The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-01-29
BEFORE THE indian
RACE OF MEN LIVED HERE Be.
FORE THE RED MEN


FORE THE RED MEN
Ruins WITHOUT Limit
Isyed Along the Missouri River and
What Became Of Them Is Mys-
sey.-They disappeared Leaving
Paraphernalia Behind Them
Houses Built Parity Within the
Ground. :; -;
A strange prehis,oric civilization
has been discovered on the western
bank Of the Missouri River, and Har-
ward University authorities have an
1ounced that they Will soon conduct
extensive research WORK in an effort
20 establish something definite con-
corning the race which antedated
both the Indians and the forerunners
Of tho red man in the Missouri Val
ley.
The work will be under the per-
sonal direction Of Prot. F. H. Stern,
of Harvard. who, says an Omaha
dispatch In the Washington Post, has
already spsnt some time among the
Drehiutoric town sites in this vtcin-
IL. and who, last summer. sent
large collection Of crude implements
OF agriculture. chase. ana warfare to
the Peabody Museum, at Harvard.
Prof, Stern was formerly connected
with the Glider archaeological survey
OF tho western bank Of the Missouri
River, and It was his personal &C
aualntance with the field which de-
cided Harvard to. undertake the ak
ploration.
So numerous are these prehistoric
remains that DR.. r. F. Glider, we'll
known srchaeologist, who has spent
eight years on . survey within Is
miles Of Omaha, recently announced
that In his opinion the population Of
tho Missouri Valley Is not so great
nor 20 dense as was that OF the civ
inzation which passed away thou
sands Of years ago.
Both Prof. Stern and DR.. Glider
were struck with the absence OF any
thing showing, or even indicating,
tho fate Of the people who so thick
" inhabited this. country. They sim
ply disappeared. But they left their
saraphernalta behind them. Their
crude agricultural implements re-
ma;ned in the corners Of their houses
which finally rotted and fell in. but
they were not destroyed by force.
The BOTS and rude cooking utensils
we're, In many ceses. left boiling on
the 9res which burned in the centre
OF the lodges. Their bone fishhooks
were left hanging to the walls. Their
instruments Of war-their clubs.
their bows and arrows and their
.spears-renafned in their accustom-
ed places. Their little ornaments OF
personal adornment stays in the
family cache, and even their articles
Of feed wero left in the burrows used
as 1arders.
The thousands Of people seem to
have simply gone out Of their homes
for q moment and then failed to re-
turn. Tho Indians do not know
where they went. anu they have not
Ensle tradition AZ to who they
we're. They lived in the Missouri
Valley ages before the red man came.
Tho ruins which the Harvard men
will excavate and explore are scat
tered up and down the Missouri Riv-
ar for miles and miles. They con-
sist altogether Of house sites. The
houses were partly within the ground
and partly without. The roofs were
Of clay, and when. after the great
tragedy. which wiped out the nation
The supporting timoers rotted, the
dirt fell down into cne excavations,
covering everything the fleeing peo-
els left behind. In time dust and
airt sifted in and filled these house
aites until they were almost Level
with the surrounding ground. Now,
tie old houses are indicated by a
sltxht depression, only few inches
deep.
In numbers these old ruins are al
most without limit. According to
Dr.. Glider every hill between Sioux
City and Kansas City is simply q
vast house site. And in every one
explored there are the same indica-
tions Of a hasty fight and a great
tragedy.
These ruins do not appear on the
Iowa side OF the Missouri, but are
confined altogether to the Nebraska
side. However, there are remains Of
an entirely different people and an
other civilization on the Iowa hills.
That the two races lived in entirely
different ages is shown by the fact
that none Of the implements common
on one side Of the river Is found on
the other side.
In many respects these ancient
people were entirely foreign to any
other whose remains have ever been
found in America This Is shown by
the implements left behind when
they took their 1ight. Among these
is q beautifully carved head yith dis
tinctly Egyptian features, including
the rectangular ear guards worn by
them. entirely foreign to anything
ever before found on the American
continent. OF it James Mooney; OF
the American bureau Of ethnology,
said: eft is the greatest archaeolo-
sical find in America in a century,