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Some of these remains are undoubtedly of no later age than the Indians whom the first whites knew; many of them are of far earlier times. It is now held by the most prominent archæologists that there are works of the mound-building Indians which do not date back far from the time Columbus discovered America. Thus any work which gives evidence of having been in existence five hundred years may belong to the mound-building era. And throughout all these five hundred years there is hardly a time when there is not evidence of Indian occupation. So the line between the mound-building Indians and the later Indians, among whom the building of mounds was a lost art, is exceedingly hard to draw.

These quotations give some evidence that the builders of our earliest archæological works were well acquainted with the high grounds. It is not apparent now that in any signal instance there exists evidence of a reliable character that any watershed was a highway; all we are seeking to show now is the very general fact that these people lived and moved and had their being often far inland on the heads of the little streams which never in historic times have served the purpose of navigation, and that here many of their works are found on the high grounds where it is sure all previous races have made their roads.

Now, it has been suggested already that lines of land travel have varied little since the time the buffalo and Indian marked out the best general courses across the continent. Mr. Benton said that the buffalo blazed the way for the railroad to the Pacific. In a general way this has been the rule throughout our history; the first routes chosen have often proved the best the tripod could find. Now it would be significant if it could be proved that there are numerous archæological remains along these strategic lines of travel. This, probably, cannot be shown. There is, however, strong evidence that is worthy of consideration. Many of the early routes of travel converged on certain well-worn, strategic gaps in our mountain ranges. It is interesting to notice how many archæological remains are found at these points. A few quotations from the Catalogue of Prehistoric Works will be in point:

“Stone cairns in Rabun Gap” (Rabun county, Georgia).[49]

“Pictographs on large bowlders in Track Rock Gap” (Union county, Georgia).[50]

“Ancient fire-bed and refuse heap at Buffalo Gap (bones and pottery found here)” (Union county, Illinois).[51]

“Mound near Cumberland Gap” (Bell county, Kentucky).[52]

“Cairn at Indian Grave Gap on Green Mountain ... in the trail” (Caldwell county, North Carolina).[53]