The trees covering the mounds in Wyoming, as described by Chapman, had annular rings numbering from six to seven hundred. President Harrison observed that it would take the trees, growing where a forest was cut down fifty years since, five hundred years to equal in height the surrounding woods; and that a forest of the largest trees at the mouth of the Great Miami, consisting of fifteen acres, covers the ruins left by former races.
It is worthy of notice, too, that the age of the trees found standing on these ancient fortifications and mounds, and the number of their annular circles, diminish with striking regularity in the ratio of their distance from the eastern coast. The first found reach as high a number as seven hundred; then, decreasing, they are found in Ohio with from four hundred to five hundred; and then in the copper regions of Lake Superior with from three hundred and fifty to four hundred annular rings. Comparing these figures with the time (1170) when Madoc and his followers landed on this continent, and allowing for their progress into the interior such reasonable periods as their peculiar circ.u.mstances demanded, adding also whatever other proofs have been adduced, scarcely a single doubt can linger in the mind of the candid inquirer as to the origin of these earthen defences and mounds, the removal of the native forests, the working of the mines, and the many relics unearthed.
If it be objected that a small band of a few hundreds could not cover so much territory or accomplish so much work, it may be said, in reply, that one century alone offers sufficient time for the achievement of wonders. Under favorable conditions peoples multiply rapidly. Surrounded as the Welsh were with populous tribes of red men, they affiliated with some of them for self-protection and aid, and degraded remnants of them are found at the present time in different parts of the far West.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DISPERSION OF THE WELSH INDIANS.
It was only after the most stubborn and sanguinary resistance that the Welsh Indians yielded the fertile plains of the Ohio valley to their enemies. They moved down the Ohio River to its confluence with the Mississippi, and here for a period took another stand, as is evinced by the many remarkable remains and relics which have been brought to light by accident and the diligent researches of antiquarians and archaeologists.
At this point there began a series of dispersions, south, west, and north, by which they became spread over a vast area of the Western country. The Lower and Upper Mississippi, the Missouri, and many of the smaller rivers abound with remains which exhibit the same knowledge and skill with those along the Ohio. Such a dispersion offers the best solution for the construction of the numerous accounts given of them into an intelligible and consistent whole. These accounts coming from so many different parties, separated from one another in time and distance, and independent of one another, excluding the possibility of preconcert or collusion, it would not be wonderful if they appeared to vary in the minor details. Their differences are a proof of the absence of falsehood or trickery. That the Welsh did not lose all the radical characteristics of their race can be made evident: still, when it is considered how numerous the peoples were with whom they amalgamated, it will be seen that it did not require a great length of time for them to exhibit also traits of savage life. Such a result would follow from physical laws and the conditions of their wild state.
This dispersion, and their being discovered in various sections of the country along and west of the Mississippi, will account for the different names by which they were called by intelligent travellers and captured whites, who had either heard of them or had been in their country and conversed with them.
In 1792 a gentleman who had resided more than twenty years in New Orleans and on the banks of the Mississippi wrote a letter to Griffith Williams, London, being on a visit to the latter city himself at the time, from which the following extract is given: "That the natives of America have, for many years past, emigrated from the east to the west is a known fact. That the tribes mentioned by Mr. Jones, who spoke the Welsh tongue, may have done so is much within the order of probability; and that a people called the Welsh or White Indians now reside at or near the banks of the Missouri, I have not the least doubt of, having been so often a.s.sured of it by people who have traded in that river, and who could have no possible inducement to relate such a story unless it had been founded in fact.
"Since writing the above, a merchant from the Illinois country, and a person of reputation, is arrived in London. He a.s.sures me there is not the smallest doubt of a people existing on the west side of the Mississippi, called by the French the White Bearded Indians, none of the natives of America wearing beards; that these people are really white; that they are said to consist of thirty-two villages or towns, are exceeding civilized, and vastly attached to certain religious ceremonies; that a Mr. Ch., a merchant of reputation at the Illinois, has been to their country, which is, as he supposes, upwards of a thousand miles from the Illinois.
"Yours, etc., "J. J."
Mr. Williams, to whom the above was written, adds, "I have met the above gentleman several times, and he confirms the latter part of this narrative; that Mr. Ch. is a near relation of his; that Mr. Ch. was introduced to the chief of the Padoucas, by whom he was received with much solemnity, owing to his being of white complexion, from which circ.u.mstance, as far as Mr. Ch. could understand by being amongst them, he was deemed an angel of G.o.d, his hands and his feet being washed by order of the chief, who appeared much advanced in years, his hair being long and perfectly white; that the people chiefly subsist by the produce of the chase; that the instruments they use on the occasion are generally bows and arrows; that the farther he advanced from the frontiers, the different tribes he pa.s.sed through were the more civilized."
Upon the occasion of the visit of General Bowles, a chief of the Cherokees, to London, on official business, in 1792, he was waited on by several eminent Welsh gentlemen to inquire if he knew anything of the Welsh Indians. He replied, "Yes, I know them, and they are called the Padoucas, or White Indians. This t.i.tle is given them because of their complexions." When a map was laid before him on which that name was inscribed, he said that these were the people, and showed the limits of their country. He said that "generally they were called the White Padoucas, but those who live in the northern parts are called Black Padoucas, because they are a mixture of the White Padoucas and other Indians. The White Padoucas are as you are, having some of them sandy, some red, and some black hair. They are very numerous, and one of the most warlike people on the continent."
The gentlemen present then informed General Bowles of the times and circ.u.mstances of Madoc"s voyages, when he replied, "They must have been as early as that period, otherwise they could not have increased to be so numerous a people. I have travelled their southern boundaries from one side to the other, but have never entered their country. Another reason I have for thinking them to be Welsh is, that a Welshman was with me at home for some time, who had been a prisoner among the Spaniards and had worked in the mines of Mexico, and by some means he contrived to escape, got into the wilds, and made his way across the continent, and eventually pa.s.sed through the midst of the Padoucas, and at once found himself with a people with whom he could converse, and he stayed for some time. He told me that they had several books, which were most religiously preserved in skins and were considered by them as mysteries.
These they believed gave an account from whence they came. They said they had not seen a white man like themselves, who was a stranger, for a long time."
General Bowles was of Irish descent, and had many respectable relatives residing in London, whither he had come on a public mission in behalf of the Cherokees.
Mr. Price, another chief, who was born among the Creeks, said that he understood not the Welsh tongue, but that his father, who was a Welshman, had frequent interviews and conversed with the Padoucas in his native language. He lived the greatest part of his life in the Creek country, and died there.
In c.o.x"s description of Louisiana, 1782, p. 63, it is said "that Baron La Hontan, having traced the Missouri for eight hundred miles due west, found an east lake, along which resided two or three great nations, much more civilized than other Indians; and that out of this lake a great river disembogues itself into the South Sea."
The name by which he designates these people is Metocantes.
Charlevoix, vol. ii. p. 225 of the English translation, mentions "a great lake very far to the west of the Mississippi, on the banks of which are a people resembling the French, with b.u.t.tons on their clothes, living in cities, and using horses in hunting buffaloes; that they are clothed with the skins of that animal, but without any arms but the bow and arrow." He calls them the Mactotatas.
Bossu, in his account of Louisiana, vol. i. p. 182, says that he had been informed by the Indians of a nation of clothed people, far to the westward of the Mississippi, who inhabited great villages built with white stone, navigated in great piraguas on the great salt-water lakes, and were governed by one despotic chief, who sent great armies into the field.
On page 393 he gives a particular account of Madoc"s alleged voyages, and observes, "The English believe that this prince discovered Virginia. Peter Martyr seems to give a proof of it when he says that the nations of Virginia and Guatemala celebrate the memory of one of their ancient heroes, whom they call Madoc. Several modern travellers have found ancient British words used by the North American nations. The celebrated Bishop Nicholson believes that the Welsh language has formed a considerable part of the languages of the American nations. There are antiquarians who pretend that the Spaniards got their double or guttural _l_ (_ll_) from the Americans, who, according to the English, must have got it from the Welsh."
Bossu adds that these Welsh Indians seem to go by various names, such as Panes, Panis (p.a.w.nees).
During the war of the Revolution, Sir John Caldwell, Bart., was stationed on the east side of the Mississippi. He lived in the country a long time, acquired a perfect knowledge of the language of the inhabitants, was adopted by them, and married a daughter of one of their chiefs. He was informed by them that the Panis (p.a.w.nees) were a people considerably civilized, that they cultivated the ground, and built houses. Some Welshmen in his company understood their language, which they said was Welsh. Sir John said that he became acquainted with a Mr.
Pond, a very sensible and intelligent Indian trader, who frequented the country of the Panis, which lies about the head of the river Osages. He said that they were whiter and more civilized than any other Indian tribe.
Mr. Rimington said that he had known for a long time that there were civilized Indians west of the Mississippi, who were called by those on the eastern side (the Chickasaws, etc.) Ka Anzou or Ka Anjou (Kansas), which in their language signifies _first of men_, or _first men_, and he was very strongly inclined to think that they were the Welsh Indians.
Mr. Rimington, who was a native of England, had been a long time among the Indians. He said that being once with several Englishmen and one Jack Hughes, a Welshman, at the Forks of the Ohio, where was an Indian mart, some strange Indians came there from the west of the Mississippi.
A Shawanese Indian, who understood English, came to Mr. Rimington and desired him to be his interpreter. He went, but found that the language of these strangers was not intelligible to him. When he returned, and told his companions that he knew not their language, one of them exclaimed, "Oh, they are the Welsh Indians!" Jack Hughes was sent, who understood them well; and he was their interpreter while they continued there. He said that these Indians are tolerably white in complexion, and their dress like that of the Europeans,--a kind of trousers, coats with sleeves, and hats or caps made of small and very beautiful feathers curiously wrought. Furthermore he said that these white Indians are to be met with at the Indian marts on the Mississippi, at the Natches, Forks of the Ohio, Kaskaskies, etc., for all the Indian tribes on this continent, even from the sh.o.r.es of the South Sea, resort thither.
Thus it may be seen that the Welsh Indians went by different names, the most of them bearing a similitude to what they called themselves, and by which they were known to the Indians and the whites: as Padoucas by Mr.
Binon, General Bowles, Mr. Ch., Mr. Price and his father; Panis (p.a.w.nees) by Sir John Caldwell, Mr. Pond, and others; Ka Anzou (Kansas) by the Chickasaws, and Mr. Rimington; Matocantes by c.o.xe; Mactotatas by Charlevoix; and Madawgwys, Madogian or Madogiaint by many others.
Padoucas would more nearly approach the general name in sound if the letter _m_ were subst.i.tuted for _p_, thus changing the word into Madoucas, the former being regarded as a corruption which might arise from the difficulty some tribes have experienced in p.r.o.nouncing certain letters.
In the common maps of the country a century ago, an extensive nation called the White Padoucas were placed about eighty-eight degrees north lat.i.tude, and one hundred and two degrees west longitude of London; but they extended in detached communities from about thirty-seven degrees north lat.i.tude and ninety-seven degrees west longitude to forty-three degrees north lat.i.tude and one hundred and ten degrees west longitude.
The city of Paducah, Kentucky, doubtless derived its name from this nation, which once occupied the region in which it is situated. The Padoucas, p.a.w.nees, and Kansas were intermixed with one another, and suffered a fearful decimation by wars and diseases, so that the tribal name of the first is now extinct; but a few straggling bands still survive under the second and third names. In 1874 the p.a.w.nees numbered about two thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and the Kansas or Kaws less than that number. From the doc.u.ment accompanying President Jefferson"s message to Congress in 1806, it may be discovered that the Pania Pique in Arkansas were formerly known by the name of the White Panias, and are of the same family as the Panias of the river Platte.
According to that communication, the Padoucas, a once powerful nation, had apparently disappeared. In 1724 they resided in villages at the head of the Kansas River. Oppressed by the Missourians, they removed to the upper part of the river Platte, where they had but little intercourse with the whites. The northern branch of that river is still called the Padoucas Fork. It is conjectured that, being still more oppressed, they divided into small wandering bands, which a.s.sumed the names of the subdivisions of the Padoucas nation which have since been known under the appellation of Wetepahatoes, Kiawas, Kanenavish, Katteka, and Dotamie, who still inhabit the country to which the Padoucas are said to have removed.
In the map attached to Du Pratz"s Louisiana the "White Panis" are placed at the head of the Arkansas; Panis Mahas, or White Panis, at the head of the south branch of the Missouri; and between those rivers is marked the country of the Padoucas.
During the last two centuries the Indian races have waned so rapidly, their places of habitation have been so often changed, and so many of the tribes have become amalgamated, that names are not an unerring guide by which to determine their early history, or to what stock many of the remnants still surviving belong.
As to the names given by the French travellers cited elsewhere,--Matocantes, etc.,--there is some resemblance to the name of Madoc. A Welshwoman in South Wales calling her son by that name would say Matoc, which is pure Silurian Welsh, the _d_ being changed into _t_: hence there might follow such names as Matociait, Matociaint, Matocantes, as applied to the followers of Madoc. These changes are not arbitrary, but inhere in the laws and euphony of human language.
CHAPTER IX.
MAURICE GRIFFITH"S AND HIS COMPANIONS" EXPERIENCE.
The following letter, published in the "Kentucky Palladium" in 1804, by Judge Toulmin, of Mississippi, will be read with keen interest by those who have any desire to study everything relating to this subject:
"SIR,--No circ.u.mstance relating to the history of the Western country probably has excited, at different times, more general attention and anxious curiosity than the opinion that a nation of white men speaking the Welsh language reside high up the Missouri. By some the idea is treated as nothing but the suggestion of bold imposture and easy credulity; whilst others regard it as a fact fully authenticated by Indian testimony, and the report of various travellers worthy of credit.
"Could the fact be well established, it would afford perhaps the most satisfactory solution of the difficulty occasioned by a view of the various ancient fortifications with which the Ohio country abounds, of any that has been offered. Those fortifications were evidently never made by the Indians. The Indian art of war presents nothing of the kind.
The probability, too, is that the persons who constructed them were, _at that time_, acquainted with the use of iron. The situation of these fortifications, which are uniformly in the most fertile land of the country, indicates that those who made them were an agricultural people; and the remarkable care and skill with which they were executed afford traits of the genius of a people who relied more on their military skill than on their numbers. The growth of the trees upon them is very compatible with the idea that it is not more than three hundred years ago that they were abandoned.
"These hints, however, are thrown out rather to excite inquiry than by way of advancing any decided opinion on the subject. Having never met with any of the persons who had seen these white Americans, nor even received their testimony near the source, I have always entertained considerable doubts about the fact.
"Last evening, however, Mr. John Childs, of Jessamine County, a gentleman with whom I have been long acquainted, and who is well known to be a man of veracity, communicated a relation to me which at all events appears to merit serious attention. After he had related it in conversation, I requested him to repeat it, and committed it to writing. It has certainly some internal marks of authenticity. The country described was altogether unknown in Virginia when the relation was given, and probably very little known to the Shawanese Indians. Yet the account of it agrees very remarkably with later discoveries. On the other hand, the story of the large animal, though by no means incredible, has something of the air of fable, and it does not satisfactorily appear how the long period which the party were absent was spent,--though the Indians are, however, so much accustomed to loiter away their time that many weeks, and even months, may probably have been spent in indolent repose. Without detaining you any more with preliminary remarks, I will proceed to the narration as I received it from Mr. Childs.
"Maurice Griffiths, a native of Wales, which country he left when he was about sixteen years of age, was taken prisoner by a party of Shawanese Indians, about forty years ago, near Vosses Fort, on the head of the Roanoke River, in Virginia, and carried to the Shawanese Nation. Having stayed there about two years and a half, he found that five young men of the tribe had a desire of attempting to explore the sources of the Missouri. He prevailed upon them to admit him as one of their party.
They set out with six good rifles and with six pounds of powder apiece, of which they were, of course, very careful.
"On reaching the mouth of the Missouri, they were struck with the extraordinary appearance occasioned by the intermixture of the muddy waters of the Missouri and the clear, transparent element of the Mississippi. They stayed there two or three days, amusing themselves with the view of this novel sight; they then determined on the course which they should pursue, which happened to be so nearly in the course of the river that they frequently came within sight of it as they proceeded on their journey. After travelling about thirty days through pretty farming woodland, they came into fine open prairies, on which nothing grew but long luxuriant gra.s.s. Here was a succession of these, varying in size, some being eight or ten miles across, but one of them was so long that it occupied three days to travel through it. In pa.s.sing through this large prairie, they were much distressed for water and provisions, for they saw neither beast nor bird; and, though there was an abundance of salt springs, fresh water was very scarce. In one of these prairies the salt springs ran into small ponds, in which, as the weather was hot, the water had sunk and left the edges of the pond so covered with salt that they fully supplied themselves with that article, and might easily have collected bushels of it.
"As they were travelling through the prairies, they had likewise the good fortune to kill an animal which was nine or ten feet high and a bulk proportioned to its height. They had seen two of the same species before, and they saw four of them afterwards. They were swift-footed, and had neither tusks nor horns. After pa.s.sing through the long prairie, they made it a rule never to enter on one which they could not see across, till they had supplied themselves with a sufficiency of jerked venison to last several days. After having travelled a considerable time through the prairies, they came to very extensive lead-mines, where they melted the ore and furnished themselves with what lead they wanted. They afterwards came to two copper-mines, one of which was three miles through, and in several places they met with rocks of copper ore as large as houses.