THE LEGEND OF PRINCE MADOC

Of all the legendary stories told of pre-Columbian visitors to the American continent, the story of Prince Madoc of Wales is probably the most fascinating. The Madoc tradition says that a colony of Welshmen emigrated to America in 1170 A.D. and found their way to the Falls of the Ohio River in what is now Clark County, Indiana. There they lived for many years before being routed from the area and almost exterminated in a great battle with "Red Indians."

Prince Madoc is believed to have been born at Dowyddlan Castle between 1134-1142 A.D. His father was Owain Gwynedd who ruled Wales from 1137 until his death in 1169 A.D. Prince Madoc was reputed to be a brilliant naval commander during his father's reign, using his men and ships tactfully to repulse or devastate the seaward invasions that were sent by King Henry II. Julius Caesar had reported that the Welsh used large ships and were skilled navigators. Celtic vessels were able to travel on the open ocean and were far superior to Caesar's own Roman fleet.

Madoc supposedly made three expeditions to the Americas, reaching the South American coast sometime around 1165. Madoc's last expedition left Wales in the year 1170 and this voyage was recorded as lost at sea in the ancient maritime log of missing ships of Britain in 1171.

Prince Madoc might have faded into history had it not been for the curiosity of John Sevier, the first Governor of Tennessee. In a letter written to Amos Stoddard in 1810, Sevier wrote about his discoveries of ancient though regular fortifications extending up through Alabama and into Tennessee.

In 1782 he inquired about the forts to the ruling Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Oconostota. The old Chief told Sevier that the works had been made by the first white people who came to their lands via the Gulf of Mexico, into what is now Mobile bay, and up the Alabama river. Sevier asked Oconostota if he knew where these white men came and the Chief stated that "he had heard his grandfather and father say they were a people called Welsh, and they had crossed the Great Water in ships." The Welsh, or "White Indians" as they were later called, moved into the interior of the country using large tributaries and creeks. Along the way they built stone fortresses incorporating natural features.

The trail of the Welsh and their stone fortresses leads directly to the Falls of the Ohio, where, according to local traditions, the white Indians made their last stand against the attacking Native Americans. A historical marker in Clarksville, Indiana reads: "A prehistoric Indian village site. According to legend, was peopled by white Indians, who descended from 12th century Welshmen led by Prince Madoc and destroyed by red Indians."

Since the early days of Clarksville, the Native Americans who lived in the area told arriving settlers that the "White Indians" were led by chiefs who were "yellow haired giants." They also said that when one of these kings died, the body was buried with great ceremony in a stone grave.

In 1898, a man named John Brady uncovered an ancient bronze helmet and shield in a vacant lot on the Kentucky side of the Falls of the Ohio. The helmet was found near a site where, in 1799, six skeletons were found wearing brass breastplates adorned with the Welsh coat of arms.

Outside of Clarksville, an extensive graveyard of ancient origin existed on property once known as the Kelly farm. On this site, thousands of human bones were found. They had been buried in such a way as to indicate that the dead were left there after a battle, and that silt from flooding of the Ohio river had covered them as the battle had left them. These bones, all of large stature, were identified as "not Indian." Unfortunately, massive floods in 1907, 1913 and finally in 1937, completely washed out the site, removing any traces of what might have been the final resting place of Indiana's White Indians.

In Jennings County near Columbus, Indiana, a stone mound, 71 feet in diameter was excavated in 1879 and was found to contain a number of skeletons, one which was nine feet, eight inches tall. The skeleton wore a necklace of mica and at its feet stood a rough human image made of clay with pieces of flint imbedded in it.

The excavation was made under the supervision of the Indiana State Archaeologist and included guest scientists from New York and Ohio. The Robinson family, who owned the property, kept the bones and artifacts in a basket at a grain mill near the site, until a flood swept the mill away in 1937.

At Walkerton, 20 miles southwest of South Bend, a group of amateur archaeologists opened an Indian mound in 1925 and unearthed the skeletons of eight giants ranging from eight to nine feet tall. All were wearing heavy copper armor. Unfortunately, there is no record of what finally became of these fascinating artifacts.