Editorialana. 469
DID THE MOUND BUILDERS HAVE HORSES?
"Did the Mound Builders Have
Horses" is the subject of an editorial
in the last issue of the American
Sportsman, March 2. The discovery
of the skeleton of a horse, dug up in the state of Nebraska, started a
discussion to which a number of the most
eminent archeologists of the
country have contributed their opinions.
Dr. Phyle treated the subject
at length in an essay some time ago. The
editorial is as follows:
A horseman is curious to know, after
reading Dr. Phyle's essay on
the evolution of the horse, whether the
"Mound Builders" had horses.
We are not expected to answer this
question, as all matters in the pre-
historic age are exclusively in the
domain of speculation. A similar
question was asked during a race on the
half-mile ring at Newark, Ohio,
the location of several notable memorial
mounds.
It is supposed that the Mound Builders
preceded the North Ameri-
can Indian, but it is not clear that the
Indian is the lineal descendant
of the Mound Builders. When the white
man invaded the Western Con-
tinent the Indians had no horses, but it
does not follow that the race
that built the memorial mounds had no
horses. The Mound Builders
are an extinct race, and their horses
may have perished from off the
earth at about the same time.
Scientists and antiquarians who have
examined the memorial mounds,
especially the famous ones at Newark and
in Adams county, Ohio, as-
sert that they have full proof that the
builders enjoyed a high degree of
civilization. The mound at the Newark
Fair Grounds forms a perfect
circle, a mile in circumference and some
twenty feet high. Upon it
stand very large maple, beech and
hickory trees, showing, it is believed,
that the erection of this mound far
ante-dated the arrival of Columbus,
over four hundred years ago.
It is thought that the Aztecs, found in
Mexico by Cortez, and the
ancient Peruvians, whose empire was
destroyed by Pizzaro, may have
been of the same race as the Mound
Builders.
Whether the Mound Builders had horses we
can only guess, but that
a race preceding the North American
Indians had horses we know to
a certainty. The evidence of the
skeleton horses recently discovered is
conclusive.
Prof. Starr, of the Chicago University
holds, with many others of
the more advanced scientists, that the
Mound Builders were Indians
and coarse barbarians. Prof. Starr also
holds that some of these mounds
were built by Indian tribes not yet
extinct. The French scientists. Lucien
Biart (who has written a very elaborate
book on the ancient Aztecs of
Mexico), holds that they were a true
type of Indians. Prof. John D.
Baldwin, author of the "Prehistoric
Nations," in his notes on American
archaeology, holds that the Mound
Builders were American aborigines
of the Indian type and not immigrants from another continent. Prof.
470 Ohio. Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Baldwin holds that more than two
thousand years have elapsed since the
Mound Builders lived in the Ohio Valley.
In conclusion we are not in a position
to state whether the Mound
Builders were the race that exploited
the pre-historic horse on this con-
tinent or whether they degenerated into
Indians. All we know for a
certainty is that the pre-historic man
had a pre-historic horse, and that
he both rode and ate him, and that the
horse in improved form still sur-
vives, while the Mound Builders are
extinct, and the Red Man is where
he can see his finish-Akron Democrat.
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF CHAMPAIGN
COUNTY.
Under the editorship of Mr. Howard D.
Manington, a tasty little
volume, amply illustrated, has been
issued, giving a detailed account of
the Centennial Celebration of Champaign
County, held at Urbana on
the days of July 4th, 5th, and 6th.
Under the energetic and patriotic
management of the good people of Urbana,
the Centennial proved to be
an event of great interest, and well
worthy the conclusion of one hun-
dred years of the historic county. The
inauguarting day of the cen-
tennial being also the anniversary day
of the nation's natal day, drew
an immense crowd of citizens
representing all parts of the state to the
handsome little county seat. Vice
President Fairbanks was the orator
of the day and made a patriotic address
appropriate to the occasion.
One of the features of the day was a
grand parade and "a more mag-
nificent spectacle was never witnessed
in this state." The procession
consisted of platoons of soldiers from
the United States Regular Army,
State Militia and a great number of
novel features as "floats," decorated
vehicles, masqueraders in fantastic
costume, etc. The day was closed
in the evening by a splendid pyrotechnic
display in the City Park and
followed by a "smoker" under
the auspices of the local press committee,
in honor of Vice President Fairbanks.
This was presided over by Hon.
Howard D. Manington, and speeches were
made by the Hon. Ralph D.
Cole and Messrs. John H. James, Henry C.
McCracken, J. A. Howells
and L. D. Johnson.
July fifth was celebrated as
"Pioneer and Home-coming Day," the
exercises being held in the county fair
grounds, where several thousand
people, bringing their lunch-baskets,
gathered from all sections of the
county and renewed their early memories
of Champaign county life and
greeted long absent friends. The formal
exercises of the day consisted
of an address by Secretary Randall of
the Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society, the rendering of
musical selections by the Urbana
Band and a mixed chorus of some two
hundred voices. Judge E. P.
Middleton presided.