The Dragon Stone

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Introduction and History section of 'The Serpent Mound of Ohio' written by Frederic Ward Putnam (1890).

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The Serpent Mound of Ohio¹

In September, 1883, in company with four fellow-archaeologists, I started from Hillsborough, in Highland County, Ohio, on an excursion to several ancient earthworks which we had long wished to see. Our plans were so arranged as to take us first of all to the Serpent Mound, thence to Fort Hill, and down Paint Creek to the Scioto, stopping from day to day to visit the most interesting of the many ancient works along the route.

Approaching the "Serpent Cliff" by fording Brush Creek from the west, our attention was suddenly arrested by the rugged overhanging rocks above our heads, and we knew that we were near the object of our search. Leaving the wagon, we scrambled up the steep hillside, and pushing on through bush and brier were soon following the folds of the great serpent along the hilltop. The most singular sensation of awe and admiration overwhelmed me at this sudden realization of my long-cherished desire, for here before me was the mysterious work of an unknown people, whose seemingly most sacred place we had invaded. Was this a symbol of the old serpent faith, here on the western continent, which from the earliest time in the religions of the East held so many peoples enthralled, and formed so important a factor in the development of succeeding religions?

Reclining on one of the huge folds of this gigantic serpent, as the last rays of the sun, glancing from the distant hilltops, cast their long shadows over the valley, I mused on the probabilities of the past; and there seemed to come to me a picture as of a distant time, of a people with strange customs, and with it came the demand for an interpretation of this mystery. The unknown must become known!

This thought took complete possession of me, and on that same evening arrangements were made with Mr. Lovett, the owner of the land, to have the place cleared of underbrush that we might see the great work in its entirety. By noon of the following day the clearing was roughly made, and the view thus obtained of the serpent and the egg - as the oval work in front of its jaws has been called - led to a still stronger desire to know more, and a resolve to do all in my power to preserve this singular structure, which seemed so strangely transplanted from the mythology of the East.

When Squier and Davis, after their survey in 1846, gave to the world the first account of this earthwork, it was covered with a thick forest, from which many a noble tree has been cut, as indicated by stumps still standing at the time of our visit. Thirteen or fourteen years after their visit a tornado swept its path directly along the serpent hill, and with the exception of a few saplings the forest was laid low. This led to clearing the land, and to the cultivation for a few years of the portion occupied by the serpent. Nature soon covered the scars with a protecting sod, which was followed by a growth of sumach, redbud, and briers.

On my return to the East I took every opportunity of urging the importance of preserving the Serpent Mound, as well as other ancient monuments. In 1885 I again visited the serpent, and finding that its destruction was inevitable unless immediate measures were taken for its preservation, I secured a contract that it should remain intact for a year, and agreed upon a price for its purchase. Returning home I urged anew the importance of its preservation. Yet, although an interest was awakened in the object, I fear it might have come to naught if Miss Alice C. Fletcher, meeting in Newport a few Boston ladies, had not taken the opportunity to appeal to them for assistance in the work which she knew I had so much at heart, and which was, at the same time, so thoroughly in accordance with her own views. Her earnest presentation of the subject had the desired effect. In the winter of 1886 several of Bostons noble and earnest women issued a private circular which had the indorsement of Mr. Francis Parkman and Mr. Martin Brimmer of the Corporation of Harvard University. Subscriptions were solicited to purchase the Serpent Mound, which was to be given in trust to the Peabody Museum for perpetual preservation, and also to enable me to carry on such explorations of the work and its surroundings as might throw light on its origin and purpose. This appeal was cordially met, and in June, 1886, I was provided with nearly $6ooo with which to buy such land as seemed to be required for the purpose in view, and to take steps for the preservation of the serpent, while at the same time I made such explorations as seemed desirable. The trustees of the Museum, of whom the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop has been chairman since Mr. Peabody founded the Museum, in connection with Harvard University, in 1866, accepted this additional trust, and about sixty acres of land were at once purchased in the name of the trustees. Soon after, several acres of land along the new pike leading from Hillsborough to Peebles, the nearest railroad stations, were added to the purchase, and the whole was laid out as the Serpent Mound Park, of which Brush Creek forms the western boundary.

Here for three seasons, living in tents, I have carried on the work of protecting the serpent, exploring its surroundings, and laying out the grounds. This beautiful park, with the wonderful stories it tells of the past, is now, thanks to the women of Boston, open to all visitors. In appreciation of what has been done for the State, and also to encourage similar efforts, the park, by a special act of the legislature of Ohio, suggested by Prof. M. C. Reed of Hudson, is exempted from taxation and put under special protection of the laws of the State. Thus the first law for the protection of archaeologic monuments in our country has been brought about, and it cannot be long before similar laws will be passed by other States.² Congress has lately had under favorable consideration a measure for the preservation of several archaeologic monuments on the public lands. This petition was prepared by Miss Fletcher and Mrs. Stevenson, acting as a committee appointed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.³ The grand work is thus at last well begun, and we can but believe that it will be continued.

In this connection it should be recalled, with all honor to the pioneers at Marietta acting under the direction of General Rufus Putnam, that in laying out the town several portions of the ancient works were carefully preserved. These efforts, however, were not wholly respected by a later generation, and the two great embankments, forming an avenue, named by the classical pioneers the Via Sacra, have been destroyed; one having been built upon and partly leveled, and the other made into bricks! Thus the city lost a beautiful avenue leading to the river, deeply regretted now by all its enlightened citizens; and arcaeologists have been deprived of studying a singular structure over which many have been puzzled as to its purpose. That the present and future citizens will properly guard, as a sacred trust from the old pioneers, the remaining works in the public squares and cemetery, is our most earnest petition.⁴

Footnotes

1 See also an article in the last number by the same author.

2 With the hope that similar laws will be passed in other States in which are archaeologic monuments that should be preserved, the Ohio law, which was passed March 27, 1888, is here given as one well worthy of imitation.

AN ACT

SUPPLEMENTARY TO SECTION 2732 OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF OHIO.

SECTION I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That all lands in the State of Ohio on which are situate any prehistoric earthworks, and which have been or may hereafter be purchased by any person, association, or company for the purpose of the preservation of said earthworks, and are not held for profit, but are or shall be dedicated to public uses as prehistoric parks, shall be exempt from taxation.

SECT. 2. The owners of such prehistoric parks may establish all reasonable rules governing access to said parks; and any person willfully violating such rules or injuring said works, or any structure, trees, or plants in said parks, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding fifty dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding sixty days, or both, and shall also be liable to the owners of said parks in a civil action for all damages caused by such person.

SECT. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

3 Near the close of the session Congress passed an act for the preservation of the ruin everywhere known as the Casa Grande, and this was brought about by the special interest taken by Mrs. Mary Hemenway of Boston, who for several years past has been deeply interested in, and a most generous supporter of, archaelogical work in America.

4 The great Cahokia Mound in southern Illinois, the largest mound in the United States, should at once be protected by the State of Illinois, as it already has had a narrow escape from being used for ballast on a railway.

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