European Reactions to the Mounds

The first record of mounds in Northern America was by the Gentleman of Elvas under the command of Hernando de Soto in Florida. In Ohio, the first recorded European to physically set foot in the Ohio River Valley was Gabriel Arthur, in A.D. 1673-4. Although the first recorded discussions of Ohio River Valley mounds did not occur until the 1770s, Arthur's introduction to southern Ohio heralded the beginning of a long history of interest in the area from explorers and settlers across the globe. The interest that was sparked in the Ohio River Valley in the post-revolutionary era by settlers eager for land helped encourage the later outburst of archaeological interest in the nineteenth century.

Although not specifically an Ohio River Valley reference, the account written by the Gentleman of Elvas about Hernando de Soto's expedition into Florida contains the earliest reference of a Native American mound. On June 1^st 1539, the Gentleman of Elvas described the town of Utica thus: “the lord's house stood near the beach, upon a very high mount made by hand for defense…”

Gabriel Arthur's travels are preserved in this letter from Abraham Wood to John Richards, sent 1674. The veracity of the entire story cannot be verified, and some details were probably elaborated.