Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-04-20
Indian Relics in SwantOn


In the vicinity of Swanton Falls, in Frank
lin County. VT, many Indian relics have
been found from time TO time. These have
eit' er come to light accidentally, Or they
have been discovered amidst the ruins of old
wigWams, and in places of burial. They
consist of implements which the Red Man
made use of in hunting and fishing, in agri-
culture, perhaps also in rude kind of weav-
Stas< or Netting also of weapons of war and
ri rel t-iosHs ezltas-sa3s. They arc of speofui
interest as indicating the degree of advance
ment TO which the AbOrigines had attained.
In q c neighborhood referred to, there are
remains of two Indian burial-plaees. These
are of different ages. The FIRST claiming our
notice is situated about two miles below the
Falls, on a sandy terrace of considerable
thickness, which rests on underlying clay.
Ii is near the Missisquoi river Sand nndOubt-
edly belonged 10 the St. Fhfncois tribe, a
branch Of the great Algonquin race inhabit-
ing that portion of Northwestern Vermont
when it was first settled by whites. This
burial place was apparently connected with
an old Indian village in the neighborhoOd,
which consisted at an early day of about fifty
huts, and was called Missisquoi, after the
estuary or stream, on the banks of which it
stood. Ii was unquestionably used as place
for the interment of the dead at a cOmpara-
lively recent date still sumo circumstances
have led me - suspect that a portion of it
served the same purpose at much more
ancient period, and long before it " s thus
employed by the st Francois tribe. It's
main features, however, clearly refer 1t tn
the last named Indians. On this ground
have been discovered In abundance imple-
ments made of stone, both hatchets and axes,
spear and arrowhead, gouges and chisels /;
also rude specimens of earthern ware OF sew
eral descriptions, with various trinkets, as
beads and other articles of adurnment. In
times Of high water, when the river Is swollen,
human bones have been often washed out o
the bank on which this old burying- ground
is situated. Among these it is said thar
bones, in a few instances, have been met
with, OF such size as to indicate that the in
divIdu4ls to whom they belonged must have
been OF extraordinary stature. Though il be
by no means certain, still 1t is p1ssIble, that
these were the remains of a more ancient
people that inhabited the country at far
earlier day.
Tuis conjecture leads me to notice the
other burial place already referred to. Ir is
situated on what is called in the neighbor-
hood the ." old hemp yard. ? This is about
two miles north of SwaRton Fails, and is not
very far IRON the line which separates the
township of Swanton from that of Highgate
Ihe above cited name was given &C fasS
locality, not, often affirmed, because heu9l
W.. T.tseE FsAsed on the ground, but because
snzthe fGst settlements were effected n
sssss.a With With, thrifty Norvey
kk nd Etrais as hemp.
Tins latter place of sepulture is of gre%'
antiquity. 1t belonged to a race long since
extinct, race which inhabited the country
before either the Iroquois or the Algonquin
the two great contemporaneOus nations OF
Red Men in the region-came upon the stage
okRetiOn- OF the origin Of this burial ground,
and of the people whose remains were here
entombed, the ST. Francis Indians. as | am
eredibly informed, knew nothing. Respect
ing them, they even had no tradition, as |
was once told BY one Of the few surviving
members of the tribe. Upon the graves the
largest trees were in full vigor, or already
wanIng-and we are ignorant how many had
previously matured, and gone to decay
when the region was FIRST settled bv whites.
Indian relics are often found directly beneath
huge stumps, which still remain as a witness
of the trees which must have taken root,
hourished Tor centuries. and grown old on
the resting place, and since the disappear
anee of this more ancient people.
From these graves | have collected pieces
of earthen ware, adorned with curious hierOg-
lyphics Of undoubted antiquity, and which
To my mind give almost unmIstakable evidence
if not of Asiatic origin, at least of people
closely allied in their sentiments and habits
TO the nations of the East. Reference is now
made more particularly to earthen tubes,
somewhat IN the shape of a flute or pipe,
from an inch 10 an inch aud half in diane
ter, and from about fifteen inches to two feet
in length, ornamented with hieroglyphies
r ~
symbols, so far as | can make them out.
are closely akin to those employed as well
IN the Eleusinian rites, as in the old Cyri-
baic mysteries of SamOthrace. Amongst
these remains there are also specimens which
might seem at once to hint at the Noahian
deluge, and to symbolic the deliverance
from it. a canoe, with what appears to be
a bird, perhaps a dove, wrought IN stone, is
one of the emblems referred to. This, when
compared with some of the Mexican antiqui-
ties interpreted as having such significance
seem certainly with as much eleaTness as
they, to point to the flood associated with
the name of Noah. Some of the arrow heads
found in this burial place were made of a
stone different from any, so far as am aware
occurring In this region. 1t is OF a fine
grain, and very compact, and might bs
wrought by the lapidary. 4 few ornamental
pieces, also discovered in the same place,
wershade ~frvm limestone closely resem-
bling the Rutland marble The human bone:
exhumed from these old graves are, in most
cases, more than those which are with con
siderable certainty regarded as the remains
of the st. Francis tribe. Paints are frequent
ly discovered In connection with the othel
relics, and what appear to be pieces of an.
tique cloth are occasionally met with.
Shell beans and short tubes of copper
which were probably once strung together
and formed either wampum, species o
necklace, or some other such ornament, are
of very ordinary occurrence while no bead,
like those used by the St. Francis tribe, at {
much later day, are ever met Within thit
more ancient repository of the dead. 1t il
accordingly my impression-I may say, in
deed, that an examination of many of thes.
relics has awakened in me the conviction
that this ancient people, though more aborig
inal, were in many respects, especially il
cultivation and refinement, much further
advanced than the later inhabitants of tn,
forest. The utensils found in their graves
are usually of a finer finish, evincing fal
greater skill in the execution, and muel
higher degree of artistic taste than hav
usually appeared among the more recen
Indians.
But at various other points in the immedi
ate vicinity, IN many localities besides tn
two places of interment just mentioned, In
dian relics have been found. Hatchets
arrow-heads, ehiseis and divers other instru
ments have been picked up on the surface o
the soil, and often brought to light by th
plow. Chips OF ebert, or flint, as wei
remember, occur in one locality in consider
able abundance, although the only rock q
like kind, in it's natural position, known t
occur In the whole region, is several mile
away. These fragments have been incline
to consider as the refuse material left by th