THE ROCK EAGLE - Putnam County, Georgia

 

THE ROCK EAGLE - Putnam County, Georgia

“Tread Softly here White Man – For long ere you came, Strange races lived, fought and loved”

Ancient Effigy, the "Rock Eagle" - Putnam County, Georgia - JDJ Photo

All across this great country of ours, there are footprints and echoes of the past that have been forgotten or have been hidden from the greater consciousness for hundreds and even thousands of years. Often times these ruins or relics are obscured by heavy vegetation consisting of thick hardwood forests. Eastern Georgia is covered by such forests and the Oconee National Forest in particular covers over 867,000 acres from the rolling hills of the Piedmont to the southern Appalachian Mountain in that state. Oconee has a Creek / Cherokee origin, and it means “Land Beside Water”. In this forest, about an hour east of Atlanta, there is a very mysterious object that lies beneath the trees as it has for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. This object is the Rock Eagle. The Rock Eagle is a giant effigy made of white quartz rocks in the shape of an Eagle. It is laid out on the ground in such a way that it is the image of a bird that you would see in the sky if you were on the ground looking up. In 1877 the Smithsonian Institute conducted a survey of the Rock Eagle and noted that the body of this massive ancient structure is 102 feet long and has a wing spread of 120 feet. The depth of its breast is 8 feet tall. The Rock Eagle is located along what was once known as the ancient Okfuskee Trail which connected the Charleston, South Carolina area with the Mississippi River. Not far from the Rock Eagle is another effigy called “Rock Hawk” and like the Rock Eagle, Rock Hawk is laid out such that it appears as viewed from the underside the way it would be as if they were flying above the observer. It is believed that Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk were constructed by prehistoric Indians before Columbus arrived in America. I like to say arrived as opposed to discovered because the tens of thousands of people living in the New World certainly already knew it was here before Columbus arrived. These two rock effigies are estimated to be as old as 2,000 years. Far to the west, during the Woodland period of precontact, over 1,000 years ago numerous animal and bird effigy mounds were built by ancient peoples, especially in Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin. It is unknown if any connection or influence from those people resulted in the construction of these bird effigies. One striking difference is that the aforementioned western mounds were made of earth whereas the Rock Eagle is made of piled quartz stones. No one knows for sure who built the Rock Eagle or why. However, because rock piles were often burial sites, some believe that was the purpose for the Rock Eagle and they also believe that it was the practice for Native Americans to add a stone to a gravesite when they passed it. What is not up for debate is how large this effigy is and what a massive undertaking it would have been for ancient peoples to build it as it is estimated that the effigy consists of over a million pounds of quartzite. William Bartram, an American writer, naturalist and explorer, wrote about the Rock Eagle in 1791 stating that the Creek Indians who inhabited this land for centuries reported that this mound was here when

Woods of the Oconee National Forest surround the Rock Eagle - JDJ Photo

their people migrated to the region. When Bartram asked why it had not been destroyed, the Indians replied that their ancestors sensed a religious importance associated with the Rock Eagle. They said that their ancestors found it as it was and decided to leave it as it was. Some people believe that the Rock Eagle may be as much as 6,000 years old! There are several old interpretive panels at the site and from them I learned that In 1807 a man named Giles Tompkins took owner ship of the area that contains the Rock Eagle. Tompkins family tradition states that the local Muskogee Creeks told Tompkins that their ancestors did not know the mounds age or who built it. It seems that everyone, however, who has visited the Rock Eagle is impressed with its importance and the necessity of its preservation. In 1938, as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the fence protecting the rock eagle, the stone walkway and stone observation tower were built. It is incredible to think about how many structures the WPA made, artifacts it preserved, trails, campgrounds and roads those men built and after all of these years they are still here and in use.  The parking lot at Rock Eagle is pretty unique as the stalls are not separated by painted lines, instead they are separated by raised rock dividers. There are several informational panels at the site that give some information about the Rock Eagle and its mysteries. From the panels, a long pair of long stone paths separated by what was once likely a green lawn, lead to the Rock Eagle. The effigy itself, for protection, has been enclosed by a tall, circular black chain link fence. Behind the effigy stands a 4-story stone observation tower. The path, stone stall dividers and the tower were built by artisans as each block of stone is fit together just so, resulting in very strong structures that have lasted 80 plus years. When I visited the Rock Eagle it was a grey, overcast day and there was no wind. The site is situated in mixed loblolly Pine and hardwood forest and it was very silent while I was at the site. I walked down the path toward the Rock Eagle and when I got up to the fence I was kind of disappointed because it looked like just a pile of rocks and I couldn’t make out a shape of the thing looking at it from ground level. I walked around the effigy to the tower which is a marvel in itself. Master artisans constructed this thing and it is rough and gaunt looking but at the same time quite impressive with a medieval sort of appearance. I noticed how a rectangular stone slab was fit perfectly above each window, the graceful stone arches of the top windows and the entrance and the implausible way the stones are all fit together as it rises up through the woods. Inside, sturdy wooden stairs take you up to 3 different observation

Eerie looking trees as seen from the Observation Tower that looks over Rock Eagle
 JDJ Photo

levels and when I reached the 3^rd floor and looked out the window upon the effigy I was shocked to see the totally recognizable, and massive shape of a great raptor. I continued up the stairs to the top level and gazed out upon the Rock Eagle with my mind filled with the possibilities of how this effigy might have been built, who the builders were, why they built it and when was it built? There was strange grey winter half-light coming in through the tower windows. These windows framed tortured, gnarled, old trees – the upper branches of which were covered in bright green mosses. It is an interesting thing to look straight across at the

Gnarly looking tree as seen from the Rock Eagle Observation Tower - JDJ Photo

upper branches of a giant tree from the 4^th floor of that tower and a view of a tree one seldom sees. I walked down the stairs of the tower and out into the woods. It was winter so all the leaves were off of the deciduous trees so you could see deep into the forest. The forest floor was littered with layers of decaying leaves and pine needles that have piled up over the centuries no doubt creating layers of soil. There were different kinds of hairy looking vines winding their way up the bigger trees and the whole place had a dreary, almost ghostly appearance. It is a strange thing to walk through the forests and consider that people have roamed these woods for thousands of years. It is also interesting to think about the old  trails that connected these relics and sites such as the ancient city of Ocmulgee located only an hour south of the Rock Eagle. Ocmulgee was a mound city similar to the great city of Cahokia near present day St. Louis. There is evidence that Ocmulgee has had some sort of human habitation at it for over 12,000 years! Did the people from that city build the Rock Eagle? We will likely never know. If, however you find yourself in Atlanta, Georgia and you are looking for something interesting to go see, consider taking a drive out to the Oconee Forest to pay the Rock Eagle a visit.

Ground level view of the Rock Eagle. Note the raised rock breast of the bird and head in the foreground - JDJ Photo

Old stone path leading to Rock Eagle and Observation Tower that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps - JDJ Photo