Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-10-02
The PREHISTORIC RACES.
What the Aborigines Of Northen Mon
tana Left in the Way Of Remains
and Traditions.
A New Banking Institution for Great
FaIls.-A Runaway Without serl-
Gus Results.
The Pre- Historic Races.


Of late wears great interest has been
manifested in the discovery OF traces OF
pre-historic man in the United States.
This has manifested itself by the various
expeditions sent to explore the Pueblo
cities of New Mexico and Arizona, the dit
ferent commissions appointed by various
states to ey,,llme the relics Of the Mound
Builders of the Ohio and Mississippi val
leys. the great interest manifested In the
traces of the Mortimer in the New Eng
land states nhe men who discovered this
continent 700 years before the time OF Col
umbus.) and last though not least, the re-
markable Chinese documents giving de
scription Of our Pacific coast, the date OF
which is proved to be prior to the Christian
era.
Hitherto the broad eypanse of Montana
has been ignored, though the remains OF
dog headed men in the vicinity OF Fort
Berthold in Dakota, in those mounds which
stud the plains Of the Loomis river, ap-
DTOdCu very uedI otl bouiiddAlS7.
During my twenty yeaas sojourn III Mon
tana and my numerous wanderings therein,
I have always kept Il vigilant watch Tor re-
mains of this description, and probably it
NAV be of interest to some of your readers
to hear the results.
1t certainly cannot have been more than
~,
among the aboriginal tribes here; thus the
human race at that time must have always
camped near springs and water courses,
and at the same time contiguous to places
easy of defense from hostile bands. Search
in such localities has always resulted IN
finding relics Of such races, and the circles
of stones are always visible, which they
used in weighing down the edges Of thin
circular tents Or teepees which were con
structed of the skins of wild animals, very
often indeed, these stones though eight or
ten inches in diameter have their tops flush
with the surface of the ground signifying
the long period since they were placed IN
stu. Not only this, but the stone imple-
mcnts which they used i'll their ordinary
occupations are occasionally found, for at
that time iron was unknown to these races.
1t is very interesting to note, that all
these Montana stone implements (arrow
points, fakes, scropus, knives, etc., are
indentical in form, shape, and make, with
those used by the Aleuts Of the North Pa
cific coast, as also with the Post Tertiary
drift implements found in the Somne val
ley, Abbeville, an TT. Acheul. This re-
marllable resemblance was distinctly
shown at the Centennial exhibition where
the different specimens were placed in juN-
opposition, giving Arch5eologists this result,
viz: That unciviiized races in all ares,
who know not the use Of iron, bronze, etc,
are all actuated to work IN the same chan
nels of ingenuity, resulting in similarity Of
product.
In the Pricily Pear canyon remains have
been found Of stone Jars, by Mr.. James
Fergus, associated with bones which I'M
doubtedly belonged to the Mammonth, that
giant Pachydern which ranged from Behr-
inc Straits to North Carolina. | had the
pleasure of examining these. The jars
had been used for carrying liquids, were
about ten inches high and five OF six inches
across. They were made of hard micace-
Gus stone, which was followed till the rim
was about one-third of an inch thick. The |
fragility of the articles would forbid the
idea that they had belonged to a migra-
tory race, and also the presence Of large |
stone hammers with the cincture around |
the centre where the raw-hide band went |
around, shows that some race must have |
lived permanently on the spot. All these |
articles We're ploWed up while cultivating |
the ground, many being broken during |
that time
The remains OF arrow points are nuIner- |
Gus in some localities, especially in those
places where the buffalo and other wild an j
imals were stampeded over some precpi-
tous point of bluffs. One instance can be I
given OF one place on the right bank of /
Sun river about four miles above Priests |
Crossing, where in one day in 1877 I pick |;
ed up over 300 fine specimens. At this
place the base of the bluff is very alkali
and 1t seems as If very large number of
animals had been stampeded in heap,
and then they had been slaughtered in one
heap. Atthe present time the pile of bones
are about three and one-half to four feet
ID thickness, and and the bones have been
broken to eXtrabt the marrow. At this
place beside arrow points, found flakes,