The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-08-04
An Extinct Race With Skulls Three
Feet I'm Length,

Feet In Length.
The Durango Record says: The fol-
lowing extracts from letter received
by Mr.. Charles Newman, of this city,
will be found of great interest, detailing
as they do the discovery of the most re-
markable prehistoric remains ever yet
unearthed. That "there were giants
in those days can no longer be doubt
ed. a skull measuring three feet in length
testifying to their existence among the
prehistoric people who once inhabited
the valley of the San Juan River. Mr..
Newman reports the writer of the letter,
Mr.. Carpenter, to be a reliable man,
and he will avail himself of his offer
and take charge of the remains, which
will be removed to Durango at an early
day.
Pennington is situated about fifty
miles south of Durango, at the contlu-
ence of the Animas and San Juan Riv-
ers, and the discovery was made within
three miles of town. The following is
the letter detailing the particulars of
the discovery:
FARMfSGroS, N. NJ, March 2, 1881.
Charles Newman, ESQ.,; Dear Sir:
I found yesterday the tomb of
an Indian, whom / think, by the very
thick skull, to have been man. The
skull was, by measure. three feet long
by two feet wide. 1t was walled in by
a mud wall ON the east and north, and
by the stone wall of the room on. the
other sides. The head of the skeleton
was toward the north. The legs had
been doubled up on the chest. The
bones were thick but short, and SO far
decayed that ON being taken out they
crumbled to pieces, except those OF the
vertebr@ and the bones of the leg. In
| iuxtaposition with the left side of the
body, opposite the elbow, were two
stone vessels, one black, scaly, oblong
BODY, with convex bottom and haring
edge at the mouth, and would hold
about half a gallon. The other is a
highly painted, in fact artistically fin
ished, mug or cup, with handle on one
side, though the latter was broken in
the center; otherwise the cup is in good
preservation. 1t measures four inches
high, three and quarter inches at the
top and four and aquarter inches at the
base. This cup contained wheat, which,
though decayed and white, is readily
recognized by the most careless observ-
er. The other vessel probably con-
tanned water, as / could not find any
thing else but sand and dirt, with which
1t was filed.
After cleaning everything out of the
tomb l dug through the mud wall,
which was about eight inches thick,
when found several fat rocks, two oi
them being mill-stones for grinding
grain. They are about twelve inches
long, four inches wide and one inch
thick. One side is slightly oval,
the other fat After uncoverine
several other fiat sand rocks, exposed
an empty vessel, which was sunk dowr
SO that the top would be on level with
the dead Indian. 1t was walled in with
mud to the top, which was covered
with the flat rock / just mentioned. i
was probably filed with water, which
had evaporatcd centuries ago, as it wN
clean and free from all sand or debris
After an hours hard work l succeeded
in extricating it, when l found it wa
cracked in several places. 1t will holC
seven or eight gallons. This was on
the east side or rather on the left of thu
body. On continuing my exploration.
through the mud walls, found anothe
vessel of the same kind, but littl,
smaller, at the head of the body, abou
. one-third full of meal, of which I hav,
saved about quart. 1t is in color O
whitish brown to dark brown color
and very light in weight. This vesse
was cracked and some pieces broken OF
the top, so l did not take il out.
should have mentioned before tina
above this was stone hammer not un
like q miners eight-pound hammer, ex
cept that it had ring cut around tn
: center instead of an eye; also close t
this was stone AK, sharpened at on
end and round ut the other, with rim,
cut around it. This completed the In
dams outfit, except about a peck Q
wheat that was in layer three or NOR
: inches deep to the left of the last vesse
and covering a space two feet wide b
three feet long. There was . ston
wall running east and west immediate
ly outside the last vessel and wheat.
: Continuing my work to the east
found a circular opening filed wit
D loose dirt and rocks which / shovele
2 out and while doing so found numer
Gus small bones, most of which wer
Of birds about the size of hens. I wi
state here that in excavating one {
their walled cellars at another plac
some time last month, found the bon
: of large turkey with spur on it a
inch long.
n When down about five feet in q eli
cular hole l found three more mil
: stones and a pot that will hold a littl
more than quart, also a bowl thre
inches in height, six and three-quarte
: inches across the top and oval at th
i bottom. 1t is highly ornamented wit
4 paint inside while the outside has fe
stripes. Going down a little further
J. found two sets of vessels, of two eacl
i the groups being separated from eac
other by q space of about fifteen inche
} One set consisted of a bowl very simili
to the one just described, except diffe
=, emily ornamented, though very elaborat
~ and pretty, and mug or cup highl
o ornamental and without a break
q crack, and in shape and size like Il
one found and described with the bod
q The other set consisted of a small bo.
|. or dish, striped inside, one and ha
). inches in height and three and four
~ inches across the top and another bo,
W twice as large and plain.
K Further down found the skeleton
a woman. The skull and jaw attacht
r with sound teeth was found and all in
good state of preservation. l al
found the skull and jaw of a child fl
'e or six years of age, to judge by Il
er teeth.
The Mission Churcb Of San Xavier