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34 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
with utensils of the chase, of war, and of domestic use, buried with them.
Scattered throughout these valleys, however, there are mounds of mod
erate dimensions, circular or ovoidal in form, which are doubtless to be
referred to an Indian origin. Judging from the internal evidence, we
are inclined to regard them ,as the oldest organic remains of the Chero-
kees. Elevated spaces, perfectly level at the top, are still to be seen.
These were formerly used by the Cherokees for the purposes of sport,,
dancing, ball playing, and quoit rolling. In one locality, not far from
the village of Rome, was pointed out a track, some quarter of a mile or
more in extent, which tradition designates as an Indian race-course.
All traces of the dwellings have, of course, disappeared, with the excep
tion of some of the more modern buildings—such as the ruins of the
house formerly occupied by John Ross, the chief of the national, beau
tifully situated upon a gentle elevation, on the edge of the Coosa Val
ley, near the inception of the river; and the former residence of Major-
Ridge, which still remains in good preservation [1861], upon the left
bank of the Oostanaula River, some two miles from Rome. These, how
ever, are modern in character and belong to the semi-civilized Indian,
as modified in his tastes and habits by association with the white race.'' *•
The aboriginal remains of these valleys may be divided into three
classes: 1. Those which are to be referred to the Mound-Builders.
2. Such .as are purely Indian in character. 3. Those which, although:
the work of Indians, were modified by intercourse and contact with
whites or Europeans. Authorities: Jones, Adair, Bartram.
There is little room for doubt that the most typical as well as the
most popular of American games, viz., baseball, originated among the
North American Indians. As played by them the game was, of course,
crude, and in some respects was not unlike the game of football. It is
only by an evolutionary sort of process that the favorite sport of the
modern college athlete can be traced to the primitive playgrounds of'
the savage wilderness, but the essential principles of the game were
undoubtedly derived from the aboriginal inhabitants of the continent.
Throughout the whole of upper Georgia, there are traditions without
number concerning important issues, such as boundary line disputes,,
which were settled by the game; traces of the old fields can still be found,
on which the famous contests occurred; .and in Cherokee County, not
far from the Town of Canton, is a village which commemoratively bears
the name of Ball Ground. To James Adair, the celebrated annalist of'
the North American savage, are we indebted for the following descrip
tion of this favorite pastime of the Indian:
"The ball is made of a piece of scraped deer-skin, moistened and
stuffed with deer's hair, and strongly sewed with deer sinews. The ball'
sticks are about two feet long, the lower end somewhat resembling the
palm of a hand. They are worked with deer-skin thongs. Between these
* Charles 0. Jones, Jr., in '' Monumental Remains of Georgia,'' pp. 82-93,.
Savannah, 1861.