Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-02-16
TENNESSEE ANTIQUITIES.
Discovery Of Relics of DeSotO's
Expedition.
The Grave Of One Of the Adventurer'i
.1oH Soldiers.
Result OF a Christmas FroIic.

|
: lowing account of important archeolol
ical discoveries recently made in Hicl
!. man county, in this State:
One of the most noted and wei
!. marked relics of the ancient Toltee rae
is situated near the confluence of tn
Duck and Piney rivers, in Hickma
county. Reader, have you ever visite
the winding stair? If not, you hav
missed one of the most beautiful {
Gods creations. It rises abru pity fror
the Duck river, on the very edge Of
l huge precipice, to hight Of bout tw
hundred feet, and although the l,athwa
! is exceedingly narrow and steep, yet
. can be ascended' easily on hors e-back
The whole face Of the cliff, upon tn
crags of which has lodged the rich sol
of the region, is thickly set with Wy, OIL
as they term it here, calico bush, ard i
the spring time it presents to the view q
one on the river below the most lov ell
, sight conceivable. The flowers of eve r
hue grow SO profusely on the bushe
that it is solid mass of the richest CO.
4 oring, with here and there the gray head
of time-beaten rock thrust out, adding
to the loneliness of the flowers by the
contrast. Through this garden, and up
the face of the bluff, creeps the winding
stair, greatly used during the war to
avoid the public road, where the
euemy frequently travelled. At the point
where the path reaches the top, and
about seventy-fve yards across is another
precipice, perpendicular, and this
reaches down to the Piney. The two
| rtva ba,a ~, L. hox,, c.a.-. A.
but in half a mile they again approach
each other, so the space on the top is
elliptical in shape, level on top and con-
tains about twenty acres. 1t is covered
With beautiful grove, and rich carpet
of verdure covers the ground. The pros
pect is fine in either direction, and GER
tainly the aborigines could have selected
no better place for their encampment.
At the narrowest points above and below
there is even now a ditch, and on the in
side of the ditch a wall, and though i'm
mense trees grow upon these ruins, the
ditch is still about six feet deep, and the
wall about four feet higher than the level
ground. Toward the confluence are two
other lines of fortifcation at intervals of
about three hundred yards. Within the
main fort are seven mounds, one six feet
high and about forty feet in diameter,
the others less, until mere trace can be
seen of them. Frequent examinations
of these mounds have taken place by the
neighborhood, and many relics of the
past have been brought to light; hatchets
Of green stone, bowls with pictures of
birds and animals cut upon them, bones
that crumbled on being brought to light,
an idol about a foot long and hideous to
behold, beads made Of bone, bows and
arrows, or rather the remains of them,
for time had crumbled them, and various
other things usually found in these
places. n4 t9Fi
But it remained for a party of gentle
men, during the Christmas holidays, to
make discovery that none could ac-
count for. L forgot to mention that a
great many bullets had been found at
various times in the fields on each side
of this encampment, far below. Hardly
a summer passes that some of these are
not plowed up, both lead and copper
ones. The bluff on the Duck river is
made up of succession of precipices,
and under some of these shelving rocks
presents roof of several feet, so that
one could be sheltered from the fercest
storms. About fifty feet from the water
was one of the deepest of these rocks,
and under this lay a large, fiat stone, of
several tons weight; but the soil under
meath the lower side had washed away,
so that the stone, resting upon some
rocks underneath, was almost on a bal
ance. By their united efforts they gave
al IL L.& Il al.
bluff into the river. One of the mem
Mr.. Thos. Understanding the place
where the stone lay, noticed some regu-
larity in which the rocks we're placed, and
raising large thin, fat stone, disclosed
beneath cavity. All now assisted in
clearing away the rubbish, and they
found what they supposed to be an
Indian grave. The place Tas about six
feet long, two feet deep, and about two
and half feet wide. A skeleton lay |
full length in the bottom, and though |
time had made havoc with all in it, they |
saw plainly that the figure had been |
clothed, for plain traces still existed of |
the fabric. The bones of the hands and |
half way up the arms was covered with |
iron casing. There was also over the
chest broad, oval-shaped piece of
leather or raw-hide, that crumbled at the
touch But what attracted them most
was the surroundings. Instead of the
usual weapons buried with the Indian,
they found full length by his side an un-
gun, although it was COM
pletely eaten up by rust, yet there was
its shape, and full six feet long. 1t had
no appearance Of lock, and the wood
work was mere dust. When they at
tempted to remove the piece of leather,
they found lying on the breastbone two
copper bullets, about the size of com
mon musketball, though when they
knocked off its crust but small
portion remained, and that very
rough, like ball Of loose soil.
Around the skull was a copper cap, ,
Or what they sopposed to be copper, for ,
i too crumbled like rotten ore. And now
comes the strangest part of all this sin ,
yular story. They removed everything /,
rom the grave or stone coffin, and at :
he head a stone set up edgeways was
ound TO contain some words deeply cut
nto its face. After scraping away the
moss. or rather concretion from it, they
made out part Of the words, though
iome we're so defaced that they could 4
lot be read At the top was cross cut, 4
lnd in the angles Of the cut were the I
etters in capitals B, D., plainly cut. >
These were IN the upper angles In the 4
over angles, underneath the letters, :
gere the figures 1910. Under the cross \
we're Bernaldez Diaz, Etat AZ Dec. 1910 v
2equ. and the balance Of the last word h
could not make out from the stone l a
aw Near the bottom Of the stone oc- =
.urred other words, but could only de-
IInHEST PRIZES Ar LATE /