The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-04-26
GREAT BURIED WALL
CAUSES A BIG STIR
Evidence Of a High Civilization
Among Prehistoric Missis-
sippians Is Found.
MAY BE THE CRADLE OF MANKIND
Excavations That May Upset All Previous
Theories as to the Races Early Home
is Now Used AS 0uarry-A
Startling Discovery.

startling discovery. .-..1.iIs.t,
Chicago Tribune: A chance discov-
cry, away down in the wilds of south
west Mississippi, may give antigua
rians and archaeologists a new prob
lem to solve,f the answer to which may
upset all preconceived notions and the
cries as to the aboriginal inhabitants of
this country, or at least in the lower
throw a flood of light upon what are
now dark pages as to human existence
on this continent.
It may be decided that this continent,
and not the far east, was the cradle Of
the human race; that before Nineveh
and Tyre reared their walls against the
opaline sky of the orient; before Baby
Ion and the pyramids We're thought of,
there existed upon this continent civ
ilization, complete. highly cultivated In
the mechanic arts and capable of en-
cheering work comparing favorably
with that shown in the pyramids and
In the manifold beautiful temples
which lie buried beneath the shifting
sands Of the Desert Of Sahara.
At the present moment an expedition
Is being fitted out, amply provided with
funds, and under the direction of dis
tinguished psychologists and antigua
rians, who will give the "Brandywine
WALL in lower Mississippi thorough
investigation in the light OF science and
experience in such matters. This expe-
dition is expected to reach Copiah and
Claiborne counties some time during
the present month, and excavations
will at once begin. The results of the
,,I1 I,,, c%,,1 10 oil
over the world with intense interest.
Stones Ready Cut.
Some twenty years ago q few of the
inhabitants of the southeast corner of
Claiborne county, Mississippi, needed
some stones for building purposes-to
make foundations and chinineys Tor
their modest dwellings. Some of the
people remembered, so it is alleged, Sc
ing some nice. regular looking stones in
the woods in pile, from which the ac--
cumulated loan of ages had been
washed by the torrential rains of the
seasons, and SO, accordingly, to the
place the people repaired. They were
charmed at the quality of the stone
and pleased that it was SO convenient
ly cut, ready for their use. They
pried some Of the blocks from their
resting place and then the quarry" be-
came famous. People for miles and
miles around came to get some of the
stones whenever their uses demanded
stone for any purpose. And SO, in
course of time, a good deal Of the stone
was taken out 1t was found that the
quarry" extended east and west and
that 1t was not long until, by going
laterally into it, they exhausted the
blocks and had to. follow the trend of
the rocks. Tons of the nice sandstone
was taken away. Some of 1t was In
=, a ;y,%< ND rf
the blocks were longer than others. but
they were all trimmed nicely, along the
sides and at the ends. with almost
mathematical exactness.
There was a sort of cement, also,
which filled the cracks where the stones
We're laid. It IS hard and Of grayish
color. In the upper layers of the stone
the cement has disintegrated, but down
In the midst Of the wall 1t was clearly
defined and well preserved
Then the discovery was made that a
few miles from the quarry branch
of Bayou Pierre had broken through
the quarry" On either side Of the
stream good idea of the quarry"
could be oDtained-there was the same
sandstone; it was cut in the same rect
\ angular blocks, and the quarry"
seemed to be about twelve or fifteen
: feet in width and the same in height
probably a little wider at the bottom
Z than at the top Above the highest
stones, for several feet, was a rich
foam composed of dead leaves and the
decaying vegetation Of centuries. Along
its top grew great live oaks slow grow
4 ing scrub oak, and long leaf pines large
enough to furnish masts for the big
gest vessel that ever breasted waters.
It was noticed that there was a long
ridge extending over the country and
+ that in various places where the dirt
had been washed away the blocks Of
the wall were shown.
wall Escaped Notice.
Ali this began to become generally
known In the course OF time, for they
are an easy going set down in Missis-
Sippi and are not easily excited, unless
! someone intimates that free silver is
I q heresy or that Bryan Is politically
dead. The bucolic Inhabitants OF that
section may have wondered somewhat,
& but as the problem was manifestly I'M
solvable they worried not at all, but
kept on making drafts on the deposit
for building material, and which were
j always honered. s
Along about 1850, reports Of the
quarry, or the .Brandywine wall" al
II had become to be known in the COM
munity, owing to It's proximity to
Brandywine, g little country settle
ment and postoffice near where the
first stone was taken out, got beyond
the immediate neighborhood The first