Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-22
GRAVE W|THBONES
OF INDIANS FOUND
Judge Graham Believes Dis
covery Near Port Tobacco
of Great Value.

An Indian grave containing the bones
of approximately 20 persons-probably
a chieftain of the Portpacco tribe with
his wives and cl1ildren-was excavated
yesterday under a pear tree near the
deserted town of Port Tobacco, Md,
by Judge William j.. Graham of the
United States Court of Customs and
Patent Appeals. an enthusiastic anna
teur archeologist.
Judge Graham believes that this
grave, in which all the bones were
found in space feet long by 3sfeet
wide and barely 8 inches deep. is an
important scientific discovery. The oc-
cupants. he thinks, must have been
wiped out by a catastrophe or epidemic
more than 800 years ago.
John Smith Described Villages.
Capt John Smith, the first white
man to come up the Potomac, described
three Indian villages near the site of
Port Tobacco. The inhabitants were
a peaceful people, mostly engaged in
fishing. Later this site was one of the
first visited by the Jesuit missionaries
who came to Maryland on the Ark
and the Dove and the story of the
conversion of the people Is told in let
tiers to the headquarters of the Society
of Jesus in Rome. The daughter of
the king" first was baptized, then the
king himself, and then the rest of the
people.
This burial, Judge Graham says, evil
IDENTIFY preceded the adoption of Chris
t1anity, since 1t was made according to-
the pagan custom. The bodies were
simply laid together on the river bank
and earth piled over them. Sometimes
this was protected from burrowing
animals by a layer of stones. There
is no evidence from the bones that the
occupants of this grave died violent
deaths. One large skull must have been
that OF a man of considerable impor-
lance, since there were about a score
of tiny brass cylinders mixed with the
bones, such as were worn by chiefs,
making musical sound when they
struck together as the owners walked
about.
Other Fragments Smaller.
The other fragments of skulls. teeth
and bones are smaller and probably be-
longed to women and children. The
bones indicate low-statued people with
low, sloping foreheads and projecting
jaws Shell beads and wampum were
found among the bones. There was
also duck egg. its she'll unbroken,
which may haves been placed with the
bones as food article or may have
gotten among them years later
Judge Graham. assisted by Edka O.
Moore, thirteenth precinct policeman,
Is working in ideal surroundings for
an archeologist. Port Tobacco practi-
cally Is deserted city. Once it was
one of the great tobacco shipping ports
of the Atlantic Coast. Now the old
houses stand like hollow skeletons, only
a few families lingering on amid the
ruins.
All around stretch the marshes, over
which the silken threads of a parasitic
plant have woven thick orange blankets.
The town, incidentally, was named Tor
the Portopacca Indians. Tt just hap
pened to become a tobacco shipping
port. Then the creek began to fill in,
ocean-going craft could navigate it no
longer and the town fell to decay. Here
in these marshes, it Is claimed. John
Wilkes Booth hid for time after the
assassination of Lincoln. All around
are the evidences of antiquity and
decay.
Fate Of Indians Unknown.
Nobody knows what became Of the
Portopacco Indians, Judge Graham
points out. Some say they were entire
ly killed of by diseases introduced by
the white men. Others claim that
some of them, mixed with white blood,
are still living in Charles County. These
''Wesorts," mostly prosperous farmers.
whose features give evidence of Indian
ancestry. They marry only among
themselves. They are such distinct
group that In the old Jesuit Church at
st. Thomas Manor, near Chapel Point,
q special section Is set apart for them.
They mav be descendants Of those