----- Original Message ----- From: Dorothy Subject: 190 Mounds and 5 Talking Beach Trees in Cobb Co GA May I forward to another list? Dorothy >>>----------------------------------> ----- Original Message ----- From: The Warrior GA osiyo Yesterday was spent in the area of Allatoona Town and Sand Town and also the Pine Mountain areas of what is now Cobb County Ga near the county lines of Paulding and Bartow. This area is located just SE of the Etowah Mounds site in Bartow County, not more that 5-10 miles. I was called by Reese Cornelius, a resident of the area, who is of Creek and Cherokee heritage, about a piece of property that has just been put up for sale for Residential and Commercial development. This track of land follows the course of Alltoona Creek for about 3 to 4 miles on both sides. It is the results of several generations of families who live there and married and the land passing down until on lady owned it all and she just recently died. Reese is one of the named in the will among others. The property will be sold, and is in control of the estate admin at this point. There are close to 300 acres. On this tract of land are app. 190 stone pile mounds from the Woodland or early Mississippian period and some possibly form the historic period. These mounds are from the size of about 40' L x 12-15' w x 4-5' h to the size that would have been an infant, or about 3 foot round. These mounds occur in clusters and are scattered over the entire tract. Some of this land was farmed and terraces we constructed. In these areas we find the mounds mostly in tact, but some disturbance has been done to some. But it appears that the owners, for the most part farmed around them. Other clusters are in area that we not farmed at all and for the most part remain intact. Some have been looted. Most likely cause of the looted is the presents of five Talking Beach Trees along the creek. There trees all are still living and I measured them to be from 8.5 feet in circumference to almost 10.5 feet in circumference. I have photo documented these as well as taking GPS reading of them and the mounds. Altogether, I took about 90 photos of both the carvings, mounds, "V" trees, "Knee" trees and several extremely large White oaks near 12 feet in circumference and a few Cucumber trees, which are getting to be pretty rare around these parts. Also found was a hill that had the top flattened off and levelled off flat in the shape of a large circle. It is surrounded by mounds. This circle is just up the hill from the creek. And very close to tree of the Beech trees. About ten or so miles away is Kennesaw Mtn and Battlefield. Reese took me along a road between the two properties. All along this road he pointed out more of these mound, sometime them being in peoples front yards. He also pointed out several in the Park at Kennesaw Mtn. We then drove about 2 miles over to Brushy Mtn, where he fought a battle about some graves in the 1980's with Cobb county when the county wanted to build a Water Tower. While he did manage to save a good many graves there, 15 where lost at that time to the construction of the Tower. I have newspaper articles and copies of the letters he sent at that time. Archeological studies at that time confirmed that these stone piles where in fact burials. Yesterday I took pics of graders and dozers destroying the area right across the street form the Historical marker. I was also given pics of the same area that shows it in the 1980's. While it does appear that the known pile have not been touched, it was difficult to be sure from where our observation point was. Resse believed that it is likely they are some being destroyed. We walked the woods behind a house just across the street and were shown several mounds that are part of the same complex and across the other street at this intersection he pointed out quite a few other mounds. These mounds near Brushy Mtn and those at the Alltoona Creek are in extreme danger form being destroyed due to construction. Reese and I have agreed to also go look at three additional Beech Trees at other sites in Cobb. Reese also made me aware that there are several of these Trees in AL that where in Creek areas there. Reese also gave me another book called "Silent Wings" by Eugene Croy about the Trees and other legends. Croy, along with Forrest Wade and J.C. Gazaway are the three men that looked at the trees in Forysth county that we just recently lost our efforts to save from destruction. Croy and Wade wrote books about the trees and Gazaway built the museum that I have mentioned before that is on Franklin Gold Mine Road in Forsyth CO GA. Gazaway has passed, as have the others, but I understand that the museum is still opened on the weekends and staffed by friends of his family. One a side note, I learned of something that I did not know. After the Delaware were run out of their homeland, many joined in the Six Nations. But there was one band that choose to come south and settled in the Pine Mtn area in Cobb County, where they were living as Cherokee's at the time of the Removal and the TOT. Does anyone have any history about this band? Edward Reynolds. Save a grave, it could be your own!