The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1911-08-10
Recent archaeological
Finds i'm Michi6an fire
Frauds Says TaIma6e

cal discoveries in Michigan has be-
come very general Of late. as il shown
by extended mention of recent finds
published in the papers OF Detroit.
Chicago, and other cities. II will be
of interest to the people Of Utah to
know that DR.. James Il. Talmage has
given attention to this matter, and
for over two years past has been en-
gagged in an investigation thereof. He
has made several visits to Detroit,
which appears to be the chief center
of the region within which these finds
have been made and, furthermore,
has conducted excavation work him
self and has removed from the earth
with his own hands a number of ar
ticles which, II genuinely ancient,
would have to be classed among the
most astounding archaeological discov
cries In America. 1t will be seen, how.
ever. that DR.. Talmage unhesitatingly
pronounces these finds as forgeries
and frauds as does DIR. Starr OF the
Chicago university, although Prof
Kinnaman declares his firm belief in
their genuineness. We are particularly
fortunate in being permitted to pub
lish pictures of some OF the articles
taken from the mounds by DR.. Tai
mage, and in presenting herewith an
account Of part Of the work he has
done in the line Of this investigation.
Or. Taimage's Statement.
MY attention was first drawn to
the alleged archaeological relics in
Michigan during the summer OF 1909,
in the course Of a conversation with
DIR. w. c. Mills, state Archaeological OF
Ohio In thus becoming acquainted
with the matter at so late a date. I
confess | was sadly behind the times
as | have since learned that discover.
les OF this kind have been made at In.
tervals for more than twenty years
past. From Dr. Mills, learned the
names OF parties residing In Detroit
whose interest in this work has been
demonstrated by long and persistent
work. The parties referred to are
those whose names have been exten.
sl'ely used OF late in the newspaper
reports of recent developments, speci.
fically Mr.. Daniel Il. Soper and Rev.
erend James Savage. dean of the Holy
Trinity church of Detroit. Through
the courtesy OF Mr.. Soper, Iobtained
blue prints and photographs of tab.
lets. gorgets, ornaments implements,
etc, all of them bearing inscriptions.
and all said to have been unearthed
from burial mounds within the state
OF Michigan. Father Savage also had
very large collection of these OBJ.
jects. At the invitation of these gen.
uemen, | went to Detroit in the lat.
ter part of November, 1909, and was
accorded the privilege of examining
the great array of artifacts which they
had brought together.
Il suggested the ACCESSIBILITY of my
personal examination of some of the
mounds, and MIR. James Scotford was
named to me as man whose service
II would be well for me to secure in
the work of excavation This man has
also been prominently mentioned in
recent newspaper reports and can
therefore use his name without re-
serve. had previously learned that
Scotford had proved himself the one
successful digger in the search for
these alleged ancient relics and
have since become convinced that
practically all OF the articles that have
been unearthed have been found by
Scotford and certain members of his
family, or by others closely associat-
ed with him.
However, deliberately decided to
follow the suggestion of employing
Scotford, and on Nov, 5, 1909, ac.
companied him and Mr.. Daniel T.. Sop
er, to tract of woodland few miles
from the center of Detroit Here we
found number of small mounds
scarcely more prominent than graves
In a cemetery, Scotford selected one
OF these, and after had made a super,
hcial examination which failed to re,
veal any signs of recent disturbance
he began to dig into the central part
OF the mound, Within few minutes
there was exposed charp point OF
what seemed to be an implement OF
copper, and this l removed with my
own hands, 1t proved to be a thir
copper AK with ~ inches as the great
est length. It bore on one face an in
scription including combination o
characters which appear on every on,
of the relies thus far unearthe,