Madison County, Indiana - Chapter 1, 1897

A work of this cluiiacter, and especially of Mudisoii coiin- IV. would be largely deficient iti interest if proper mention were not made of siicli arch;eolo<jical data as are fouiul within the limits of the territory under consideration. To the arclui'oloijist, the scientist, the lover of research and the curious, there are cxistiiiff evidences of the pre-historic occupancy of Madison county both by men and animals that are of absorbing interest. I'ntil recent years, comparatively, no active or scientific research had been made into the mysterious past of Madison county and other portions of the I'nited States where remains iiave been discovered, that indicate the ])resence here, at a verv remote period, of a race of beings posscssinif intelligence superior, doubtless, to that of the North American Indians. The in(]uiries and in\estigations that have lliiis far been made have resulted in the establishment of a ntnnber of theories concerning this pre-historic people, but nothing definite or satisfactorv has been learned as lu their name or character. Tliev are called the " Mounil lUiilders"' for want of a better name ami for the further re. -.-.on that, whoever or whatever they were, they left nuinerou- evidences in the shape of inunense mounds in ditl'erent loralities throughout the country, that challenge the wonder and adfniration of the student and scientist, h^minent archa'ologists have indulged in much speculation and arrived at conclusions which are fairly plausible concerning this lost race. But "whence came thev and whither did they go'" will tioubtless remain unanswered. This (|uestion has eliciteil no end of Ic.imed discussion and a great iliversity of opinion has been the result. There is one opinion concerning them, howexer, that i.s generally held in common by archa>ologists and ethnologists, and that opinion is with reference to their origin. The following from Baldwin's Ancient America upon this subject will be of interest :

" They were unquestionably American aborigines and not immigrants from another continent. That appears to me the most reasonable suggestion which assumes 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 adyance gradually up the riyer 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 construction were similar in design and arrangement to those found in Mexico and Central America. * * * A very large proportion of the old structures in Ohio and farther .South, called 'mounds' - nameU', those \yhich 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 neyer be mistaken for anything else. The high mounds, al-o in tlie two regions are remarkably alike. In both cases they are pyramidal in shape and haye leyel summits of considerable extent, which were reached b}- stairways on the outside. * * * All these mounds were constructed for religious u:-es, and they are, in their way, as much alike as any fine Gothic churches.''

Other eniineiil arclia-ologihts lake a similar \-iew of the question and advance plausible arguments sustaining the theorj- that this mysterious people were American aborigines. And yet, the theorj- advanced by some that the Mound Builders were natives of the far East, who came to the \\'estern hemisphere by way of Behring strait, is not regarded as wholly untenable. Man)- of the mounds were undoubtedly erected for defense, while others were constructed for religious or devotional uses. They difTer in the manner of their construction in different localities, and this has contributed no little to the myster}- which envelops them, and the diversity of

Tiiese remains exist in but one locality in Madison countv, and in comparison with other mounds in the country are but little known. not\\ithstanding' one of them is as well, if not better preserved than any of the ancient mounds in the couutry north of the Ohio ri\er. Tiiey have been visited hv arch;vologists and scientists in recent years, who have made them the subject of nuich interesting speculation, but their researches have contributeil nothing new concerning them. They stand today as thev will stand until the ravages of time effect their obliteration, the mysterious monuments of an unknown people.

The mounds in ^ladison county are situated on a bluff, four miles east of Anderson on the south side of ^^'hite river, in laiion township. They are eight in number, three of which still preserve their outlines completely. The largest in the group is remarkably well preserved considering the ages that have circled away since it was constructed. It is a circular embankment with a steep liitch on the inside. The "mound'" is 1,020 feet in circumference and the ditch at this time lO.j feet deep and i5() feet wide. There is a niound on the inside of the embankment, and an entrance on the southwest side i}() feet wide. Through this passage carriages enter and are driven around the mound, as the ditch terminates on each side of the entrance. The mound is surrounded by the native forests, and a number of large trees are still standing within the enclosure. Several large walnut trees at one time grew upon both the mound and embankment, but they were cut down inany years ago and manufactured into lumber. This mound, as well as two other enclosures iust west of it, are supposed by arcluvologists to have been devoted to religious uses, while a mound to the east about a half mile is thought to have been used as a means of defense. Several of the mounds, or enclosures, belonging to the group ha\e become almost entirely obliterated by the plow, the land upon which they are situated being under cultivation.

In 1878 a report on the geology and archaeology of Indiana by the state geologist contained a very interesting account of these ancient remains. Their dimensions and situation were illustratetl, and all the facts obtainable coiKerning them given in detail.

tliev go: Did they retrace tlieir steps to the south, assuming that the\' came from Central America, or did famine, war or pestilence, or all three effect their destruction? That they were here in Madison countv there is no question, and that they disappeared leaving nothing behind them to indicate tlie purpose of their coming, their numbers, or their fate, is a mystery that the jiatient research of the arch.i'ologist has been unable to dispel.

Besides the mounds there are other evidences that Afadisoa county was inhabited centuries ago. Flint spearheads and arrowheads ha\e been found in abundance in difl'erenl localities, as well as niunbers of other stone implements, used probably for domestic purposes. The stone relics found here belong to the two ages of stone - the rough and the polished. But at what time in the world's history ^vere they used? It is asserted bv high authority that there is not a vestige of evidence that would prove the existence of man in lndi;ina two thousand years ago. He inaj- have roamed over the hills and through the valleys of this territory unnumbered ages before the mounds were built, but there is no evidence to prove it. The flint implements found almost in abundance at an earlv day in this county, and still occasionally picked up here and there by the husbandman while plowing his fields, were fashioned by human hands, but wlien, and by whom there is no record. That they were brought here there is but little doubt, as the \-ariety of stone out of which they were made is not found in this part of the countiy.

In this connection it is proper to make due mention of the fact that at several points in the connty^the remains of animals have been found which indicate by their enormous size the presence here at one time of the mastodon. In 1871, while some laborers were constructing a ditch on the farm of Mr. John Harmeson, three miles south of the city of Anderson, a number of huge bones belonging to this extinct species of animals were found, and presented to the late Dr. AVilliani A. Hunt, a student, and besides one of the best informed gentlemen no doubt in the county, upon archaeological as well as other scientific matters.

These remains together with an interesting collection of other archaological and geological specimens were, after his death, presented to the Madison County Historical Society by !iis sons, Di->;. M. \'. ami j. W. Hunt. ScNcral toetli of enormous size, one of which was found on the Devault Crowcil farm, in Adams township, unel jiresentetl to the society bv the hite Harry Irish, of that township, attests the immense projjortions of this extinct species of animal, if it be true that there is a relative proportion between the size of the teeth of an animal and the animal itself. Upon this subject Dr. Hunt, in a scholarly and exceedingly interesting chapter, contributed to Hardin's history of Madison county. say> : ff this rule is even proximati\e, and in the \icinitv of truth, we attain all that is expected by the comparison. We ha\e in our possession a tooth of an ox that had a living weight of eighteen hundred pomids. As the ox's tooth is to its living weight, so is the matsodon's toits live weight. The rule, if correct, makes the weight of the li\ing mastotlon, \\hose bones were found in the \ icinity of Anderson, forty thousaiul one hundred and twelve pounds. It is not claimed lliat there is any great degree of accin'acv in the calculation, but as good as any from the kind of material we have to reason fiom."

At what time did these immense animals rove through the forests of Madison county, feeding on the tender branches of the trees, anil succulent herbage growing along the margins of marshes and streams? The remains of this extinct pachyderm have been foimd in nearly every country on the globe, and were as much of a mystery two thousand years ago as they are today. Xo human remains indicative of great antitjuity ha\e ever been fomul in this locality, and if man ever beheld a living mastodon in Madison county or on this continent, there is no evidence of it. \Vhether the\ were few or many is also a matter of speculation, as well as the cause, or causes, of their disappearance as a species. So far as the investigatioiis of scientists are concerned they have thus far been miavailing in determining these questions, and, like the mystery of the mounds and Mound Guilders, will probabh never lie solved.

It is a theory of those who have given this subject mucli painstaking consideration, that the mastodon's haunts on this pai! of the continent were around lakes and marshes, and they point to the localities where its remains have been foinid as proof of their position. The bones found on the Hanneson farm were in a marsh which at one time was undoubtedly a lake covering many miles of territory east and west. Remains of the mastodon exhumed in other localities have uniformly been found in marshv places where it is thought the animals went to feed and getting mired, perished. The cause, or causes, of the extinction of the entire species, however, will remain unknown.