The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-03-08
TENNESSEE IAtIlQtIrhf. .
Discovery Of Relies Of DeSotO's Ex-
Pedition-Ihe Grave Of, one Of she

in that State: So .'T'T'I' - ~ -
One OF the most noted and well
marKed relics Of the ancient Toltef
race ls situated near the eonfi1aneo .,
the DUCK and Piney Rivers. in H;eS. -
man County. Reader, have Won aHa,
visited the winding stair? Ifuot ~, ~,
have missed one of the most bes1f;e,1 I'M
OF GODS creations. 1t rises ahr,,ntt,,
rom the Duck River, on the Yery
edge OF huge precipice, TO a HEIGHT ..
about two hundred feet. and althoueb
the pathway is exceedingly narrow
and steep, yet it can be ascended easi,,,
On horseback. The whole faee of tbs
ciln, upon the crags of which has
LOGGED the rich sod Of the region. il
tnickly set with ivy, or, as they term
It here, calico bush, and in the sprinr
time It presents to the view of one on
the river below the most lovely sioht
conceivable. The flowers of every
nue. grow so prOfusely on the bushes
that it Is . solid mass of the richest
coloring, with here and there fbe
gray head of time-beaten rock thrust
Out, adding to the loveliness of the
flowers by the contrast. Through the
garden, and up the face of the bluff
creeps the winding stair, greatly used
during the late war to avoid the nub-
nc road, where the enemy frequently
travelled. AT the point where the
path reaches the top, and about
seventy-five yards across, is another
precipice, perpendicul ar, and this
reaches down to the Piney. The two
rivers here make bow from this poipt.
out In half mile they again approach
each other, so the space on the ton il
eliptical in shape, level on ton. and
CONTAINS about twenty acres. 1t is
covered with a beautiful grove, and q
rich carpet of verdure covers the
ground. The prospect is fine in either
direction, and certainly the aborigipes
could have selected no better place for
their encampment. At the two mar
rowest points above and below. there
Is even now ditch, and on the inside
II the ditch wall, and though inn
mense trees grow upon these ruins,
the ditch Is still about six feet deep,
and the wall about four feet higher than
the level around. Toward the con-
fiuence are two other lines of fortifica-
tion at Intervals of about three hun
dred yards. Within the main fort are
seven mounds, one six feet hieh and
about forty feet In diameter, the others
less, until q mere trace can be seen of
them. Frequent examinations of
these mounds have taken place by the
and many relics Of the
past have been brought to light
of q green stone, bowls with
pictures OF birds and animals cut upon
them, bones that crumbled are being
brought to light, an idol about foot
long and hideous to be hold. beads
made of bone, bows and arrows, or
rather the remains Of them, for Time
bad crumbled them, and various other
things usually found in these places.
But 1t remained for a party of gen.
tiemen, during the Christmmas holi-
days, to make discovery that none of
1s can account for. forgot to men
tion that q great many bullets had
been found ut various times in the
heids on each side of this encamp-
ment far below. Hardly q 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
present q roof several feet, so that
one could be sheltered here from the
fiercest storms. About fifty feet from
the water was one of the deepest of
these rocks, and under this Law q large
flat stone Of several tons weight: but
the soil underneath the lower side had
washed away, so that the stone, rest
Ing upon some rocks, underneath, was
almost on balance. BY their united
efforts they gave the stone a shove
that sent 1t down the bluff into the
river. One of the men-Mr. Thomas
w Whltson, examining the place where
the stone lay, noticed some regularity
In which the rocks were placed, and,
raising large, thin, fiat stone, dis
closed. beneath, q cavity. All now
Assisted in clearing away the rubbish,
and they found what they supposed
to be an Indian grave. The place
was about six feet long, two feet deep,
and about two and a half feet wide.
A skeleton lay full length at the bot
tom, 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 fab
ric. The bones of the hands and
half way up the arms were covered
with an iron casting. There was also
over the chest broad oval-shaped
piece Of leather or raw hide, that
nrumbled at the touch. But what at
tracted them most was the surround
ings. Instead of the usual weapons
buried with the Indian, they found
inli length by his side an unmistaka-
BILE gun, although it was completely
eaten up by rust, yet there was its
shape, and full six feet long. 1t had
no appearance Of q lock, and the
wood work was mere dust. When
they attempted to remove the piece of
leather, they found lying on the breast
bone two copper bullets, about the
size Of common musket-ball, 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,
yr what they supposed to be copper,
Tor 1t, too, crumble& like rotten ore.
And now comes the strangest part of
this singular story. They removed
every thing from the grave or stone
coffin, and at the heal q stone set up
edgeways was found to contain some
words deeply cut into its face. After
scraping away the moss, or rather
the concretion, from it, they made out
, part Of the words, though some were
70 defaced that they could not be read,
At the top was cross cut, and in the
angles of the cross were the letters In
capitals B. D., plainly cut. These
We're In the upper angles. In the
lower angles, underneath the letters,
were the figures Is 40. Under the
GROSS were Bernaldez Diaz, Etat AZ
Dec. 1889 Requ; and the balance of
the last word could not make out
from the stone saw. Near the bot
tom of the stone occurred other words
but / could only decipher o part of
them. Here is the sentence as I
could make it out: Quirrum memo
rum grata olim mo cello
conseer The whole
was marked somewhat thus: ...-.
- . a...I'r f- siru.g g -rf.
..-"ar b ! p. --1rUI
r Is 40 .. urJ 90