Butler County, Ohio - Chapter 6, 1879

Chapter 6

The finding of various implements made of the more precious minerals would not in itself indicate that the Mound Builders engaged in mining. Copper was extensively used, and yet this material has been found in various localities. It has been found in pieces of several pounds weight in the valley of the Connecticut, and near New Haven a mass was found weighing ninety pounds. It is found in small pieces in New Jersey, Indiana and Illinois. Small pieces have been picked up in various localities in Ohio. It is probable that the copper found in Connecticut and New Jersey originates from the red sandstone formation, while in Indiana and Illinois it was deposited during the drift. In Ohio it has possibly been dropped by the hand of man.

Considerable quantities of galena have been found in the mounds of Ohio. Upon one of the altars within a mound in "Mound City'' (three miles above Chillicothe) a quantity of galena was found, which had been exposed to the action of fire. It is of frequent occurrence on the sacrificial altars, and met with in quantities of thirty pounds ^veight. ''Plumb bobs'' and net-sinkers are met with made out of this material, and yet no original deposits are known in the State of Ohio.

Mining

Obsidian, a peculiar glass-like stone of volcanic origin^ is obtained from some of the mounds, but in very small quantities, and in the shape of arrow and spearpoints and cutting implements. This mineral has not been met in situ north of Mexico and east of the Rocky Mountains.

Mica (commonly called isinglass) has been taken in large quantities from the mounds, and often ploughed up in the neighborhood of the enclosures. In the sepulchral mound, in the center of the earth-work at Circle ville, Ohio, there was taken out a sheet of mica three feet long, one foot and a half wide, and one inch and a half in thickness. In the year 1828, in one of the low mounds near Newark, Ohio, regular layers of mica plates, from eight to ten inches in length, four or five inches wide, and from half an inch to one inch in thickness, were found covering fourteen human skeletons in an advanced state of decomposition. From this mound there were taken about twenty bushels of mica. As mica is found in large quantities, and carefully laid away in the mounds, it is evident that it was regarded as of great value. It was used for mirrors, ornaments, and, as it has been found covering the skeleton, may have been looked upon as having supernatural properties. Mica is found in New Hampshire and North Carolina. In the former- State it has been found from two to three feet in diameter ; but there is no evidence that the Mound Builders penetrated that far east, neither have any ancient mines been discovered there. Traces of wrought silver have been found, but they are exceedingly scarce, and constituted no technical importance among them.

The polished stone implements composed of a greenish slate of close grain have already received attention. This stone is not found in original deposits in the valley of the Mississippi, unless it be upon the rim of the basin. It belongs to the oldest sedimentary formation and occurs in considerable masses along the Atlantic coast, and has been observed from Rhode Island to Canada.

From these considerations alone -we readily infer that the Mound Builders either engaged in mining or else trafficked with those nations who did so engage. In 1847, about one year before the ancient copper mines were discovered, it was pointed out'=^ that the probable source of the copper and silver was the region of Lake Superior.

Copper Mines. - In the copper regions of Lake Superior have been found numerous excavations in the solid rock from which the copper has been extracted. Upon examination, it has been discovered that the whole extent of the copper-bearing region was resorted to by this ancient race. The ancient trenches and pits were found to be filled even with the surrounding country, and were not detected until many years after the region had been thrown open to actual exploration. Mining tegan effectively in 1845, and it was not until 1848 that S. O. Knapp, then the agent of the Minnesota Mining Company, made the discovery. In passing over a portion of the company's grounds, in the winter 1847-8, he observed a continuous depression in the soil, which he conjectured was formed by the disintegration of a vein. Following up these indications, he came to a cavern where he noticed evidences of artificial excavation. On clearing out the rubbish, afterwards, he found numerous stone hammers, and at the bottom was seen a vein with ragged projections which the ancient miners had not detached.

Two and a half miles east of the Ontonagon River (the center of the great copper region of Michigan) is the Minnesota mine illustrated in Fig. 20. This shaft is situated in a wall rock of compact trap. The excavation reached a depth of twenty-six ^QQi, which was filled up with clay and a matted mass of mouldering vegetable matter. At a depth of eighteen feet, among a mass of leaves, sticks and water, Mr. Knapp discovered a detached mass of copper {iii) weighing *" Ancient Monuments," 196.

six tons. This mass had been raised about five feet, along the foot of the lode, on timbers by means of Avedges, and was left upon a cob-work of logs. These logs were from from six to eight inches in diameter, the ends of which plainly showed the marks of a cutting tool. The upper surface and edges of the mass of copper were beaten and pounded smooth, showing that the irregular protruding pieces had been broken off. Near it were found other masses. On the walls of the shaft were marks of fire. Besides charcoal there was found a stone sledge weighing thirty-six pounds, and a copper maul weighing twenty-five pounds. Stone mauls, ashes and charcoal have been found in all these mines. In further explanation of the engraving, the letter b represents the original matter thrown out by the ancient miners; a, the angle of the shaft; d, three masses of copper.

On the island known as Isle Royal, near the northern shore of the Lake, these ancient w^orks of man are very extensive, and some of the pits are sixty feet in depth. On opening one of the pits of this island, it was discovered that the mine had been worked through solid rock to the depth of nine feet. At the bottom wac a vein of pure copper eighteen inches thick. The works are scattered throughout the island, and are located on the richest veins. These miners were intelligent and experienced, for they not only showed rare powers of observation in locating the veins, but also displayed much knowledge in following them up when interrupted. The excavations are connected underground, and drains are cut into the rock to carry oif the water. At one point the excavations extend for over two miles in a nearly continuous direction.

In these ancient mines have been found wooden shovels, used in scraping away the soil. AA^oodcn bowls and troughs of cedar occur. From the splintered pieces of rock embedded in the rim of some of these bowls, it is inferred that they were used for bailing out the water; and as charcoal also occurs, it may be inferred that the rocks were heated and then water was dashed on in order to shatter and destroy the cohesion between the particles. Stone hammers, or mauls, and copper implements are frequently met with. The stone hammers were so numerous that INIr. Knapp alone took away ten cart-loads, and used a portion of them in walling up a spring. They were made of greenstone and porphyry boulders.

From the accumulation of evidence in these ancient trenches, and the co])per implements in the mounds, we have the proof that this ancient people not only toiled in building the mounds, but also toiled in the copper mines of Lake Superior. They were a toiling, plodding people. The process by which they worked these mines is very well indicated by the discoveries which have been made. The soil was removed by the wooden shovels after it had been loosened by other im})lements. By heating the rocks and then dashing water upon them, and by means of their heavy sledges they were able to detach the copi)cr from its matrix. Many of the mauls are merely water-worn boulders, weighing from ten to forty pounds, and show by the fractures that they have been repeatedly used. Around the stone was eut a groove in order to secure it by a withe, and thus used as a sledgehammer. With these the projecting ends of the copper could easily be broken oif. The industrious miners well knew the value of the precious metal. They sometimes manufactured it at the mines, and sometimes took it home in lumps, and out of it made their copper-axes, gads, chisels, gouges, spear-heads, knives, bracelets, ornaments, etc.

The wide distribution of the copper implements shows that an extensive business was carried on, and to penetrate to Lake Superior, from the valley of the Ohio, required a journey of a thousand miles, which must have been performed during the summer. With them they must have carried their provisions, as there is no evidence of a settled life in that region, such as mounds, village-plats, etc. The climate is too cold for the maturity of Indian corn, and hence it was necessary to go in wx'll-organized companies.

3fica Mining. - While gangs of men were operating the mines of Lake Superior, there w^ere others engaged in searching for mica in the mountainous region of North Carolina. The diggings in the mica regions were open excavations. They seldom attempted tunneling for mica, and wherever there is any evidence of such work it is more like burrowing than cutting a tunnel. Some of the excavations are extended for several hundred fQ(^.ij the dump material having been thrown out right and left. Whenever a hard point in the vein occurred they worked over it^ and then descended again. As in the copper mines, so here the same judgment was displayed. Wherever they did any work, there they discovered the veins, and the richest veins yet discovered show that there the ancient excavations are most extensive. The kinds of mica now refused were then rejected, carrying the best away to their homes in the North. It would appear that when they had mined more than they could transport they would hide it; for in one case several cart-loads had been removed from the mine a distance

Obsidian Mines. - It is not reasonable to suppose that mines of obsidian were worked by the Mound Builders. In order to have done this they would have been forced to take long journeys, the result of which would not have justified the undertaking. Mines of obsidian are found in Mexico and the western side of the Rocky Mountains. Many large and fine specimens of pure obsidian have been found in the volcanic formations in the neighborhood of Snake or Lewis River. It is used for arrow-heads by many tribes of American Indians.

The old obsidian mines which supplied the ancient Mexicans are still to be seen. Hundreds of tons of fragments about the mines and great numbers of pits attest the great importance of this mineral to that ancient people.

It is more than probable that the obsidian came into the possession of the Mound Builders by way of barter. This is further confirmed by the fact of copper implements found in Mexico which came from Lake Superior. It is evident that some system of traffic was carried on. The image of the manatus, the pearls and marine shells, which are peculiar to tropical region, indicate an acquaintance with the South.

Other 3Ii7ies. - The galena in all probability came from Illinois or Missouri. The greenstones and porphyries, out of which they made their axes, came from the region of Lake Superior, but they are found over the country where they were dr()})ped during the Glacial Epoch. The chert, out of which they manufactured their arrow-heads, sj^^ar-heads, hoes and spades, principally came from " Flint Ridge," which extends through Muskingum and Licking Counties, Ohio. This ridge is made of a com])act siliceous material. The innumerable excavations, found the whole length of the outcrop, and the piles of chipped quartz indicate how extensively this ridge was worked. The workshops were not all located here, for other places denote that the flint had been carried away in blocks and manufactured at leisure.

Chert occurs in other localities, and is found scattered over the country in certain regions. But experience taught them that the flint dug from the earth could be more easily split than that which had been exposed to the weather.

In all these operations it is evident that the mining was not only conducted under a well-organized effort, but the Mound Builders had their leaders, or foremen, and were well skilled, and had a thorough acquaintance with their work.