"Running nearly in an east-and-west course on the south side, and close to the outlet of the springs, is an upheaval that has brought the carboniferous limestone to the surface standing on edge. The sulphur and fresh-water springs rise south of the line of this dike. On the line of it, about the center of the raised bottom or plateau between the two ravines, say ten or twelve feet higher than the springs, and embracing an area of eight acres, occurs a sink of about one hundred and twenty feet in diameter. It was on the raised rim of this sink that I discovered the heaps of clay and shells, and what I took to be the inside mold or core on which the kettles had been formed. was then a pool of water, around which I found the most abundant remains of pottery, not only represented by fragments of these large, coarse salt-pans, but by many pieces of small vessels of much finer texture, and of superior workmanship, such as would be used for domestic purposes. From these and large quantities of chippings and of offal, I inferred that this was the site of the old settlement." It "The hills at this point run nearly an east-and-west course, forming a range of upheaval that crosses the state of Illinois, from the Ohio River at Shawneetown to the Mississippi, and at some places attains a height of about 700 feet, being the highest land in Illinois or either of the adjoining states of Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana. Immediately south of the salt springs is a spur of the main hill, its northern terminus being precipitous bluffs of metaphoric sandstone, which Prof. Worthen, the geologist of Illinois, who once visited the locality with me, classed with the Chester group." This agrees with Lane's description of the province and is an impressive corroboration of my belief that the "Saline" was "the river that falleth swift from hie rockes and hils." Prof. Cyrus Thomas, in his very interesting essay on the "Shawnees in pre-Columbian times,"* also notes the discovery of this salt-kettle ware in the same country. His transcripts bear vigorously on the subject matter of this paper. He says, after referring to Mr. Sellers' find, "Mention of this pottery had previously been made by J. W. Beck. He remarks that about the Gallatin and Big Muddy Salines large fragments of earthenware were frequently found under the surface of the earth. They appear to have been portions of large kettles used probably by the natives for obtaining salt." "The settlement of the Shawnees at Shawneetown, on the Ohio, in this (Gallatin) county, in comparatively modern times, is attested not only by history, but also by the name by which the town is still known. But there is some evidence that an older Shawnee village was at one time located at the very point where this 'salt American Anthropologist, Vol. 4, pp. 149-51. +Gazetteer of Illinois, p. 52, 1834. kettle' pottery and these stone graves were found. In the American State Papers, Public Lands, Class viii., Vol. 2, p. 103 (Gales and Seaton Edition), is a communication by the Illinois and Wabash Land Company to the United States Senate and House of Representatives in which occurs the following statement: 'On the 5th of July, 1773, the bargain was completed by which these Indians (Illinois), for a large and valuable consideration, agreed to sell to Murray and his associates two tracts of land which are thus bounded: The first begins on the east side of the Mississippi River at the mouth of Heron Creek,' called by the French 'the River of Mary,' being about a league below the mouth of the Kaskaskia River. From thence the line runs a straight course, northward of east, about eight leagues, be it more or less, to the hilly plains; thence the same course, in a direct line, to a remarkable place, known by the name of the Buffalo Hoofs, seventeen leagues or thereabouts, be it more or less; thence the same course, in a direct line, to the Salt lick Creek, about seven leagues, be it more or less; thence, crossing the creek about one league below the ancient Shawnee town in an easterly, or a little to the north of east course, in a direct line to the Ohio River, about four leagues, be it more or less; thence down the Ohio, by its several courses, until it empties into the Mississippi, etc. A copy of the deed is also given, dated July 20th, 1773,* containing same boundaries, and with it proof of record in the office at Kaskaskia the 2nd of September, 1773." "Although the claim was rightly rejected by Congress and the directions given are slightly erroneous, as the geography of the west was not as well understood at that time, we are justified in believing the localities are correctly named, as it is not likely such a vast claim would have been based on boundaries determined by imaginary places. These were real and given correctly as the information then obtainable would admit of. The location of the 'ancient Shawnee town' is pretty definitely fixed, as it is on Saline River above where the line crosses, and is about four leagues from the Ohio, and was at that time (1773) known as the ancient Shawnee town, and in the locality where the above pottery was found. The Shawnee village of modern times was on the banks of the Ohio, where the city named after them now stand; nor was it ancient in 1806, when visited by Ashe. It is also worthy of notice that the ancient town is not included in the bounds given, while the new town is." Here we find apparently an historical confirmation of our discovery in the fact that a town, or a town site, existed, which was called in 1773 the "ancient Shawnee town," at or near the spot where we suppose Chaun-istem-oatan was located. The inquiry now contronts us, is there any identity between the two? It is quite within the range of possibility that they are the same *Ibid., p. 117. or at least occupied the same site, for this section of the country, including these salt springs were in the possession of the Chaouanons a hundred and perhaps two hundred years previous to 1773. It does not necessarily follow, as supposed, that all those called Shawnees indicated one people. In fact, the interpretation Chaun-istem-oatan brings into the subject of the Shawnees a possible solution of a matter that has seriously bothered many historians. Parkman remarks:* "Their eccentric wanderings, their sudden appearances and disappearances, perplex the antiquary and defy research." Dr. Brinton says: "The wanderings of the unstable and migratory Shawnees have occupied the attention of several writers, but it can not be said that either their history or their affiliations have been satisfactorily worked out." Since the above was written Prof. Cyrus Thomas, in his essay before referred to, has investigated the subject at a greater length and the result of his researches comprises about all we know in regard to those supposed to have been Shawnees. One fact which has bewildered many investigators is the appearance of what seems to have been the same name, in widely separated localities, at or about the same period. I do not propose to theorize in regard to this particular point, nor to go into the subject to any extent, but simply endeavor to show what seems to me to be a possible answer to the problem. The Chawonocks of Lane, or Chawons of Captain John Smith, from whom the eastern name of Shawanoes was derived, went north to Pennsylvania in 1693-4.‡ and from there migrated west to the Ohio about 17248 Their name, as Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull has suggested, was derived from their seat on what is now known as the Chowan River, Chowan-olke "south country," because they were south of the Virginia tribes. Therefore the eastern origin of the name Shawnee means undoubtedly "the southerners." This was also the case with the Sauwanoos on the Delaware River, of the Dutch maps of 1656 and previous, for Van Der Donck says: "The Savanoos are the southern nations and the Wappanoos are the eastern nations." The Chawonocks and the Nanticokes were intimately connected by many ancient ties, which lends force to the foregoing argument, and are referred to in the Walam Olum as follows: "The Nanticokes and Shawnees going to the south."** Ralph Lane bears testimony to this fact, although his story has been stamped by some as improbable, on account of the pearl-fishery alluded to. But in the light of our present knowl *Life of Pontiac, Vol. 1, p. 32. Hist. Mag., Vol. 7, p. 48, 1870. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. 1, 1st Series, p. 206. edge, it is not at all unlikely, for perforated pearls have been found in abundance in the western mounds. There seems to have been but little change in the geographical positions of all the tribes of this section in the interval between 1585 to 1613. The probability is, that the influx of settlers in a few years. caused more changes in the tribal locations than occurred among themselves in hundreds. Lane says: "This lame king (of Chawonock) is called Menatonon. When I had him prisoner two days he told mee that three dayes' journey in a conow up the river Chawnock, then landing and going four dayes journey northeast, there is a king whose country lyeth on the sea, but his best place of strength is an island in a bay invironed with deep water, where he taketh that abundance of pearle that not only his skins, and his nobles, but also his beds and houses are garnished therewith. This king was at Chawonock two yeares agoe to trade with blacke pearle, his worst sort whereof 1 had a rope, but they were naught, but that king he sayeth hath store of white, etc."* This passage, as will be observed, describes Captain John Smith's tribe, the Kuskarawaokes or Kuskaroanokes, "makers of white beads," who were the Nanticokes of more recent times. They take their name of Nanticoke from their ancient home on "Nanticoke Point," on Nanticoke River, Maryland-the Nantaquack-"point of land on a tidal river" of Smith's nap. The "island in a bay" was, without question, one of Smith's islands in Tangier Sound, not far from the mouth of the Nanticoke River-in direction and number of days' travel agreeing perfectly with Lane. Some suppose, without critical analysis of the description given, that "Craney Island," near Norfolk, Virginia, was meant. But Lane in a previous trip went to the town of Chesapeake, further north, and had it referred to Craney Island, he would not have written as he did. The Chaouanons of the seventeenth century, who were living on the Cumberland River, and other streams, including the Saline River, tributary to the Ohio, do not seem to have been the same people, any more than to call the Massachusetts Delawares. In 1673 Marquette passed by the mouth of the Ohio, which he called the abouskigou, "a white flowing-out." He says: "This river comes from the east, where live the people called Chaouanons. They are so numerous that in one direction they have twenty-three villages, and in another fifteen, conveniently near together. They are not at all warlike. They are the people whom the Iroquois are seeking to wage war upon without provocation, and, as these poor fellows can not defend themselves, they are captured and carried off like sheep. *Hakluyt Voyages, Vol. 3. p. 256; Arbers Smith, p. 312-13. †Tooker. American Anthropologist, Vol. 6, p. 409. Archæologia American, Vol. 4, pp. 29–31. Paris reprint Edition, 1681, p. 32. "Upon the map the Oabouskigou is traced but a short distance from the Mississippi. On the map attached to the journal published in 1681 the Mississippi is traced to the Gulf of Mexico; and on it the Chaouanons are placed on the Ohio near to the Mississippi. Marquette's original manuscript with his own map, 'tracee de sa main,' was preserved in the College of St. Marie in Montreal, and was published by Shea in 1856. On this map "Ghaouanons' is placed in the great blank space far to the east of the Mississippi."* These Chaouanons, Chauanons, Chouanoua, or Chaouese, etc., as their name variously appears, were inhabitants of a country abounding in salt licks. Prof. Cyrus Thomas further remarks:+ "The fragments of the large earthen salt-kettles similar in character to those found in Gallatin County, Illinois, has also been found in connection with the stone graves of the Cumberland Valley, the impression made by the textile fabrics showing the same stitches as the former." Therefore, while the Chaouanons were of the same linguistic family and had some of the same ethnic characteristics as the eastern Chawonocks, their name, I would suggest, might have been derived originally from the salt manufacture carried on by them, and should be translated the salt-people, "Chaun-anoughs." This suggestion seems to be supported by the fact that nearly all the Algonquian dialectical terms for "south" and "sour" are so alike in sound that they might have been very easily mistaken one for the other. *Force. Some Early Notices of the Indians of Ohio, p. 20. +American Anthropologist, Vol. 4, p. 151. |