Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-01-10
A Sketch Of the Life and Work of
the Great Areh9ologist. Or.
Sehliemann.
In His Researches He Finds that the
Ancient City OF Troy Actually
Existed.
Excavating so Feet at HiSsarIik He
Discovered the Remains of Five
Ancient Cities.


scholars Not that he made Troy town as
definite as Athens, or war of the Greeks
and Trojans as indisputable as that
against the Messenlans, or Agamemnon
as clear as Pericles; but he proved by his
discoveries that such a city as Troy was
represented 10y Homer did actually exist in
the Iro d, and that certain great person.
ages were actually buried IN MycenR, as
it is said Agamemnon and his companions
were buried after their murder by Hglsi-
hus and Clytemnestra. The walls and
ruins and ashes of burned Troy were found,
the ScBan gate located. the whole topog
raphy of the Had shown to agree with
his discoveries, as they could not be made
to agree with the old hypothesis that iden-
tilted the Balidaghashi as the site of llium.
And that Schhemann attained SO much is
due to a lifelong ambition and purpose,
which compelled him to educate himself
and to devote a fortune of his own making
to this particular work, earning for him
self against doubt and dispute and oppo-
stion, a high reputation in archaeology
H S position in regard to his discoveries Is
not universally accepted, but there are as
good scholars on his side as against him,
and it is to be noted that few if any OPP
"
scene of his explorations. either in the
Troad or in old Argos, without becoming
in great degree converted to his belief.
Henry Schiemann-for since he became
an American citizen he has preferred the
English form Of his christian name-im-
bibed his enthusiasm for Homer as a mere
boy, when his father, poor Lutheran
pastor in Mecklenburg. fed his in,, uiring
l. rNig
He never lost that enthusiasm, though
about all his requirements were forgotten
in the years btween Ia and 20, when he
was FuIstenberg grocers drudge, up IN
the morning before sunrise, working till
near midnight, and thus with scant time
for sleep. and none for reading. But
afterwards he became boOllkeeper and cor
respondent for an Amsterdam importing
house, and deyotlng himself with energl
to business he became useful to the house,
and its agent at St. Petersburg, where in
lS47, wi en- he was %, he began business
for himself and pr0sper5d. While IN
Amsterdam he spent his nights studying,
and this habit he continued, becoming a
master Of ancient and modern Greek and
Of the literature bearing upon his fayorite
subject; and in his commercial journeys
he learned the languages OF the countries
he visited. so that he could CONVEX So iuent-
ly in Russian, English, French, Spanish,
Italian Portuguese, Dutch. Polish, Swed-
ish and Arabic. IN 1862, having amassed
a small fortune and invested it IN various
countries tprinc; pally in the United
Statesl, he closed MS business and entered
upon his real calling, that of a scholar,
student and explorer of the past First,
however, he made the circuit Of the globe,
and arriving on the western continent,
lived in the country nearly three years, be-
coming naturalized and obtaining a di-
vorce from his wife, whom he had mar
ried at St. Petersburg On this trip he
made his first visit to the Troad, and he
wound il up in Paris, where he published
an interesting book on China and Japan,
and settled down for years hard study
of archaeology.
He made his first excavation on the
Trojan plan in 1868, near the Turkish viii
lage Of Bounarbashi, but the poverty Of
any remains that could indicate the eXis-
tence of great city caused him speedily
to dismiss the notion that this vas the site
of the city described b., Homer, and he eX-
tended his researches t. the plateau Of
Hissarlik. where as he decided 10y measur
ments the city must have stood, ne then
published III Paris hls tlrst volume. entitled
Ithaca, the Peloponnesus OF Troy, -ioI
he had also made the endeayor to trace the
hahlauon OF Ulysses. Schllemann s de-
termination Was liked to eEcavate the site
of old Troy, and 1t must be remembered
that 20 years ago the scholars OF the world.
ed by the German skeptlcal school, had
made up their minds that there never was
q historic Troy like that pictured by
Homer and the suDmyth theory as TO the
story OF the had, as well as TO nearly all
tireclan mythology and traditions. was IN
the highest favor with large portion OF
the scholars ochllemanh started with
the absolute convection that the ildd had
substantial basis at history, ana tor TINS
reason the scholars were the more ready 70
d1seredtt his discoveries at tlssarllk' de-
c'aring that he found what ne wanted 70
ind, and nad probably merely mt upon by
accident the site OF some Hunnrlc settle
ment Tor one OF the long haits OF the Huns
was made ID tue ASIAN penlnusala
but SchlIemdnn undoubtedly proceeded
to procure tirem % from the Turkish gov
% al I'd al