Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-15
Loup valley two miles below Ord, is in pos
session Of the writer.

session Of the writer.
We have been led to treat this subject from
the phases prominently presented in the Loup
river country, not because in other parts Of
the state similar relics are at all wanting, but
because in 1t we have had most opportunity
for careful investigation. When settlers first
came into this region OF country, less than a
generation ago, there were occasionally found
generally purely by accident-fint arrow
heads and, more rarely, fragments Of broken
pottery, and 1t was generally, almost always
in fact, assumed that these were all the work
Of that fated race which the paleface was SO
rapidly displacing and, accordingly, to all
such finds the term "Indian relics" was in
discriminatory applied. While some Of these
relics may have, in comparatively recent
times, been In possession Of the Pawnee OF
that they are no less ancient than similar
relics found in the valleys Of Hungary OF
France or Britain, and probably antedate all
human history.
THE TOOLS OF AGES.
Men of science, when treating Of the human
race, have divided the prehistoric period into
a "stone" age, "bronze" age, etc., and II
has unfortunately been popularity assumed
that these several ages mark separate and
well defined periods of time. This, however
iD notoriously not the case. While 1t is highly
probable that stone was the material of the
first effective weapons and tools Of mankind
specimens Of which have come down to us,
art OF working copper and have been living
in all the glories Of a bronze age when their
near neighbors may have but few weapons or
tools but those Of stone. In fact, when Euro
peans first visited this continent this was
much the condition In which they found 1t,
and some of the aboriginal tribes are even
now but emerging from one phase of the
stone age. The first weapons and tools oil
mankind were probably of wood. What more
natural than that man should seize club
to defend himself from the sudden and un-
| expected attack OF wild beast? A club once
found useful would most likely be retained
for future service and thus become a perma-
nent weapon to be kept within easy reach
but we, of course, cannot hope to find relics
of an ancient age of wood because of the
perishable nature OF the material. Reasoning
on a somewhat similar basis, It would seem
that men Of science have been too swift to
assume that ancient peoples were ignorant oi
the use of iron because no relics OF that ma
terial have, in certain cases, been discovered
Owing to the corrosive agencies at work In
so pure a water as that Of the Loup river, a
common nail would be but an indistingulsh-
able mass Of oxide In less than ten years and
the same agencies would destroy a railroad
rail In less than ten centuries.
The flint relics Of the Loup river country
include weapons. tools, and the fragments OF
flint resulting from their manufacture. So
far as the writer has discovered. these in
clude chiefly arrow heads and possibly spear
heads OF different styles and degrees of fn-
| ish, and, much more rarely stone ham,
mer, etc. The location and depth at which
these were found are facts not to be neg
| lected, but the evidence dervable from sur
face find. II the material be indestr,.ctible. Is
purely negative In character 80 far as re-
lates to throwing any light on the probable
date Of its manufacture or the age to which
It may belong. A well burned brick, for in
stance, might be thrown upon the surface OF
tho prairie today and, IL 1t escaped molesta,
tion. would be found perfect after the lapse
Of thousands Of years. The same would be
the case. under like circumstances, with the
flint relics or the pottery.
WHERE THE RELICS WERE FOUND.
The majority OF the relics In the possession
Of the writer were found on or near the
| surface. Some of the fiints were found In the
mud Of a swamp. the surface OF which has
probably changed but little since the close
OF the glacial era About 600 fragments
chiefly from the same vessel some of them
one to two inches In size, were found about
four inches beneath the surface OF a field
near Ord: feid that had never been dis
turbed by the pillow and the location Of which
would favor denudation rather than accre-
tion. These fragments were scattered over
a space Of about six by ten feet and their
depth was remarkably uniform. Many Of the
filnts were found IN the earth taken from
excavations from four to twelve feet deep at
various points between Ord and North Loup.
Some were taken from entertainments at
various depths where they could not have
been recently disturbed. Traces OF an ex-
tsnsivs mandatory Of pottery an1 nint i'm