Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1878-07-31
POINT, UNION COUNTY WEDNESDAY,
TWO LONG LOST COLONIES.


TWO LONG LOST COLONIES.
The Strange Z isappearance Of the Nsrl
Settlers Of 067 in Greenland.-Wi
Lieut.. Schwatka Find Their Descent
ants Beyond the Ice-Fields Near th
PoleP
! New York World.
The fitting out of several Arctic exp,
ditions has recalled the mysterious di
appearance of the Norwegian and Dar
ish colonies which, first planted on th
east and west coasts of Greenland, abou
the year A. ID. 1000, thrived apace 70
four centuries and vanished forever il
the middle of the fifteenth century
The popular story is that the Norsemel
settled in Greenland in 987. A Danisl
colony took possession of the west shor,
and Norwegian colony of the east o.
the peninsula. They were separated b,
desert track eight miles in width, bu,
kept up communication with each Other
in summer by. canoes and in winter by
deer and dog trains. They sustained
themselves by hunting and fishing, and
later on by raising. cattle, the pasturage
of Greenland being at that time luxu-
RANT. In 1860 the Danish colony was
beset by Esquimaux and broken up, and
the fact that was heard of either settle
ment was in 1425. In 1447 Pope Nicho-
las V. in letter to the English court
stated that the colonists had been attack
ed by feet of savages and murdered
to man, but he did not vouch for the
accuracy of his information. In 1922
Captain Scoresby discovered huts con.
tanning hunting gear and household
utensils of Morse pattern on the west
coast, and claimed that these had been
the dwellings of the lost colonies. The
popular idea at that time was that set
tlement of the descendants of these
Norsemen existed in some terra incOgnita
far beyond the ice fields and near the
pole, and Lieut.. Frederick Schwatka,
who sailed for the Arctic seas last
was credited in Washington
the other day with saying that
the grandest undertaking of the pre-
sent age would be to strive to reach that
isolated colony"
In some of the old records of the
Recollet Fathers in this city which were
sent to Paris in 1859, frequent mention
was made of legends and traditions
touching the Morse colony. The first of
The Recollets landed in Canada in one
If the Champlain ships in 1915, nearly
,we centuries after the Greenland colo
~ disappeared. Others rapidly followed
hem, and in 1852 one of the missionary
athers, Father de Mauine, sailed to the
vest shore of New Foundland, where he
ound several camps of Esquimaux, who
we're wintering there. He learned from
hem--it was an Esquimaux tradition
hat at one time IN the remote ages, as
le expresses it, men of the stature and
nien of French sailors lived in peace
nd amity with their forefathers. There |
Rere hundreds of them. and sometimes |
hey took ship and sailed away to. the |
outheast, returning after many days
1ith companions, who settled with them.
After countless years these strangers di- |
'ided themselves into two bodies, one
,oing to the west and the other to the
ast shore. From that time forth their
lature seemed changed, and they at
aked and murdered one another. One
winter it was dark for four months, and
he cold was SO intense that even the |
Isquimaux perished in their abodes.
Fearing that the strife of the strange !
'eople had enraged the god of the wind
nd sea, the Esquimaux fed, while it |
vas yet dark, to the southwark; and
vhen the darkness had passed away they
allied in fright to a lonely island. where
hey dwelt for many years. On their
eturn they found the face of the earth |
hanged. Vast ice-fields covered the
where the strangers had |
welt, and the whole region was desc
ate. The strangers houses were buried |
'eneath mountains of ice, and no living
hing was to be seen but the bear and |
he walrus.
Father Paul Ragueneau, the celebrat-
d Jesuit, whose reports to his superiors
n France contain nuch trustworthy
concerning New France, and
Who figured conspicuously under the
egime of the seventeenth century, re-
ates at second hand an Indian tradition |
losely resembling that current among
he Esquimaux. But perhaps the most
story is told by the Jesuit
dalligeye. In l64S, accompanied by
everal Aurons, ne advanced along the
'orth shore of the gulf and penetrated
nto Labrador. Eighty days journey
inland he came upon solitary band Of
avages who spoke the Huron tongue
vith difficulty. From the chief and
men he learned that they were
he descendants OF party of Hurons
Who had fled from an intertribal war,
lot through cowardice, but because they |
lad taken wives from the band which
he Hurons had attacked. Their fathers
lad met with the Esquimaux, and the
wo peoples had blended into one. They
lad preserved their.language to some ex-
ent, but the Esquimaux tongue was
more familiar to them than the Huron.
They were rich in Esquimaux traditions,
md these they illustrated by rude paint |
ngs on wood and stone. They inter.
,reted many of these hieroglyphs for
Father Malligeye, the principal one,
which covered nearly a hundred wooden |
,ablets, having reference beyond doubt,
% the Morse colony. 1t ran thus: Far
back in the pass, when the Esquimaux
thought they were the only people on
The earth, and that the world was
by their familiar shores, feet
Of strangers landed and took possession
Of a beautiful country where the
grass was always green. They built
houses of wood and stones, and had
locks and herds which their women
watched while the men were fishing.
Other fleets came after them, and the
thought this new race was
,ent to drive them into the sea, but the
strangers were kind in manner though
Wild in aspect, with red flowing hair.
They prospered and grew in numbers,
md took wives from among the Esqui-
naux. One day, after moons without
lumber had passed. the north wind be-
,ame hot and sultry. 1t was like the
breath of fire for many days, and then a
and laundering noise was
heard to the north, and the crssh shook
he heavens and made the rocks treMble.
This continued for long time, and the
north wind began to grow cooler and
cooler until at length men died by the
- ~cll M.