The fortification here presented affords a fine illustration of the character of the ancient defences of the West. It is situated on Massie’s creek, a tributary of the Little Miami river, seven miles east from the town of Xenia, Greene county, p034 Ohio; and consists of a high promontory, bounded on all sides, excepting an interval at the west, by a precipitous limestone cliff. Across the isthmus, from which the ground gradually subsides towards the plain almost as regularly as an artificial glacis, is carried a wall of earth and stones. This wall is now about ten feet high by thirty feet base, and is continued for some distance along the edge of the cliff where it is least precipitous, on the north. It is interrupted by three narrow gateways, exterior to each of which was formerly a mound of stones, now mostly carried away. Still exterior to these are four short crescent walls, extending across the isthmus. These crescents are rather slight, not much exceeding, at the present time, three feet in height. The cliff has an average height of upwards of twenty-five feet, and is steep and almost inaccessible. At d d are breaks in the limestone, where the declivity is sufficiently gentle to admit of a passage on horseback. At E is a fissure in the cliff, where persons may ascend on foot. The valley, or rather ravine, C C, is three hundred feet broad. Massie’s creek, a considerable stream, washes the base of the promontory on the north. The area bounded by the cliff and embankment is not far from twelve acres. The whole is now covered with the primitive forest.

The natural strength of this position is great, and no inconsiderable degree of skill has been expended in perfecting its defences. A palisade, if carried around the brow of the cliff and along the summit of the wall, would render it impregnable to savage assault. About one hundred rods above this work, on the opposite side of the creek, is a small circle, two hundred feet in diameter, enclosing a mound. About the same distance below, upon the same bank, is a large conical mound, thirty feet in height and one hundred and forty feet in diameter at the base. No other works of magnitude are known to exist, nearer than the great defensive structure on the Little Miami (Plate [VII].), twenty-one miles distant.

PLATE XII. No. 4.

This work, unlike those just described, occurs upon the high table-land bordering the Scioto river bottoms, on the west bank of that stream, twelve miles above the city of Chillicothe. It consists of a single wall and ditch, cutting off a high promontory, formed by the declivity of the table land, and the bank of a wide and deep ravine. These banks are not far from one hundred feet in height, and at most points are absolutely inaccessible. It has a single gateway, opening towards a copious spring, at the head of the ravine just mentioned. The wall is four feet high, and the ditch of corresponding depth. There are no mounds within this enclosure, nor in its immediate vicinity; but a number of natural elevations are discernible, which an unpractised eye might mistake for works of art. In this instance, they may have subserved some of the purposes of the mounds. p035 The water flowing through the ditch has formed deep gullies at the points where it terminates. The soil is here clayey and hard. The level at the foot of the promontory upon which this work stands, is the first or latest-formed terrace of the Scioto; indicating that the river, at one period, swept along where the Ohio canal now passes.

PLATE XIII. No. 1. [From the RAFINESQUE MSS.]

This work, which seems incontestibly of a defensive character, is situated on Stoner’s creek, at the mouth of Flat Run, in Bourbon county, Kentucky. The wall throughout is composed of earth, and is slight, not exceeding three or four feet in height. A number of mounds and excavations occur within the enclosure, together with other remains, consisting of raised outlines, two or three feet broad and one foot high. These are indicated by the letter a, and are denominated “remains of dwellings” by Rafinesque. Twenty of them are found within, and fourteen without the walls; the latter occupying the point of land to the north of the enclosure. The larger one is called “the palace” by our fanciful authority, and is represented to be eighty feet long by seventy-five broad. To the north of “the palace” is an elliptical, hollow area, fifteen feet deep; it is indicated by the letter c. A number of irregular excavations are marked by the letter d. The Lexington road passes through this work.

PLATE XIII. No. 2.[26] [From the Surveys and Notes of JAMES MCBRIDE.]

This work is one of the first magnitude; and in many respects bears a close resemblance to the great work on the North fork of Paint creek. (See Plate [IX].) It is situated near the village of Coleraine, Hamilton county, Ohio, on the right bank of the Great Miami river, and encloses an area of ninety-five acres. The walls have an average height of nine feet, and have an exterior ditch of proportionate dimensions. The terrace upon which the work is located is thirty feet above the usual stage of water in the river. p036