Indians of North America -- Ohio; Mounds -- Ohio; Ohio -- Antiquities
Ramsey also gives a map, [Footnote: Annals of Tennessee, p. 376]
but his list evidently refers to a date corresponding with the
close of their occupancy of this section. Bartram [Footnote:
Travels, pp. 373.374.] gives a more complete list applying to an
earlier date. This evidently includes some on the Holston (his
"Cherokee") River and some on the Tellico plains. This corresponds
precisely with the result of the explorations by the Bureau as
will be seen when the report is published. Some three or four
groups were discovered in the region of Tellico plains, and five
or six on the Little Tennessee below Fort London and on the
Holston near the junction, one large mound and a group being on
the "Big Island" mentioned in Bartram's list.
The largest of these groups is situated on the Little Tennessee
above Fort London and corresponds with the position of the ancient
"beloved town of Chota" ("Great Chote" of Bartram) as located by
tradition and on both Timberlake's and Ramsey's maps. According to
Ramsey, [Footnote: Annals of Tennessee, p. 157] at the time the
pioneers, following in the wake of Daniel Boone near the close of
the eighteenth century, were pouring over the mountains into the
valley of the Watauga, a Mrs. Bean, who was captured by the
Cherokees near Watauga, was brought to their town at this place
and was bound, taken to the top of one of the mounds and about to
be burned, when Nancy Ward, then exercising in the nation the
functions of the Beloved or Pretty Woman, interfered and
pronounced her pardon.
During the explorations of the mounds of this region a peculiar
type of clay beds was found in several of the larger mounds. These
were always saucer shaped, varying in diameter from 6 to 15 feet,
and in thickness from 4 to 12 inches. In nearly every instance
they were found in series, one above another, with a layer of
coals and ashes between. The series usually consisted of from
three to five beds, sometimes only two, decreasing in size from
the lower one upward. These apparently marked the stages of the
growth of the mound, the upper one always being near the present
surface.
The large mound which is on the supposed site of Chota, and
possibly the one on which Mrs. Bean was about to be burned, was
thoroughly explored, and found to contain a series of these clay
beds, which always showed the action of fire. In the center of
some of these were found the charred remains of a stake, and about
them the usual layer of coals and ashes, but, in this instance,
immediately around where the stake stood were charred fragments of
human bones.
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