THE GATEWAYS TO FORT ANCIENT.

BY THOS. J. BROWN.

During a recent visit to Fort Ancient, after a period of several years, I was greatly impressed by the improvements that have taken place there since I have been acquainted with the fort. My visits to it were begun forty-seven years ago, and have been repeated at short intervals until late years, then not so often.

When I first saw it, and continuing until about the time the State acquired title to it, it was one of the most neglected and uninviting tracts of land that ever came under my notice in Ohio, except for its historic associations it was very undesirable property indeed. It was, except a small tract near the road, a tangled thicket of trees, bushes, (principally briars), logs, weeds, etc. believe it had more blackberry bushes on it than any other tract of equal size in the county. I have known people to drive 14 or 15 miles to it to gather blackberries, and feel well repaid for their trouble. The blackberry bushes have disappeared, with most of the undesirable undergrowth. Logs, brush, weeds and stones are also gone or have been applied to useful purposes. Those dreadful washes which were working back farther and farther within the ramparts from year to year have been arrested in their work of destruction and in some cases at least seem to be in a measure an element of beauty. Still the work of restoration is not completed. The few acres to the north of the public road ought to be added to the rest, and the road should be turned out of its present track through the fort and be directed to another alongside the hollow which bounds the fort along the north, until it gets beyond the fort. The main entrances to the fort would of course remain where they are, but they would then be private ones. The strip referred to would add greatly to the fine appearance and "business like" purposes of the fort. Although the ramparts along the north side are in no place more than a few rods from the road, they are so smothered with undergrowth and unshapely trees

that they are not in sight of the road, and are hard to follow. If that tract were acquired by the State and put under the care of the Ohio Archæological and Historical Society, along with the rest, it would soon be made very attractive.

In reading descriptions of Fort Ancient we notice constant allusion to its numerous "gateways," and these are generally coupled with expression of wonder that there should be so many. Now I have made these "gateways" my special study during my whole acquaintance with it. I have walked the whole length of the ramparts and counted every footstep and every gap, and carefully noted the distance of these gaps apart, and long ago concluded that there are but about five bona-fide gateways, the rest being intended rather for points of defense than for places of ingress and egress. The earthen ramparts would afford little protection to the defenders in case an assault were made upon them. The inside slopes are as steep as the outside and afford no suitable standpoint, so the defenders' bodies would be protected and yet give him opportunity to see over the rampart. If he stood upon the top he would be even a better target for the assailants than they would be for him. I consider it necessary to conclude that each of these gaps was occupied with a blockhouse reaching out beyond the wall, forming a bastion from which defenders could enfilade the outside of the ramparts most effectually. The distance of these gaps apart is in no case too great to serve this purpose, and if we consider it in this way, the whole outside of the walls could be defended with very little exposure on the part of the defenders. There was evidently one gateway where the public road now enters from each side, and one at the extreme farthest end of the "old fort," one near the middle of the north side, and one most likely on the west side opening from the peninsula, and one nearly opposite on the east side. The rest of these gaps were intended merely to give opportunity for introducing blockhouses at proper distances and in proper positions for defense, and may have been supplied with small wickets, easily closed and easily defended. Even the acknowledged gateways were probably built in the same general way, but with the portal idea unmistakable and prominent.

Having appreciated the value of Fort Ancient so long, as a memorial of the mysterious Mound Builders, and having seen such marked progress in the way of preserving it, it is particularly trying and annoying to me to see such a small, and yet such an important portion of the fort still outside the ownership and jurisdiction of the State and Archæological Society as the strip north of the road. The amount probably necessary to acquire it would be so little to the State now out of debt that it looks unpardonable that it should be neglected any longer, the public road should be turned around as intimated before, so as to throw the works all within one enclosure.

Let us hope that before another year has passed the few remaining acres may be added, and all will be safe.

VOL. XII. No. 4.

EDITORIALANA.

&& Randall

OCTOBER, 1903.

GEORGE BOHAN. WRIGHT.

General George B. Wright one of the oldest, most widely known and highly esteemed citizens of Ohio, died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Frank C. Eaton, Columbus, Ohio, on September 11, 1903. General Wright's life was one, save in his last years, of incessant and intense activity and most successful achievement. His parents were of the best New England stock, and emigrated from Massachusetts to Ohio in 1808. Both his grandfathers were soldiers in the Colonial army during the war for American Independence. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812. General Wright therefore descended from an ancestry distinguished for patriotism and bravery. He was the youngest member of a family of five children, two sisters and three brothers. He was born, and spent his boyhood like so many Ohioans who have attained honor and high position, upon a farm. This one was located near Granville, Licking county, this state, and there on December 11, 1815, George B. Wright first saw the light of day. General Wright was mainly a self-made man. From the time of his birth until he was twenty-four years of age he lived at home, attending district school during the winter months and working upon his father's farm and in his tannery. From 1835 to 1839 he was accorded the privileges of an excellent private school and a village academy. In the latter year he entered the freshman class of Western Reserve College, then located at Hudson, Ohio, and now known as the Western Reserve University of Cleveland. At the end of the freshman year he left the college at Hudson, and by reason of unusual proficiency in his studies he was admitted to the senior class of Ohio University at Athens. Here he completed the academic course. Upon leaving college he became a student

GEORGE BOHAN WRIGHT.

of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1843, and immediately began active practice upon his chosen vocation at Newark, Ohio. He at once showed especial ability and aptness in his profession, and became in a short time the attorney for the three corporations then constructing railroads which were to pass through Newark, viz: The Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark, The Central Ohio, and The Steubenville & Indiana. In two of these companies he became a stockholder and officer. In 1857 he was appointed receiver and general manager of The Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad Company, which position he retained until May, 1861, when he was called to Columbus by Governor William Dennison to assist in equipping and sending to the field Ohio soldiers for the Union Army. He entered the quartermaster's department as first lieutenant, and was rapidly promoted until he reached the head of the department and was made quartermaster general of the state, with the rank of brigadier general. This responsible position he occupied. until 1864, discharging its duties with conspicuous fidelity and business fact, and disbursing in the department from three to five millions of dollars, all of which was done without the loss or discrepancy of a single cent. In the meantime he was appointed colonel of the 106th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but was not permitted to go into the field, as he greatly desired, but was detailed on duty at Columbus, and in addition to his duties as quartermaster general, he was appointed by President Lincoln an ordinance officer, and placed in charge of the Columbus Barracks, and superintended the construction of the first buildings employed for that purpose at the state capital. In 1867 he was appointed by Governor Joseph D. Cox the first commissioner of railroads and telegraphs in Ohio. He was reappointed to this office by Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, discharging the duties of this position for some three years, and receiving great praise for the methods he adopted in the management of this important state department. His compilation of the laws regulating railroads and telegraphs and the history of their lines then in operation or projected was printed in a separate volume and had wide circulation throughout the country and was highly appreciated and valued by the officials of the railroad companies and the lawyers of the state. In 1871 he resigned the commissionership of railroads and telegraphs to accept the office of vice-president of The Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, of which General George B. McClellan was president. When he was in that position he had charge of the legal work of the railroad, with his headquarters at Meadville, Pennsylvania. After two years service in that capacity, he resigned this position (1873), and was made receiver of The Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad Company of Indiana and Illinois. This position he held until 1880, when the road was sold, and the company reorganized. His headquarters during this time were in Indianapolis, where he remained until 1887, when he returned to his former home in Columbus.