CHAPTER I.

The Aborigines.

BEFORE the times of the Red men, North America was inhabited by other races, of whom we know but little. Of these primitive peoples the Indians preserved many traditions. Vague stories of the wars, migrations, and cities of the nations that preceded them were recited by the red hunters at their camp-fires, and were repeated from generation to generation.

2. Other evidences, more trustworthy than legend and story, exist of the presence of aboriginal peoples in our country. The traces of a rude civilization are found in almost every part of the present United States. It is certain that the relics left behind by the prehistoric peoples are not the work of the Indian races, but of peoples who preceded them in the occupation of this continent. That class of scholars called antiquarians, or archæologists, have taken great pains to restore for us an outline of the life and character of the nations who first dwelt in the great countries between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

3. These primitive peoples are known to us by the name of Mound-builders. The building of mounds seems to have been one of their chief forms of activity. The traveler of to-day, in passing across our country, will ever and anon discover one of those primitive works of a race which has left to us no other monuments. As the ancient people of Egypt built pyramids of stone for their memorials, so the unknown peoples of the New World raised huge mounds of earth as the tokens of their presence, the evidences of their work in ancient America.

4. The mounds referred to are found in many parts of the United States, but are most abundant in the Mississippi Valley. Here also they are of greatest extent and variety. Some of them are as much as ninety feet in height, and one has been estimated to contain twenty million cubic feet of earth. It is evident that they were formed before the present forest growth of the United States sprang into existence. The mounds are covered with trees, some of them several feet in diameter; and the surface has the same appearance as that of the surrounding country.

5. As we have said, we know but little of the people by whom the mounds and earthworks of primitive America were constructed. Some of the works in question are of a military character. One of these, called Fort Hill, near the mouth of the Little Miami River, has a circumference of nearly four miles. It is certain that great nations, frequently at war with each other, dwelt in our country between the Northern Lakes and the Southern Gulf; but who those peoples were we have no method of ascertaining. Their language has perished with the people who spoke it. Only a few of the relics and implements of the primitive races remain to inform us of the men by whom they were made.

6. In many parts of the Mississippi Valley, particularly in the States of Ohio and Indiana, the ancient mounds may be seen as they were at the time of the discovery of America. One of the greatest is situated in Illinois, opposite the city of St. Louis. It is elliptical in form, being about seven hundred feet in length by five hundred feet in breadth. It rises to a height of ninety feet. Another of much interest is at Grave Creek, near Wheeling, in West Virginia. A mound at Miamisburg, Ohio, is nearly seventy feet in height. One of the finest of all is the conical mound at Marietta, Ohio. Some of the mounds, as those of Wisconsin, are shaped like animals. One of the most peculiar and interesting is the great serpent mound in Adams County, Ohio. The work has the shape of a serpent more than a thousand feet in length, the body being about thirty feet broad at the surface. The mouth of the serpent is opened wide, and an object resembling a great egg lies partly within the jaws.

7. The use of the mounds has not been ascertained. Some have supposed that they were tombs in which the slain of great armies were buried, but on opening them, human remains are rarely found. Others have believed that the mounds were true memorials, intended by their magnitude to impress the beholder and transmit a memory. Still others have thought the elevations were intended for watch-towers from which the movements of the enemy might be watched and thwarted.

8. What we know of the prehistoric races has been mostly gained from an examination of their implements and utensils.

Relics from the Mounds.

These were of either stone or copper. It appears that the more advanced of the peoples, especially the nations living on the borders of the Great Lakes, were able to manufacture utensils of copper. In other parts of the country, the weapons and implements were made of flint and other varieties of stone, by chipping or polishing. The range of tools and implements was extensive, including axes, spear-heads, arrow-points, knives, chisels, hammers, rude millstones, and many varieties of earthen ware. Besides these, there were articles of ornamentation and personal use, such as pipes, bracelets, ear-rings, and beads. The common belief that the articles here referred to were the product of Indian workmanship is held by many antiquarians to be wholly erroneous. These antiquarians think that the Indians knew nothing more of the origin and production of such implements as the arrow-points, spear-heads, and stone axes than we know ourselves.

9. In many parts of Indiana the mounds of the ancient races are plentifully distributed. Almost every county has some relics of this kind within its borders. But the most interesting remains of the primitive races are those discovered in the ancient cemeteries scattered between Lake Michigan and the Tennessee River. In many places the aboriginal tombs still yield the relics of this people of whom we know so little. In recent years a burial ground near Bedford, Indiana, has been opened, from which have been taken primitive skulls and other parts of human skeletons, belonging possibly to some unknown race long preceding the Indians in our country.

10. With the Mound-builders, history can be but little concerned; but with the Red men, or Indians, who succeeded them, the white race was destined to have many relations of peace and war. On the first arrival of Europeans on the Atlantic coast, the country was found in possession of wild tribes living in the woods and on the river banks, in rude villages from which they went forth to hunt or to make war on other tribes. Their manners and customs were fixed by usage and law, and there was at least the beginning of civil government among them.

11. To these tribes the name Indian was given from their supposed identity with the people of India. Columbus and his followers believed that they had reached the islands of the far East, and that the natives were of the same race as the inhabitants of the Indies. The mistake of the Spaniards was soon discovered; but the name Indian has ever since remained to designate the native tribes of the Western continent.

12. The origin of the Indians is involved in obscurity. At what date or by what route they came to the New World is unknown. The notion that the Red men are the descendants of the Israelites is absurd. That Europeans or Africans, at some early period, crossed the Atlantic by sailing from island to island, seems improbable. That the people of Kamchatka came by way of Bering Strait into the northwestern parts of America, has little evidence to support it. Perhaps a more thorough knowledge of the Indian languages may yet throw some light on the origin of the race.

13. The Indians belong to the Bow-and-Arrow family of men. To the Red man the chase was everything. Without the chase he languished and died. To smite the deer and the bear was his chief delight and profit. Such a race could live only in a country of woods and wild animals.

14. The northern parts of America were inhabited by the Esquimos. The name means the eaters of raw meat. They lived in snow huts or hovels. Their manner of life was that of fishermen and hunters. They clad themselves in winter with the skins of seals, and in summer with those of reindeer.

15. The greater portion of the United States east of the Mississippi was peopled by the family of the Algonquins. They were divided into many tribes, each having its local name and tradition. Agriculture was but little practiced by them. They roamed about from one hunting-ground and river to another. When the White men came, the Algonquin nations were already declining in numbers and influence. Only a few thousands now remain.

16. Around the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario lived the Huron-Iroquois. At the time of their greatest power, they embraced no fewer than nine nations. The warriors of this confederacy presented the Indian character in its best aspect. They were brave, patriotic, and eloquent; faithful as friends, but terrible as enemies.

17. South of the Algonquins were the Cherokees and the Mobilian Nations. The former were highly civilized for a primitive people. The principal tribes of the Mobilians were the Yamassees and Creeks of Georgia, the Seminoles of Florida, and the Choctaws and Chickasaws of Mississippi. These displayed the usual disposition and habits of the Red men.

18. West of the Mississippi was the family of the Dakotas. South of these, in a district nearly corresponding with the State of Texas, lived the wild Comanches. Beyond the Rocky Mountains were the Indian nations of the Plains; the great families of the Shoshones, the Selish, the Klamaths, and the Californians. On the Pacific slope, farther southward, dwelt in former times the civilized...