Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-11
ASTOUNDING CLAIMS OF A SCIEN-
list.

ASTOUNDING CLAIMS OF A SCIEN-
, list.
Memphis Dispatch to the Cincinnati
Enquirer: 1t has been discovered that
under the farms and wamps and wood
lands of the counties Of Ashley, Desha
and Drew, in Southwestern Arkansas, are
the remain of the homes of a vast colony
of that wonderful prehistoric people,, the
Mound Builders. Where the farmers
peacefully toll, and where the great Mis-
sissippi river washes its silt and sand in
these counties today, these people of
whom archaeologists are able to tell SO
little lived and worked ages since.
1t is not claimed that the jewellers in
this prehistoric metropolis, or domain of
these American aborigines, were far ad-
vanced in civilization, but they were in
dustrious. They made pottery so cum
ningly that it's glaze retains it's sheen
after countless years; they buried their
dead in Baskets of pottery; they built
Notifications, dug canals and transported
shells up the great river from the far
away shores of the gulf, in order to OBJ
tain lime for their pottery making.
The Mississippi Valley is to the arch
aeologist a land of mystery. These
mounds, silent sentinels over the graves
Of a people entirely extinct, are numcr-
Gus, and nearly every one that is opened
. IN ICIlSc u q doy lldl lltSd IVA
passed centuries before Christ was born.
Scientists wonder over these relics and
are SO puzzled that they will enture only
suggestions as to the habits and origin
of the people that left them.
1t is the idea of Mr.. Lamar Fontaine,
who has made many executions among
the multitude of mounds, that in these
three Arkansas counties was built the
great city of the Mound Builders-a city
of LOCO, 900 inhabitants. This statement
has been published and has been jeered
at by certain eminent archaeolosists, but
they do not support their scornful reJec-
ton of the statement by any strong con-
Trajectory evidence.
Recently while making a survey IN the
counties of Ashley, Desha and Drew, Mr..
Fontaine passed for 35 miles along q
westerly line through the ruins of the
Mound Builders metropolis, and did not
reach its western limits, and then, turn
ing north, he went for % miles, and was
still miles short of it's northern boundary.
MI. Fontaine computes the population of
the area he passed over by the following
method: The remains of the city over
$50, 900 squares of one acre each, and four
dwellings rested on each of these squares.
He thus figures out 2,400, 600 residences,
and allowing five persons to each resi-
dence, he figures the city to have con-
tanned II, 200, 600 people, making it vastly
larger than any ancient city of which
there is any authentic account, or than
any modern city.
Mr.. Fontaine has now a large collec-
ton of bones, pottery and other relics
left by the Mound Builders. He had a
greater store of these archaeological
treasures q few years ago, but they We're
DESTROYED in a fire which consumed his
home at Lyon, Miss. He showed the
writer a number of the relics, one of
which is the skull of a Mound Builder.
1t contains several teeth. The teeth are
very large, and the jaw is that of a giant
larger than any that the entefprlslAS
Barnum ever exhibited.
MIR. Fontaine is a man possessed OF a
wide range of knowledge, CLEANED IN
travelling and from constant reading, and
he is a brilliant conVersatlonallst. IN
speaking of the great city of the Mound
Eui,ders and the people who made it and
left it for the latter day world to wonder
at, he said: II have always been inter-
ested in archaeology and have been a
student of it. When l began an lnVestl'
J cation of the great metropolis OF the
Mound Builders [ was startled at lts
magnitude. ] knew that | would DC
laughed at when l published my figures
but I considered it my duty to do it, be-
cause it would attract the attention OF
men with money and brains enough &c
study the mounds and their contents. !
was not mistaken. 1 sent a short article
concerning the find to q memphis paper
and since that time | have received over
3. 900 letters concerning it. / have also
clippings from Chicago papers in Incl
two Chicago archaeologists denounce ms
as a lunatic. l have, therefore, offered
to prove the truth of every assertion
make, and will take pleasure in showing
archaeologists to the site of the city ano
assisting them in any way possible.
81 have a theory concerning the orlgl
in the mound builders, and l suppos@ II
will be jeered at also, though / have SONG
foundation in history for it. On page 80 OF
Chambers Higher History of he Cnltco
States one can find my historical tounda.
ton, though l am free to confess thal
without the backing of Chambers would
still believe in my theory. The historian
says: 1t is claimed that among the his
torical records of China a nation among
the oldest on the globe, there is to be
found the narrative of a great traveller,
Hoei Shin, who, in the year 499, visited a
country called by him Flu Sang. This
narrative has been recently translated
and from the description of the country
visited, the direction taken, and the
number of miles travelled, the evidence is
strong that Flu Sang corresponds with
the southwestern shores Of the United
States My idea is that the mound build.
/ ers are of Chinese origin, and my reason.
for arriving at the conclusion are many.
when | was a young man., l was FOR