, 1900-01-23
PREHISTORIC REMAINS.
Highly Interesting Archaeological Dis,
%coveries Made at Hartville.

A Cheyenne dispatch to the Denver
News says:
The discovery of an underground
cave in the Sunrise IRON mine at Hart
vile is of peculiar interest, in onnec
ton with the fact that a similar find
was made in the Chicago iron mine
about eight years ago. The Chicago
is on the same belt and only a mile
and a half distant. At the time of
that discovery the miners, Joe Slime
and William Lauk, were running a
tunnel into the hill and had gone in
about 90 feet when they unearthed a
stone mortar and grinding stone, an
Indian necklace made of sinews and
strung with arrow heads, hoof bones
carved, a stone tomahawk and the pol
ished end of a horn.
These discoveries tell their own his
tory. On account of the presence of
large bodies of red hematite the In
| dams made the region a favorite resort
to obtain the brilliant, soft pigment
for coloring their various articles of
workmanship and particularly when
large bands were organized for the
warpath, and as a first preparation for
| the campaign their faces and parts of
the body were painted red. The rude
stone paint mills found in both these
mines tell the story as wildly as II
the red warriors were fighting their
battles today.
Hartville is rich in Indian and pio-
neeer history. The old California and
Mormon trail passes directly through
the townsite. The very gulch in which
the town is located was called Indian
Spring, as far back as the records of
white men 60. This spring gushes GU.
of solid rock at the foot Of a high cliff
and today furnishes Hartville its sup
ply Of water. Along the outskirts of
the townsite and covering a portion
Of it can be traced the tepee beds of
the Indians who once resorted there,
showing villages a mile in extent. It
was also a favorite camping place of
the '49ers and Mormons on account OF
it's excellent supply of water n wood
and beautiful situation.
About 10 miles above Hartville, sit
uated in a wild and picturesque spot
in the hills between the old trail and
the North Platte is SHADES canon-the
home Of the famous desperate and his
companions and the place where they
cached their plumber after foraging on
the immigrant trains and stage trav-
elers of that day.
Thirty miles north of Hartville is
located one of the most remarkable
archaeological discoveries on the con
tinent-the extensive remains of In.
dian mines along the mesas and foot
hills at the head of the Muddy. These
remains cover an area of one to two
miles and the excavations made by tun-
nels, drifts, chambers and large circu-
lar shafts would require the mining
of a hundred men for many years.
1t Is the puzzle of antiquarians and
ethnologists. The implements, stone
hammers, lance heads, stone knives
and axes, scrapers. etc, found there
are SO rude that many are inclined tc
place these works back to the stone
age, and the fact that the Indians have
left no other memorials, favors thi:
view. The News correspondent visited
this ancient city and its mines last
summer and collected many ude i'm.
plements and wal relics. some Of
which were placed in the Columbian
museum at Chicago. To properly de,
scribe these wonderful remains would
require much research and many col
umns Of description.