The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1907-07-11

The house stands on the crest Of a
hill which slopes steeply downward
toward bright little river called the
Desna. From the front of the house,
which faces the great plain distant to
the left but q stones throw, stands
one of the most remarkable churches
IN Russia. The foundation stone was
laid by Peter the Great toward the
close of the seventeenth century,
when in place of the palatial residence
the same spot modest hunting lodge,
which was one of the favorite resorts
of that emperor AS a rule. no carved
or craven image is ever admitted in
or about Russian church. while this
one. which is entirely of marble. is
profusely adorned. both inside and
out. with statues of the same material.
and following the inner curve of the
lofty dome is a magnificent high-re-
lief of the crucifixion.
Many are the Russian archaeologists
who come to admire and wonder at
this beautiful place of worship. A
very noted one had. in fact, left there
a day or so before our arrival, though
his visit has had to do with matters
other than those of relating to the
church.
On the high plateau which widens
out to the left between the church and
hn vi,.o r;,,l, al
cular mound. between 20 and 80 feet
in height. covered with luxuriant vege
tation and trees of many centuries
growth. About the circumference of
this mound clearly defined path
winds its way gently upward from the
base to the summit. whence the view
of the surrounding country would be
superb were it not for the great alti-
tude of the intervening trees.
Passing the house and following the
crest of the height for some little dis
lance to the left. you find II mounds
similar in shape to this but of much
smaller dimensions. Many had been
the discussions in regard to the ori.
gin of these elevations. until finally
after some little entreaty. my friends
had consented to allow investigations
to be made. Two of the mounds had
in consequence been opened. In the
first had been discovered the WELL
conserved skeleton of man. while in
the second lay that of young and
evidently most beautiful woman in
complete state of preservation. The
head was perfect in shape; the teeth,
OF which not one was missing. were
like two rows of evenly matched
pearls. and, strange to say. the hair
still lay in two great braided coils
upon either side of the temples. Civ
ing so lifelike an appearance to the
corpse that my hostess had positively
declined to allow another one of the
silent denizens of these ancient burial
places to be disturbed. Through the
heavy braids that still adorned what
once bad been the earthly habitation
of God-sent soul were thrust long
pins Of strangely wrought metal and
about the neck was a string of curious
ly cut Siberian stones. with ear
rings to match. There were. further
more, numerous bracelets, but unfor-
tunately l saw none of these things,
as the finder, renowned scientist,
had requested permission to take them
to Moscow, there to have them exam
ined with view to determining upon
the period as to which they belonged.
Although no further investigations
were made. it was conclusively proved
that these were burial grounds. dating
many centuries back The largest
one near the church is generally con-
sidered to be that of some great chief
of former ages.
A strange ceremony the like of
which could be witnessed in no coun-
try other than Russia took place one
Sunday. AS we were leaving the
church directly after the morning
service, servant met us, informing
our host that the people were on their
way to his residence, bringing with
them greatly revered image from
far-distant church.
These images are from time to time
borne with great pomp and solemnity
about the country and are supposed
to confer especial blessings upon any
household whose portals they may