I'm not sure whether I've ever mentioned the old fortification located in Lawrence County (MO) on this blog, but if so, I'm pretty sure I've never previously gone into much detail about it. So, I thought I'd write about it today.
The place is located about two miles southeast of the village of Hoberg or about four to five miles almost due south of Mount Vernon. The original fortification consisted of a ditch or moat surrounding about an acre of flat land with a wall of earthworks just inside the moat. The wall is estimated to have originally been about five feet high but has been worn away by time. It is presumed the ancient builders of the fort chose the site partially because Spring River runs along one side, and its bluff is so steep that, according to a 1904 correspondent to a St. Louis newspaper, even a trained mountain climber could not scale it. The flat land in the other directions was treeless when the first white settlers arrived in the area and is presumed to have been so when the fort was built, giving occupants of the earthworks a clear view of any approaching enemies.
The first white settlers theorized that the fort had been constructed by early Spanish explorers, and, thus, they named the place the Old Spanish Fort. However, archeological and geological study during the early 1900s suggested that the fortification was very likely built by the same Native American tribe who built the similar but much larger Fort Ancient in Ohio. The old fortification in Lawrence County was, therefore, redesignated as Fort Ancient, although it is still known locally as Spanish Fort. The Mound Builders who constructed the fort predated the Osage Indians, who lived in Missouri during the 1600s, 1700s, and early 1800s.
Around 1880, a cemetery was laid out on the flat land that had once been part of the fort, and many early settlers of Lawrence County are buried there. In 1930, a historic marker commemorating Fort Ancient was placed at the cemetery site and dedicated in a ceremony held on October 12 of that year.
2 comments:
Interesting! We live in the middle of the ancient mound builders in Ohio.
I didn't realize they were in that part of Missouri also.
I didn't realize the two sites were connected either until I started researching it a little more than I previously had. The theory, I think, is that the Mound Builders built the small fort in Missouri on their way to Ohio.
Post a Comment