Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1898-02-09
A BATTLEFlELD's CROPS.
Relics of a Giant Race Found on a Flor
 ida Farm.


 ida Farm.
 A graveyard in a farm is not an
 extraordinary thing, bat a farm ID
 a graveyard is something different
 Imagine vast tract of many acres
 planted with corn, cane, tomatoes
 and many other vegetables, while the ground round about is almost completely covered with skulls
 bones and other debris that belongs
 to q graveyard proper. Such IS the farm of Captain F. J. Watson, who lives at Chatham Bay Key, Fla.' in the Tel island section. In the fields arc seen big cornstalks and sugar cane growing out through empty skulls, while the ground underneath the thickly matted tomato vines seems nothing but a surface of bones.
 This key is one of the most pecul- iar of the many odd islands in this group. It is a large island, contain ing about 60 acres, most being cx- tromely rich land. Ir tho center IS a sort of raised highland, containing about ten acres. On the edges of this there are still to be seen remains of what was formerly probably a fertilization of some kind, the CO., quina walls showing about a foot high in somo places, while in others they have completely disappeared. In the center are the ruins of what was once a temple of some sort, tho fragmer 8 of wall foundations still remaining being about 300 by @OJ feet, in the form of an eight pointed star. la the center of this island is n square upright column made from coauina. It is now only about 10 inches square and not over 12 feet high, but from its foundation and l other points it would seem to have ! been at least 2 feet square and possi- ! ply 20 or more feet high Queer In- . dian figures can be yet made out 1 on it.
 The Indians have superstition ! regarding this island, and it is im . possible to get any of them to vi lit . it at night. Chief Iconadachee, one ! of the oldest Indians there, says that . years ago when the Spaniards in Florida were prosecuting the Indians a powerful race inhabited this south ern section. They were large and fierce and astonished the invaders by their gigantic size and immense strength. He says that this trlhc was driven south of the Chatham river, beyond which lies an impene trable norass. They made this their last fighting ground, and many tales are told of the encounters that oc- cured there between the Spaniards and these Indians. Finally they were driven away from this refuge, and what was left of the tribe, pos sibly 1000, moved to this island. A mighty battle was fought here aft erward, and it IS supposed that the tribe was completely exterminated- ! An examination of the farm would indicate that a massacre of some kind had occurred, as the whole up per part of the key is completely 1 covered with skulls and various body bones of all sizes and condi- tions. One can scarcely walk with out treading on something of the kind. Hundreds and hundreds of the skulls are crushed in, as if tho owner had been killed by a bludgeon wound or by a battleax-in fact, three-foUrths of all the skulls picked l up show the marks of wounds of this character.
 A large number Of skeletons have been put together, and the result has been surprising. A majority U them are nearly feet in height, correspondingly broad in shOullerz and with mighty arm reach that would astonish even a Fitzsimmons or Corbett. All the other frame 1 bones are correspondingly large, be ing much larger than the bones oi an ordinary human body. 4 great many scientists have visited this section this winter, but none of them could explain this strange find, oX- cept on the hypothesis of complete massacre and an extinction of this tribe. Mir. Watson's farm is noted for its richness, decaying bones giv ing it an immense amount of feTti- | lizing. From 30 acres planted in cane and vegetables he has sold nearly 1 S10, GOO worth of stuff. This shows the incompatible richness of the 1 place. e.-St. Louis obe-Democrat