The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-11
BONES OF A GIANT RACE.
LATELY UNEARTHED IN THE
WILDs OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA.
A Hurled Family. Consisting of n
Nine-fOot Father, Mother Nearly
as Tall, and an Infant That Must
Have Measured Five Feet.


Ely. Minn.-While Minnesota as a state
is getting fairly well along in years, as
western states 20. stu there are many
large tracts over which white men have
not Travelled to any extent. and about
which little is known. except as fragmen-
tary information has been brought in by
hunters and guides who have had occa-
sion TO pass over the territory. This is
particularly true of the extreme northern
portion OF the state. which. until gold
was found there. was as little known as
the vast wildernesses to the west when
the Pilgrim fathers landed at Plymouth
Rock.
The steady rush of settlers 10 this sec
ton and OF the gold seekers to the re-
gions further north has resulted in open
ing up many thousands of acres of entire
ly new country and placing before the
world a farming territory as rich as any In
the United States and a mineral deposit
so wonderful and varied in IT'S character
that no one may say that the end has yet
been reached. With the partial settle
ment of this new country have come many
strange finds, showing that at one time
in the dark past the northern section of
this state was inhabited by men and ami
mails of which the present generation
knows nothing, except what scientists and
searchers after the curious may say
The country around Ely is particular
~ rich in relics of the past, judging from
| the many finds made by various people
since farms have been opened up here.
| Scarcely a day passes but some new dis
covery is made, and the relics are par
| ticularly interesting to those who have
| delved into the records of the musty past
| TO any extent. There is evidence to show
| that at one time this country was peopled
by men Of tremendous size. and by ami
| mails in comparison with which the ee-
plants of the circus of to-day would seem
| like pigmies. There is also evidence to
show that the people who then ruled the
country were not mere hewers Of wood
and drawers of water but possessed skill
| in various directions.
Thomas McKinster has recently taken
up a farm near the mouth of the Little
| Fork river. in Itasca county. At one
corner OF his farm stood knoll, possibly
| $50 yards across, covered with a heavy
| growth of pine. on top Of this knoll was
| a huge bird, or rather the outlines of one.
| made of stone not found in any other To-
| cality in the state SO rar as known. In
| digging into this knoll II was found that
| the place was once a burying ground
| OF a prehistoric race. Human bones
| of great size were found. and the posi-
tions indicated that the original owners
| thereof had been buried In sitting post
ure. II was an easy marcr TO distinguish
the bones of the male from those Of
female. for they were larger, more mass
| i've. and had preserved their shape better.
In some cases the bones fell to pieces at
the slightest touch, While In others they
were soft and spongy, the earth SEEM
ingly having entered the cavities former
| " occupied by the marrow, and furnished
a support for the shells.
In one grave were found the bones of
what were once probably father. mother,
and child. The huge bones of the male
were about a foot distant from those of
| the woman and child, which were locked
in close embrace, as though the mother
| had drawn the infant to her bosom just
before death came. The larger bones were
| those of a man who, In life must have
been nearly, If not fully, nine feet in hight,
while those of the woman showed that she
had been no dwarf measuring as they did
| feet 4 inches from the bottom of the
bones of the foot to the top OF the skull.
| which was larger, iatter, and considerably
| heavier than the skulls Of the people Of
to-day:
/ The child must have been very young,
4 for its bones went to pieces as soon as ex-
/ posed 10 the air and covered the bones Of
i the mother with fine, white powder. BY
! measuring the outlines Of the bones Of the
child it was found that the infant had
| been nearly five feet In hight, which is
| really not so bad for a child of tender
| years In the skull of the woman was
/ big dent, between and slightly above the
/ eyes, showing that she had met death IN
| a violent manner. BY the side of the man
| lay stone weapon, Shaped something like
/ an egg, with depression cut around one
1 II .frw1.a kua
/ twisted. 1t was of the same kind of stene
| as the bird on top Of the knoll or mound,
/ a hard blue-coiored granite, almost as
| close grained as steel.
Some feet from where these bones were
| found were the bones of man, alone ana
| In a standing position. The right arm was
broken and hung by his side, while the
| left was raised aloft, as though TO huri
something from him. At the foot OF this
| skeleton, If skeleton 1t could be called, for
| the bones were little more than dust, and
| held in place only by the clay with which
| they were surrounded, were several pieces
/ of peculiarly colored pottery. Some OF
! these pieces were broken to bits but the
/ edges were as sharp as though the yes
/ sells were of modern construction and
/ freshly broken. Two of the YES
sells were intact and were preserved by
/ the finder One was a dainty pitcher, al
| most as thin as an egg she'll, and around
/ the outside was traced delicate vine IN
| a raised blue figure, which could not be
| scratched with - sharp-bladed knife. The
other vessel, was a shallow pan, about
| inches across the bottom, and trifie less
across the top. with pictures of strange
| looking birds traced in relief on the bot
| tom.
| In a few of the graves have been found
| copper and bronze implements of various
kinds showing a finish which cannot be
| surpassed by the most skilled workman of
the present day. The absence OF jewelry
and other articles of personal adornment
shows that the people who were buried
| there differed in some respects, at least,
| from the common North American In
diaas, who were and ssll are buried with
| their iewelry upon them and all their
| treasures by their side.
The knowledge that the red men are
buried with their money and treasures
upon them has been the means of furnish
ing many of the guides and woodsmen of
this section with a good living for some
years, and probably will for some years
to come, until all the Indian graves have
been despoiled. After locating an Indian
cemetery the rest Is easy. The men dig
into the graves-those Of the high priests
or chief medicine men preferred, on ac-