Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1867-01-08
or of the New York Herald.
Remarkable Discover.
Sr. ASTuoyy N,~~ 10,

ST. ANTHONY, MINI. Dec. 8.
The monotony Of orr quiet little
own has been considerably disturb
ID of late by discoveries Of a most
curious and remarkable nature. which
have been made within a few DAYS
past in our midst. They are of SO
singular character as to be beyond
the pale Of credencc in the minds of
almost every one who has not been
witness to the facts in the case; but
they are vouched for by citizens Of
such know responsibility and veraci-
ty, that the genuincness Of the state
mcnts in regard to them is placed be-
You'd doubt.
A Mr.. Reuben Nesmith, who lives
in a small house near the German
Catholic church, had occasion to go
down in the cellar on the evening of
Of the LIST instant, to arrange a place
for his winter stock of potatoes,
which he had been hauling that day
from his farm, about two miles be-
yond Manonin. While engaged in
putting together a temporary bin, and
while digging to make room for the
the timber used in constructing it,
his shovel came in contact with a
plate Of iron, which after being clear
ed of earth, proved to be trap door,
which was secured by culiously
wrought lock, with heavy bolts run
ming into stone beneath. 1t was
so much corroded by rust that a lit
tie pressure with a crowbar caused
the plate to give way, and upon TAX
ing it up an opening was discovered,
beneath which spiral stone staircase
led down into the earth. Before
venturing down this staircase, Mr..
Nesmith communicated the fact Of
its discovery to his brother-in-law,
Mr.. Luther Chamberlain, and, having
procured lantern. the two proceed
ed to descend, ard after going down
one hundred and twenty-three steps,
they found themselves in a narrow,
horizontal passage, dug in the white
sand, which, as every one familiar
with the geological formation Of the
banks Of the Upper Mississippi knows,
underlies a strata Of limestone. Pro-
ceeding along this passages distance
Of about scventy-tive feet, they
emerged into spacious artificial cave,
also excavated in this white sand.
This cave was Of an ohlong form,
and leading out of it were several
smaller ante-chambers, all of which
gave signs of having been at some
former day occupied rs repositories
of some kind. Iron and copper in
struments of rough kind of work
manship, were nnd.scattered about,
some of them evidently having been
used for cxcavating purposes, others
for cooking utensils, the marks of fire
being observable on the latter. On
entering one of the small ante-cham-
bers, q number Of rude seats were
found, and upon one side Of the room
an elevated platform, upon which
stood roughly hcwn stone, some
thing like the reading desk Of an
Episcopalian church. On the wall
behind this desk, on either side of
colossal human figure. in bass-relief,
very curious hieroglyphics were found
traced in the white sand, and an Or
namental traccry Of peculiar design
covered the other three sides Of the
chamber. In the next apartment a
sort of stone sarcophagus was found,
upon the top Of which was laid an
immense rock, firmly cenented to the
burial case, and which required the
united exer,ions Of four men to re-
move. This being done, human
skeleton was found underneath, the
bones of which crumbled to powder
Immediately upon exposure to the air.
Several copper and iron rings we're
found in the sarcophagus, also Curl
Gus silver ornament, octagonal in
shape, and carved in unintelligible
characters, some Of which correspond
ed with those upon the wall Of the
apartment above referred TO.
A third chamber was much larger
in extent than the others, and the
ceiling was very much like an invert-
ed funnel in shape, directly under the
apex of which was large cube-shaped
stone. which was stained with marks
of FIRE and some other dark substance,
and deposit Of hardened ashes lay
around it on the ground. 1t was eyi-
IDENTIFY used as an artificial altar, and
this theory seems to be confirmed by
the fact that an aperture large enough
to admit the body Of a man opens
from this apartment into smaller
one, the floor of which is below that
Ct the other rooms, and which is COW
cred with limy powder, apparently
the ashes Of bones, whether human
or otherwise cannot be ascertained.
On continuing their explorations the
party found an iron-plate door, which
easily gave way upon little pressure,
and q passage way, about three feet
in height, and large enough for one
person to pass was discovered. Mr..
Nesmith and his brother-in law follow
ed the passage way, which led in a
somewhat circuitous direction to the
vicinity Of the river. This is proved
BY the sound of the water washing
upon the shore, which may be dis
tinctly heard at the end of this pas
sage way, the outer opening to which
has apparently been filled 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.
Il
relies found are not at all aboriginal
in character, and may have been the
work Of people exisisting long be-
fore even these prairies we're the hunt
ing grounds of the Indian. Copies
Of the hieroglyphics have been care
fully transcribed and forwarded to
some If the most learned archaolo-
gists Of the Eastern States, and it is
hoped that they may be able to OBJ