meval
forests.

General Harrison made the following suggestion in regard to the
establishment of these forests in Ohio. When the individual trees that
first got possession of the soil had died out one after another, they
would, in many cases, be succeeded by other kinds, till at last, after a
great number of centuries, that remarkable diversity of species
characteristic of North America would be established. His suggestion,
the result of practical observation and study, is not without reason. It
is certain, in any case, that the period when these old constructions
were deserted is so far back in the past, that sufficient time has since
passed for the abandoned towns and fields to remain for years, and
perhaps centuries, as waste places, pass through the transition from
waste lands to the beginning of forest growths, and then be covered by
several generations of such great forest trees as were cleared away to
prepare the soil for the settlements, towns, and farms of our people.

HOW LONG WERE THEY HERE?

There are many indications to warrant the conclusion that the
Mound-Builders occupied their principal seats in the Ohio and
Mississippi Valleys during a very long period. If they came from the
south, as appears evident, their settlements must have been extended up
the valley gradually. After their first communities were established in
the Gulf regions, considerable time must have elapsed before their
advancing settlements were extended northward, through the intervening
region, into the Valley of the Ohio. On the Ohio and in the valleys of
its tributaries their settlements were very numerous, and evidently
populous. The surprising abundance of their works in this region, which
have been traced in our time, shows that they dwelt here in great
numbers, and had no lack of industry.

This region seems to have been one of the principal centres from which
their settlements were advanced into the western part of Virginia; into
Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. The spread
of their settlements was necessarily gradual, and a long period must
have been required to extend them over all the country where remains of
their works are known to exist. If their civilization was chiefly
developed after their arrival in the country, which is unlikely, many
years must have elapsed before colonies went forth, to any great extent,
from the original seat of its development. In any case, time was
required to make