“Encircling the summit, at a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile from its center, was a remarkable wall, about breast high, built of loose, fragmentary stone, and evidently meant for a military fortification; but when erected, and by whom, we could not learn. Kanooka said that it was there when his people first came, and that they knew no more of it than we did. In some places the stones were almost all dislodged by persons who had rolled them down the steep declivity but there were enough remaining to show that the wall had once been continuous all around the summit, and that the only place of entrance was by a natural doorway under a large rock, so narrow and so low that only one man could enter at a time, by crawling on his hands and knees.” [Illustration: Carver Roy Faulkner working with the small finishing torch. Notice the fine detail in General Lee’s features and the sweep of his famous white beard.] [Illustration: The scaffolds swinging against the carving, hundreds of feet above the ground, were the working area for the carver and his aides for six years.] [Illustration: Scaffolds.] [Illustration: Scaffolds.] Colorful flowers on Stone Mountain. [Illustration: A field of _Viguiera porteri_, or Confederate daisies.] [Illustration: White milkweed, _Asclepeas variegata_.] [Illustration: Rare _Hypericum splendens_.] [Illustration: Evening primrose, _Oenothera fruticosa_.] [Illustration: _Rosa Carolinia_.] [Illustration: Practically every square foot of exposed granite is covered with lichens or mosses.] [Illustration: {uncaptioned}] All the mountain’s early visitors were intrigued by the pre-historic wall. Some thought de Soto might have had it built, without considering that the aim of the conquistadores was to find treasure, grab it and run. They were not interested in defensive strongholds, and certainly not in building one that would entail carrying thousands of tons of rock up a steep mountain. All the early writers described the wall as a cleverly contrived fortress, since it blocked all trails leading to the summit. However, the most ignorant savage certainly would have realized that the top of Stone Mountain would be untenable in a siege, since there was no water and no access to food. It is the last place anyone would want to be caught when shooting started.