Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-11-25

The scientific discovery and disclo-
sures of ancient Troy developed no
things more wonderful than these sci
entific explorers of the mounds; al
though the developments at Troy have
been of more historic value, because
they verify well-authenticated historic
data. But some very interesting ma
terial for historic development has been
found in caves. Tracing the Mississippi
river, six miles south of New Albin, is
great cavity in the vertical face of
the sandstone bluff, so feet long and
II feet high. The walls and ceilings
are literally covered with rude etch-
ings representing quadrupeds, birds,
bird tracks and symbolical or fancifui
objects. The floor is spread TO a depth
of two feet with the bones of fishes and
beasts, fragments of pottery, charcoal
and ashes. Even more remarkable is
the cave near Guntersville, Ala. Evil
IDENTIFY it was utilized for many gen
erations as a cemetery, and the num-
Der of dead deposited in it must have
been very great. Though much of its
contents has been hauled away in sacks,
for fertilizing land, the floor is yet COW
cred to a depth of four feet with ma
terial composed chiefly of fragments
of human bones. In Tennessee and
kentucky the flesh of bodies stored in
caves centuries ago is sometimes re-
markedly preserved.
On a farm in Bollinger county, Mo-,
is an area of considerable extent sur
rounded by an ancient wall of earth
about three feet high in places. In
side of it, formerly. were many remark
| al,l IL L.
the Indians of prehistoric times, but
40 years of continued cultivation of the
soil have nearly leveled them. Plow-
ing over one of the mounds a few years
ago the owner struck something, and
on digging further in the earth, discov-
cred two stone collins each containing
skeleton. In one of the cofins he
found a gourd-shaped vessel filled with
lead ore, so pure that he afterwards
| turned it into bullets.
In 1879 people in the neighborhooG
| of a town in Mississippi discovered that
the pottery, in which the mounds Of
that region were unusually rich, hac
considerable commercial value. The
specimens obtained were sold to mer
chants, who in turn furnished them Il
| museums, scientific institutions auC
| relic hunters.
Reverting to the fact that the mount
| builders continued their work afte
Columbus, Vespucius, De Soto, Corte
and Pizarro cursed the ground witt
their lawless and brutal heels, it mus
be said that articles of Caucasian man
ufacture, obtained by barter en- til
coast or from wrecks, quickly fount
| their way to the interior of the CONT
nent, passing from hand to hand in tn
course of traffic between tribes, or b,
capture in war. The system of trad
| which existed anciently among the In
dams was surprisingly efficient and sat
isfactory. Aboriginal drummers &C
tually made their way on foot from tn
Gulf of Mexico to the headquarters @
the Mississippi river. The products O
the native mines of copper, flint an,
mica were distributed in a manner suffi
GENTLY business-like to be worthy of
more educated civilization. Dried oys
tiers and other shell fish were shippe
inland, just as the same mollusks ar
sent from the Atlantic coast to tn