did not reach the coast at any other point.

"Their constructions were similar in design and arrangement to those found in Mexico and Central America. Like the Mexicans and Central Americans, they had many of the smaller structures known as teocallis, and also large, high mounds, with level summits, reached by great flights of steps. Pyramidal platforms or foundations for important edifices appear in both regions, and are very much alike. In Central America important edifices were built of hewn stone, and can still be examined in their ruins. The Mound-Builders, like some of the ancient people of Mexico and Yucatan, used wood, sun-dried brick, or some other material that could not resist decay. There is evidence that they used timber for building purposes. In one of the mounds opened in the Ohio Valley, two chambers were found with the remains of the timber of which the walls were made, and with arched ceilings precisely like those in Central America, even to the overlapping stones. Chambers have been found in some of the Central American and Mexican mounds, but these hewn stones were used for the walls. In both regions the elevated and terraced foundations remain, and can be compared. I have already called attention to the close resemblance between them, but the fact is so important in any endeavor to explain the Mound-Builders, that I must bring it to view here."

"Consider, then, that elevated and terraced foundations for important buildings are peculiar to the ancient Mexicans and Central Americans; that this method of construction, which, with them, was the rule, is found nowhere else, save that terraced elevations, carefully constructed, and precisely like theirs in form and appearance, occupy a chief place among the remaining works of the Mound-Builders. The use made of these foundations at Palenque, Uxmal and Chichen-Itza, shows the purpose for which they were constructed in the Mississippi Valley. The resemblance is not due to chance."

"A very large proportion of the old structures in Ohio and farther south, called 'mounds' namely, those which are low in proportion to their horizontal extent-are terraced foundations for buildings, and, if they were situated in Yucatan, Guatemala and Southern Mexico, they would never be mistaken for anything else; The high mounds, also, in the two regions, are remarkably alike. In both cases they are pyramidal in shape, and have level summits of considerable extent, which were reached by stairways on the outside. All these mounds were constructed for religious uses, and they are, in their way, as much alike as any five Gothic churches."*

From these statements, and similar opinions expressed by other eminent archeologists, it may be safely assumed for the purpose of this work, that the Mound-Builders were offshoots of the original projectors and builders of those structures so numerously found in Central America, who emigrated northward through Mexico, Texas and the Mississippi Valley. This is indicated very plainly in the tracings of their routes through those countries. Other evidences of intercommunication are shown by the fact that the obsidian dug from these mounds in the Ohio Valley is only found in the mines of Mexico, and must have been brought thence as an article of commerce.

�Ancient America, pp: 71-72.

WHAT BECAME OF THEM?

This question can only be answered inferentially, since we have no direct information on the subject. If we take those inferences drawn from apparently legitimate sources, the conclusion may be arrived at with a fair degree of certainty, that they probably returned southward, but under what circumstances is conjectural also. "Civilization, as a rule, radiates from a center," says the author of "Pre-historic Man," "and when, from any cause, it fades out, it contracts upon the center. Now the vast stone temples and palaces of Central America are, at least, as old as the mounds of the United States. Central America was then, relatively, the birthplace and center of American aboriginal civilization. The influence spread northward to the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. So the Mound-Builders appear to have receded from the lakes to the South."

"The existing remains show they had, north of the Ohio River, a strong line of fortresses along the Great Miami, from its mouth to Piqua, vith advanced works near Oxford and Eaton, and with a massive work in rear of this line, on the Little Miami, at Fort Ancient. There was another line crossing the Scioto Valley at Chillicothe, and exiendin we up the valley of Paint. These seem to have constituted a line of permanent defense.

"The situations were well chosen, were naturally very strong, and were fortifled with great labor and some skill. Such works, if defended, could not have been taken by assault by any means the natives possessed, and they w�re so constructed as to contain a supply of water They would not be abandoned until the nations that held them were broken. When these were abandoned there was no retreat; except across the Ohio. South of the Ohio in Kentucky and Tennessee, there are many works of defense, but none possessing the massive character of permanent works like the Ohio system. They are, comparatively, temporary works, thrown up for an exigency, are moreover isolated, not forming, as in Ohio, a connected system. They are such works as a people capable of putting up the Ohio forts might erect, while being gradually pushed South, and fighting an invader from the North or Northwest. South of the Tennessee River, the indications are different. We miss there the forts that speak of prolonged and obstinate ccnflict. And we find among the tribes, as they were when first discovered, lingering traces of what we have called characteristic traits of the Mound-Builders."*

From what has been already stated, it requires no profound observation nor exqusite judgment to understand what became of this people-north of the Ohio. Every indication shows that they were expelled from this territory by force. Being harassed by the inroads of warlike bands, they erected strong fortifications as places of safety and retreat during the predatory visits of these hostiles. They erected mounds for observation on eligible points and, when surprise was imminent, they established lines of signal posts, upon which beacon fires were kindled, and the people warned of the enemy's approach.

These mounds of observation, or signal stations, indicate the direction whence came the enemy. On the projecting highlands bordering the Great and Little Miami Rivers, are numerous small mounds well adapted to purposes of observation, and, in addition to those, a similar series of them is found along the Scioto, across Ross County; and extending down into Pike and . Pickaway Counties, and so situated that in a few minutes intelligence of an approaching enemy could be flashed from Delaware County to Portsmouth.

"From time immemorial, there has been immigration into Mexico from the North. One type after another has followed. In some cases, different branches of' the same family have successively followed one another. Before the Christian era the Nahoa immigration from the North made its appearance. They were the founders of the stone works in Northern Mexico. Certain eminent scientists have held that the Nahoans belonged to the race that made the mounds of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. Following this people came the Toltecs, and with them light begins to dawn upon ancient Mexican migration. They were cultivated and constituted a branch of the Nahoa family."** As to the time when the Teltecs entered Mexico, there is great diversity of opinion, among scientists, but it is generally conceded that it was at a very remote period, as early as the seventh century.

"In the light of modern discovery and scientific investigation, we are able to follow the Mound-Builders. We first found them in Ohio, engaged in tilling the soil and developing a civilization peculiar to themselves. Driven from their homes, they sought an asylum in the South, and from there they wandered into Mexico, where we begin to learn something more definite concerning them."

*Prehistoric Man, pp. 73-74
**Mound-Builders, p. 147.

CHAPTER II.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESUME--SOME OF THESE REMAINS IN DELAWARE AND ADJACENT COUNTIES--WORKS OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS IN VALLEY WATERED BY WHITE RIVER--GENERAL INDICATIONS AND OBSERVATION--MASTODON REMAINS OBSERVATIONS - MASTODON REMAINS-SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ANIMAL.

A careful review of the facts and deductions presented in the preceding pages will afford the reader an opportunity to exercise his faculties in discovering something upon which to base a reasonable judgment concerning the remains distributed throughout the valley of White River, and the authors or projectors of them, with the purposes contemplated in their construction. For the want of a better name, these works have been attributed to a class of people or artisans called Mound-Builders, but it remains for future generations, enlightened by the developments of the preceding, to determine, if such determination is within the scope of human investigations. The articles referred to present, in general review of the subject according to the best lights of the present day, all that is known of this interesting department of pre-historic research. Compared with the discoveries in this particular field, found in the adjacent counties of Madison, Tipton and Hamilton, what we shall be able to discover in this will not, perhaps, be so various nor yet so interesting in detail as the former, yet not wanting in reminiscences.

That these remains were the work of a race of people long since extinct, there is now no doubt. Who they were, however, whence they came and whither they went, are questions not yet satisfactorily solved, notwithstanding the facts and speculations relative thereto are, in many respects, almost conclusive, since the interest already awakened has wrought many changes in the status of knowledge concerning them.

"The ancient works of the class known as the creations of the Mound-Builders found in Madison, Henry, Wayne and Randolph are, without doubt, a part of the extensive system of earthworks found in Western and Middle Ohio, having an intimate relation one with another. Among these, almost every form of structure coming under this class may be found, including the various forms of inclosures and mounds. In the county of Madison, the prevailing form of inclosures is circular, while many are in the form of constricted ellipses. Farther east, some are almost square, and others parallelograms. Relative and adjacent to these, the inseparable mounds are found. Altogether, it would seem that these diverse structures indicate equal diversity in the purposes to which they were appropriated, and, as a natural sequence, that the ancient population that constructed and used them were as numerously classified and employed." In this county, these works are less numerous than in counties less removed from the principal settlement in the Miami Valley. Indeed, there are but one or two examples entitled to consideration. In the vicinity of Yorktown, in Mount Pleasant Township, is one of those inclosures which, from observations made, has been pronounced to be of the class known as fortifications, having been constructed for purposes of defense. Some account of this ancient earth work, its location and dimensions, will be found in the department of township histories. Its situation would seem to indicate that it may have been very appropriately utilized in that way, and descriptively would seem to be well adapted to that use.

About one mile and a half south of Muncie, in Center Township, is another class of these earthworks--a mound of considerable proportions, which is said to have been dug into by some parties in search of relics. The excavation, however, developed the fact that it contained, instead of relics, human bones. "One of these skeletons was of gigantic proportions. The jaw and thigh-bones were in a good state of preservation, and nearly complete. The jaw-bone was so large that it could be easily slipped over the jaw of the largest man of the party-a tall, big-boned six-footer, and the thigh bone of the skeleton was three inches longer than his." The discovery of these numerous bones fixed the class under which this specimen should be arranged-the sepulchral-and would also warrant the presumption that there were specimens of some of the other classes not far distant, though investigation has not developed the fact.

In other portions of the county, there are traces of the former existence of mounds and inclosures, the identity of which cannot now be well established, owing to the obliterating effects which time has wrought.

MASTODON.

In the Muncie Times, of September 12, 1878, the following account of the finding of remains which seem to accord with those of the Mastodon Giganteus, of Cuvier, is given for the benefit of its readers, and the especial consideration of those disposed to examine and classify them in the interest of science:

"�Mr. Edward Tuhey, on Saturday, exhibited to us the tooth of a masto don found on the farm of Edward McKinley, residing four and a half miles west of the city, on the Jackson street turnpike. This monster tooth meas ures four by five and a half inches across the face. The circumference is fourteen inches, while the depth is seven inches. Mr. Tuhey proposes to search for further remains of the extinct monster."

The information derived through this medium is less complete than could have been desired. It would have been well had this informant given some account of the situation and composition of the soil in which the tooth was found, its depth under the surface, etc., and whether subsequent investigations had developed anything further of interest to the practical archaeologist.

We copy the following general description of the mastodon from McLean's "Mastodon, Mammoth and Man," which may be of interest in the investigations hereafter to be made:

"We know it only from its remains, which have been found in various localities. Language is insufficient to give an adequate idea of the grandeur and massiveness of the complete skeleton. It towers far above the animals with which we are so familiar; and even the elephant, although nearly of the same height, has a frame which may be called delicate in comparison. It belonged to the elephantine family, though, in many respects, differing from the living specimens. It was not superior to the elephant in height, but its limbs were thicker, the abdomen slenderer, the length greater, and the head more massive and longer. The tusks were four in number, and those of the upper jaw curved upward, and sometimes attained the length of twelve or thirteen feet. Beside the inter-maxillary tusks, in one species at least, there are two very small ones, which make their appearance at the very earliest period of life, but shortly give way for the permanent ones. As has been already stated, two tusks make their appearance in the lower jaw, only one of which became developed, that in the adult male; both were early shed in the female. These tusks form one of the distinctive characteristics which separate the mastodon from the elephant. The structure of the teeth also constitutes a very important part in the anatomical description, and widely differs from those of the rest of the elephant family. While there are certain varieties of the mastodon which are easily separated into distinct groups, yet there are others not so well marked, belonging to the transitional rank between the mastodon type and the elephant type."

"No extinct quadruped has been more widely diffused over the globe than the mastodon. It has extended from the tropics, both north and south, into the temperate latitudes, and its bones have been found in vast numbers throughout the plains of North America, from north of Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico. There were mastodons peculiar to Central and South America, and still others have been discovered in England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, in Asia Minor, and in several parts of Indiana."

"It is a little remarkable that scarcely any remains have been found east of the Hudson River, and none east of the Connecticut. Some bones have been found near New Britain, and two teeth thirteen miles north of New Haven. But these are exceptional instances. There must have been some reasons why the mastodon did not choose to penetrate the woods of New England. It may have been that the Hudson served as a partial barrier to its passage farther east; and, besides, the climate may have been less desirable than the milder regions of the South and West, or a particular kind of vegetation may have been wanting which it fed upon. Stragglers, or small troops, penetrated into Canada, but the probability is that these relics which occur outside the natural range, only prove the disposition of the animal to wander."

"The teeth are nearly rectangular in form, and present, on the surface of their crown, great conical tuberosities or processes with rounded points, disposed in pairs to the number of four or five, according to the species."

CHAPTER III.

GEOLOGY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

SOME OF THE LEADING GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY-GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS APPARENT--PECULARITIES OF SOME OF THE LAWS OF FORMATION-GLACIAL ACTION AND WHAT CAME OF IT- QUALITY OF THE SOIL-OUT COROPPING OF CLASSIFIED ROCKS, ETC.

The geological conditions affecting this county, like those affecting other counties in this district, are peculiar, making the language in the recent report of the State Geologist, quoted in discussing the question as to the structure of Madison and Hamilton Counties, equally applicable here. Speaking of these peculiarities, with considerable show of reason for the correctness of his statements, he says that it "appears tame and devoid of the marvelous which attaches to those regions of country where the forces generated in the earth's laboratory have made themselves conspicuous by the metamorphism of the rocks and the tilting, folding and fracturing of its crust; for here the elements concerned in the building up of strata, leave no trace of violent cataclysms, and the rocks presented to view lie regularly bedded at an inclination or dip to the westward and northward so gentle that its existence can only be made known by observations extended to points that are far distant from one another. Not a single true fault, or upward or downward break and displacement of the strata, has yet been discovered." It is not to be wondered at, then, that we should anticipate few difficulties in making up the geological record of the State, Notwithstanding, this apparently monotonous uniformity of strata carries with it something of perplexity in determining the tracings of time, and in fixing the boundaries of geological epochs When we come to consider that a large proportion of the interior of the State covered by an immense deposit of glacial drift, so great that the outcroppings of stratified rocks are infrequent, and the investigation of them is made more difficult and uncertain, this idea becomes more and more significant. The depth of the glacial deposit in counties north of the Wabash, is estimated by competent authority at several hundred feet; at fifty to one hundred feet in the central part of the State, and from twenty to sixty in the southern part. From these considerations, therefore, it would seem that such conditions could only have been the result of a general upheaval of the continent rather than a local uplift, since, otherwise, there would have been less uniformity of stratification and more frequent interruptions than are found to exist within the limit indicated.

Assuming, then, that the explanation just given is the true one, the following from the State Geological Report of 1878, concerning this drift formation, will throw much light upon the subject, about which there is now room for conjecture:

"I can see no evidence of a subsidence of the land to terminate the glacial period, nor can we find in Ohio, Indiana or Illinois, anything to militate against the commencement of the glacial period dating back to tertiary times, and continued until brought to a close by its own erosive force, aided by atmospheric and meteorological influences. By these combined agencies, acting through time, the mountain home of the glacier was cut down, and a general leveling of the land took place all along its course."

"The glacial period was the result of high elevations in the northern regions, and its force was expended in eroding and cutting down, and in removing mineral matter from a higher to a lower level. This grinding and equalizing work of the glaciers was bound, in time, to effect a material change in the topography and in the meteorological condition of the continent; not only were elevated mountain peaks worn down, and the general leveling of the land brought about, but vast quantities of mud and sand were carried forward by the streams of water which flowed beneath the glaciers, and these streams, swelled during the summer time to floods by the melting of the ice, would carry the sediment forward until deposited in the ocean. In this way the shores of the continent were pushed forward from year to year, and from century to century, and the superficial area of the land would in this way be materially augmented."

"The configuration of the earth's surface in North America, as well as its climatic laws, gave direction to the glaciers, and caused them to move from the north in a southerly course. The valley of the Ohio River was the southern terminus of the glacier, and 'its channel was formed by the melting of the ice, and the flow of the water which always underlies its bed. As the glacier became less and less powerful, by the dying-out of the cause which created and sustained it, the terminal margin withdrew to the north; and, wherever there remained undestroyed rock barriers or dams, they gave direction to the waters of the terminal moraines. The course of the Wabash and its principal tributaries, East and West Forks of White River, as well as the Ohio, owe their main direction to this cause."

Considering, then, the geological formations, as ascertained to exist in this county and the immediate vicinity, the operations of the glacial period become an important factor in the argument based upon determined results. Hence, as we have seen, a mixed drift forms the upper stratum of the earth in this locality, and the accepted opinion of geologists attributes these conditions to glacial action, the conditions precedent being higher elevations to the south ward, passing over the local area and inducing the tendency of moving bodies to this direction. The changes of surface consequent upon the equalizing work of the glaciers are necessarily great, though slow in the production of results, when measured by man's brief opportunity to observe. Hence, perhaps, we are disposed to underestimate their value. Results we see, but the process and progress of producing agencies can only be estimated.

In the report from which some of the foregoing quotations have been taken, Prof. Cox in discussing the general structure of the earth's crust in this portion of Indiana, gives it as his opinion, supported by reliable data, that: "The oldest and first-formed rocks in Indiana are to be found in the southeastern part of the State, and extend along the Ohio River, from the mouth of the Fourteen-Mile Creek, in Clark County, to the eastern boundary line. From the mouth of Fourteen-Mile Creek, the, boundary of these rocks runs in a northeasterly direction through Ripley County, keeping a little west of Versailles, nearly through the central part of Franklin, western part of Union, to Cambridge and Richmond, in Wayne County. It may be followed a few miles north of Richmond, on the Middle Fork of White Water River, and thence east into Ohio. This group of paleozoic rocks received the name of Hudson River group in the geological reports of New York, where they were first studied and assigned to the position they hold in geological sequence.

�The Lower Silurian rocks, being the oldest within the borders of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois, they must necessarily, where not brought to the surface, underlie the formations that follow them in time, so that, go in whatever direction you will from their surface exposure, it will be observed that they are lost beneath the drainage, and give place 'to newer formations. This well-known fact has led the ablest geological observers of this country to attribute their outcrop to a local disturbance, which uplifted and brought them to the surface. The axis of this disturbance was supposed to be in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, and to pass in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio. My own opinion is, that the Lower Silurian strata, in the region above alluded to, were not thrust to the surface by a local disturbance, but by an elevating force, which acted very slowly and extended over the entire central area of the United States. If we are to judge from the height of the strata above the sea level, then the seat of greatest force concerned in the elevation was not confined to Southwestern Ohio, but should be looked for in Kentucky, where the Lower Silurian has a greater elevation and a much more extended area than is to be found in Ohio or Indiana."

From the foregoing, the following legitimate deductions may be drawn: �That the Lower Silurian rocks were not brought to the surface by a local uplift, but by an upward movement of the continent. The shallow parts of the sea were first laid bare, and this gave rise to a Lower Silurian peninsula; that the ocean basins which encompassed the Lower Silurian land" were subsequently filled up by accumulations of drift that, "as the land rose above the ocean, the succeeding strata made their appearance in regular sequence." Commencing with the Lower Silurian. upon which Lawrenceburg is situated, to the westward, near Versailles, in Ripley County, Ind., it is succeeded by the Upper Silurian, this by Devonian, between the latter place and Vernon, in Jennings County a little way to the westward, the sub-cor niferous strata is developed, and, about half-way between Seymour and Vincennes, the coal measure strata crops out. Between that point and St. Louis, a depression of about eight hundred feet forms an extensive basin, covering a large portion of Indiana and Illinois. In the course of "time, the basin, being shut out from the sea, became a fresh-water marsh, and the conditions were favorable for a luxuriant growth of plants, which furnished carbon for a bed of coal. The low ocean barriers which protected the basin on the south, were o and a deposit of sediment gave rise to the overlying shales, sand stones and limestones. With the coal measures, all marine deposits terminated within the limits of Indiana and Ohio." Over the entire distance, along the line across this basin, "the dip of the strata is so gentle, at any point visible, that one is puzzled to estimate or measure it with the clinometer, and the physical structure of the rocks, and the abundance of well- preserved fossils which they contain, furnish evidence that they were formed in a comparatively quiet and-shallow sea. Indeed, the slight inclination of the strata, and the total absence of breaks or faults, all tend to prove that the elevation of this part of the continent was the result of a force acting with remarkable uniformity over the entire basin, and could not have reached its greatest development in Silurian times."

Rocks of the Upper Silurian age are traceable from Clarke County, Ind., through all the river border counties to Butler County, Ohio. Over this entire distance, the Niagara rocks present the greatest uniformity of features peculiar to that class, and rest upon the strata of the Lower Silurian age, alike marked by their lithological characteristics. These rocks, in Indiana, bear all the characteristics of the class found in New York. They form there, the mural face of Niagara Falls, whence the name. At the Genesee Falls, also, as well as a. multitude of smaller falls and precipitous bluffs in that State, outcroppings of this class of rocks appear conspicuously. The scenery of Indiana is similarly marked. "It caps the hills over a large portion of Jefferson County, and all the streams that cut their way through it have more rapidly removed the soft, marl Hudson River beds from beneath, and the superincumbent, massive Niagara breaks loose and tumbles to the foot of the ravine, where it is often seen in large blocks."

In Rush, Henry, Hancock, Madison, Hamilton and Howard, to Cass County, on the Upper Wabash River, marked traces of the Niagara rocks are to be found. They are apparent, also, along the Mississinewa, in Grant County, and in the bed of White River, in Delaware County. In all these counties, the Niagara beds are quarried for flagging-stone and architectural purposes. The layers for the most part are thin, and the stone refractory, variable in color and wanting in durability. The average composition may be seen from the following analysis of specimens found in Randolph County: Water at 212� Fahrenheit, 1.18 parts; silicic acid, 1.20; ferric oxide, 1.30; alumina, 4.40; lime, 45.45; magnesia, 4.01; carbonic anbydride, 40.12; sulphuric acid, 0.27; combined water and loss, 2.07=100.

These stones are porous, open-grained, light buff colored, and make excellent lime. Speaking of these Niagara beds in Delaware and Randolph Counties, which have been quarried for building-stone and for lime, Prof. Cox, in his report of 1878, says: "Indeed, this stone is noted for the excellent quality of lime which it makes, and the operation of burning lime forms a large industry wherever the layers beneath the cherty beds which belong at the top of this formation can be reached. In Randolph County the stone is cream colored, porous und coarse-grained, which renders it inferior for masonry where durability is a matter to be considered."

Underlying the buff-colored magnesian limestone of the Niagara epoch, extensively used in other localities in making quick lime, there is a gray, argil laceous limestone, possessing valuable hydraulic properties, which, however, has not generally found its way into market, because of a seeming discredit attached to it in consequence of the incomplete analysis that has been made. A careful analysis, on the contrary, shows that it possesses the properties val uable in hydraulic cements, equal to the best and superior to a majority of, those in high repute. As a consequence, therefore, it is only a question of time when the hydraulic limestones found in near contact with the Niagara rocks will come to be of high commercial value, notwithstanding the present good repute in which other argillaceous limestones are held.

CHAPTER IV.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY,

EMBRACING A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE BOTANY OF DELAWARE COUNTY- ITS TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROLOGY, INCLUDING THE SOURCES OF DRAINAGE ADAPTABILITIES OF THE SOIL-CAPABILITIES, ETC.

The articles which precede this one, devoted to general and local archaeology, and to the general geological formations of the State of Indiana, including The peculiarities applicable to Delaware County, are in a measuIe introductory to that which is to follow. In those departments, the discussion has been confined to the development of leading features of the organic structure of the area designated as Delaware County, suggesting to the interested reader bases for greater elaboration and more extensive exhaustive research. These thoughts are applicable not only to the department of geology, but archaelogy and paleontology also, which include a fair presentation of the best lights and most advanced opinions of the age in which we live, with a sufficiency of detail to determine the classification, and exemplifying, by the standards given, par ticular features hereafter to be discovered and brought forth for the consideration of the world. In the department of botany, it is not our purpose, since we have not the means at command to do justice to the important subject, to give a complete review of the botany of the county, and hence shall not presume to discuss even the outlines of the science, since those most disposed to canvass this question are no doubt sufficiently informed already. Under the circumstances; therefore, we shall content ourselves with a tolerably complete list of the principal trees and woody shrubs now found in the county. In this list will be found, first, the botanical name, according to the recognized classification of the day; second, the common or local name, as a means whereby identities may be determined, and the attention of the sufficiently skillful directed to the minor and subordinate classifications:

Acer dasycarpium - Silver Maple.
Acer rubrum - Red Maple.
Acer saacchainum - Sugar Maple.
Aesculus flava - Sweet Buokeye.
Aesculus hippocastanum - Horse Chestnut.
Ampelopsis quinquefolia - Virginia Creeper.
Asimina triloba - Papaw.
Azalea nudiflora - Purple Azalea.
Carpinus Americana - Hornbeam.
Carya porcina - Pignut.
Carya squamosa - Shellbark Hickory.
Carya sulcata - Western Shellbark.
Castanea Americana - American Chestnut.
Catalpa bignonioides - Catalpa.
Celtis crasssfolia - Hackberry.
Ceriss Canadensis - Redbud.
Corylus Americana - Hazelnut.
Cornus Florida - Flowering Dogwood.
Cratcegus flava - Yellow Haw.
Crarataegust sanguinea - Red Thorn.
Cydonia vulgaris - Quince.
Dirca palustris - Leatherwood.
Fagus ferru - Beech.
Fraxinus Americana - White Ash.
Fraxinus platycarpa - Water Ash.
Fraxinus quadrangulata - Blue Ash.
Frazinus sambucifolia - Black Ash.
Gleditscliia triacanthos - Honey Locust.
Gymnocladus Canadensis - Coffeenut.
Juglans cinerea - Butternut.
Juglans nigra - Black Walnut.
Ligustrum vulgara - Privet.
Liadera benroin - Spicewood.
Liquid-amber styraciflua - Sweet Gum.
Lonicera ciliata - Early Honeysuckle.
Lonicer grata - Sweet Honeysuckle.
Lonicera sempervirens - Trumpet Honeysuckle.
Macturn aurentica - Osage Orange.
Magnolia cordata - Yellow Cucumber Tree.
Morus nigra - Btack Mulberry.
Morus rubra - Red Mulberry.
Negundo aceroides - Box Elder.
Ostrya Virgina - Ironwood.
Platcenus occedentalis - Sycamore.
Populus Alba - White Poplar.
Populu candicans - Balm of Gilead.
Populus dilatata - Lombardy Poplar.
Fopulus monolifera - Cottonwood.
Populus tremuloides - Quaking Asp.
Prunus Americana - Wild Red Plum.
Prunua cerasus - Red Cherry.
Prunus domestica - Garden Plum.
Prunus Pennsylvanica - Wild Red Cherry.
Prunus serotina - Wild Black Cherry.
Prunus Virginiana - Choke Cberry.
Pyrus cornmunis - Pear.
Pyrus coronaria - America Crab Apple.
Pyrus malu - Apple.
Pyrus pronifolia - Siberian Crab Apple.
Quercus alba - White Oak.
Quercus macrocarpa - Burr Oak.
Quercus nigra - Black Oak.
Quereus prinoides - Chin-qua-pin Oak.
Quercus rubra - Red Oak.
Ribes Floridum - Wild Black Currant.
Ribes hirtellum - Wild Gooseberry.
Ribes rubrum - Red Currant.
Rosa Carolina - Swamp Rose.
Rosa rubiginosa - Sweet Brier.
Salix Babilonica - Weeping Willow.
Salix cordata - Common Willow.
Salix fiuviatalis - River Willow.
Salix macrocarpa - Western Pond Willow.
Sassafras officinals - Sassafras.
Tilia Americana - Linden, or Basswood.
Tilia heterophylla - White Linden.
Ulmus alata - Wahoo, or Winged Elm.
Ulmus Americana - White Elm.
Ulma fulva - Slippery Elm.
Viburnum prunifolium - Black Haw.
Xanthoxylum Carolinianum - Prickly Ash.

The principal growths of timber in the county are the various kinds of oak, hickory, poplar, beech, black and white walnut, sugar, linden, with other other kinds peculiar to the White River Valley, and an undergrowth consisting chiefly of hazel, dogwood, spicewood, and prickly ash; the oak land, however, is more extensive than the beech, the two being the prevailing growths��..

Sorry---Chapter IV is missing at least two pages---apparently pertaining to Topography, Hydrology, Sources/Drainage of Soil and Capabilities.