traditions or inferred from the study of their languages and
customs. On the other hand there is no historical or other
evidence that any other race or people than the Indians ever
occupied this region, or any part of it, previous to its discovery
by Europeans at the close of the fifteenth century.

We enter the discussion, therefore, with at least a presumption in
favor of the conclusion that these works were built by the
Indians--a presumption which has not received the consideration
it deserves; indeed, it is so strong that it can be overcome only
by showing that those mounds, or the specimens of art found in
them, which were unquestionably the work of the builders, indicate
an advancement in skill and knowledge entirely beyond that reached
by the Indians previous to contact with Europeans. But all the
genuine discoveries so far made in the explorations of the mounds
tend to disprove this view.

If it can be shown that tribes occupying the mound region at the
time they were first visited by Europeans used mounds, and in some
cases built them, it will be a fair inference that all these
structures are due to the same race until the contrary is proved.

The objection urged by many that the Indian has always been a
restless nomad, spurning the restraints of agriculture, has been
effectually answered, especially by Mr. Lucien Carr. [Footnote:
Mounds of the Mississippi Valley Historically Considered.] History
also bears us out in the assertion that at the time of the
discovery nine tenths of the tribes in the mound district had
fixed seats and local habitations, depending to a great extent for
sustenance upon the cultivation of the soil. So far as the