The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-06-05
A WILD MAN
Found in the Recesses of Pine
Mountain.

MOUNTAIN HILL, Ca, June 1.-[Special. i
Harris county is absorbed in the sensational
mystery which was unearthed near there
yesterday. Half a mile west of this place, on
a high and rugged peak of the Pine mountain,
is an old Indian fort built of stone, and, owing
to the ruggedness of the mountain, approach
able on only one side. Its high, thick, stone
wall, and its peculiar situation, made it
quite stronghold for the Indians
in time of war. For many years
it has been remembered by only a.few hunters
and olders settlers, so deeply was it buried in
the mountains. Recently, however, the neigh
bors who had been attributing the loss of live
stock to the sheep-dog and the deft handed
darby, have had cause to suppose the old fort
to be inhabited by thieves.
Tuesday night Mr. B. G.. Written passed
near the mountain on his return from neigh
boris house, and heard the piteous cries
of one of his goats as it seemed to be
carried up the mountain side to the
old fort on the summit. Investigation
disclosed signs of" habitation and resulted in a
band of half dozen neighbors yesterday
forcing an entrance and capturing man the
most abject state of barbarism. He showed
fight and was felled to the ground twice with
the butt of gun. With great difficulty his
hands and feet were securely tied. He had no
weapons and was dressed in nature s garments.
A thlck SluDDy mar mas grown all over MS
body, his full, black beard reaches to his waist
and his long unkempt hair hangs down his
back and about his shoulders He has keen
black eyes that seem unaccustomed to the light
of day, and since his capture he has not ut
tered sound. He seems man of forty years
old, six feet two or three inchesin height and
weighs about two hundred pounds. There is
not pound of surplus flesh about him-all is
bone and muscle-and his strength is marvel
Gus. His hands are talons and his india-rub-
1,o, faotc 10 tof
He was carried by the sheriff this morning to
Hamilton, whore it is thought Ordinary Will
liams will adiudge him insane, and have him
sent to the asylum.
Who this mysterious person is or how long
he has been cut loose from civilization no one
knows. Some of the older settlers tell of a
young man, Redmond Sykes, who dazzled this
part of the county away back i'll the sixties.
He is described as tall, slender and straight,
with intensely black hair and eyes, silken
black mustache and soft white skin. His
dress was scrupulouSiy neat, and he was the
picture of a handsome man. lie was man of
leisure, had no visible means of support, but was
never without money He claimed to have a
plantation and slaves in Virginia and one in
Mississippi For two years he was the star of
the aristocratic society that adorned this sec
ton, and most fathers looked on his atten-
lions to their daughters with favor. One
afternoon he called to see a lady for whom he
had many times showed a preference. For
two hours the interview lasted, and he left
wearing q stony look of despair. His land
lady noticed that he refused to atteud supper
as usual, and that right he disappeared and
was never seen by the people of this place any
more.
Those who remember the young man are in
clined to think that they have fonnd him in
the person of the prisoner captured yesterday
at the old fort. However, all this is mere CON
lecture, and it is doubtful whether OF not the
real truth will over be known and the mystery
cleared up. LUM DUKE.