Equinox Sunrise Alignement at the Cambridge City, Indiana Henge

Equinox Sunrise Alignment at the Cambridge City, Indiana Henge

The southern work is aligned to the Equinox sunrise.  The northern work's gateway is aligned to the summer solstice sunrise.

The southern work, despite being continually farmed, is still visible in this field. The size of this work was 210 feet in diameter or 660 feet in circumference, the same as henges at Mounds State Park, The Junction Group in Chillicothe, Ohio and at Athens County, Ohio.

Aerial photo from 1993 showing the two henges.  Note the black spots in the interior platforms that show burial mounds were once present.

Mysterious Oil Pits of Titusville, Pennsylavania

Mysterious Oil Pits of Titusville, Pennsylavania

"Pennsylvania Sweet Crude", a golden olive colored oil was extracted from the oil pits. 

History of Venango County, Pennsylvania 1890

Again, the ancient oil pits reach far back of the historic period. They 
are found on Oil creek. These pits are very numerous and bear the mark 
of antiquity. They are generally oblong in form, about four by six feet, and 
from four to six feet in depth, notwithstanding the wear and tear of centuries 
and the accumulation of extraneous matter. The deeper and larger ones have 
been cribbed with timber at the sides to preserve their form. This crib- 
bing was roughly done; the logs were split in halves, stripped of their bark, 
and safely adjusted at the corners. The walls seem to have been so thou- 
oughly saturated with oil as to be preserved almost entire to this day. 

These pits are on the west side of Oil creek, about two miles below Titus- 
ville, and in this county. They cover perhaps five hundred acres of land, 
and there may be in all two thousand pits. In some cases large trees grow 
in the pits and on the septa that divide them, showing their antiquity. 

Not far from the mouth of Oil creek there was another ancient discovery. 
In digging the tail-race for a saw mill there was brought to light what had 
evidently been a deepshaft with its sides lined with timbers set in endwise 
that still preserved the clear outlines of the shaft. All had been buried up 
in the mud and soil that had accumulated over it and where its presence 
might have remained unknown to the end of time, had it not been disturbed 
by the movements of business and American enterprise. 

Only a few lamps have been discovered in the Ohio Valley. 5,000 pits would hint that some of this oil was being exported.

Again the question arises, By whom were these ancient works built? 
Certainly not by the Indians. They had no means of collecting oil on so  large a scale. They never labored for any purpose, save on the hunt or the  warpath. They could give no account of the work. Neither was it by the  French. There is no mention of the business of collecting oil in any of  their letters or journals. Besides, there is a growth of timber in these pits,  and on the septa that divide them that shows that they antedate the era of  the French, if not even the coming of Columbus. Pennsylvania Sweet Crude

The Allegheny river has had several names. The Shawnese Indians 
called it Palawa-Thoriki; the Delawares named it Alligawi Sipu, after a 
race of Indians which they believed had once dwelt upon the stream.

 (The Deleware legend is that the Allegewi were a race of giants)

This tribe were called Alleghans by Golden in the London edition of his work, and 
Lewis Evans, on his map published in 1755, calls the river the Alleghan. 
The Senecas called it Ho-he-u, which name the French adopted, con- 
necting it with the Ohio as the same stream. 

Ancient Stone Circle Located in Wyoming County, West Virginia

Ancient Stone Circle Located in Wyoming County, West Virginia

The impression of the stone circle can be seen directly below "Fort Branch" on the map.

History of Wyoming County, West Virginia 1965
Apparently, the original structure was built of loose field stones carried from the immediately surrounding vicinity and put together without mortar.  The original foundation was yet in evidence, being a mound packed with earth, which was, undoubtedly carried from the spot some 200 feet distance, leaving a sizeable depression in the ground.  both the shape of foundation and position of the fallen stones indicate the structure was circular in shape.  Clay from the foundation mound, compared with that of the depression, was found to be the same type.  A study of the fallen stones revealed that while the greater number are, without a doubt, native to the immediate area there were some which may have been brought from quite a long distance along an ancient trail.
   Limited excavation to a depth of six or seven feet at the center of the original foundation disclosed bones identified as a human rib and arm bone.  Perhaps the same tribes who built the mysterious stone walls in Fayette County also raised the circular stone structure in Wyoming.
   In 1959 the garden clubs of Pineville, Mullens and Welch brought to public notice that the ruins of the Indian fort should be restored as a historic attraction for tourists.  Through their efforts, restoration of the ruins was undertaken by the Roadside Park Division of the State Road Commission of West Virginia.  The restoration was completed and opened to the public within a year or two. It is off the main road a mile or two up Fort Branch, easily accessible by car.  Turn off at Fort Branch schoolhouse and keep going until you find it.  You can't miss it.

From Pineville
Head southeast on River Dr. Ave toward Pine Ave
Turn rt on WV -16 S. Pinnacle Ave
Turn left on Fort Branch Rd