Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-04-30

4 VIII write you more about the eane
and some other matters ofinterest soon.
Yours, with respect,
70. w. BRoADNAx, NJ. d.
We will not make any comments or
advance any theories on the above,
but will continue the subject matter OF
this article, aboriginal antiquities OF
Texas, leaving the reader to advance
his own theories respecting this dis
covery, which is without doubt won
derful one, and will furnish vast
field for the ethnologist to explore.
Tha authentic history Of the western
hemisphere only reaches back between
three and fou.- centuries hence The
term prehistoric" when applied to
American antiquities does MOI always
imply that they correspond In aye
with d n prehistoric remains of the
old w6nd, whose history embraces
thousands OF years. But writer's on
American archaeology do not, we
believe, designate as prehistoric
any memorials that are referable
to the existing race Of aborigines.
but only such as are believed to have
belonged to races that have passed
away, aud which may be supposed to
correspond in antiquity with many OF
the prehistoric relics of the other hem.
isphere. The prehistoric repains of
man and his arts found in the tumuli
OF the Mississippi valley indicate that
that country was once inhabited by
A MORE CIVILIZED PEOPLE
than the red man; yet the former may
not have preceded the latter In the oc.
cupation OF this continent, for the flint
arrowheads found in innumerable
localities throughout this state. and in-
deed throughout this continent,
buried in some instances several
feet beneath the surface in allu-
vium, attest the presence here
of the red race untold ages before the
advent OF the "pale faces These tiny
monuments of the American aborigi.
nese are, In fact, more enduring than
the pyramids Of Egypt, and thousands
OF years hence they will continue to be
turned up Dy the pillow of the farmer,
looking almost as fresh and unfair.
nished as when they were first wrought
from the pebbles In the early ages OF
human existence.
Though the prehistoric pesple OF
America, or, at any rate, those of the
Mississippi valley, do not seem to have
emerged from the stone cycle and
therefore in common with our aborigi-
nese probably pointed their weap-
ons with stone, yet as we found
no traces of their abodes in Tex
as we may reasonably attribute
| the fabrication of the flint arrow.
heads which are 80 abundant here TO
the Indian race. In my frequent
| walks some years since along the
beaches, the bays and the inlets few
miles south of the Guadalupe river, /
rarely failed to find number of these
aboriginal relics, especially immedi.
ately after the ebb of very high tide.
/ have also found many about the
bases Of the sandy hillocks or dunes
which have been heaIed up by the
winds in many places along our coast.
/ have occasionally found one large
enough for the arrow of Titan, but
these were probably used for har
poems. Some OF these arrows are very
rudely wrought, while others, partic
ularly very email kind, are of ex
| quisite finish, with point rs sharp as 8
lancet and the cutting edges finely and
beautifully serrated. One can but
wonder how they were wrought with
the imperfect tools of the Indians
Most of the specimens collected by m'
had necks or shanks by which they
were fitted into the shaft. A few. how
ever, were without this appendage, bu
were either grooved or beveled OIL
both sides of the base of the tongue
1t is not improbable that other tribe
occupied the littoral hunting ground
of the Caranchuas, or, at any rate, a
some period shared them conformity
will the latter. The various tribe
probably possessed various degrees o
skill in the manufacture OF flint weap
ons, hence the marked difference II
design and finish among them. TIL
earlier or latter age In which the,
were wrought may also have had IL
influence. The flint pebbles from whicl
these arrow. heads were Clipped wer
probably obtained from thirty to fort,
miles inland. where they abound Ii
several localities, All the Indial
tribes of Texas, when 1t was frs
coloni2ed by Americans, used metali
arrow-heads, which they had prob
ably substituted for flint ones nearly
century before or not long after tn
establishment of the missions anC
military posts of San Antonio ant
La BAHIA, where they doubtless oh
tanned copper, brass and iron, all o
which metals they used for pointing
their missiles. Fragments of earthei
pottery are coextensive with the ilin
relics, and they bear evidence that on
aboriginese were highly skilled in tb
ceramic art. The Indian dead usual.
receive very shallow sepulture. Oftei
the Texas tribes did not bury thei
dea at all, but merely piled logs o
stones upon the bodies, which wer
soon extricated and the flesh devouret
by beast of prey. The bones beinI
thus left to the action OF the element
rapidly decayed. Hence the osseou
remains of the aborigines are rarel.
far inland, but in various places alonl
the coast, the winds have performed
the rites OF sculpture by blowing tn
sand upon the dead. At Ingleside II
1861, human bones were disinterred a
two localities more than hundre'
yards apart from a depth of eight feet
and later lin October, 1867 a littl
J golgotha was discovered In a sand hill
or "dune.n near what Is locally know
J as the " False Live OAK in Refugi
| aft fa.1 ie