For over ten thousand years, Native Americans frequented the area of Brandenburg and Meade County. The fact that they lived here at different periods is evidenced by the large amount of artifacts, burial grounds and shell mounds along the river front. This area was desirable because of the river, abundant game, fish nuts, berries and ground for planting corn, and especially, a high quality flint.


In terms of our artifacts themselves, it is evident that they are highly desired by international collectors for they are being rapidly sold on the market. This bodes poorly for our honoring this heritage with a museum, though a movement is afoot to accomplish this.

It is debatable regarding the exact tribal lineage, though some are sure that the Native Americans here were closely related to the Cherokee and Shawnee tribes. Given the large number of years (ten to twelve thousand), it is likely that the tribes were mixed across the centuries. We note this grand heritage in order to testify that this area has been a desirable place to live for our predecessors and is now a desirable place to live for the pluralistic society that is emerging here. Strong evidence suggests that originally Native Americans came from Mongolia which means that the first settlers were Asian Americans. European Americans and African Americans came to this area