Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1899-05-18

specimens OF lIOESi lies, spiders ana
mosquitoes -
4 short time ago Nj Small made. u
wonderful find. In the ledge Of rock
where he found the palm leaf aud big
fish, and 80 feet beneath the surface,
he fonnd an iron pin 10l inches in
length and Of an inch in thickness
The pin was firmly embedded i'll the
rock, is perfectly round, has ii sharp
point at one end and fat at the ether
We tried it with file and found it very
soft Here il a silent witness of an I'M
known and unrecocded past, Where
did it come fromg How did it get
there? 1t was embedded i'll the rock
with the fish and leaves, and owing to
the popularity 81 its situation was pre-
served throughout countless ages Here
is study of great importance to the
geologist and scientific explorer and
may so far in proving certain things
heretofore held as hypothetical, A few
things about it are certain. 1t had az
Immediate neighbors palm leaf and
specimens of fish found only in tropical
climates and was deposited with them
in the mud from which the fossil rock
was formed. This surely must nave
been at one time tropical climate bat
when-that IS the question he diff
ferent stratas of the earth are a. an
open book to the learned geologist.
In ut 4 r. !,
easily determined It may Be chat an
investigation Of the matter may take
the man Of science back farther into
the depths Of the past than any other
historic find il this country. What
a strange line Of Thought it leads one
into! There is this iron pin, boxing
exactly like any ordinary LIN turned
out of blacksmith shop Of Che present
day, and proving beycnd al dispute
that at the time the Fin was made
race of people existed wen ver5ed in the
manufacture of iron and its practical
uses. Who We're this people? Did they
inhabit this country or where d:a thay
come from? What n Thought What
study! Thousan S of years mast
have elapsed since this manufactured
piece of iron found It's stTnga resting
place. l consider the finding Of this
iron pin Of far more importance 10 the
scientific world than anything, that has
YET been found in this country, It's
history must be more ancient thar any
of the relics found Of the cliff dwellers
or mound builders L may eTen ante
date any Of the relics found in Egypt !
by thousands of years. Who can tell?
Learned men tell MS Of the stone are,
the bronze age and tie iron age Here, |
then, is IN ancient witness OF the latter +
period and, in my opinion, complete i
demonstration of the formation Of this
part of the world long after the race
had reached high state Of civilization. +
Looking at it from another point Of T
view can it be possible that the tie f
mendous upheavals and turning over
this country underwent was within the :
period of our written histories. or can F
there be any connection formed be, I
tween the formation of this country
and Ignatius Donnelly's hypothesis in
his work entitled Island of Atlantus.'?
These are questions that only scientific
explorers can handle. and to them we F
turn for the solving of the problems, or
Mt least an explanation on this ancient
and we'll preserved piece of iron
Mr.. Editor, ! understand the Union
Pacific Railway company has offered to
the scientific men of the east free
to any of the fossil
regions OF Wyoming. Why not draw
their attention to the country around
Fossil Station and to the finding of The
iron pin? The finding Of it would.
have no doubt, interest the.n to great