Georgia’s Ancient Muscogee Mounds Could Become the USA’s First Tribal Co-Managed Park

America’s Largest Archaeological Dig at Sacred Ocmulgee

The dirt at Ocmulgee holds 17,000 years of human stories.

From 1933 to 1936, more than 800 workers dug up what turned into America’s largest archaeological site, finding nearly 3 million artifacts.

The crown jewel? An Earth Lodge from 1015 CE with its original clay floor still intact.

For the Muscogee people, this was “the place where we first sat down” and built a nation of 60 towns. Then came 1836, when the government forced them west on the Trail of Tears.

The sacred mounds still stand in Georgia, waiting to tell their ancient tale.

Ice Age Hunters First Camped at Ocmulgee 17,000 Years Ago

The first folks showed up at Ocmulgee about 17,000 years ago when Ice Age hunters set up camps along the river. They left behind stone tools and weapons that diggers later found deep in the soil.

These early people hunted mammoths, giant bison, and other now-gone animals that once roamed Georgia. As time passed, they started fishing and gathering plants, nuts, and berries from nearby forests.

Ocmulgee became one of the few spots in North America where people lived non-stop for thousands of years.

Corn Changed Everything for the Mississippian Newcomers

Around 900 CE, new people moved into the Ocmulgee area and brought big changes.

These Mississippian folks knew how to grow corn, beans, and squash, which let them stay put instead of moving around to hunt.

They built lasting villages with strong houses and grew enough food to feed thousands. Their community got more complex, with chiefs, priests, craftspeople, and farmers all doing different jobs.

They also traded with other groups across the Southeast, swapping copper, shells, and special stones not found nearby.

The Sacred Eagle Floor Survived 1,000 Years Untouched

Workers built the Earth Lodge around 1015 CE as a special meeting spot for important ceremonies and tribal talks.

The round building stretched 42 feet across with 47 clay seats in a circle along the walls.

The most amazing part is the original clay floor still there after a thousand years, complete with an eagle design pressed into it.

The eagle faced east toward the rising sun, which was holy to the builders. The door faced east too, with a fire burning in the center where smoke escaped through a roof hole.

Millions of Baskets of Dirt Made the Great Temple Mound

The biggest mound at Ocmulgee stands 55 feet tall and took years to build between 900-1100 CE. People carried about 2 million baskets of dirt by hand to create this huge structure.

A wooden temple sat on top where only the most important leaders and priests could go. The chief likely lived there too, looking down on everyone from his high spot.

Common folks gathered at the bottom for ceremonies while the elite held rituals at the top that regular people couldn’t see.

Muscogee People Called Ocmulgee Their First Home

The Muscogee (Creek) people talk about Ocmulgee as “the place where we first sat down” after a long trip from the west. By the 1700s, they built about 60 towns in the area that formed the strong Creek Confederacy.

The mounds meant a lot to them, and they often went there to pray and hold ceremonies. Their society worked through a network of tribal towns, each with its own council and leaders.

They grew corn, beans, and squash while also hunting deer and smaller game in nearby forests.

British Traders Set Up Shop and Changed Creek Life

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his men reached Ocmulgee in 1540, but the British really changed things when they built a trading post there in the early 1700s.

The Trading House opened around 1690 and soon buzzed with Creek hunters trading deerskins and furs for European goods like cloth, metal tools, and guns.

Creek people started hunting deer not just for food but to trade the skins. Glass beads, metal pots, and cotton clothing became common in Creek towns.

European sicknesses also spread, killing many Creek people who had no protection against them.

A Controversial Treaty Cost the Creek Their Land

The 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs started the Creek people’s final loss of their Georgia homeland.

A Creek leader named William McIntosh signed away all Creek lands east of the Chattahoochee River without proper say-so from his people.

The Creek National Council thought this crime so serious they killed McIntosh for breaking tribal law. Despite complaints that the treaty wasn’t fair, the U.S. government used it to take more and more Creek land.

White settlers rushed into the former Creek lands, pushing the Native people onto smaller pieces of property.

Thousands Died When Soldiers Marched the Creek to Oklahoma

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 gave the U.S.government power to force southeastern tribes off their land.

In 1836, soldiers rounded up more than 15,000 Creek people and made them walk from Georgia to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) during the cold winter.

Many wore only thin clothes and had little food for the 800-mile journey. Thousands of Creek men, women, and children died from hunger, cold, and sickness along the way.

The survivors reached Oklahoma and had to build new homes from scratch in strange territory, far from their sacred mounds.

Depression-Era Workers Dug Up Three Million Artifacts

From 1933 to 1936, more than 800 workers hired through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) took part in what became America’s biggest archaeological dig.

These men, looking for jobs during the Great Depression, found between 2.5 and 3 million artifacts at Ocmulgee.

They uncovered eight major earthen mounds and found proof of many different groups who lived there over thousands of years.

The workers carefully rebuilt the Earth Lodge walls and roof while leaving the original floor untouched. Their findings filled countless boxes and changed what we know about early American history.

Roosevelt Protected the Mounds After Citizens Fought to Save Them

Local people in Macon, Georgia worked hard to save the Ocmulgee Mounds after the big dig showed how important they were.

Their efforts paid off when President Franklin Roosevelt declared Ocmulgee a National Monument in 1936. The first protected area covered 678 acres of the most important mounds and archaeological sites.

The government built a museum in 1938 using an Art Deco style to display the thousands of artifacts found during the excavation.

Over the years, the park grew larger as more land was added to protect additional cultural sites connected to the main mound group.

Creek People Return to Their Homeland After 180 Years Away

Today, Muscogee (Creek) people travel back to Ocmulgee from Oklahoma each year for special gatherings and ceremonies at the place their ancestors once lived.

In 2019, the site got a new name: Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park.

Plans are moving forward to expand the park to as much as 30,000 acres, protecting more of the historic landscape.

If it becomes a full National Park, Ocmulgee would be the first one co-managed by a Native American tribe that was forced from their land.

The Muscogee people work with park officials to make sure visitors learn the true story of what happened there.

Visiting Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, Macon

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park at 1207 Emery Highway preserves 17,000 years of Native American history with free admission.

You can explore 8 miles of trails connecting the Earth Lodge with its original 1,000-year-old clay floor and the Great Temple Mound. The visitor center displays artifacts from America’s largest archaeological dig.

Visit during the annual Indigenous Celebration on September 13-14, 2025, or take the special Lantern Light Tour during Cherry Blossom Festival.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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