Among White Americans, it was a common belief during the 1800s that a primeval race of people were responsible for the creation of structures like Serpent Mound, Poverty Point, Watson Brake, and Cahokia. This theory reversed the role of Native American ancestors from their actual role in creating these structures, to the fictional role of destroying the mythical "Mound Builders". The theory remained popular for several decades after being thoroughly disproved by Cyrus Thomas in 1894. This newspaper article is typical of the coverage of the time. The "prehistoric race" mentioned by the article would have been understood by contemporary readers as a reference to the still-accepted myth of a lost people of North America.