“I have the honor to be, &c. “ALBERT GALLATIN. “Professor J. HENRY, Secretary Smithsonian Institution.”
“At a regular meeting of the American Ethnological Society, held at the house of Hon. ALBERT GALLATIN, on the evening of the 4th of June, the President laid before the members a communication from Professor J. HENRY, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; transmitting for the examination and opinion of the Society, a MS. work on the Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. On motion, the letter and accompanying MS. were referred to a committee, consisting of EDWARD ROBINSON, D.D., JOHN R. BARTLETT, Professor W. W. TURNER, SAMUEL G. MORTON, M.D., and Hon. GEORGE P. MARSH, to report upon the same. At a subsequent meeting of this Society, the committee submitted the following Report and Resolutions, which were unanimously accepted and adopted:—
“The Committee of the American Ethnological Society, to which was referred the communication of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, transmitting a manuscript work entitled ‘ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY; «comprising the Results of Extensive Original Surveys and Explorations», by E. G. SQUIER and E. H. DAVIS,’ beg leave to report that—
“They have examined the work in question, and regard it not only as a new and interesting, but an eminently valuable addition to our stock of knowledge on a subject little understood, but in which is felt a deep and constantly increasing interest, both in our country and abroad. In their judgment the work is worthy of the subject, and highly creditable to the authors. Its chief features are, a scientific arrangement, simplicity and directness of statement, and legitimate deduction of facts, while there is no attempt at mere speculation or theory. If published, it will be an enduring monument to connect the names of the investigators in honorable and lasting remembrance with the great subject of American Archæology.
“The existence and progress of these investigations were made known to the Society by correspondence, early in the year 1846; and in June of that year, specimens of the relics recovered, accompanied by numerous maps and plans of ancient Earthworks and Sectional Views of the Mounds from which the remains were taken, were laid before the Society by Mr. Squier in person. These excited deep interest and surprise in all who saw them; and the Society immediately took measures to encourage further investigation, and secure the publication, under its own auspices, of the important results already obtained. A few months later, the chairman of the present committee, being in Ohio, was enabled, through the kindness of Messrs. Squier and Davis, to visit several of the more important monuments in the immediate vicinity of Chillicothe; and among these ‘Mound City,’ so called, from which very many of the minor relics and specimens were procured. He was struck with the accuracy of the plans and drawings as well as of the accounts which had been laid before the Society; and bears full testimony to the fidelity and integrity with which the process of investigation and delineation has been conducted.