Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-04
HIDDEN CITY FOUND
IN BLACK HILLS.
Optimistic Diggers Uncover
Stone Walls Near Camp OF
President Coolidge.


Journal Co. Milwaukee. Wis, and North
American Newspaper Alliancet
RAPID CITY, SOAK, July 4.--On
| the road between Rapid City ana inc
| Summer White House hidden city
| is being eXcavated.
Day by day the work progresses ana
bares more and more of a wall sur
| rounding a steep hill. Some distance
from the wall a floor of rock resem-
bling perfect roadway has been UNI
covered. It leads toward the wall.
A few DAYS ago q tunnel was started
into the Hill and the people OF the
Black Hills region, already excited by
the presence of President Coolidge,
have been stirred into such fever
as existed in the early days When
gold was discovered.
Wonder About Treasure.
Buried treasurer" is the question
on every lip.
The wall is of pre-glacial origin,
scientists agree. If man-made, IT Will.
they say. write a new chapter in the
history of the origin of man. Intelli-
gent laymen. almost without excep-
ton, believe the wall was built by hu-
man beings. DR.. G. G.. O'Hara, presi-
dent of the South Dakota School of
Mines, is inclined to believe it Is the
work Of nature.
Chauncey Yellow Robe. nephew of
Sitting Bull. and his daughter, Rose
bud Robe, coed at the University of
South Dakota. are convinced the walls
represent a civilization which pre-
coded the Indians. that of race of
giants referred to in Sioux legends
The discovery of this hidden city,
dates back some years. G. Fl. Reich
| was herdng sheep in foothills pas
| ture when his attention was drawn by
| the singular movements of an aged
| Indian on a hillside. This Indian.
| from distant reservation, was max.
ing medicine" His work completed,
| he pointed into the hill.
much gold" he said
Stones Laid as i'm Wall.
A few years later Mr.. Reich. with
| Defiance Crabtree, while driving a
| pillow over the hillside to the tablelands
below, uncovered on the side OF the
hill an oblong stone, uncommon to
| the area. He ran the plow along and
found similar stones. This fitted in
with Mr.. Reich's plans for new
ranch house.
The stones were laid as in wall.
but neither of the men by training or
by inclination was an archeologlst-
Even the stones that made up CRUDE
keystone arch over doorway were
removed and the incident was closed
when their job was completed
Five years later, Defiance, IN
casual conversation with his brother,
the unusual formation.
Donald explored. He found that the
stones were more or less uniform In
size and were laid in masonry fashion
with a mortar-like substance between
the joints.
Retains Third Interest.
Reich granted Donald Crabtree a
1aase Int retained a third interest IN
arv nrecious metals or stones tha'
,,,ioht no found. Crahtree MADE con-
,,actions with Carl Erickson OF MIME
anolis and George G. Lauer OF st.
paul. skilled excavators.
To date the wall originally dlscoV-
a,.ad has been uncovered $50 feet from
,,orth to south. Glaeiation has COW
a,.ad II to great DEPTHS at some places.
The Joints are laid in true masonry
fashion. and the intersections arg re
filled with a substance that cnips 1ii
AS will mortar from ola nrlcks; 49,,
two places in the wall gaps naee u.e 80
fo,nd The wall. while it is warped
somewhat. which might be expected
under the pressure of the great glacier
that hurled It. runs i'm straight line.
Crossing the original wall at nearly
| ,;eht angles. near the foot OF the mn,
is another wall of similar nature:
The intersection resembles the WORK Vi
skilled stone workers. a.
T,auer believes the intersection IS
the trump card against those VINO De-
lieve the wall was made by nature.
"If. as some biologists believe, the
| wall is q dixie of freak formation ialo
nv nature i'm assures made by earth
| ouakes, two bikes would merge lhto
one at the intersection" he SAID.
such is not the case here. Ihere
are two separate walls, joined expert
Nv at right angles. Again, II one uihe
| was laid down first and later cross
| assure opened up. the original wall
would have been damaged by the
| earth movement. This rock has the
| aunearance to me of having been
| baked much as we bake bricks today"
He handed q piece of the wall to the
correspondent 1t was extra heaVy
and the outer layers had the appear
ance of having been burned. Inc SUD
| stance between the blocks to nom
ceologist, has the decided appearance
of mortar.
Another Corner Indicated.
Farther up the hillside to the SOUTH
| where it was necessary TO dlg 10 ieet
| down. there are indications of another
/
badly deteriorated bank that re-
| sembles a terrace.
| AS a rule the blocks of stone in the
| main wall are in perfect condition.
They are of the same width, making
| the wall of the same height as the eX-
| cavations which pierce the glacier
made hill that covers 1t. The lengths
vary from / to 3 feet. The stones
are of a uniform thickness, s inches.
and in some places the excavators
have reached the bottom of the wall.
| The wall at such places is now APP
| proximately feet high. That has
| caused some persons to speculate on
the possibility that 1.-The prehistoric
residents of the hidden city" were
pigmies. This is the opposite of the
Indian theory of giants" Lauer. on
a recent exploration tour, uncovered
what mas the appearance VI u u uNS
pavement at point 100 feet from the
wall and on the opposite side of the
| hill.
HierosIyphics Suggested.
| A thousand square feet of this stone
| floor have been uncovered up to July
| /. Exploration trenches elsewhere
have indicated that the road continues
great distance. The stones are G
| inches thick and are carefully fitted
| into place.
While digging along the surface of
| this floor-like formation fragment
| of rock which bears strange mark
! ings was picked up. Here again there
j l.. IL aitaixa hn L