Wednesday, March 11, 2009

History Lesson for the Franks




Yes, we went to another location of interesting history, but this time the Civil War was not involved. How strange is that? We visited the Etowah mounds, named for the Etowah Indians that the Spanish explorer De Soto encountered in approximately 1592. At least I think that was the date. De Soto brought 1,000 men with him to explore and subdue the land. After landing in Florida he traveled all over the southeastern United States as far north as Kentucky, then over through Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. He had a major battle not far from where my dad grew up in Caddo Gap, Arkansas.




So De Soto and his 1,000 subduers visited the Etowah Indians and recorded what they found. The location is interesting because the Indians made huge mounds for their chief and other leaders to live on, atop a plaza where the rest of the tribe would play and work and make their own living quarters. We went on top of the mounds and we were impressed by how much it reminded us of what the Incas did in South America - steps built in to a man-made mountain/pyramid structure. The largest mound is over 65 feet high with entire trees buried inside the thing. They lived in a mud-hut type house made in a manner called Waddle and Daub. It looks like something an African tribesman would build, not like American Indians.




It turns out that De Soto and his crew infected the Etowah Indians with all their new fangled diseases and decimated the tribe. Whatever was left of these Indians was soaked up by the Creeks or the Cherokees, probably Cherokees. The location was truly interesting and very well done, and it was a gorgeous afternoon to experience something new.




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