The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-07
xSSE Tales OF Buried Treasure.
INK
INK K Moorehead, Archaeological, Destroys
Superstition
y u " Is rs y q y Il 3 s Is . = @

them they left yellow streaks down the
sides Of his coat. One of his sons be-
gan to laugh, and we ran for our
wagon. In the excitement we over
looked a shovel, but as the old man and
another son were throwing stones, we
did not stop but got out of those woods
in a hurry. This was the only gold"
ever found in an Ohio work of pre-
historic character
There a veritable "gld locator" or
wizard" whichever you chose to call
1t, in the Sun Fish hills. We called at
his cabin and found his poor, old
wife hard at work washing the gar
ments which had accumulated in our
camp, and which this man, who could
tell the hiding place Of millions, had
taken home the previous day. He sat
without, in the shade, smoking and
building air castles. did youse ever
see a mineral rod?" he asked. We told
him that we had not, and, moreover,
such an article was fake, pure and
simple.
chats what youse stuck up sci
entists say" he replied. q kin find
gold and silver with my rod, and would
be a ritch man eff some teller would
put down a shaft Whar [ locate it. 1
seen some Nv the government fellers
and they done LATED at me, too, but
I'll jist show youse. Got any money!"
We produced some SIT in silver
"Now youse put that under this here
gum coat, and III show youse."
We spread the coat upon the floor,
and while he remained at a distance,
placed the money under one corner.
Then we called him. He poised a
string over his knee, at the end of
which was a round ball filled with in
gradients of an unknown character.
With the pulsation of the blood in his
leg the ball swung a few inches. He
moved about the edge Of the coat,
never holding the ball save over his
knee. Finally, he stopped about a foot
from the money and said:
cts right under the rod now"
We toN1 up the coat and showed
him he had missed it by a foot Then
he said the amount of money was too
small; that he was in the habit Of To-
eating masses as large as a house. and
that his powers for divination were
only for great objects. The rod would
not, he said, be attracted by so small a
mass. We begged him to try again,
and he withdrew. We took up all the
money and pocketed it, Then we called
him in, and he set about holding his
rod again, singing meanwhile a pecu-
liar droning chant. Presently he
stopped and said:
Its right under here"
We took up the coat and showed him
that there was no money there. Was
he angry? Well. [ should say! He
ordered us out of the cabin
And this man, we were told by an
intelligent farmer, actually believed in
the efficacy of that worthless ball and
spent days and days in roaming over
the hills, locating claims, which in his
were worth millions of dol
n q re "
are no geologic formations containing
metal of any value whatsoever.
After careful study of the chronicles
of the dealings with the Indians, [ find
nothing to prove the foolish assertion
that metal of any value was buried at
BUcyrus or elsewhere in Ohio. AS l
have said the medium of trade with the
Indians was goods-not money. Trad
erS did not care to have large sums of
money about them in the wilderness.
When they went East or North for
supplies, they gave beaver and other
skins to the large merchants in eN-
change for more goods. These sent
abroad were converted into money, but
that money never reached the West.
Our earliest authorities regarding
Indian, French, British, Dutch and
Spanish history and travel. covering
the period from the time of the dis
dian tribes from Ohio, speak of eX-
changes in hides, corn, beads. hatchets,
kettles, blankets, cts. No intelligent
person, therefore, would suppose that
any trader would bring a vast sum of
gold to the Ohio wilderness. Not only
would Indians have TO use for it, but
the risk of transportation would be
such that the trader would hesitate be-
fore attempting so foolish an under
taking, and one which would result
in no gain, even if he succeeded.
Until the last forty years the In
dams of America spent what money
they secured as fast as received. Even
that money was silver. An Indian
knew nothing about gold or paper
money.
These are facts regarding the buried
treasure of the Indian mounds of Ohio.
l believe it is the first time that any
one possessed of the necessary knoWl-
edge to speak with authority has told
them to the public in detail.
Warren X. MOOrehead.
Curator Department of Archaeology,
Ohio State university.