The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1913-09-25
From the Sioux city Tribune.

Stanton, Neb. Special: A rusty
roughly made old knife blade. bearing
the date ..1257" and dug from an In,
dian mound near Sulphur Springs
Ark, by Charles HI. HELLER, a druggist
of that city, has given Thomas w
Barton, an archaeologist of Stanton,
the last link in a chain of proof show
ing that a shipload of Welshmen visit
ed the southwest 20$0 years before the
discovery of America by Columbus and
were assimilated by the Indian tribes
of New Mexico and Arizona. Mr.. Bar
ton, who has the old Welsh knife at his
nome in Stanton, has spent more than
q dozen years among The Zuni, Moqui
and other Indians of the southwest
studying their traditions, habits, Ian
guage, etc. He is now at Stanton
resting and working up the field notes
he made while among the Indians. The
old knife blade, which came into his
possession some time ago, was so heav-
lily encrusted with sulphur that it was
almost an inch thick. When this was
removed, the iron blade remained and
the date "1257" is easily discernible. To
this incrustation Mr.. Barton credits
the state of preservation in which the
old blade was found it was removed
from the Indian mound. The water
around the town of Sulphur Springs is
heavily i~mpregnated with sulphur and
the incrustation vas due to the settling
of sulphur crystals from the water
upon the knife blade.
Proof of Welsh Visits.
From Investigations l have made
says Mr.. Barton, Il find that in the
Thirteenth century the Welsh were the
only people in the world who made iron
articles and put the date on them. But
this is only one link in the chain OF
proof"
The Welsh, according to the archaeol-
ogist, not only a~ntedated the sailor of
Palos, but they preceded LaSalle and
Marquette to the Mississippi, entered
the mouth of that river 400 years before
dIberville heard of it. rowed or sailed
against the swift current and around
Its shaggy bends several hundred miles.
turned their way into the then dark
recesses of the Arkansas and up that
stream ~journeyed to the Rocky noun
tains centuries before the gold-seekers
footed a train to Santa Fee. These white
men were adopted into the Indian
tribes and gradually the white strain
disappeared, but today these same In
dians cling to many traditions and
words left behind by the Welshmen.
Thirty years ago, says Mr.. Bar
ton, while in Arizona among the In
dams, / picked up the tradition that
in an earlier day 81 party of men with
white skins q come among them.
We're adopted into the tribe and died.
iilts FAINT liULl lilG eastward, Ut the
Arkansas river. The white men had
weapons and implements of q strange
metal, but these gradually We're prok-
en- or thrown away. 1t was many gem
erations before that the white had
come and / gained scarcely more thar
the tradition. But I kept this tradi-
ton in mind.
Ten years after that I was visiting
In a Creek Indian village. There were
many Welshmen in the western states
and I had two of them in my party on
that trip. Shortly after our arrival
was exchanging greetings with the
head men of the trib n my two
Welshmen began making comment on
n camp, speaking to each other Ia
the Welsh tongue. One of the head IN
dams stopped and listened TO my men. |
Then he ran over to them and en-
braced them both. at the same time
speaking rapidly in Creek, which they |
did not understand. Then he pro-
Iiounced his words more sioyiy and