Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1903-06-12
AN ANCIENT QUARRY.
One In Nebraska That Was Worked
by Unknown Race.
serie~ OF Mines Buried undc~ the
Accommodations Of Centuriew In
dictate the Loss of People
IN Ages Past


In the great flint quarries near
Nehawka, Neb., covering more than a
township. party of well-known sci
entists has found what they think ia
evidence of the existence of lost race,
hitherto unknown. 1t is thought that
this prehistoric people belonged to
neither the red men nor the mound
builders. But who they were and
at what remote age they Inhabited
the Missouri valley cannot now be
ascertained, says a recent report from
that section.
They were a race of patient plod-
ders whose knowledge and handiwork
had not been developed beyond the
primitive ideas of the stone age. by
their industry it is shown that they
were not the nomadic, indolent In
dian race; by their ignorance and
crude handiwork that they were not
of the refined, almost civilized mound
bnildcrs the first American aborig-
ines, whose existence Is definitely
known.
Then who were they, whence did
they come, and by whom were they
obliterated? Aside from the mound
builders and the latter-day Indians,
no American aborigines are known to
scientists, and In these quarries Is
evidence of a strange race.
There is no doubt the quarries are
of great age. The entire series OF
mines has been buried beneath an
average OF ten feet OF soil The ac-
emulation of this must have taken
centuries 1t Is known positively the
condition has not changed at all In
100 years. Then how many centuries
did it take for this ten feet OF soil tn
cover the whole OF the mines?
To settle the mooted question
whether these quarries, situated on
the Nehawka fruit farm owned by
Isaac NJ. Pollard, were ths work ot
some artificial agency or Of nature, an
unusually lnrwe party of prominent
scientists was induced by state Arch
aeologist +. Il. Blackman 10 visit the
quarrics. OF the findings of the sc-
entists State Archaeoloeist Rlarkmau
gave out the following statement
"Mr. Pollard, when he nrrnneed The
visit TO this spot n year ago. caused N
cross section TO he cut in the brow of
the hill and laid bare The face Of the
quarry. This excavation is so feet in
length, six feet wide. and averages ten
feet in depth. II shows that the arti-
sans removed two layers OF solid lime
stone and one OF decnyed rock before
they came to the strata which they
sought, and which contained the nod
ulcs of flint from which implements
were made. Tons of flint are scat
tered on the surface and in the debris
of the quarry, and there are many
rocks showing where the flint nod
ules were taken out. On the large
pieces Of limestone in the quarry pit
one may see fractures, as II they had
been struck with n heavy sledge. The
face Of the quarry. as shown by the
excavation, is perpendicular wall 10
feet high The surface indication be-
fore digging was circular or oblong
depression There is a burr oak stand
ing nearly in the center OF the pit
measuring six feet two inches in cir
cumfererce.
'As TO the peone who did this quar-
rving little can he said ri this time.
The archaeology of Nebraska was not
systematically stndied until year
AFRO. and that Is scarcely me enough
TO arrive at a dcfirite conclusion. This
much Is evident, however: A lazy In
dian--and most of them we have met
~ = a..
The work was systematically done, as
IF under one mans directions; the
flint from these pnarries is found in
well-made implements 100 miles from
the quarries.
'The Missouri river front presents
a complicated archaeological field, and
one which needs more time to develop.
There are Indications of three distinct
races or tribes of stone age people
here. These three are intermingled in
places, arc separated In other places;
they had traits and customs very sim
liar in some resrects and ,...lilA, ia oth-
ers.
"Rriehy stated. we know but little
about them. 1t Is my opinion that
thesr duarIles were worked Dy tribe
of people related remotely, Ii at all.
to any Indians known to the early set
tiers of Nebraska. As to the age of
this work the above cited burr oak
tree teaches Us that at least 100 years
ago the pit where il stands was inprac-
tieally the same condition as to-day"
Deadly A reeufr g.,rsum