Weekly Trinity journal., 1878-08-10
A LOST RACE.

A rrespondent-whose statement has
since been verlfsd-writing from one Of
the mining settlements on the shores Of
Lake Superior, says the remains OF a
considerable number of ancient copper
mines have lately been discovered on Isle
Royal, in Thunder Bay, on the northern
border of the lake, which exhibit un-
doubted evidence of having been worked
by a race of men long since extinct, and
of whom we possess no knowledge save
that left behind by such traces as are
being brought to view. Shafts of consid-
cradle depth, filed and choked with the
accumulated debris of ages, have been
opened, and in penetrating 10 the depth
Of sixty feet, tools Of wonderful work
manship have been discovered, together
with charcoal remains, which mark the
point where skilled artisans formed, from
copper, tools whose temper and durabili-
ty would astonish the ingenious makers
OF the present day. Hammers and CHS
els seem to have been the principal i'm
plsments for working the mines which,
together with the FIRE, reduced the ore 10
condition which rendered itsremovsl in
detail easily accomplished. Finely tenn
pered knife blades have been picked out
Of the pit, and granite hammers of such
size as to require the strength OF no ordi-
nary man TO WELD successfully.
These discoveries, wonderful as they
are, do not stand alone, nor do they pre-
sent any new facts in relation TO the peo-
pie who formerly inhabited this continent.
They simply 60 TO strengthen the evil
dence that. centuries before the written
history Of America. powerful and civil
lied communities occupied every portion
Of its domain, who, disappearing, left be-
hind them proofs Of their progress in the
arts anf sciences, and their indubitabe
skill in architecture. For three thous.
and miles along the valleys of our great
Western rivers, traces of towns and cities
occur at intervals, together with the re-
mains Of large fortified sncampments,
which show from their position and ar
rangemsnt, that their builders were no
mean adopts 10 the arts Of warfare. Vast
tunuli, with the dead buried in sitting
posture and at their feet shells unknown
to this continent, exist by the hundred in
the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. In the
a..
temples and palaces, resembling in solid
ity Of construction, massiveness OF ma.
terials, general design and execution, the
ancient remains Of the old Egyptian dy-
Rssties. Yet neither in Western Ameri-
ca nor in Yucatan exists the faintest tra-
dition as to that mysterious race which
aas left behind it the imperi.hable record
of its genius and civilization. We can
do nothing but conjecture. Pursue our
investigation as we may, we are still led
back to the starting point, with no mere
definite knowledge than we set out. The
thread is lost. never to be recovered.
Ii is a singular fact that, thus far, there
has never been discovered upon any of
the ruins, or in connection with the tools
and war implements mentioned, any
mark, letter or trace, whereon any clue,
either to the origin, customs or language
of this mysterious race, might be caught
or gathered up. In Europe the gradual
process Of development from halt say.
age state to the high culture of the pres
ent day, can be traced, stage by stage,
and every distinct era marked by def
mite date. But here tho links that bound
one generation TO another have been alb
rupty severed, and the mound builders
Of the Ohio, the architects Of Copan and
Palenque, and the copper workers on the
shores of Lake Superior alike lie beyond
the research Of the historian and specula-
tions Of the archaologist. The relics
they have left behind them only serve to
excite the conjectures Of the curious, and
the investigations of the scientific. Posi-
bly,, in some yet undiscovered ruin or
tomb, the key may be found to the prob
lem which now puzzles the world but
then it is only possibility.