State

The Lost Colony Of Montgomery Who were these atl venturers, who c.iiih* into North Carolina long' be¬ fore Kaleigli's colonists sailed for America? »!/ KILL SII AKPi: The first colonists to invade Mont¬ gomery County were not English or Scotch or even white people. They were Indians. About a hundred years before Sir Walter Raleigh’s followers decided to leave England to establish themselves in a new home, a group from the south, probably Creeks, fell impelled to leave their homeland, too. It may be that they were religious dis¬ sidents, like the Plymouth pilgrims, or it may be that they were at an eco¬ nomic disadvantage and were seeking to mend their fortunes. Perhaps they were led by some family or clan which had been disgraced in battle with their ancient foes, the Cherokecs, upon whose territory their own impinged in North Georgia. Around 1500 to 1550, these peo¬ ple. as many as 2(H) or more of them, started their long journey toward a promised land, and after many weeks of traveling, their advance party, which had been flung out before the main group, came to the banks of a clear and pleasant stream, along which stretched natural meadows, inter¬ spersed with groves in which signs of deer and other game were plentiful. A little stream flowed into this river at one point, and in this area, the invading Creeks found no inhabitants who might dispute their residence. So they built a village and began a new life far from their Georgia or Ala¬ bama home. Unlike Raleigh's colonists, these settlers in North Carolina found a very congenial environment. They were skilled woodsmen, of course, and had no difficulty in making the stream and the woods and fields yield them a liv¬ ing. The little colony flourished. The one village grew into two, and then into perhaps as many as ten over the years. Eventually the settlements along the Little River, and the terri¬ tory adjacent thereto, contained 2,000 people and there is every evidence that they were well-to-do Indians. Not rich, of course, because they were not the heirs of a rich culture, but cer¬ tainly they were as well off, and per¬ haps better off, than they had been at home. It is a singular thing, but we know about as much about these people who could not read or write as we know about the Lost Colony after Gover¬ nor White left it to return to England. Excavations at the site showed that the Indian colonists were probably well- fed. They ate deer, corn, beans, squash. From their garbage pits, there is evidence also that acorns, walnuts, hickory nuts, berries, were in their diet. It is very likely that rock struc¬ tures in the river once formed an ef¬ fective fish trap. At the spot first sighted by the scouts of the invaders, the Creeks erected a ceremonial and social center which also was the tribe's cemetery. There was a large earthen mound, and on top of this mound, which was leveled off flat at the pinnacle, was a rude temple. In the temple, burned a fire. Once every year, perhaps in August. all the fires of the community were extinguished and this central fire was relighted in a ceremony which lasted for eight days and which was known as the annual Busk, apparently a sort of New Year for the Indians. The warriors were purified, there was feast¬ ing and a general celebration. The mound was surrounded by bur¬ ial plots in which the bodies were buried in circles in shallow graves, usually two and one-half to three feet deep. Over these burial circles prob¬ ably were erected burial huts. All around this ceremonial area, the In¬ dians built a log stockade or palisade, the post holes for which are plainly evident today. Several years ago, land on which this ceremonial center and cemetery was located was deeded to North Carolina and now the State Parks Division is gradually restoring the physical evidences of the site. The mound, which had been about three- quarters excavated and the sand sifted for relics, has been shaped up, a ramp leading to the top rebuilt, and the palisade partially restored. A very modest museum is housed in an old shack which was inherited from a VVPA project. There still isn’t a great deal to see at Indian Mound State Park, but nevertheless it attracts oc¬ casional visitors who drive out about five miles cast of Mt. Gilead and turn right on N.C. 73 for about a mile and a half. You will find the Indian Mound on your left on this road. What happened to these dusky lost colonists who deserted their own people to establish a thriving civiliza¬ tion deep in the heart of the Carolina wilds? They must have enjoyed around a century or more of peace. Of the 121 skeletons so far excavated On top of this mound the invaders built their temple. THE STATE. APRIL 26. 1952 12