The Mound Formerly it was be lieved that the ancient mounds and fortifications of this section were built by a long-vanished people, of lighter complexion and different race from the Indians. This belief originated from some of the early Indians telling the whites that the Indians did not build the mounds, hut they were built by an earlier white race, who lived here before the Indians came, and the Indians conquered and exterminated them. Modern research has proved this to be untrue. It is now well established that these great earthworks were built by Indians.
The contents of these mounds show them to have been erected by men of the same habits of life, same degree of barbarism, same reli gious customs as the Indians found here by the first whites. In fact many of these mounds con tain articles of European make, which the In dians had obtained from the whites. DeSoto in 1540 found the southern Indians using these mounds for sites for their religious houses, and for the residences of their chief men.
Scattered along the larger water courses of Tennessee are probably over 100 of these ancient mounds. Each mound is usually accompanied by a village site and hundreds of ancient graves. These remains are of widely different ages and show somewhat different artifacts and customs. It is probably true that there are as many ancient Indian graves in Tennessee as there are white graves. The ancient population of Tennessee was probably never, at any one time, over 20,000; but In dians have roved over this section, changing town sites in some instances, for several thousand years, giving rise to the many re mains of widely different ages. • Principal Indian At the time the whites first visited this section Cherokees, Shawnees and Chickasaws were the principal tribes inhabiting Tennessee.
The Cherokees.— The Cherokees were a strong separate tribe of the Iroquoian stock. They at one time held the entire southern Al legheny regioh in southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina, west-South Carolimi, northern Georgia, northeastern Alabama and East Tenn essee. De Soto found them in this section as early as 1540 and they probably had been here long before. The Cherokees also claimed all the land between Tennessee and the Cumber land River and on to the Ohio River, but had few or no towns in that region. The Cherokees aided by the Chickasaws drove the Shawnees from the region around Nashville, about the year 1710. The Shawnees gradually moved north of the Ohio. The feud between the Chero kees and the Shawnees continuing, both parties ceased to hunt or live to any large extent in the disputed territory in Middle Tennessee. So, for nearly 60 years after 1710, this fertile sec tion was unoccupied and became full of game. The whites were attracted by the game, rich soil and comparative freedom from Indians, and began settlements under General Robertson, at what is now Nashville, about 1779. The Cherokees were gradually forced to give up their lands and emigrate to Texas and the In dian Territory, while a few remained in the mountains of western North Carolina, and 1,376 are now living on Qualla Reservation in Swain County, N. C., and 300 on Cheowah Reservation in Graham County, N. C.
The Shawnees.— The Shawnees have a most interesting history. They originally came from the north and were of Algonquian stock. In the year 1669 when we first begin to.have any authentic history of them,'we find a part of the tribe living in the Cumberland Valley in Middle Tennessee, and ranging from the Tennessee River on the south to the Ken tucky River on the north. One of their prin cipal towns was on the present site of Nash ville; another, and earlier one, at what is now Castalian Springs, in Summer County, Tenn. The Shawnees at this time were living in friendship with the Cherokees, and it is claimed by the Cherokees that the Shawnees were occupying this territory by their per mission. About 1707 war arose between the Shawnees and the more powerful Cherokees. In consequence small bodies of Shawnees were continually leaving and seeking their friends and kindred north of the Ohio River. The last of the Shawnees left in the Cumberland Valley attempted to leave their home at Nash ville, and join their brethren in the north about 1710. These were ambushed by the Cherokees and their allies — the Chickasaws — on Cum berland River just above the mouth of the Harpeth, and practically all this body of Shaw nees were slain. Some of the Shawnees from the Cumberland, after living for a time in Kentucky, formed a settlement at Shawnee town, Ill. About 1730 these removed to Ohio and joined other Shawnees. About 1750 these western Shawnees were joined by the eastern branch of the tribe. This eastern branch had originated in the north, later emigrated to the headwaters of the Santee and Peedee rivers in South Carolina. Gradually driven thence by the warlike Catawbas, during the period 1690 to 1720, they drifted north, building the old Shawnee towns of Winchester, Va., and Old town, Md., on their way. They finally es tablished themselves in Lancaster County, Pa. They made a treaty with William Penn in 1701. It is said they had a copy of this treaty 50 years later. The eastern and western branches of the tribe having joined in Ohio, they became the allies of the French, and for nearly 40 years were constantly at war with the English, or the citizens of the newly-formed United States. Many of the expeditions sent to the country north of the Ohio during the War of the Revolution were against the Shaw nees, and most of the bloody work in northern Kentucky was done by the Shawnees. When peace had been declared after the War of Revolution a considerable body accepted the invitation of the Spanish government to set tle near Cape Girardeau, Mo., in what was then Spanish territory. Another party of Shawnees settled on White River in Indiana. From this last section of the tribe sprang the great Tecumseh and his twin brother, Tenskwatawa, the Prophet. The Prophet was defeated by Harrison at the battle of Tippe canoe in 1811. The warlike spirit of the Shaw nees was broken by this overwhelming defeat. About 1825 the various sections of the tribe began moving west to a reservation in Kansas. About 1845 a large part of the Kansas section moved to the Canadian River country of the Indian Territory.