The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-12-13
A PREHISTORIC BATTLE.
Discovery of Field Where Barbar-
ians Fought 10000 Years Ago.


which cost the lives of a hundred thou
sand warriorsl History has no such rec
ord, but that such battle was fought
before history is shown is indicated by
scme remarkable discoveries in the
Mississippi valley.
Evidences of a mighty battle between
barbaric races contending for the pos
session Of the great valley of the Mis-
sissippi 10000 years ago. in which $4,000,
and perhaps 100000 tawny- skinned war
riors gave up their lives, have been
discovered in the Indian Territory, that
wild and almost unknown portion of
the public domain set apart for the use
and benefit of the nations wards.
The initial discovery was made by
Iaborers employed in grading a road
bed for the Kansas City, Pittsburg q
Gulf railway, a few months ago, near
Redlands, /. T. in the northern part OF
the ChoctaW Indian reservation. They
were surprised to find, at a depth of SIX
ito eight feet, a deposit of human bones,
ancient pottery and stone weapons Oh
warfare The road at this point ran
through one of the terraces of the Ar
kansas river bottom for a considerable
distance, and as the grading progressed
carloads of human bones, most OF
which crumbled when exposed to the
air, and great quantities of rude battle
axes, arrow points, long, dagger-llke
javelin points and pieces of pottery
were unearthed.
THIRTY ACRES OF SKELETONS.
The worlkmen made no effort to pre-
serve the relics, anG. the real value
and extent of the prehistoric remains
might never have been known had not
Professor Edwin Walters, an archaeoi-
ogist and geologist in the employ OF the
road, happened along about that Tune
He recognized the Importance of the
find, and has recently made extensive
excavations. By digging and sounding
he has ascertained that 80 acres, most
of which is heavily timbered, are I'M
derlaid with human bones.
His first theory was that he had
found an ancient bUrying ground, in
which for many successive generations
the triesmen had been laid to rest, but
when he picked up a skull in which 10
moss agate arrow points were EMBED
ded, the conclusion was forced upon
him that he had come upon a prehlS-
toric battle ground.
Further excavations revealed other
skulls pierced with arrow points, and
many skeletons in portions of which
arrow points or stone javelin heads
were buried. One of them was dug up
with a stone jaYehn head thrust
through the spine and projecting for
several inches through the breastbone.
| Scarcely a skull has been found that
does rot bear the marks of violence.
The great number of stone war imple-
ments that are being found confirms
Professor Walters theory that one OF
| the most sanguinary struggles of pre-
historic times occurred there.
GREAT PRIMEvAL CONFLICT.
The mystery which envelopes that
strange scene of primeval conflict may
never be cleared away. but to the mind
/ of Professor Walters the story of that
early struggle is as an open book. The
! II years he has spent in exploring the
mounds, fortifications and buried
cities of the vanquished races of Cen
| trail and North America have devel-
oped facts of surprising interest to
archaeologists.
All of the prehistoric inhabitants of
North America, Professor Walters be-
! lieves. came originally from Central
America Thirty thousand years ago
three millions of people, breaking away
from the vast population that for
countless centuries had occupied Cen
| trail and the northern portion of South
]
| along the coast of the Caribbean sea
! and the Gulf of Mexico and finally
overspread the Mississippi valley. They
belonged to the race OF Maya-Toltecs,
who, as is shown by their monuments
and ruined cities, had attained a re-
markedly high degree of civilization
for that remote period.
AS the centuries passed the wander
ers lost much of their knowledge OF
OH Ct
civil engineering and sculpture, in
which the parent race had become pro-
! ficient Instead of building temples
and monuments, they became mound
! builders, and their rude structures are
scattered throughout the Mississippi
valley and the region of the great
! lakes.
Ten thousand years passed, during
which the Mound Builders lost all OF
the characteristics OF the Maya-TolteC
1 race and when, as the successive
waves of immigration from the Yucca
/ tan swept over the Pacific slope and
eastward toward the Mississippi valley
the supremacy of the Mound Builders
was threatened, and they fortified thei1
frontier against the incursions of their
new enemy. The NIayas made periodic
attempts to wrest the rich valley from
their grasp, and many were the fierce
battles fought
GREAT CHAIN OF FORTIFICA-
TIONS.
Professor Walters has found series
of Notifications extending north an6
south and facing each other. The first
of the prehistoric chain of Notifications
that mark this one time bloody bat
tie line is found near One .. From
that point it followed down re riv~,
bluffs to Kansas City, and frCnl there
has been traced southwark almost tt
Mexico. The battle-ground just found
in the Choctaw country forms a linl
in this chain of Notifications and goes
far toward proving the correctness OF
believes, the decisive battle of this
great international war of the print
tive race was fought.
1t is in the midst of a rough, rolling
country. The Arkansas river, brOaC
and deep. runs east and west at thi:
point it's channel being against
rocky wall on the north bank of thu
river, in the country of the Cherokees
To the south and left of the river ar,
two broad terraces covered with gian
oaks, and it is the higher of the two
through which the railroad runs, whici
contains the prehistoric remains. Upon
this terrace can easily be traced tn
rude Notifications which were evident
ly the objective point of the warlik
Maya-Toltecs.
Following the topography of thu
country in his calculations, Professo
Walters figures out that the invading
army came across the level plain lyin.
to the west, drove the outposts- of tn
Mound Builders back from their settle
ments around the great mounds tina