The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1866-12-17
From tho New York Hcrald.l
CURIOUS DISCOVERIES IN
MINNESOTA.
Remarkable Discovery Near the Head
Waters of tho Mississippi-Traccs Of
American Prc-Historic Civilization,
ST. ANTHONY, MINI,
n.nnn,h,rp pl I-ts

&c.
ST. ANTHONY, MINI,
December Sd, lS66.
The monotony of our quiet little town
has been considerably disturbed of late,
by discoveries of a most curious and re-
markable nature which have been made
within n few days past in our midst.
They are of SO singular character rs TO
be beyond the pale of credence in the
minds of almost every one who has not
been n witness to the facts in the case
but they are vouched for by citizens of
such known respectability and veracity,
that the genuineness of the statements
in regard to them is placed beyond a
doubt.
A Mr.. Reuben Ncsmith, who lives in
a small house near the German Catho-
lie Church, had occasion to go down in
the cellar on the evening of the lst in
stant, to arrange place for his winter
stock of potatoes, which he had been
hauling that day from his farm, about
two miles from Manomin. While en-
gagged in putting up temporary bin,
and while digging to make room for the
timber used i'll constructing 1t, his
shovel came in contact with plate of
iron, which after being cleared of earth
proved to be trap door, which was Sc
cured by n curiously wrought lock, with
heavy bolts running into a stone be-
meath. II was so much cOrroded
by rust that little pres
sure with crowbar caused the
plate to give way, and upon taking
it up an opening was discovered beneath
which a spiral stone staircase led down
into the earth. Before vcnturing down
this staircase Mr.. Nesmith commune
Gated the fact of its discovery to his
brother. in-law, Mr. Luther Chamber
lain, and having procured 4 lantern, the
two proceeded to descend, and after 60
ing down one hundred and twenty
three steps they found themselves i'll
narrow, horizontal passage, dug in the
white sand. which. as eyery one fanlil.
lar with the geological formation OF tne
banks of the Upper Mississippi knows,
underlies strata of lime stone. Pro-
ceeding along the passage distance OF
about seventy-tiye feet, they emerged
into spacious artificial cave, also
excavatcd in this white sand. This
cave was of an oblong form, and
leading ont of it were several small
er ante-chambers, all of which gave
signs OF having been at some former day
occupied as repositories of some kind.
Iron and copper implements, OF a rough
kind of Workmanship, were found seat
tered about, some of them evidently
having been used for eXcayating pur-
poses, others for cooking utensils, the
- al, al y A. m ~
latter. On entering one of the small
ante-chamberS. a number of rude seats
were found. and npOn one side of the
room an elevated platform, upon which
stood roughly hcwn stone, something
like the reading desk of an Episcopal
church. On the wall behind this desk,
on either side of colossal human figure.
is bass relief, very curious heiroSlyphlcs
were found traced in the white sand,
and an ornamental tracery of peculiar
design covered the other three sides of
the chamber. In the next apartment
a sort of stone sarcophagus WIS found,
upon the top of which was laid an i'm
mensc rock, firmly, cemented to the
burial case, and which required the ex
ertions of fOur men to remove. This
being done, n human skeleton was
found underneath, the bones of which
crumbled to powder Immediately upon
exposure to the air. Several copper
and iron rings were found in the sar-
cophagus. as also a curious silver orna-
ment, octagonal in shape, and carved
in unintelligible characters, some of
which corresponded with those upon
the wall of the apartment above re-
ferred 10.
A third chamber was much larger in
extent than the Others, and the ceiling
was very much like an inverted funnel
in shape, directly under the apex Of
which was n large cube-shaped stone,
which was stained with marks Of fire
and some other dark substance, and
deposit of hardened ashes lay around it
upon the grsund. 1t was evidently used
as sacrificial altar, and this theory
seems to be confirmed by the fact that
an aperture large enough to admit the
body of man opens from this apart
ment to n smaller one, the floor of which
is below that of the other rooms, and
which is covered with q limy powder.
apparently the ashes of bones; whether
human OF otherwise, can not be
ascertained. On continuing their ex-
plorations, the party found an iron plate
door, which easily gave way upon a
little pressure, and passage way about
three feet in height, and large enough
for one person TO pass in STOPPING
posture. was discovered. Mr.. NesInith
and his brOther-in-law followed the pas
sage way, which led in somewhat cir
cuitous direction TO the vicinity Of the
river. This is proved by the sound of
water washing upon the shore, which
may be distinctly heard at the end of
this passage way, the outer opening Of
which has apparently been filed up
from the inside with broken rocks, and
through the interstices of which fresher
air than that of the cave can be felt
blowing at times.
The whole affair is a mystery; the
relics found are not at all aboriginal in
character. and may have been the work
of a people existing long before even
these prairies were the hunting grounds
of the Indian. Copies of heiroglyphies
have been carefully transcribed and
forwarded to some of the most learned
arcbaologists of the Eastern States, and
It'll hoped that they may be able to obtain
some clue as to the origin and use of
these remarkable relics. We understand
that the State Historical Society has
made Mr.. Nesrnith very liberal offer
for them. In the meantime, our little
town is all agog as to the discoveries,
and hundreds of people have visited
the house Of Mr. Sesmith to see these
remarkable antiquities. We trust the
Historical Society may be able TO Sc
cure them as most interesting addi-
tion tc their small but valuable collee-