PREHISTORY OF ASHTABULA
by
Darrell E. Hamilton
      Mound  builders  were probably the first human inhabitants in Ashtabula.  Even  though the  Hopewell mound builders of South Central  Ohio  were  better  known, the mound builders of  Ashtabula  County  left  earth   works all over  Ashtabula  County. The mound builders of  Ashtabula   County  built  mounds for several different reasons. Not  only  just  for burial,  the mound builders of  Ashtabula built earthworks for  defensive fortifications,  food storage and fortification against nature. Most mounds  in Ashtabula County were built near streams or near      a river gorge. Edgewood  and  Chestnut  Grove  Cemeteries are two locations where mounds  were built. Chestnut  Grove  mounds  were apparently built   for   defensive   purposes,   however; Edgewood  Cemetery mounds were apparently built as burial  mounds.  When  pioneer Peleg  Sweet gave land  to  the township for the Edgewood  Cemetery,   nearly a thousand  graves  were found when the land was cleared.
      The mound builders of  Ashtabula  were probably fairly peace living inhabitants. No  one knows exactly who the mound builders of Ashtabula were or what happened to them.   It's been  theo-rized that with the advent of modern Woodland Indians into the area in the late 1500's, the Mound Builders were either killed off, ran off or absorbed into the Woodland Indians tribes. More than likely it was a combination of all three.
      The Erie Indians, (also know as the Cat Nation), were probably the  first  Woodland  Indian s to inhabit the Ashtabula area. The  Erie  lived  more  like the modern Indians that the early settlers knew. They   have  been  said  to  have  numbered  nearly 15,000  stretching  from  Northern   Ohio to   nearly  Buffalo,   New York. However,  the Erie  meet the same fate  that  the  mound builders
of   Ashtabula  meet.  By 1635 the Erie  Indians were being forced  eastward  and inland from Lake Erie by the Iroquois Indians. By 1650,  the  Erie Indian  territory  had  shrunk  to  an  area  east of  
the  Cuyahoga  River.  From  1653  to  1657,  the two Indian tribes were  engaged  in  a war  in which the ferocious Iroquois Indians annihilated the Erie Indians. The Iroquois Indians were supplied muskets  and  other  supplies  by the  Dutch and  English settlers  and  later  on  by  the French. By the time the war had ended, between  500-600   Erie  Indians  remained.  The  ones who remained were  mostly  women  and  children  that  were  absorbed into the Iroquois tribes.
      For over a hundred years no Indian settlements were in Ashtabula County. Ashtabula became a hunting ground for various Indian tribes.  French  explores  were  known  to have explored the area but  no  attempt  was  made  to  settle  the  area.  In  the  late 1700's, a few Indian tribes would settle  in   Ashtabula   County as temporary settlements or camps. The  Massasaugas Indians were
of  Delaware origin that  were subdued by the ferocious  Iroquois Indians.  The Massasaugas   were  said  to  be  harmless  people, wandering hunters who never aspired to be warriors. They were  said to be very religious,  observing rituals which included dancing  and feasting. This would be a plus for the early settlement of   Ashtabula by settlers from the East.
       Many different explores would touch the shores of  Lake Erie and sometimes venture into the river gorges. Most  of  these ex-plores were  Dutch,  English  or  French.  None of these explorers made  any  attempt  or  at  least  any  great  attempt  to  settle the area. The earliest explorers to the area were probably Norsemen. Some experts had believed that  Norsemen  may have made their  way down   through  the  Great  Lakes and  quite  possibly  to the shores of  Lake  Erie of  Ashtabula.  Remnants of  tools and weapons  were  found  by  early  settlers  of  that  time that would have been used by earlier explorers.