Evening star., 1934-08-07
Iowan Tells the True
Story of Cardiff Giant

IN an editorial in your issue of
Saturday. on The Cardiff Giant"
some statements were made that at
trscted my attention. When wrote
"A History OF the People Of Iowa" in
1920, I had occasion to delve into
some OF the mysteries Of this one of
the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrsted.
II was in 1858 The Northwestern
Railroad had been completed to
Boone. Iowa. and that town became
the center of the wild west" Up the
Des Moines River was the struggling
village OF Fort Dodge-now a pros
porous city, where gypsum mines had
been opened. A block Of gypsum
was brought 10 the Boone railroad
station. drawn by four oxen, for the
block weighed 5000 pounds. 1t was
taken to Chicago. where a German
sculptor worked it into the efigy OF
a man. a human giant. 1t was then
shipped to Cardiff, N. Y. where It
was secretly buried. In the following
year q well was made over the grave
of the giant. When the we'll diggers
struck what had been buried there
they were surprised and even horri-
fed. The human monster was then
uncovered and carefully hoisted to the
surface A tent was placed over it
and the curious came and paid TO see
1t. It was called the American Co
Hath"
Now, as to the SCIENTISTS" BY
whom, you say, it was denounced" 3"
The facts are to the contrary. The
a-aga.-4fr.cp .,,nrn a nty,,,pt tkn ,~.a.f da
ceived. DR.. James Hall of New York.
a scientist of great repute-he later
came to iowa to become the States
first geologist-called it "the most re-
markable archaeological discovery ever
made in this country and entirely un-
like any relic of the past ages known
to us" In the Scientific American.
one of the writer's declared it was
easier to believe that it was "a veri-
table petrification," than a statue, for
he could not find chisel mark upon
the entire image" In the same article
it was called 1.-The most extraordinary
and gigantic wonder ever presented
to the eye OF man.
Barnum may have deceived the
many with his replica of the giant,
but the scientists of that period were
Received by themselves. When the
facts were revealed they were much
laughed at.
The facts were revealed by B. F.
Cue. then the editor OF the Fort
Dodge North West, which was good
pioneer newspaper. Cue traced the
block of gypsum through Chicago to
Cardiff. The chief promoters Of the
hoax we're H. B. Martin and George
Hull. who later confessed deception
for which they could not be punished.
But the credit for the success OF the
hoax belongs to the unnamed German
sculptor who carried out their plans.
1t was he who did not leave "a chisel
mark on his statue, leaving the
contour so perfect" as one writer
then phrased it, "and the repose so
lifelike. and the countenance so
noble" How did he do it in dark
cellar in Chicago? He left even the
marks of erosion on the gypsum,
which led the scientists" to say that
it had been in the ground through
long ages" back to the time when
there were giants in the earth"
Was there ever such another hoax
perpetrated-and now after 66 years,
it Is still the theme of editorial COM
ments and the Chamber of Commerce
of Syracuse, which is not far from
Cardiff, wants to give it permanent
resting place in that city, probably in
a monumental building, where the
curious and the scientific" can gaze
upon it forever.
But as an Iowan I hope it will be
retained in Fort Dodge, where 1t was
born" out of the deposits of gypsum
which have helped to make that city
rich and famous. There the noax
had a commercial value at the Time.
In what other way could gypsum have
been so well advertised to the world?
1t was in the wake Of the Carin
Giant that the first gypsum mill was
opened in that city, in 1871.
CYRENUS COLE.