Evening star., 1897-03-20
BATTLEFIELD GROWS RICH CROPS
Relics of Il Giant Race Found on n
Florida Farm.

| "E".
| From the ST. Louis Glo,e-Democrat.
| graveyard in a farm is not an extra
| ordinary thing. but a farm in graveyard
! is something different. Imagine a vast
| tract of many acres planted with corn
| cane, tomatoes and many other vegeta bles
| whilst the ground round about is almost
| completely covered with skulls bones and
other debris that belong to a graveyard
proper. Such is the farm of Capt. Z. ]. Wat
son. who lives at Chatham Bay Key, Fla,
| in the Tel Island section. In the fields are
seen big corn stalks and sugar cane grow
ing out through empty skulls, while the
| ground underneath the thickly matted to-
| TGto vines seems nothing but a surface of
bones.
| This key is one of the most peculiar of
| the many odd islands in this group. 1t is
| a large island, containing about fifty acres,
| E:ost being extremely rich land. In the
| center is a sort of raised highland, con-
| tanning about ten acres. On the edges of
| this there are still to be seen remains of
what was formerly probably fortitcation
| Of some kind. the coquina walls showing
about {. foot high in some places, while in
others they have completely disappeared.
In the center are the ruins of what was
once temple of some sort, the fragments
of wall foundations still remaining being
about 800 by 800 feet, in the form of an
eight pointed star. In the center of this
a
from coquina. 1t Is now only about ten
inches square. and not over twelve feet
high, but from its foundation and other
Points it would seem to have been at least
| two feet square, and possibly twenty or
more feet high. Queer Indian figures can
| be yet made out on IL.
The Indians have a superstition regard
| rg this island and it is impossible to get
any of them to visit ii at night. Chief
Iconadachee. one of the Oldest Indians
there, says that years ago when the Span
| ards in Florida were prosecuting the In
dians powerful race inhabited this south
crn section. They were large and fierce
and astonished the invaders by their gigan-
| tic size and immense strength. He says
| that this tribe was driven south of the
Chatham river, beyond which lies i'm
penetrable morass. They made this their
| last fighting ground, and many tales are
told of the encounters that occurred there
between the Spaniards and these Indians.
Finally they We're driven away from this
refuge and what was left of the tribe, pos
| siby 1900, moved to this island. A mighty
| battle was fought here afterward, and it is
supposed that the tribe completely ex-
terminated. An examination of the farm
would indicate that a massacre of some
kind had occurred, as the whole upper part
| Of the key is completely covered with skulls
and various body bones of all sizes and con-
dtionS. One can scarcely walk without
| treading on something of the kind. Hun
| dreds and hundreds of the skulls are
crushed in, as If the owner had been killed
by a 0iudgeOn wound, or by a battle ak,
| in fact, three-fourthS of all the skulls
| picked up show the marks of wounds of this
| character.
| A large number of skeletons have been
put together, and the result has been sur
| prising; majority of them are nearly eight
| feet in height, correspondingly broad in
| shoulders, and with a mighty arm reach
| that would astonish even a Fitzsmmons
or a Corbett. All the other frame bones are
| correspondngly large, being much larger
| than the bones of an ordinary human body.
| A great many scientists have visited this
| section this winter. but none of them could
| plain this strange find, except on the
| hypothesis of complete massacre and an
extinction of this tribe Mr. Watson s
| farm Is noted for its richness, decaying
| bones giving it an immense amount of
| fertilzing. From thirty acres planted in
| care and vegetables he has sold nearly $1O-
| 600 worth of stuff. This shows the incom-
narahle richness of the place.