Author: bretwalters6969

HONOLULU, KINGDOM OF HAWAII POLYNESIAN, JANUARY 2, 1841
RUINS AND TRADITIONS.

On the eastern shore of Pascagoula bay in Jackson county, Mississippi, near its mouth, are the ruins of an ancient fortification, built apparently many centuries ago. It appears to have been constructed chiefly of sea-shells. Within this ruin, several feet below the surface, have been found charred coals, and fragments of a peculiar kind of earthen ware, together with many human bodies. Among them were discovered parts of a human skeleton of gigantic proportions. The upper part of the skull was said to be sufficiently large, to fit loosely over the largest modern heads.

CLEVELAND HERALD, SEPTEMBER 10, 1845
A GIANT EXHUMED.

We are informed on the most reliable authority that a person in Franklin county, Tennessee, while digging a well, a few weeks since, found a human skeleton, at the depth of fifty feet, which measures eighteen feet in length.  The immense frame was entire with an unimportant exception in one of the extremities.  It has been visited by several of the principal members of the medical faculty in Nashville, and pronounced unequivocally, by all, the skeleton of a huge man. The bone of the thigh measured five feet; and it was computed that the height of the living man, making the proper allowance for muscles, must have been at least twenty feet.  The finder had been offered eight thousand dollars for it, but had determined not to sell it any price until first exhibiting it for twelve months.  He is now having the different parts wired together for this purpose.  These unwritten records of the men and animals of other ages, that are from time to time dug out of the bowels of the earth, put conjecture to confusion, and almost surpass imagination itself.—Madison Banner.

STROUDSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICAN, OCTOBER 2, 1845
A STORY OF A GIANT.

In exhuming of late the remains of so many wonderfully large animals unknown to the present age, it has been supposed that the ancient race of men must have been correspondingly large. At length we have something to sustain the doctrine. The Madison Banner states on the most reliable authority, that a person in Franklin county, Tennessee, while digging a well, a few weeks since, found a human skeleton, at the depth of fifty feet, which measures eighteen feet in length. The immense frame was entire with an unimportant exception in one of the legs. It has been visited by several of the principal members of the medical faculty in Nashville, and pronounced unequivocally, by all, the skeleton of a huge man. The bone of the thigh measured five feet; and it was computed that the height of the living man, making the proper allowance for muscles, must have been at least twenty feet. The finder has been offered eight thousand dollars for it, but had determined not to sell it at any price until exhibiting it for twelve months. He is now having the different parts wired together for this purpose. These unwritten records of the men and animals of other ages, that are often from time to time dug out of the bowels of the earth, put conjecture to confusion, and almost surpass imagination itself. History informs us that the Emperor Maximum was 8 feet 6 inches in height. In the reign of Claudius a man was brought from Arabia 9 feet 9 inches tall. John Middleton, of Lancashire, England, was 9 feet 3 inches, and Cotter, the Irish Giant, 8 feet 7 inches. But our American skeleton, if we have really found such a one, will throw all other Giants in the shade.

FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE WESTERN WEEKLY REVIEW, NOVEMBER 11, 1845
GIANTS BONES

There have been recently dug up in Williamson county, Tennessee, seven miles from Franklin, the bones of a giant and no mistake. We have conversed with an intelligent and enterprising gentleman of our city, who has seen, examined, and purchased an interest in the skeleton. From him we derive the following facts:  A Mr. Shumate was boring for water near his residence, upon a hill of considerable extent and eminence, situated in a rocky, mountainous section country, where the bones were discovered about 60 feet beneath the surface. They were immediately exhumed, and were found embedded in a strata of the hardest kind of clay which had apparently filled an extensive cavern or opening in the rock. The position of the skeleton was that of a recumbent, making an angle of the horizon. The bones are not at all petrified as in the case with most of the skeleton monsters of animals which have been discovered in our country, but are, nevertheless, in a most perfect state of preservation, and weigh in the aggregate about 1500 pounds!

No doubt rests in the minds of any who have seen or examined them, that these bones belong to the genus homo. All the larger and characteristic bones are entire, and the skull, arms and thigh bones, knee pans, shoulder sockets and collar bones remove all skepticism as to their humanity. The whole skeleton, we are informed, is about 18 feet high , and must have stood full 19 feet ‘in his stockings’ (if he wore any.). The bones of the thigh and leg measure 6 feet 6 inches, so that our friend, ‘the General,’ could have marched erect, in full military costume, between the giant’s legs.

The skull is described as being about 2-3 the size of a flour barrel, and capable of holding in its cavities near two bushels; a coffee cup of good size could be put into the eye sockets—and the jaw teeth, which are all perfect even to the enamel, would weight from 3½ to 6 pounds, some of the smaller ones which were loose have been weighed—the front teeth are missing.—These teeth bear the evidence of extreme age, from their cavities are apparent diminution from use in wearing away.  An eminent physician and anatomist, properly assisted, is engaged in having the skeleton put together and the small deficiencies supplied by art.

We are further informed by our fellow citizen, who has purchased an interest of one fourth in this interesting and wonderful curiosity, that it will be ready for exhibition in about one month’s time, when it will start on its tour thro’ the civilized world, and proceeding from New Orleans will shortly be among us here. Our fellow townsman keeps the price he paid for his interest a secret, but says that $50,000 has been offered and refused for the whole of this curiosity.

NEW YORK HERALD, DECEMBER 12, 1845
THE GIANT SKELETON.

The skeleton discovered in Williamson county in this State, and supposed to be that of a human being, has frequently been referred to, within a few days past, in the House of Representatives.  Notwithstanding the description given of it, as Wouter Van Twiller would say, “we have our doubts about the matter.” This skeleton was found about sixty feet beneath the surface of the earth, embedded in a stratum of the hardest kind of clay.  The bones are said to be in a perfect state of preservation, and weigh in the aggregate fifteen hundred pounds. All the large and characteristic bones are entire, and the skull, arms, and thigh bones, knee pans, shoulder sockets and collar bones remove all doubts, and the animal to whom they belonged has been decided “to belong to the genus homo.” This gentleman, when he walked the earth, was about eighteen feet high, and when clothed in flesh must have weighed not less than 3000 pounds. “The bones of the thigh and leg measure six feet six inches; his skull is said to be about two-thirds the size of a flour barrel, and capable of holding in its cavities near two bushels. (He must have had a goodly quantity of brains, and if intellect be in proportion to the size of the brain, he must have possessed extraordinary intellectual powers).  The description further states, that “a coffee cup of good size could be put in the eye-sockets.” The jaw teeth weight from 8 ½ to 6 pounds.  It is stated that an eminent physician and anatomist is engaged in putting the skeleton together, and that is will shortly be ready for public exhibition.—Nashville Orthopolitan.

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, MARCH 1846
ART. XII.
Remarks on some Fossil Bones recently brought to New Orleans from Tennessee and from Texas ; by William M. Carpenter, M.D., Prof. in the Med. Coll. of Louisiana.

I. Fossils from Tennessee—the “gigantic Fossil Man,” (being the skeleton of a young mastodon.)  Much interest has been recently excited by the announcement of the discovery in Tennessee of the remains of a man eighteen feet high.  The papers teemed with accounts of the prodigy, and public confidence was secured by the assertion that the distinguished physicians of the west had testified that they were human remains.  About the last of December these remains reached this city; and on the first of January I was requested by a distinguished surgeon here to go with him on the invitation of the proprietor to examine them, and give an opinion.  They had been erected in a high room; the skeleton was sustained in its erect position by a large upright beam of timber.  At a glance it was apparent that it was nothing more than the skeleton of a young mastodon, (one of Godman’s Tetracaulodons, with sockets for four tusks.)  The bones of the leg and ankle were complete, the metatarsal bones wanting.  Most of the vertebrae were present; the ribs mostly of wood.  The pelvic arrangement was entirely of wood; the scapulae were present, but somewhat broken, and were rigged on with a most human-like elevation; pieces of ribs supplying the want of clavicles.  The osseous parts of the head were portions, nearly complete, of the upper and lower jaws.  Some of the molars were quite complete; of the tusks, only one little stump remained, but the four alveoli of the upper jaw had large incisive looking wooden teeth fitted into them, and the lower jaw supplied to correspond.  The cranium was entirely wanting from the lower margin of the orbits, back; but a raw-hide cranium was fitted o, which was much more becoming to the animal in his new capacity than the old one would have been.

The artificial construction was principally in the pelvis and head; and take it as thus built up, with its half human, half beast-like look, and its great hooked incisive teeth, it certainly must have conveyed to the ignorant spectator a most horrible idea of a hideous, diabolical giant, of which he no doubt dreamed for months.  To one informed in such matters it really presented a most ludicrous figure.

The person who had it for exhibition was honest, I believe, in his convictions as to its being the remains of a man, having been confirmed in them by numerous physicians, whose certificates he had in his possession; and having asked and received my opinion, he determined to box it up, never to be exhibited again as the remains of a human being.

THE OTTAWA FREE TRADER, APRIL 10, 1846.
UNTITLED NOTICE

The great skeleton giant, nineteen feet high, which was dug up in Tennessee, proves to be the imperfect skeleton of a young mastodon set upright on its hind legs, and, by the aid of artificial substitutes for some of the principal bones, which were wanting, made to assume a moderately human appearance.—Boston Post.

* THE BOSTON MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL, JUNE 19, 1856
MEDICAL INTELLIGENCE

Western Giants in their Slumber.—The Burlington (Iowa) State Gazette says that while some workmen were engaged in excavating for the cellar of Governor Grimes’s new building, on the corner of Maine and Valley streets, they came upon an arched vault some ten feet square, which, on being opened, was found to contain eight human skeletons of gigantic proportions. The walls of the vault were about fourteen inches thick, well laid up with cement or indestructible mortar. The vault is about six feet deep from the base to the arch. The skeletons are in a good state of preservation, and we venture to say are the largest human remains ever found, being a little over eight feet long.–Calendar (Hartford).

MECHANIC’S ADVOCATE, FEBRUARY 25, 1847
HUMBUG-CREDULITY

We saw it announced last year in “the papers” that a human skeleton, 18 feet in height had been dug up in Tennessee. It was shortly after exhibited through the Mississippi Valley, and found its way to New Orleans, in the hands of a man who had purchased it on speculation. Thousands had seen it; and the owner exhibited hundreds of certificates of Doctors, Surgeons, Clergymen, Lawyers, Gentlemen &c., to the effect that it was a bona fide human skeleton.

At New Orleans, Prof. Carpenter of the Louisiana Medical College, was requested to call and examine it, which he did; and at the first glance pronounced it—a man?—no, but the bones of a young mastodon!—It was standing upright, supported by a beam; the pelvis was artificial, and human of course, in appearance; and as the greater part of the cranium was missing when found, it was no hard matter for the ingenious rogue to fit what was left of it to look like man’s, which he accomplished with the aid of a piece of raw hide. When told of the hoax by the Professor; the owner declared he would never exhibit it again; and he probably has not, for its fame has not reached our ears of late, through the columns of the press.

NILES NATIONAL REGISTER, JULY 3, 1847
MISCELLANEOUS DISCOVERIES

“There were giants in those days”—Wonderful fossil remains.—The New Orleans papers speak of a gigantic skeleton of some animal not yet classed, as being now exhibited in that city. We learn from the Times that it stands 16 feet high, and was discovered at a depth of 55 feet below the surface of the earth, in Tennessee. The question is, whether these antediluvian remains belong to a class of animals, homogeneous with the present race of man, or not. No fossil remains of man have yet, we believe, been found; although there is no doubt, according to geologists, that the globe of the earth, since it first became habitable, after losing its incandescent state, has always been the abode of intellectual as well as animal life.

GRAND RIVER TIMES, NOVEMBER 15, 1854
[P. T.] BARNUM’S SPEECH ON HUMBUGS.
Delivered at Stamford, on the occasion of the Agricultural fair, Fairfield County.

It seems to be a most unfortunate circumstance that I should be selected to speak on Humbug, as looking on the ladies, whose profession it peculiarly is, I find it hard to express myself in their presence. Everything is humbug; the whole state is humbug, except our Agricultural Society that alone is not.

Humbug is generally defined, “deceit or imposition.” A burglar who breaks into your house, a forger who cheats you of your property, or a rascal, is not a humbug, a humbug is an imposter; but in my opinion the true meaning of humbug is management tact to take an old truth and put it in an attractive form.

[ . . . ]

I have not the vanity to call myself a real scientific humbug, I am only an humble member of the profession.

My ambition to be the prince of Humbugs I will resign, but I hope the public will take the will for the deed; I can assure them that if I had been able to give them all the humbugs that I have thought of, they would have been amply satisfied.

Before I went to England with Tom Thumb I had a skeleton prepared from various bones. It was to have been made 18 feet high; it was to have been buried a year in Ohio, and then dug up by accident, so that the public might learn there were giants of old. The price I was to pay the person who proposed to put the skeleton together was to have been $225.

But finding Tom Thumb more successful than I tho’t, I sent word not to proceed with the skeleton. My manager who never tho’t as highly of the scheme as it deserved, sold the skeleton for $50 or $75.

Seven years afterwards I received from the south an account of a gigantic skeleton that had been found. Accompanying it were certificates of scientific and medical men as to genuineness. The owner asked $20,000 or $1,000 a month; I wrote to him if he brought it on I would take it if I found it as represented or would pay his expenses if not; I found it was my own old original humbug come back to me again; of course I refused it, and I never heard of it afterwards.

* THE NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 21, 1856
SKELETON OF A GIANT FOUND.

A day or two since, some workmen engaged in subsoiling the grounds of Sheriff WICKHAN, at his vineyard in East Wheeling, came across a human skeleton. Although much decayed, there was little difficulty in identifying it, by placing the bones, which could not have belonged to others than a human body, in their original position. The impression made by the skeleton in the earth, and the skeleton itself, were measured by the Sheriff and a brother in the craft locale, both of whom were prepared to swear that it was ten feet nine inches in length. Its jaws and teeth were almost as large as those of a horse. The bones are to be seen at the Sheriff’s office. – Wheeling Times.

* THE NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 25, 1868
REPORTED DISCOVERY OF A HUGE SKELETON.
From the Sank Rapids (Minn.) Sentinel, Dec. 18.

Day before yesterday, while the quarrymen employed by the Sank Rapids Water Power Company were engaged in quarrying rock for the dam which is being erected across the Mississippi, at this place, found imbedded in the solid granite rock the remains of a human being of gigantic status. About seven feet below the surface of the ground, and about three feet and a half beneath the upper stratum of rock, the remains were found imbedded in sand, which evidently had been placed in the quadrangular grave which had been dug out of the rock to receive the last remains of this antediluvian giant. The grave was twelve feet in length, four feet wide, and about three feet in depth, and is to-day at least two feet below the present level of the river. The remains are completely petrified, and are of gigantic dimensions. The head is massive, measuring thirty-one and one-half inches in circumference, but low in the asfrontis, and very flat on top. The Femur measures twenty-six and a quarter inches, and the Fibula twenty-five and a half, while the body is equally long in proportion. From the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, the length is ten feet nine and a half inches. The giant must have weighed at least 900 pounds when covered with a reasonable amount of flesh. The petrified remains, and there is nothing left but the naked bones, now weigh 304¼ pounds. The thumb and fingers of the left hand, and the left foot from the ankle to the toes are gone; but all the other parts are perfect. Over the sepulchre of the unknown dead was placed a large, flat limestone rock that remained perfectly separated from the surrounding granite rock.

OHIO DEMOCRAT, JANUARY 14, 1870
CARDIFF GIANT UNDONE WITH AN ENORMOUS IRON HELMET

On Tuesday morning last, while Mr. William Thompson, assisted by Mr. Robert R. Smith, was engaged in making an excavation near the house of the former, about half a mile north of West Hickory, preparatory to erecting a derrick, they exhumed an enormous helmet of iron, which was corroded with rust.

Further digging brought to light a sword, which measured nine feet in length. Curiosity incited them to enlarge the hole, and after some little time they discovered the bones of two enormous feet. Following up the “lead” they had so unexpectedly struck, in a few hours’ time they had unearthed the well-preserved remains of an enormous giant, belonging to a species of the human family, which probably inhabited this and other parts of the world, at the time of which the Bible speaks when it says: “And there were giants in those days.”

The helmet is said to be of the shape of those among the ruins of Nineveh. The bones of the skeleton are a remarkable white. The teeth are all in their places and all of extraordinary size. These relics have been taken to Tionesta where they are visited by large numbers of people daily.

When his “giantship” was in the flesh he must have stood eighteen feet tall in his stockings. These remarkable relics will be shipped to New York early next week. The joints of the skeleton are now being glued together. These remains were found about twelve feet under the surface of a mound, which had been thrown up probably centuries ago, and which was not more than three feet above the level of the ground around it.

* BROADSIDE ADVERTISEMENT PUBLISHED AT SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, AUGUST 10, 1870

$5000 REWARD!
___________________

$5,000 Reward for a piece of the same material as the Cardiff Giant. We make the above offer to any man, as we know there is nothing of any kind in the country.

Again, we will give every Visitor ONE DOLLAR when, after a careful examination believes the Cardiff Giant to be a Humbug.

C. O. GOTT. Business Manager.

____________________

Phila. Street, near Post Office.

____________________

Below will be found an interesting letter from Prof. Wilson, of Saratoga Springs:

SARATOGA SPRINGS, AUG. 6, 1870

DEAR SIR:—I have visited the “Cardiff Giant” several times, and examined it carefully, both by daylight and by gaslight, and am free to confess, that to me the monster stone man is a mystery.

If it is a veritable work of art, I cannot understand why any sculptor, possessing the skill to produce so perfect a specimen of statuary, could have consented to place his subject in such an unartistical grotesque position.

Again, I cannot understand how, by any known art, the whole surface of the body could possibly be made to exhibit so perfectly the perspiratory and oil tubes, visible in all parts, not only to the naked eye, but specially so under a microscope.

Again, if it is a veritable work of art, and as some claim, a very recent one, I defy any man to show how the abrasion of the limbs, on one side, manifestly produced by the action of the elements, could possibly be imitated by artificial means.

That it is a humbug, an imposition, I cannot stultify myself sufficiently to believe.

If it is a petrifaction, as some honestly think, to what race did the monster belong?

I leave the old fellow, as thousands have, with the question of an inquirer, “What is it?”

H. A. WILSON.

Saratoga Springs, Aug. 10th, 1870.

[Note: Hiram A. Wilson (1812-1893) was an educator, Christian missionary, and secretary of the Saratoga County Bible Society known for his Christian piety.—J.C.]

* MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, AUGUST 28, 1870
CHICKASAWBA
REMAINS OF GIANTS FOUND IN ARKANSAS 

HUMAN SKELETONS UNEARTHED EIGHT AND TEN FEET IN HEIGHT

RELICS OF A FORMER RACE.

The statements which we make below, and the facts detailed, are so strange and almost incredible, and so like the many roorbacks and canards that have from time to time appeared in the press of Europe and America, that we premise them with the declaration that they are strictly true, and that we have not exaggerated what we have seen, one iota. With this much as preface, we will proceed to our story.

CHICASAWBA
Two miles west of Barfield Point, in Arkansas County, Ark., on the east bank of the lovely stream called Pemiscot river, stands an Indian mound, some twenty-five feet high and about an acre in area at the top. This mound is called Chichasawba, and from it the high and beautiful country surrounding it, some 12 square miles in area, derives its name<span “font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;=”” font-family:”times=”” roman”,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:=”” minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-us;=”” mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa”=””>—Chchasawba. The mound derives its name from Chickasawba, a chief of the Shawnee tribe, who lived, died, and was buried there. This chief was one of the last race of hunters who lived in that beautiful region and who once peopled it quite thickly—for Indians, we mean. […] Aunt Kitty Williams, who now resides there, relates that Chickasawba would frequently bring in for sale as much as twenty gallons of pure honey in deerskins bags slung to his back. He was always a friend to the whites, a man of gigantic stature and herculean strength.  […] A number of years ago, making an excavation into or near the foot of Chickasawba’s mound, a portion of a GIGANTIC HUMAN SKELETON was found. The men who were digging, becoming interested, unearthed the entire skeleton and from measurements given us by reliable parties the frame of the man to whom it belonged could not have been less than eight or nine feet in height. Under the skull, which slipped easily over the head of our informant (who, we will here state, is one of our best citizens), was found a peculiarly shaped earthen jar, resembling nothing in the way of Indian pottery, which has before been seen by them. It was exactly the shape of the round-bodied, long necked carafes or water-decanters, a specimen of which may be seen on Gaston’s dining table.

 The material of which the vase was made was a peculiar kind of clay and the workmanship was very fine. The belly or body of it was ornamented with figures or hieroglyphs consisting of a correct delineation of human hands, parallel to each other, open, palms outward, and running up and down the vase, the wrists to the base and the fingers toward the neck. On either side of these hands were tibae or thigh bones, also correctly delineated, running around the vases. There were other things found with the skeleton, but this is all that our informant remembers. Since that time, wherever an excavation has been made in the Chickasawba county in the neighborhood of the mound SIMILAR SKELETONS have been found and under the skull of every one were found similar funeral vases, almost exactly like the one described. There are now in this city several of the vases and portions of the huge skeletons. One of the editors of the Appeal yesterday measured a thigh bone, which is fully three feet long. The thigh and shin bones, together with the bones of the foot, stood up in a proper position in a physician’s office in this city, measured five feet in height and show the body to which the leg belonged to have been from nine to ten feet in height. At Beaufort’s Landing, near Barfield, in digging a deep ditch, a skeleton was dug up: the leg of which measured between five and six feet in length, and other bones in proportion. In a very few days we hope to be able to lay before our readers accurate measurement and descriptions of the portions of skeletons now in the city and of the artifacts found in the graves.  It is not a matter of doubt that these are HUMAN REMAINS, but of a long extinct race—a race which flourished, lived, and died many centuries ago, in those days told of in Scripture. (“And there were Giants in those days.”) It was Sir Hans Sloan, we believe, who first put forth the theory that the gigantic bones found in various parts of the old worlds were not human remains, this so ill according with the popular ideas and superstitions about giants, was considered the rankest sort of heresy at the time; but Cuvier, the great anatomist, proved them, in almost every instance, to be portions of the fossils of mammoths, megatheriums, mastodons, etc. The bones that he examined, however, were those of such apocryphal skeletons as that found in Sicily in the early part of the eighteenth century, three hundred feet long, of “Bucart,” found at Valence in 1705, thirty feet high, of the “chevalier Rinson,” found at Rouen in 1509. Within the past century there have been numerous well-attested instances of giants over eight feet in height. […] With these individual instances before us, and knowing the enormous size of almost the entire population of portions of Kentucky, we do not need to be disciples of Henrion, the French academician (who believed Adam was one hundred and twenty-live feet high, Noah twenty-seven feet, Moses twenty feet, and so on down to the era of Christ when the decrease stopped) to be convinced that the race of aboriginal men who built the large mounds in various parts of the country were of gigantic frame and enormous stature.

TORONTO, ONTARIO, DAILY TELEGRAPH, AUGUST 23, 1871
GIANT SKULLS WITH PERFECT TEETH

Dunnville, Ontario: There is not the slightest doubt that the remains of a lost city are on this farm. At various times within the past years, the remains of mud houses with their chimneys had been found and there are dozens of pits of a similar kind to that just unearthed, though much smaller, in the place which has been discovered before, though the fact has not been made public hitherto. The remains of a blacksmith’s shop, containing two tons of charcoal and various implements, were turned up a few months ago.

The farm, which consists of 150 acres, has been cultivated for nearly a century and was covered with a thick growth of pine, so that it must have been ages ago since the remains were deposited there. The skulls of the skeletons are of an enormous size and all manner of shapes, about half as large again as are now to be seen. The teeth in most of them are still in an almost perfect state of preservation, though they soon fall out when exposed to the air.

It is supposed that there is gold or silver in large quantities to be found in the premises, as mineral rods have invariably, when tested, pointed to a certain spot and a few yards from where the last batch of skeletons was found directly under the apple tree. Some large shells, supposed to have been used for holding water, which were also found in the pit, were almost petrified. There is no doubt that if there is a scheme of exploration carried on thoroughly, the result would be highly interesting. A good deal of excitement exists in the neighborhood, and many visitors call at the farm daily.

The skulls and bones of the giants are fast disappearing, being taken away by curiosity hunters. It is the intention of Mr. Fredinburg to cover the pit up very soon. The pit is ghastly in the extreme. The farm is skirted on the north by the Grand River. The pit is close to the banks, but marks are there to show where the gold or silver treasure is supposed to be under. From the appearance of the skulls, it would seem that their possessors died a violent death, as many of them were broken and dented.

The axes are shaped like tomahawks, small, but keen, instruments. The beads are all of stone and of all sizes and shapes. The pipes are not unlike in shape the cutty pipe, and several of them are engraved with dogs’ heads. They have not lost their virtue for smoking. Some people profess to believe that the locality of the Fredinburg farm was formerly an Indian burial place, but the enormous stature of the skeletons and the fact that pine trees of centuries growth covered the spot go far to disprove this idea.

TORONTO, ONTARIO, DAILY TELEGRAPH, AUGUST 23, 1871
NIAGARA’S ANCIENT CEMETERY OF GIANTS
A REMARKABLE SIGHT: TWO HUNDRED SKELETONS IN CAYUGA TOWNSHIP

A SINGULAR DISCOVERY BY A TORONTONIAN AND OTHERS—A VAST GOLGOTHA OPENED TO VIEW—SOME REMAINS OF THE “GIANTS THAT WERE IN THOSE DAYS” FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.

On Wednesday last, Rev. Nathaniel Wardell, Messers Orin Wardell (of Toronto), and Daniel Fredenburg were digging on the farm of the latter gentleman, which is on the banks of the Grand River, in the township of Cayuga.

When they got to five or six feet below the surface, a strange sight met them. Piled in layers, one upon top of the other, were some two hundred skeletons of human beings nearly perfect: around the neck of each one being a string of beads.

There were also deposited in this pit a number of axes and skimmers made of stone. In the jaws of several of the skeletons were large stone pipes, one of which Mr. O. Wardell took with him to Toronto a day or two after this Golgotha was unearthed.

These skeletons are those of men of gigantic stature, some of them measuring nine feet, very few of them being less than seven feet. Some of the thigh bones were found to be at least a foot longer than those at present known, and one of the skulls being examined completely covered the head of an ordinary person.

These skeletons are supposed to belong to those of a race of people anterior to the Indians.

Some three years ago, the bones of a mastodon were found embedded in the earth about six miles from this spot. The pit and its ghastly occupants are now open to the view of any who may wish to make a visit there.

* RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, DAILY STATE JOURNAL, SEPTEMBER 6, 1871
WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES
A Cave of Dead Indians

MAMMOTH REMAINS

We copy the following wonderful story from the Petersburg Index of this morning, and but for the reliable source from which it eminates, and the character of its informers, we would be disposed to doubt its truthfulness:

The following information is given us by gentlemen of the highest character and credit, who have seen with their own eyes, touched and tested with their own hands, the wonderful objects of which they make report:

The workmen engaged in opening a way for the projected railroad between Weldon and Garysburg, struck Monday, about one mile from the former place, in a bank beside the river, a catacomb of skeletons, supposed to be those of Indians of a remote age and a lost and forgotten race. The bodies exhumed were of a strange and remarkable formation. The skulls were nearly an inch in thickness: the teeth were filed sharp, as are those of cannibals, the enamel perfectly preserved; the bones were of wonderful length and strength—the femur being as long as the leg of an ordinary man, the stature of the body being probably as great as eight or nine feet. Near their heads were sharp stone arrows, stone mortars, in which their corn was brayed, and the bowls of pipes, apparently of soft, friable soapstone. The teeth of the skeletons are said to be as large as those of horses. One of them has been brought to the city, and presented to the officers of the Petersburg Railroad.

The bodies were found closely packed together, laid tier on tier, as it seemed. There was no discernible ingress or egress to the mound. The mystery is, who these giants were; to what race they belonged, to what era, and how they came to be buried there. To these inquiries no answer has yet been made; and meantime the ruthless spade continues to cleave body and skull asunder, throwing up in mingled masses the boner of the heroic tribe. We hope some effort will be made to preserve authentic and accurate accounts of these discoveries; and to throw some light, if possible, on the lost tribe, whose bones arc thus rudely disturbed from their sleep in earth’s bosom.

[Note: This story was widely reprinted as a “new” story through the 1870s, but some details changed over time. The Petersburg Railroad appears as the Pittsburgh Railroad in 1874 reprints, for example.—J.C.]

HARTFORD, TENNESSEE WEEKLY TIMES, MARCH 30, 1872
RACE OF GIANTS FOUND IN UNDERGROUND TOMB UNDER “OLD STONE FORT” IN TENNESSEE

Near this city is a cave commonly known as “Bone Cave,” from which have been brought, at various times, by boys and other persons who have tried to explore its hidden recesses, human bones of unusual size. The popular legends of the people are to the effect that it is somewhat connected with the people or race which created the “Old Stone Fort,” which stands a short distance to the west of the town. A few days since some boys discovered an almost entire skeleton of mammoth size. The bones of the forearm were nearly twenty inches long, while the bone of the lower part of the leg was longer than an ordinary man’s limb, foot and all. The jawbone of this giant would slip over the face of an ordinary man. Stimulated by these discoveries and a laudable desire to learn the secrets of this mysterious cavern, on last Thursday six gentlemen, including the editors of this paper, made this necessary preparation and started out to explore the “bone cave.”

After an exhilarating walk of two miles through a clear bracing air, we reached the entrance of the cave, where divesting ourselves of our overcoats and lighting our torches, we entered one of the many passages, but after a short scramble we found further advance stopped by large pieces of rock that had fallen and blocked up the passage. Soon other members of the party came down and explorations commenced. We found ourselves in a vaulted chamber about twenty-five feet wide by sixty long, with passages leading in every direction. Following one, we rambled on for forty or fifty feet and then there appeared one of the most beautiful lakes we have ever seen. The water was clear and sweet and the ceiling over the water, studded with stalactites, reflected back the light from our torches like gems. We had no means of ascertaining the size of the lake, for the banks were perpendicular and it seemed like a pearl set in a bed of rocks. Another passage which was explored by B. F. Fleming was found to extend in a direct line toward the “Old Stone Fort.”

This passage followed for a distance of nearly two hundred feet, when further progress was stopped by the passage being filled up with debris. This passage looks as if it had been cut from the solid rock by the hand of man and gives rise to the hypothesis that at some time, far back in the dark ages, this cave a used by a race of men—giants if you like—that built this stone fort and the mounds and that this underground passage led from the fort to the cave, a mile distant. After a good look at this part of the cave, we returned to daylight, having been underground three hours and traversing over a mile inside the cave. After partaking of a lunch sent us by a very hospitable lady whose name we have mislaid—but not her kindness—we had a short search in the tunnel known as the “Dead House.” Here we found many bones but all in a state of decomposition and decay. This tunnel or chamber is coated with a soft, loose soil to a depth of a foot or more, into which one can plunge a stick with perfect ease, while all the rest of the cave is solid rock.

EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN, DAILY FREE PRESS, OCTOBER 7, 1873
RAILROAD WORKERS UNEARTH GIANT
AN INDIAN MOUND OPENED

A few days ago the men engaged in building the road bed of the Green Bay and Winona railroad, struck an Indian mound near Arcadia. It had been in view for some days, and no little speculation was indulged in as to what the excavation would develop from this cemetery of the red man.

The discovery exceeded all anticipations. The skeleton of an Indian was found of such dimensions as to indicate that the frame must have been that of a giant. The jaw bone easily enclosed the face of the largest laborer to be found on the work. The thigh bones were more like those of a horse than a man, hair heavy and remarkably well-preserved.

Pieces of blanket in which the body had been wrapped were taken out in a tolerable state of preservation. A number of Mexican coins were also found.

The unusual size of the skeleton has excited considerable interest, and the curiosities will be carefully preserved for exhibition.

* MIDDLESEX, UK, CENTRAL PRESS, NOVEMBER 26, 1873
MONSTROUS!

Some interesting discoveries have just been made in a cave called, “King Solomon’s Cave”, Montana, United States, and an account of them is given by a correspondent of the Deer Lodge Independent who formed one of a party of explorers of the cave in question. After crawling through several narrow passages into a “most magnificent chamber”, the attention of the explorers was attracted by a massive shield made of copper 57 inches in length and 36 inches in width leaning against the wall; about 10 feet beyond the shield, and eight feet from the floor, was a cavity in the wall. One of the party by the aid of some stones, climbed up to the aperture with a light but quickly descended in such a state of alarm that he was for some moments unable to explain that in the niche lay a petrified giant. The other explorers immediately climbed up to the aperture and gazed in. There, sure enough, was the monster man, whose dimensions on measurement were 9 feet 7 and a half inches, 38 inches across the breast and two feet deep. A helmet of brass or copper of gigantic proportions was on his head which, “the corrosive elements of time had sealed to his brow”. He seems to have been a “disagreeable customer”, and it is perhaps as well that he is dead and petrified, for near him were two mammoth spearheads, one of them with a socket of silver, into which to insert a large pole or handle. There was also a large hook made of bone, apparently manufactured from the tusk of a “leviathan of the land”. On the wall were some strange looking letters and pictures of three ships, each having three masts, the middle mast being only two thirds the height of the outward ones. There was also on a flat stone in the wall the picture of a large man with a spear in his hand, and of another ship. On removing this stone, another chamber was discovered, in which were the bones of several more giants, a primitive quartz crusher, and a number of tools made of copper. It is supposed that these poor giants were at work a thousand years ago in the cave when a slide from the mountain above immured them in a living tomb. The search is to be further prosecuted; and in the meantime the explorers are described as “almost wild with the strange and curious things” they have discovered. This beats the “sea serpent” to fits.–Pall Mall Gazette.

MARION DAILY STAR, JULY 14, 1880
REMAINS OF NINE-FOOT GIANTS IN OHIO

A correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer, writing about the remains of a giant race found in Muskingum County, Ohio, says: The mound in which these remarkable discoveries were made was about sixty-four feet long and thirty-five feet wide top measurement and gently sloped down to the hill where it was situated. A number of stumps of trees were found on the slope standing in two rows, and on the top of the mound were an oak and a hickory stump, all of which bore marks of great age.

All of the skeletons were found on a level with the hill, and about eight feet from the top of the mound. In one grave there were two skeletons, one male and one female. The female face was looking downward, the male being immediately on top, with the face looking upward. The male skeleton measured nine feet in length, and the female was eight.

The male frame in this case was nine feet, four inches in length and the female was eight feet.

In another grave was found a female skeleton, which was encased in a clay coffin, holding in her arms the skeleton of a child three and a half feet long, by the side of which was an image, which being exposed to the atmosphere, crumbled rapidly.

The remaining seven, were found in single graves and were lying on their sides. The smallest of the seven was nine feet in length and the largest ten. One single circumstance connected with this discovery was the fact that not a single tooth was found in either mouth except in the one encased in the clay coffin.

On the south end of the mound was erected a stone altar, four and a half feet wide and twelve feet long, built on an earthen foundation nearly four feet wide, having in the middle two large flagstones, from which sacrifices were undoubtedly made, for upon them were found charred bones, cinders, and ashes. This was covered by about three feet of earth.

AN ANCIENT TABLET WITH POSSIBLE HIEROGLYPHS
What is now a profound mystery may in time became the key to unlock still further mysteries that were centuries ago commonplace affairs.

I refer to a stone that was found resting against the head of the clay coffin above described. It is irregularly shaped red sandstone, weighing about 18 pounds, being strongly impregnated with oxide of iron, and bearing upon one side TWO LINES OF HIEROGLYPHS.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, AUGUST 14, 1880
ANCIENT AMERICAN GIANTS

The Rev. Stephen Bowers notes in the Kansas City Review of Science the opening of an interesting mound in Bush Creek Township, Ohio.  The mound was opened by the Historical Society of the township, under the immediate supervision of Dr. J. E. Everhart of Zanesville.

It measured 65 by 34 feet at the summit, gradually sloping in every direction and was 8 feet in height.

There was found in it a sort of clay coffin including the skeleton of a woman measuring 8 feet in length.  Within this coffin was found also a child about 3 and a half feet in length and an image that crumbled when exposed to the atmosphere.

In another grave was found the skeleton of a man and a woman, the former measuring nine and the latter 8 feet in length.  In a third cave occurred two other skeletons, male and female, measuring respectively nine feet four inches and eight feet.

Seven other skeletons were found in the mound, the smallest of which measured eight feet, while others reached the enormous length of ten feet. They were buried singly or each in separate graves.  Resting against one of the coffins was an engraved stone tablet (now in Cincinnati) from the characters on which Dr. Everhart and Mr. Bowers are led to conclude that this giant race were sun worshipers.

* PROVIDENCE EVENING PRESS, SEPTEMBER 3, 1883
A GIANT’S SKELETON
MUST HAVE BEEN GOLIATH.

Hon J. H. Hainly, a well known and reliable citizen of Barnard, Mo., writes to the Gazette the particulars of the discovery of a giant skeleton four miles southwest of that place. A farmer named John W. Haunon found the bones protruding from the bank of a ravine that had been cut by the action of the rains during the past years. Mr. Hannon worked several days in unearthing the skeletons, which proved to be that of a human being whose height was twelve feet. The head through the temples was twelve inches;  from the lower part of the skull at the back to the top was fifteen inches, and the circumference forty inches. The ribs were nearly four feet long and one and three-quarter inches wide. The thigh bones were thirty inches long and large in proportion. When the earth was removed the ribs stood up high enough to enable a man to crawl in and explore the interior of the skeleton, turn around and come out with ease. The first joint of the great toe, above the nail, was three inches long, and the entire foot eighteen inches in length. The skeleton lay on its face, twenty feet feet below the surface of the ground, and the toes embedded in the earth, indicating that the body either fell or was placed there when the ground was soft. The left arm was passed around backward, the head resting on the spinal column, while the right was stretched out to the front and right.  Some of the bones crumbled upon exposure to the air, but many good specimens were preserved and are now on exhibition at Barnard. Medical men are much interested. The skeleton is generally pronounced a valuable relic of the prehistoric race.

[NOTE: This article previously appeared in the Galveston Gazette on August 15.–J.C.]

HELENA INDEPENDENT, OCTOBER 10, 1883
PREHISTORIC GIANT SKELETON FOUND 

J. H. Hamley, a well known and reliable citizen of Barnard, Mo., writes to the Gazette, the particulars of the discovery of a GIANT skeleton, four miles southwest of that place.

A farmer named John W. Hannon, found the bones protruding from the bank of a ravine that has been cut by the action of the rains during the past years. Mr. Hannon worked several days in unearthing “the skeleton,” which proved to be that of a human being whose height was twelve feet.

The head through the temples was eleven inches; from the lower part of the skull at the back to the top was fifteen inches, and the circumference forty inches. The ribs were nearly four feet long, one and three-fourths inches wide. The thigh bones we’re thirty-six inches long and large in proportion.

When the earth was removed the ribs stood high enough to enable a man to crawl in and explore the interior of the skeleton, turn around and come out with ease.

The first joint of the greater toe above the nail, was three inchen long, and the entire foot, eighteen inches in length. The skeleton lay on its face twenty feet below the surface of the ground and the toes were imbedded in the earth, indicating that the body either fell or was placed there when the ground was soft.

The left arm was passed around backward, the hand resting on the spinal column, while the right arm was stretched out to the front, and right. Some of the bones crumbled on exposure to the air, but many good specimens were preserved, and are now exhibited at, Bernard Medical school.

The skeleton is generally pronounced a relic of the prehistoric race.

ATHENS, GEORGIA, BANNER, MAY 6, 1884
GIANT CROWNED ROYALTY IS FOUND

Athens, Georgia: Mr. J. B. Toomer yesterday received a letter from Mr. Hazelton, who is on a visit to Cartersville. The letter contained several beads made of stone, and gave an interesting account of the opening of a large Indian mound near that town by a committee of scientists sent out from the Smithsonian Institution. After removing the dirt for some distance, a layer of large flag stones was found, which had evidently been dressed by hand, and showed that the men who quarried this rock understood their business.

The stones were removed, when in a kind of vault beneath them, the skeleton of a giant, who measured seven feet two inches, was found.

His hair was coarse and jet black and hung to his waist, the brow being ornamented with a copper crown. The skeleton was remarkably well-preserved and taken from the vault intact. Near this skeleton were found the bodies of several small children of various sizes. The remains of the latter were covered with beads, made of bone of some kind. Upon removing these, the bodies were found to be encased in a network made of straw or reed, and beneath this was the covering of an animal of some kind.

In fact, the bodies had been prepared somewhat after the manner of mummies, and will doubtless throw new light on the history of the people who raised the mounds.

Upon the stones that covered the vault were carved inscriptions, which, if deciphered, will probably lift the veil that has enshrouded the history of the race of giants that undoubtedly at one time inhabited the continent.

ALL THE RELICS WERE SHIPPED TO THE SMITHSONIAN
All the relics were carefully packed and sent to the Smithsonian Institution, and are said to be the most interesting collection ever found in America.

The explorers are now at work on a mound in Barlow County, and before their return home will visit various sections of Georgia where antiquities are found. On the Oconee River, in Greene County, just above Powell’s Mills, are several mounds, one of them very tall and precipitous.

[NOTE: This article previously appeared in the Washington Post on March 16.–J.C.]

NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 5, 1885
SKELETONS SEVEN FEET LONG

Centerburg, Ohio: Licking County has been for years a favorite field for students of Indian history. Last week a small mound near Homer was opened by some school boys. Today further search was made and several feet below the surface of the earth, in a large vault with stone floor and bark covering, were found four huge skeletons, three being over seven feet in length, and the other a full eight feet.

The skeletons lay with their feet to the east on a bed of charcoal in which were numerous burned bones. About the neck of the largest skeleton were a lot of stone beads. The grave contained about 30 stone vessels and implements, the most striking being a curiously-wrought pipe. It is said to be the only engraved stone pipe ever found. A stone kettle, holding about a gallon in which was a residue of saline matter, bears evidence of much skill. Their bows, a number of arrows, stone hatchets, and a stone knife are among the implements that were found at the site.

PHILADELPHIA TIMES, JUNE 27, 1885
GIANTS FOUND ON THE NEW YORK-PENNSYLVANIA STATE LINE<span “font-size:13.5pt;=”” color:black”=””>

”Why this man was ten or twelve feet high.”

“Thunder and lightning!” exclaimed Mr. Porter in astonishment. The first speaker, who has won local distinction as a scientist, reiterated his assertion.

J. H. Porter has a farm near Northeast, not many miles from where the Lake Shore Railroad crosses the New York state boundary line. Early this week some workmen in Mr. Porter’s employ came upon the entrance to a cave and on entering it found heaps of human bones within. Many skeletons were complete and specimens of the find were brought out and exhibited to the naturalists and archaeologists of the neighborhood. They informed the wondering bystanders that the remains were unmistakably those of giants.

The entire village of Northeast was aroused by the discovery and today hundreds of people from this city took advantage of their holiday to visit the scene. It was first conjectured that the remains were those of soldiers killed in battle with the Indians that abounded in the vicinity during the last century, but the size of the skulls and the length of the leg bones dispelled that theory. So far about 150 giant skeletons of powerful proportions have been exhumed and indications point to a second cave eastward, which may probably contain as many more. Scientists who have exhumed skeletons and made careful measurements of the bones say that they are the remains of a race of gigantic creatures, compared with which our tallest men would appear pygmies. There are no arrow-heads, stone hatchets, or other implements of war with the bodies. Some of the bones are on exhibition at the various stores. One is as thick as a good sized bucket.

* THE NEW YORK TIMES, APRIL 5, 1886
MONSTER SKULLS AND BONES

CARTERSVILLE, Ga., April 4.—The water has receded from the Tumlin Mound Field, and has left uncovered acres of skulls and bones. Some of these are gigantic. If the whole frame is in proportion to two thigh bones that were found, the owners must have stood 14 feet high. Many curious ornaments of shell, brass, and stone have been found. Some of the bodies were buried in small vaults built of stones. The whole makes a mine of archæological wealth. A representative of the Smithsonian Institution is here investigating the curious relics.

STEVENS POINT DAILY JOURNAL, MAY 1, 1886
OHIO ACCOUNT OF NINE-FOOT GIANTS

It is very evident that at an early day in the history of this country, this section of Ohio was an important camping ground for the American Indian. And, indeed, discoveries are frequently made, which lead people interested in the matter of prehistoric America to believe that a race of mankind, superior in size, strength, and intelligence to the common red man of the forest, flourished not only along the coasts East and South, but right here in southern Ohio. There are in this county several burying grounds, and two of them are located five miles west of this city, near Jasper, one on the farm of Mr. William Bush and one on Mr. Matthew Mark’s farm. In a conversation with a gentleman who has seen [skeletons] unearthed at the Mark bank, we were told that many dozens of human skeletons have been exhumed since the bank was first opened.

Some of these skeletons have been measured, and the largest have been found to be nine feet long and over.

At one time ten skeletons were exhumed. They had been buried in a circle, standing in an erect position, and were in a comparatively well-preserved condition. One remarkable fact about all the skeletons unearthed at these places is the perfect state of preservation in which their teeth are found to be. Not a decayed tooth has been discovered, and this would seem to indicate that these people naturally had excellent teeth or some extraordinary manner of preserving them.

OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, DAILY NORTHWESTERN, JULY 8, 1886
GIANT SKELETON FOUND IN PETERSBURG, KENTUCKY

At Petersburg, Kentucky, twenty-five miles below here, an excavation for a new building has brought to light a peculiar find; it being a strange-looking Indian grave, the receptacle of which has been made of stone and clay, formed into a kind of cement, about three feet in height, and fully nine feet in length.

Within the rude vault lay a giant human skeleton that measured seven feet, two inches, in length. The bones were all of large proportions, and the monstrous skull, with teeth perfect and intact, was more than half an inch thick at the base.

A number of copper pieces, evidently worn for ornaments, a stone pipe, and a quantity of arrowheads were found with the decaying bones.

ASHBURTON GUARDIA, NOVEMBER 1887,
ALLEGED DISCOVER OF THE BODY OF A GIANT

The oil city (Penn) “Simety” is responsible for the following: While William Thompson, assisted by Robert R. Smith, was engaged in making an excavation near the house of the former, about a half mile north of West Hickory, preparatory to erecting a derrick, they exhumed an enormous helmet of iron which was corroded with rust. Further digging brought to a light sword, which measured 9 feet in length. Curiosity incited them to enlarge the hole, and after a little time they discovered the bones of two enormous feet. Following up the “lead” they had so unexpectedly struck, in few hours time they had unearthed a well-preserved skeleton of an enormous giant, belong to a species of the human family which probably inhabited this and other parts of the world at the time of which the Bible speaks, when it says, “and there were giants in those days”. The helmet is said to be in the shape of those found among the ruins of Nineveh. The bones of the skeleton are remarkably white. The teeth are all in their places and all of them are double and of extraordinary size.  These relics have been taken to Tionesta, where they are visited by large numbers of people daily. When his giantship was in the flesh, he must have stood 18 feet in his stockings. These remarkable relics will be forwarded to New York early next week. The joints of the skeleton are now being glued together. These remains were found 12 feet below the surface of a mound which had been thrown up probably centuries ago and which was not more than 3 feet above the level of the ground around it. Here is another nut for antiquarians to crack.

CINCINNATI COMMERCIAL, OCTOBER 7, 1888
INDIANA GIANTS FOUND
BONES OF AN INDIAN GIANT

A member of the Logan Grays, the crack military organization of Logansport that held its encampment this year at Eagle Lake, near Warsaw stopped in this city on his way home from camp and told the following story of the discovery by the party of a cavern on an island in Eagle Lake; A.M. Jones rowed to a small island near the southwest corner of the lake and began digging for worms.

He turned over a large, flat stone near a tree, and under it was a small hole, which was an entrance to a cave. Jones called the boys up, and we began an exploration of the cavern, which proved to be twenty-five feet long, fifteen feet wide, and eight feet deep. The walls are of a natural formation of stone, branching out at the middle so as to form two rooms.

In the front room was the skeleton of a man six feet nine inches long. The bones were very large, indicating great strength. Along one side of the cave runs a small stream of water, as pure as crystal. In the front of it forms a small pool. In this were a number of bones. Old settlers in this vicinity of the lake claim that the skeleton is that of Eagleonkie, the giant Indian chief who lived alone on this island and mysteriously disappeared during a severe winter. The island was known after this chief and was once known as Giant Island.

* MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT DAILY REPUBLICAN, JULY 8, 1889
A PREHISTORIC BASEBALL BAT
GIGANTIC SKELETONS AND OTHER WONDERS DISCOVERED BY AN EXCITED FANCY

St. Paul, July 8.<span “font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;=”” font-family:”times=”” roman”,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:=”” minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:=”” en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa”=””>–Every resident of Montana and many visitors to the famous territory know that the Belt Mountains have always been the seat of mysterious stories, and that in their numerous gulches and canyons have been picked up wonderful relics.  Among the most curious are agatized human maxillaries and teeth, all of gigantic size.  Gold in quantities has been found in the Belt Mountains and rubies, sapphires, and even diamonds are shown as product of one or the other portions of the territory. The Helena correspondent of the Pioneer–Press sends a remarkable story, accompanied by numerous attestations to its truth. A gold hunter said that while prospecting in the Belt Mountains he found a peculiar depression in the ground.  After excavating he discovered a mysterious cavern, reached by twenty-three steps. “At the foot of the stairs,” said he, “on one side of the passage lay the skeleton of a man of immense stature. The skeleton measured exactly nine feet six inches in height.  The skull lay a few inches from the trunk, and between the two lay 27 nuggets. They were strung on a fine gold wire, and ranged from one ounce to ten in weight.  Around the thigh, arm, and shin bones were other strings of nuggets, none of which weighed more than 4 ounces.  There were about 15 pieces of gold in the pile. They were of many different shapes. None of them weighed over 3 ounces, and each piece had a hole through the center. On each side of the skull I found some sort of precious stones.  They lay in a tiny golden basket, and were evidently worn in the ears. I do no know what name to give them, but I believe they are rubies.”

“Beside the trunk of the skeleton, I found a copper axe, with an edge harder and keener than any steel instrument of the kind I have ever seen. On the opposite side was a club made of the same metal as the axe. It was shaped not unlike a baseball bat.  Under the trunk was a gold plate ten inches long, six inches wide, and one-eighth of an inch thick. It was covered with strange devices. A little further on lay another skeleton, that of a woman.  I picked up a string of nuggets near this skull also. They were perfectly round and exactly the same size. They weighed about 3 ounces apiece. Every now and then I came to other skeletons, and, although by nearly very one of them I found necklaces, yet strange to say they were of round copper balls.”

“The catacombs as I have named this passage, are about 300 feet long, fourteen feet wide, and thirty high, and seem to have been cut out of the solid rock.  At the end of the gallery is a room sixty feet square and forty high.  In the center of this room stands a block of granite about twelve feet square and four feet high. It seems as though the rock had been hewn out around it. It is perfectly square, and it is exactly the same distance from the walls of the room on every side. There are steps cut in the rock leading to the top of the hall.  On the top stands another block of granite, ten feet long, four wide, and three high. This is hollowed out in the shape of a human form.  I lay down in this and, though I am not a small man by any means, yet the mold was much too large for me. Around the room were scattered vessels of clay, some of which will hold 25 gallons. They are light, yet tougher than wrought iron.  I tried to break one of them by dashing it against the granite flooring of the room. I could not even scratch it. Altogether I gathered up 500 ounces of gold in the underground passage.”

* CUBA, NEW YORK, CUBA PATRIOT, OCTOBER 10, 1889
OHIO MOUND RELICS
GIGANTIC MAN BURIED ALONGSIDE A COLOSSAL PANTHER

Soon after the 1st of March I left for Southern Ohio to collect relics to be placed on loan exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. During the last two months eleven mounds have been opened and their contents taken to the museum and placed on exhibition.

These mounds vary in height from eight to thirty feet, are generally conical in shape, and contain all the way from 300 to 10,000 square yards of dirt. They were built by the aborigines of this country hundreds of years ago to serve as burial places for the distinguished dead. They are generally placed near some stream in a valley and not infrequently on high points of land, which command a good view of the country, but the larger ones are in the valleys. These mounds are usually composed of clay, sometimes of sand, and often have layers of charcoal or burnt clay in them. These layers are often as brightly colored as if they had been painted. […]

About five feet above this layer, or nine feet from the summit of the mound, was a skeleton of a very large individual who had buried by the side of it the bones of a panther. Whether the person had killed the panther and it was buried with him as an honor, or whether the panther had killed the individual, I cannot say. This much, however, can be said, that in 43 mounds opened no find of this nature has been made. It is therefore quite interesting and important. The skull of this panther was very large, teeth very long and sharp. It would take a mound builder of a great deal of nerve to attack a beast of this size if he had nothing but a stone hatchet and bow and arrows to defend himself with. Just below this skeleton and lying on the layer of buried bones was a  medium-sized personage who had buried around his neck in the manner of a necklace, between his upper and lower jaw, 147 bone and shell beads. The shell beads were made from the thick part of Conch and Pyrula shells. These shells must have been carried from the Atlantic Ocean, as they are ocean shells, and not found inland, or the tribe to which the man belonged may have traded with tribes near the ocean and thereby got the beads. […]<span “font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;=”” font-family:”times=”” roman”,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:=”” minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-us;=”” mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa”=””><span “font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;=”” font-family:”times=”” roman”,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:=”” minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-us;=”” mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa”=””>–Cincinnati Courier Gazette [September 26, 1889].

* THE POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS, AUGUST 1890
A PRE-HISTORIC GIANT.

The legends of all races tell of a time when mankind were of giant stature, doubtless arising, in many cases, from the discovery of the fossil bones of ancient animals of large size, such as the elephant, mammoth, etc. But, as far as we know, there is no proof whatever that the human race was ever possessed of a greater average stature than at present. In fact, the tendency seems to be in the opposite direction, the men of the present time slightly exceeding their ancestors in size—a result doubtless due to the improved conditions of existence in these latter days.

Occasional instances of unusual stature are, however, not uncommon, and can be seen in almost any dime museum; and that there were giants even in the Stone Age seems to be proved by a discovery made near Montpellier, in France, by M. LAPOUGE, and communicated by him to La Nature. At Castelnau, near the above town, is a prehistoric cemetery, dating from the ages of polished stone and bronze. A large number of human bones were found, including about forty skulls, one of which formerly belonged to an individual about eighteen years old, who, judging from the size of his skull, must have been over six feet in height.

But the most remarkable “finds” of M. Lapouge were three pieces of bone, illustrated in the engraving, which must formerly have belonged to some pre-historic giant of extraordinary size. The first piece, shown on the left of the engraving, is a part of a femur, or thigh-bone, and the one on the right a part of a tibia, or shin-bone. In the middle is represented a humerus, or bone of the upper arm, from the same ancient cemetery, but of normal size. At the bottom is represented a small fragment, which may be either a piece of a femur or a humerus; if the latter, then it must also have formerly made up part of the skeleton of the giant, as can be seen by comparison with the normal humerus above it.

If we judge of the height of this neolithic giant by the usual proportion of the parts of the skeleton to each other, he must have been between ten and eleven feet high. The question remains whether this excessive growth was a normal one, or due to a diseased condition resulting in a general hypertrophy of the osseous system. On this point the authorities differ, one professor of the University of Montpellier holding that the bones are normal in every respect, while another finds evidence of a diseased condition. In either case the giant of Castelnau must have been a source of wonder, if not of terror, to the savage men of those times, and was doubtless treated with all the honor which in these modern days is bestowed upon a successful prize-fighter.

There has been an old tradition among the peasants of the vicinity that a cavern in the valley was, in olden times, occupied by a giant; and it would be curious if the discovery of M. Lapouge should show it to be founded on fact, and handed down from father to son during the centuries that have elapsed since the time when the ancient inhabitants of France knew of no other material for their implements and utensils than the stones which they so laboriously worked into the desired shapes.

* THE NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 5, 1891
MR. JEFFERSON’S CYCLOPS.
A GIANT SKELETON UNEARTHED AT BUZZARD’S BAY

BUZZARD’S BAY, Mass., July 4.—Joseph Jefferson, the actor, has made an astonishing find on the Summer place which he has purchased here near that of ex-President Cleveland. In laying out the grounds and making alterations it became necessary to remove a sandhill of large size. The workmen, while doing this, found the skeleton of a man that filled them with astonishment from its great size.

When an attempt was made to lift up the skeleton it crumbled away, all except the skull. A workman lay down by the side of it, however, and it was estimated that it must have belonged to a man at least 6 feet 5 or 6 inches in height. The most peculiar thing was brought to light, however, when the skull was taken to Mr. Jefferson and by him examined. It was like ordinary skulls, only larger, except that it had so far as could be seen, no place where the eyes had been. There was one hole in the center of the forehead that might have once served for one eye. This led Mr. Jefferson to believe that he had, perhaps, discovered the skeleton of a Cyclops.

He said to Mr. Booth, who was paying him a visit, when he saw the wonderful skull, that he and his brother actor had a chance at hand to play “Hamlet” with a skull such as it had never been played with before. All the scientific gentlemen in the neighborhood have been unable to give an explanation of the skull as were Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Booth. Mr. Jefferson will no doubt be grateful to receive suggestions from men of science that may throw light on the matter.

ST. PAUL DAILY GLOBE, FEBRUARY 24, 1891
PETRIFIED GIANT  
DISCOVERY OF A BODY WITH LEGS EIGHT FEET IN LENGTH

HELENA, MT, Feb 23 – Vital Jarcot, a half-breed, who carries mail between Ft. McGinnis and Rocky Point, brings the news of a discovery of the petrified remains of a giant in the badlands of Choteau county, a few miles below the mouth of the Mussel Shell River. The discovery was made by Lata Dona, another half-breed, who started off to find a purchaser for his curiosity before Jarcot could get a complete description. The remains were not complete, showing the petrifaction had only taken place in a portion of the body, while the remainder had followed the course of nature and returned to dust. One leg was 8 feet long, the thigh being about 4 feet. A rib found measured 2<span “font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;=”” font-family:”times=”” roman”,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:=”” minor-latin;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:=”” en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa”=””>½ feet. Petrifaction is no unusual thing in the badlands of Montana and the Dakotas. Wood in that state is frequently found. The petrified body of an Indian was found in North Dakota about a year ago. Jarcot, who brings the story was perfectly sober.

NEW YORK SUN, AUGUST 27, 1891
GIANT SKELETON FOUND IN UTAH

The gigantic skeleton of a man, measuring 8 feet 6 inches in height, was found near the Jordan River just outside Salt Lake City, last week. The find was made by a workman who was digging an irrigation ditch. The skull was uncovered at a depth of eight feet from the surface of the ground and the skeleton was standing bolt upright. The workmen had to dig down nine feet in order to exhume it. The bones were much decayed and crumbled at the slightest touch. They were put together with great care and the skeleton was found to measure 8 feet 6 inches in height: the skull measured 11 inches in diameter and the feet 19 inches long. A copper chain, to which was attached three medallions covered with curious hieroglyphics, was found around the neck of the skeleton and near it were found a stone hammer, some pieces of pottery, an arrowhead, and some copper medals. Archaeologists believe that the original owner of the skeleton belonged to the race of mound builders.

BURLINGTON, IOWA, HAWK EYE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1891
PERFECT GIANT SKELETON FOUND

No little excitement has been occasioned by the discovery on a farm near Carthage of several skeletons in a mound that are doubtless those of prehistoric people. In regard to this historic find the Carthage Republican newspaper will publish the following.

The Sweney Farm Mounds, located near the south line of the farm quarter, on Section Five, Carthage Township, have been a familiar landmark to the oldest citizens since, and the quarter was entered by Samuels in 1836, or thereabouts.

Last Saturday afternoon the new owner of the Sweney Farm Indian Mounds was plowing on one of his mounds when he hit a series of sandstone blocks. On the removal of several sandstone rocks embedded in the ground, the owner Mr. Felt procured a spade and proceeded to dig out the rocks with some difficulty.

On the removal of these rocks there was revealed an almost perfect skeleton of a man of very large size. The authorities of Carthage College have secured permission to investigate the find to its fullest extent and Rev. Dr. Stephen D. Peet has been notified.

CENTRALIA, OHIO, ENTERPRISE, NOVEMBER 21, 1891
WORLD’S FAIR DIG LEADS TO GIANT MONARCH
GIGANTIC SKELETON, EVIDENTLY OF A PREHISTORIC MONARCH, EXHUMED IN OHIO

Chillicothe, Ohio: Warren K. Morehead and Dr. Cresson, who have been prosecuting excavations here for the past two months in the interest of the World’s Fair, have just made one of the richest finds of the century in the way of prehistoric remains.

Those gentlemen have confined their excavation to the Hopewell Farm, seven miles from here, upon which are located some twenty-odd Indian mounds. On Saturday, they were at work on a mound 500 feet long, 200 feet wide and 28 feet high.

At the depth of 14 feet, near the center of the mound, they exhumed the massive skeleton of a man encased in copper armor. The head was covered in an oval-shaped copper cap, the jaws had copper mouldings, the arms were dressed in copper, while copper plates covered the chest and stomach and on each side of the head, on protruding sticks were wooden antlers ornamented with copper.

The mouth was stuffed with genuine pearls of immense size, but much decayed. Around the neck was a necklace of bear’s teeth set with pearls.

At the side of the male skeleton was also found a female skeleton, the two being supposed to be man and wife. Mr. Morehead and Mr. Cresson believe they have at last found the “King of the Mound Builders.”

ARIZONA REPUBLICAN, FEBRUARY 27, 1892
THERE WERE GIANTS IN THOSE DAYS

Wheeling, W. Va., – While digging a grave on Trace Fork, Lincoln county, a few days ago, the bones of a human being of gigantic stature and proportions were exhumed. The skeleton is in a good state of preservation and the outlines of the frame sufficiently defined to determine that the stature of the person must have been nine or ten feet. The skull and other bones also indicate prodigious size. No one now living has any knowledge of the grave or its occupant, and all indications point to its belonging to some prehistoric race of giants contemporary with Mastodons, fossil remains of which have been found in many parts of the country.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1892 [date unknown]
HUNDREDS OF BURIALS

Near Carthage, Illinois, about one year ago, a mound was plowed up and the bones, principally the skulls of human beings, were found in sufficient quantities to warrant the conclusion that hundreds of people had been buried there. From measurements taken of some of the skulls and principal bones, it was decided that the persons buried were of a race of giants. Some of the femur bones measured 19¼ inches, and the measurements of the skulls and other bones indicated that these people must have attained an average of seven to eight feet in height.

* THE PITTSBURGH DISPATCH, AUGUST 23, 1892
TWO GIANT HUMAN SKELETONS FOUND.

BEAVER FALLS, Aug. 22.—[Special]—Workmen, while digging a ditch from the new shovel works to the river at Allquippa to-day, unearthed the remains of two skeletons. They are of gigantic size, and are supposed to be the remains of two Indians. They have been in the ground for many years, as the larger bones and skull only remain.

* THE SUN, DECEMBER 8, 1893
9 FOOT MUMMY DISCOVERED IN PENNSYLVANIA BURIAL MOUND

Dr W. J. Holland, curator of the Carnegie museum, Pittsburg and his assistant, Dr. Peterson, a few days ago opened up a mound of the ancient race that inhabited this section and secured the skeleton of a man who when in the flesh was between eight and nine feet in height, says a Greensburg (Pa.) dispatch to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

This mound which was originally about 100 feet longer and more than 12 feet high has been somewhat worn down by time.  It is on the J. R. Secrist farm in South Huntington township.  This farm has been in the Secrist name for more than a century.

The most interesting feature in the recent excavation was the mummified torso of the human body, which the experts figured was laid to rest at least 400 years ago.  Portions of the bones dug up and the bones in the legs, Prof, Peterson declares are those of a person between eight and nine feet in height.  The scientists figure that that this skeleton was the framework of a person of the prehistoric race that inhabited this section before the American Indians.

The torso and the portions of the big skeleton were shipped to the Carnegie museum.  Drs. Holland and Peterson supervised the exploration on the Secrist mound with the greatest of care.  The curators believe the man whose skeleton they secured belonged to the mound builders class.

THE WORLD, OCTOBER 7, 1895
BIGGEST GIANT EVER KNOWN

Nine Feet High and Probably a California Indian

Measurement Well Authentiated

Other Big Men and Women of Fact and Fable Who Are Famous Types if Giantism

SYRACUSE DAILY STANDARD, JULY 23, 1897
HUNDREDS OF MOUNDS, EMBALMED NINE-FOOT GIANT, AND DAMS

While men were excavating with a steam shovel near Mora, Minnesota, they found an old copper spear with a point measuring 10 inches in length and tapering to a very fine and tempered point. The weapon shows the maker to have been an adept in working copper metal. Archaeologists believe that at some prehistoric time the country surrounding Mora was densely inhabited by a race of people who were much further advanced in civilization than the Indians.

The many mounds around Fish Lake show that a mighty race of people lies slumbering there, whose history is as yet unwritten—from the mounds of earth, which were used as sepultures for their dead, and which demonstrate beyond a doubt that they were a numerous as well as powerful people.

BALTIMORE AMERICAN, NOVEMBER 15, 1897
BONES OF GIANT INDIANS FOUND IN MARYLAND
PREHISTORIC MEN SEVEN FEET TALL WHO ONCE LIVED IN WHAT IS MARYLAND

There has just been received at the Maryland Academy of Sciences, the skeleton of an Indian seven feet tall. It was discovered near Antietam. There are now skeletons of three powerful Indians at the Academy who at one time in their wildness roamed over the state of Maryland armed with such instruments as nature gave them or that their limited skill taught them to make.

Two of these skeletons belonged to individuals evidently of gigantic size. The vertebrae and bones of the legs are nearly as thick as those of a horse and the length of the long bones exceptional.

The skulls are of fine proportions, ample and with walls of moderate thickness and of great strength and stiffened beyond with a powerful occipital ridge. The curves of the forehead are moderate and not retreating, suggesting intelligence and connected with jaws of moderate development.

The locality from which these skeletons came is in Frederick County, near Antietam Creek. It was formerly supposed to have been the battleground of two tribes of Indians: the Catawbas and the Delawares.

Before the coming of the white man, this site was occupied as a village by Indians of great stature, some of them six-and-a-half to seven feet in height.

* THE NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 20, 1897
WISCONSIN MOUND OPENED
Skeleton Found of a Man Over Nine Feet High with an Enormous Skull.

MAPLE CREEK, Wis., Dec. 19.—One of the three recently discovered mounds in this town has been opened.  In it was found the skeleton of a man of gigantic size.  The bones measured from head to foot over nine feet and were in a fair state of preservation.  The skull was as large as a half bushel measure.  Some finely tempered rods of copper and other relics were lying near the bones.

The mound from which these relics were taken is ten feet height and thirty feet long, and varies from six to eight feet in width.

The two mounds of lesser size will be excavated soon.

OHIO SCIENCE ANNUAL, 1898
GIANT EIGHT FEET, SEVEN INCHES TALL UNEARTHED

A rare archaeological discovery has been made near Reinersville in Morgan County, Ohio. A small knoll, which had always been supposed to be the result of an uprooted tree, was opened recently and discovered to be the work of mound builders.

Just below the surrounding surface, a layer of boulders and pebbles was found. Directly underneath this was found the skeleton of a giant 8 feet, 7 inches in height. Surrounding the skeleton were bone and stone implements, stone hatchets, and other characteristics of the mound builders.

The discovery is considered by the scientists as one of the most important ever made in Ohio. The skeleton is now in the possession of a Reinersville collector.

KEWANNA HERALD, AUGUST 18, 1898
PLOWED UP AN INDIAN

For two centuries, at least, the body has lain crumbling away to mother earth. Who can speak the weal and woe, the heart ache and joy thus represented? It is like a breeze from another world, and life seems fleeting faster still as one gazes on the remains of a once glorious union, now silent evermore.

SKELETON INDIAN BRAVE FOUND NEAR SHADY DELL
The finding of arrowheads and stone axes that were used by the roaming Indians of other days is a common enough occurrence, but this week there was disinterred the bones of one of these ancient inhabitants, which has made it the talk of the community. Charley Dukes, on the old family farm near Shady Dell School House, while plowing near a large, old oak stump, the tree of which was cut down over forty years ago, turned up the skeleton of a giant of the Indian occupation of this country.

For years, two large rocks in the field, which had the appearance of being perfectly placed, have been the wonder of the Dukes family, but now they find that the mound in which the bones were found is directly on the line between these stones, designating, therefore, the place of burial like our tombstones of today.

The bones are those of a large person, although the two centuries of summer and winter have dealt severely with them. The remains show parts of the femur, tibia, innominate, phalanges, and several face bones including some very well-preserved teeth.

MANY SKELETON OF AN EXTINCT INDIAN RACE UNEARTHED IN THE HOOSIER STATE<span “font-size:13.0pt;=”” color:black”=””>
A huge gravel pit has been opened at Whitlock, Indiana. Soon after the excavating began a skeleton was found and as the pit widened other skeletons were unearthed until at least thirty graves had been opened and many skeletons brought to light, evidently the remains of an Indian tribe.

One skeleton was found beneath a large stump, and another was found twelve feet underground. The graves appear in regular order, and the occupants were buried in a sitting posture. In one grave three skeletons, supposed to be those of a woman and two children, were found.

The other day the largest specimen was unearthed, the body of a person who in life must have been a giant.

A peculiarity of the skeletons is that the teeth are nearly all in a perfect state of preservation. In one grave beside the human skeletons was that of a dog, a copper spearhead, an earthen pot, and numerous beads proving that some important personage had been put to rest there.

FOND DU LAC BANNER, JUNE 6, 1899
GIANT INDIAN BONES: DISCOVERY OF AN EXTRA ORDINARY SKELETON NEAR FOND DU LAC<span “font-size:13.5pt;=”” color:black”=””>

An Indian skeleton was dug up on the farm of Matt and Joseph Leon, one mile south of St. Cloud on Saturday. There is nothing strange in finding an Indian skeleton, but this one was a giant in size, his frame measuring seven feet. He must have been a man of note among his people, for he was buried in a large mound, sixteen handsome arrows surrounding his body. The skull was brought to this city and is on exhibition in one of the Main Street windows.

YOUNGSTON VINDICATOR, AUGUST 5, 1899
NEW RACE OF GIANTS  
MONSTERS OF HUMANITY IN THE SOUTH POLAR REGIONS

Some papers are exploiting photographs of a race of giants said to have been discovered by Fredrick A. Cook, who has just returned from an exploring expedition to the south Polar Regions. The existence of such a race has always been denied by scientists, but Dr. Cook, it is said, has not only seen and talked with them, but brings back photographs to prove beyond argument that the biggest race of human beings in the world is to found in the frozen south.  The monstrous forms of both the men and women are clad in furs. The men arm themselves with bows and arrows and wooden clubs. Their strength and endurance are remarkable. The men can outrun any horse on a long stretch. They can cover 50 miles in a few hours. To see a company of these wild men crossing a plain is like watching a herd of antelope skim over the ground. Only their upright position, with their scanty goats’ skins flying in the wind and the flourish of their clubs and bows and arrows, shows that they are men instead of belonging to the lower animals. Dr. Cook is going to write a full scientific account of these people.

PORTSMOUTH HERALD, AUGUST 17, 1899
NEW HAMPSHIRE GIANT NINE FEET TALL

Relics of a prehistoric age have been brought to light in Noble County. The find is in York Township where workmen excavating for a public highway found the skeleton of an inhabitant of early days.

The bones indicate that the person was fully nine feet tall.

The bones are unusually large and the position of the skeleton when found indicated that the person had been buried in a sitting position. The belief is advanced that the remains are those of a mound builder.

WASHINGTON BEE, NOVEMBER 4, 1899
THE VANISHED RACE
A BUILDING THAT HOUSED 6,000 CLIFF DWELLERS

A Ruined Aboriginal City on a Cliff a Thousand Feet High—Skulls of a People That Had Double Teeth All Around—Some Remarkable Relics.

Laden with relics of the vanished race of the Cliff Dwellers, the Rev. Dr. George L. Cole has returned from a journey to the ruined cities of Southeastern Colorado and New Mexico.  Valuable results were secured by excavations in an ancient communal dwelling, as yet unnamed, which stands on the cliffs of the Santa Fe River, fourteen miles from Espanola, N. M.  This is the largest pueblo yet discovered in the United States, and Dr. Cole was practically the first to visit it with scientific objects in view.  He found stone implements and pottery of extreme rarity, and the bones of a race all of whose teeth were molars or grinders.  Among the bones excavated from a burial mound on the mesa were a woman’s femurs measuring nineteen inches, a length which indicates that this aboriginal giantess must have been at least seven and a half feet tall.

The cliff on which the unexplored ruins stand rises a thousand feet above the surrounding country.  On one side of the isolated rocky mass is the valley of the Santa Fe River, on the other that of the Santa Clara.  Up to 600 feet is a shelf which furnished a nesting place for the Cliff Dwellers of nobody knows how many centuries ago.  In the soft pumice stone they burrowed dens for their families.  Eventually the original shelters in the cliffs grew to be a great warren.  Room after room was hewn out until the rows were four or five deep.  Under the shelter of the overhanging cliff, walls were built, extending the rows of rooms.  The Cliff Dwellers were sheltered from rain or storm and their homes were inaccessible for their enemies.

Not satisfied with their rock caverns, the Cliff Dwellers climbed upward, and on the mesa, 400 feet above the shelf on which the caves opened, built a communal dwelling.

This mesa is about three-quarters of a mile wide and a mile and half long, which cliffs all about and the best opportunities for defense.  On its edge was reared a watch tower of granite, whose height Dr. Cole believes to have been not less than sixty feet.  The blocks were painfully carried up the 1,000-foot cliff, for the nearest granite deposits are at a considerable distance.  For greater security a wall was built across the middle of the mesa.

On this rock platform, 1,000 feet up in the air, there stand to-day the ruins of two communal dwellings, one evidently much older than the other.  The older dwelling is as yet untouched, and what little exploration of the more modern one Dr. Cole had time for amounts to a mere scratch on the surface.

There were not less than sixteen hundred rooms in the larger building in its prime, says Dr. Cole, and probably two thousand.  The building measured 240×300 feet.  It was blocks of stone measuring six by six by fifteen inches, quarried from the cliffs below, and carried up by the workmen.  The rooms were roofed with timber, and the walls then carried higher.  In the centre was a great court, a common kitchen for all, from which radiated immense numbers of rooms.  The building spread with the growth of the community until it was three stories high and the rooms stretched away twelve deep from the central court, with smaller courts here and there.  Dr. Cole estimates that the population averaged about three to a room, which would make between 4,800 and 6,000 people dwelling in the immense pueblo, besides those who lived in the cliff caves.

The rooms at the sides of the communal dwelling averaged about fourteen feet in size.  On the upper stories they were mostly smaller, some being only seven by fourteen, others seven by twenty-one.  Some rooms were found as large as fourteen by twenty-one feet.

With the trophies of his summer’s explorations spread out about him, Dr. Cole has turned his parlor into an anthropological museum.  One table is covered with water jugs and incense pipes, the sofa hidden under stone axes, mortars, pestles, weaving shuttles and pottery. Another table is decked with a row of grinning skulls and huge crossbones; beneath it comfortably repose all the parts of a skeleton, from the toe bones to the shoulder blades, waiting to be wired together, and strewn about are bows and arrows, baskets, jugs of twisted twigs, made water-tight by pitch; modern Indian pottery, photographs by the score, and a stump of petrified wood.  The skulls are a particularly valued possession.

“Look at those teeth,” said Dr. Cole, tenderly fondling the skull of the giantess.  “She has no incisors, no cutting teeth, in front, as have all the other races of which I have any knowledge.  She has grinders all around, and so have the other skulls.  That shows they were grain-eaters rather than meat-eaters.  The foreheads are high and the shape of the skull shows intelligence, but notice how curiously they are flattened at the back.—Los Angeles Times.

WILLIAMSBURG, IOWA, JOURNAL TRIBUNE, APRIL 27, 1900
DOUBLE-TOOTHED GIANT

The discovery in Hardin County a short time ago by Joseph Booda and Elliot Charles Gaines of innumerable mound builders’ relics, and the subsequent finding, by other parties, of the remains of a man of the prehistoric period, have greatly interested scientists in other parts of the country, the chief among these being Curator Charles Aldrich, of the state Horticultural Society.

Assuring himself of the truthfulness of the various newspaper reports, Mr. Aldrich has arranged to be in Eldora next month and begin a careful and systematic exploration of some of the mounds in the vicinity, the legal permission having been obtained.

In a large show window in Eldora for several days has been exhibited the skeleton of the man, which was found in a mound on the banks of the Iowa River, near Eagle City, six miles north. It has caused much interest and wonderment. Although well preserved, it is estimated that the skeleton is many centuries old. The skull is very large and thick, fully a quarter of an inch. A set of almost round double teeth are remarkably well preserved. They are yellow with age, are perfect in shape, and appear to have been double, both above and below. The femurs are very long showing a giant in stature.

Dr. N. C. Morse, a prominent physician who examined the skeleton, pronounced it that of a person who had evidently been trained for athletics, as the extremities were so well developed.

THE BOODA COLLECTION
Joseph Booda, who has taken much interest in mound exploration, has a rare collection of implements of the stone age, all found near Eldora. Among these are pottery axes, arrows, beadwork, pestles, mallets, and, although he has offers for the collection, will not part with it, unless he may be induced by Curator Aldrich to loan the collection to the state, to be placed in the historical building in Des Moines when completed.

NEW YORK TIMES, FEBRUARY 11, 1902
NEW MEXICO DISCOVERY: 12-FOOT GIANT FOUND

Owing to the discovery of the remains of a race of giants in Guadalupe, New Mexico, antiquarians and archaeologists are preparing an expedition further to explore that region. This determination is based on the excitement that exists among the people of a scope of country near Mesa Rica, about 200 miles southeast of Las Vegas, where an old burial ground has been discovered that has yielded skeletons of enormous size. Luciana Quintana, on whose ranch the ancient burial plot is located, discovered two stones that bore curious inscriptions and beneath these were found in shallow excavations the bones of a frame that could not have been less than 12 feet in length. The men who opened the grave say the forearm was 4 feet long and that in a well-preserved jaw the lower teeth ranged from the size of a hickory nut to that of the largest walnut in size. The chest of the being is reported as having a circumference of seven feet. Quintana, who has uncovered many other burial places, expresses the opinion that perhaps thousands of skeletons of a race of giants long extinct, will be found. This supposition is based on the traditions handed down from the early Spanish invasion that have detailed knowledge of the existence of a race of giants that inhabited the plains of what now is Eastern New Mexico. Indian legends and carvings also in the same section indicate the existence of such a race.

THE ST. PAUL GLOBE, JANUARY 24, 1904
BONES OF A HUMAN SKELETON ELEVEN FEET HIGH ARE DUG UP IN NEVADA
May Be Related to Cardiff Giant

WINNEMUCCA, Nev., Jan 23.—Workmen engaged in digging gravel here today uncovered at a depth of about twelve feet a lot of bones, part of a skeleton of a gigantic human being.

Dr. Samuels examined them and pronounced them to be the bones of a man who must have been nearly eleven feet in height.

The metacarpal bones measure four and a half inches in length and are large in proportion. A part of the ulna was found and in its complete form would have been between seventeen and eighteen inches in length.

The remainder of the skeleton is being searched for.

OHIO MORNING SUN NEWS HERALD, APRIL 14, 1904
ANOTHER OHIO GIANT NOW SEEMS SMALL AT ONLY EIGHT FEET

A giant skeleton of a man has been unearthed at the Woolverton farm, a short distance from Tippecanoe City, Ohio. It measures eight feet from the top of the head to the ankles, the feet being missing, says this newspaper reporter.

The skull is large enough to fit as a helmet over the average man’s head. This skeleton was one of seven, buried in a circle, the feet of all being towards the center. Rude implements were near. The skeletons are thought to be those of mound builders.

BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT, JUNE 12, 1906
OUR OWN ARCHAEOLOGY
A VALUABLE RELIC OF A FORMER AGE FOUND IN NEBRASKA, AND WHAT IT TELLS

Omaha World Herald – A find of the greatest archaeological interest was made some days ago a few feet back of the bungalow of Myron L. Learned, on the very top of the high bluff a half mile north of the village of Florence, by graders preparing for the foundations of an extension of the present building. Under about two feet of vegetable mold and half a foot of loose deposit, of which the bluffs are formed, E. Wicke, the contractor doing the grading, plowed up what appears to be a stone spearhead. The implement, which is seven and one-quarter inches long from the extreme point of its base to its sharpened end and three inches wide at its widest point, is considered to be the most symmetrical and the best made ever found in the state.

Charles F. Crowley, professor of chemistry at Creighton Medical College, who is a practical geologist, also declares the implement to be made of flint but of a kind not native to this part of the United States.

One side of the stone is colored lustrous cobalt blue, while the reverse is white. Held to the light it is of a beautiful translucent rose orange. The chipping is evidently the work of a master in the art and the owner is greatly pleased at such a handsome and valuable addition to the stone implements which have been from time to time found about his summer cottage.  The projectile point was found lying beside the teeth and larger bones of a bison, the inference being that its thrust had caused the death of the animal. An Omaha archaeologist who has examined the implement declares it to be an arrowhead, and he infers that it was probably used by one of the race of giants of which the legends of the Omaha tribe of Indians speak about. One of the tribal secret societies which has existed far back in the history of the nation tells of a people who preceded them in this section of the world, the males of which were ten or twelve feet high. Some ancient mounds opened in this vicinity have shown skeletons between eight and ten feet long, and he makes the deduction that if the projectile be an arrowhead its size indicates that the shaft into which it was originally fashioned was correspondingly large, and with so large an arrow, a bow with which it must be thrown would be too large for use by a man of ordinary stature. These deductions are conjectural, but the find must be regarded as a valuable one.

NEW NORTH WISCONSIN, JULY 23, 1908
GIANT SKELETON FOUND
MASSIVE HUMAN BONES AND INDIAN RELICS UNEARTHED NEAR PELICAN LAKE

That human beings of enormous size inhabited this section of this country ages ago was proven last Sunday, when the massive skeleton of an Indian was unearthed near Pelican Lake. The interesting discovery was made by George Patton and L. H. Eaton, two Chicago tourists, who are spending the summer there.

For several days the men noticed a mound on their travels through the woods, and, at last led by curiosity, decided to excavate it. Procuring spades they fell to work and after digging down to a depth of about four feet were surprised to find the bones of a large human foot protruding through the earth.

Digging further, they gradually uncovered the perfect form of a giant. The skeleton was nearly 8 feet in height and the arms extended several inches below the hips. Buried with the bones were numerous stone weapons and trinkets. Among these were a curious stone hatchet, a copper knife, several strange copper rings, and a necklace made of the tusks of some prehistoric animal.

The skeleton is no doubt that of an Indian who was one of a tribe of giants who roamed this part of the state over one thousand years ago.

NEW YORK TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 3, 1909
SKELETON 15 FEET HIGH UNEARTHED IN MEXICO

News was received here from Mexico that at Ixtapalapa, a town 10 mile southeast of Mexico City, there had been discovered what was believed to be the skeleton of a prehistoric giant of extraordinary size.

A peon, while excavating for the foundation of a house on the estate of Augustin Juarez, found the skeleton of a human being that is estimated to have been about 15 feet high, and who must have lived ages ago, judging from the ossified state of the bones.

Romulo Luna, judge of the district, has taken possession of the skeleton which is complete with the exception of the skull.

Judge Luna says that as soon as the search for the skull is finished the skeleton will be forwarded to the national museum of Mexico that has an almost priceless collection of Aztec antiquities.

BELVIDERE DAILY REPUBLICAN, APRIL 12, 1911
FIND INDIAN RELICS NEAR LAKE DELAVAN
Fourteen Are Unearthed Beneath Knoll Where Chicagoans Camp.

Lake Delavan, Wisconsin – Out of a knoll that for years has formed the playground of thousands of Chicago people during the summer months, Phillips Bros., owners of Lake Lawn farm, have just dug fourteen human skeletons, and the probability is that still other finds will be unearthed.

For years it has been suspected that the big mound on which several Chicago church choirs have been accustomed to camp, one after another, in different years, contained rich Indian relics, but no one seemed to make a move toward exploration.

As the result of an argument as to what was hidden in the mound, the owners of the place dug down eight feet and raked out skeletons which are probably the largest specimens of the red race found in southern Wisconsin.  Two of the skeletons were found in a sitting posture. All were buried in a stone-floored and walled pit, over which a solid clay slab had been placed.

The skeletons have been preserved intact and will go to the state museum at Madison.

Walworth county has a very large number of the mounds, some of them having been explored, with the result that only a few relics, most of them crude weapons, were found.

OAKLAND TRIBUNE, JULY 25, 1911
BONES OF SEVEN FOOT CALIFORNIAN GIANT FOUND IN SOUTH

Ethnologists will be interested in a discovery made by Assistant Curator William Altmann of Golden Gate Park Memorial Museum—namely, the fact hitherto denied that the Digger Indians of California were acquainted with at least the rudiments of pottery making. “Until now, no pottery of Digger Indian manufacture has ever been found,” says Altmann, and therefore he highly values the find he made in an Indian Burial Mound at Concord, in Contra Costa County.

From an excavation made by workmen in the employ of the Port Costa Water Company has been found a large number of Indian relics of great age, including the specimens of crude pottery already mentioned and the skeleton of an Indian giant more than seven feet tall. The skeleton is in the possession of Dr. Neff of Concord, who is mounting it for exhibition. The pottery specimens consist of charm stones of baked clay of spindle shape and pierced so that they may be suspended from the neck by cords.

In addition, there are a large number of knives and arrowheads of obsidian or volcanic glass, which is extremely rare in this part of the state, and leads to the belief they were brought down by the Shasta or Modoc Indians and traded for other things with the Diggers of Contra Costa.

A striking peculiarity about these arrowheads is their shape and pattern. They are notched in a very painstaking way with jagged division and resemble very much some of the weapons Filipino warriors use. A stone mortar and several phallic pestles carved with considerable skill and precision, stone sinkers for fishing, and artistic pipes made of soapstone, together with a quantity of wampum, are among the souvenirs secured by Assistant Curator Altmann, the donor being Joseph Hittman of Concord.

The mound from which these relics were taken is close to the railroad depot at Concord. The work of excavation is still going on and more interesting finds are looked for.

ARIZONA JOURNAL-MINER, OCTOBER 13, 1911
RANCHER REFUSES TO SELL SKELETON OF GIANT

Peter Marx of Walnut Creek, discoverer of a prehistoric human giant on his farm several weeks ago, while in the city yesterday, stated that the curiosity is attracting such deep interest in scientific circles that he is almost delayed with his letters and during the past two weeks he has been visited by Mr. and Mrs. Shoup, the former an attaché of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, who made the long journey for the express purpose of viewing the frame of the giant of other days. Mr. Shoup was provided with photographic instruments and took several pictures.

Mr. Shoup, of the Smithsonian, also desired to take it (the giant skeleton) back to Washington, but this request was held up by Mr. Marx stating that as the subject was found in the territory it should be kept there.

Mr. Shoup was very much interested in those portions of the human frame that were unusually large, particularly the skull, which indicated that the giant was of such abnormal size as to be beyond comprehension as that of a human being. Mr. Marx has uncovered another burying ground near the point where the skeleton was found.

IRRIGATION DITCHES ARE A SIGN OF ANCIENT HIGH INTELLIGENCE
An old irrigating ditch has also been partly recovered, and it is Mr. Shoup’s (of the Smithsonian) belief that the place was intelligently cultivated in some past age by an industrious people. Mr. Marx has uncovered many implements, some of which are unique in construction and for what purposes they were utilized is problematical.

BISMARCK TRIBUNE, MAY 3, 1912
FREAK BODIES FOUND BURIED
Queer Skeletons May Be Those of Unknown Race in Wisconsin

By Associated Press.

MADISON, Wis., May 3.—The discovery of several peculiar skeletons while excavating a mound at Lake Delavan this week, may prove that heretofore an unknown race of men once inhabited southern Wisconsin. According to Maurice Morrissey, an attorney at Delavan, the heads of the skeletons are much larger than any race which inhabits America today, and slope directly backward from over the eyebrows while the nasal bones protrude far above the cheek bones.

The skeletons are imbedded in charcoal and covered with a layer of baked clay to shed water from the sepulcher.

WICHITA BEACON, MAY 3, 1912
MAYBE THEY “STOOD PAT”
Evidences of Non-Progressive Race Have Been Dug Up in Governor La Follette’s State.

Madison, Wis., May 3.—Examination of skeletons discovered in Mounds at Lake Delavan and Lake Lawn farm was declared today to indicate that a hitherto unknown race of men inhabited Southern Wisonsin ages ago. Information of the characteristics of the skeletons was brought to Madison today by Attorney Maurice Morissey of Delavan and Chas. E. Brown, curator of the state historical museum, will make a further investigation.

The heads are much smaller than those of any people which inhabit America today. From directly over the eye sockets, however, the head slopes straight back and the nasal bones protrude far above the cheek bones. The jaw bones are long and pointed resembling those of an ape.

Skeletons supposed to be those of women had smaller heads, which were similar in facial characteristics.

The skeletons are embedded in charcoal from four to ten feet deep and covered over with layers of baked clay designed, it is believed, to shed water from the sepulchre.

* NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 4, 1912
STRANGE SKELETONS FOUND
INDICATIONS THAT TRIBE HITHERTO UNKNOWN ONCE LIVED IN WISCONSIN

<span “color:=”” black”=””>MADISON, Wis.. May 3.—The discovery of several skeletons of human beings while excavating a mound at Lake Delavan indicates that a heretofore unknown race of men once inhabited Southern Wisconsin.  Information of the discovery was brought to Madison today by Maurice Morrisey, of Delavan, who came here to attend a a meeting of the Republican State Central committee. Curator Charles E. Brown of the State Historical Museum will investigate the discoveries within a few days.

<span “color:=”” black”=””>Upon opening one large mound at Lake Lawn farm, eighteen skeletons were discovered by the Phillips Brothers. The heads, presumably those of men, are much larger than the heads of any race which inhabit America today. From directly over the eye sockets, the head slopes straight back and the nasal bones protrude far above the cheek bones. The jaw bones are long and pointed, bearing a minute resemblance to the head of a monkey. The teeth in the from of the jaw are regular molars.

There were found in the mounds the skeletons, presumably of women, which had smaller heads, but were similar in facial characteristics. The skeletons were embedded in charcoal and covered over with layers of baked clay to shed the water from the sepulchre.

INDIANAPOLIS NEWS, MAY 4, 1912
SKELETONS OF STRANGE RACE FOUND IN MOUND

IMBEDDED IN CHARCOAL IN SOUTHERN WISCONSIN.

RESEMBLANCE TO MONKEY

MADISON, Wis., May 3.—The discovery of several unusual skeletons of human beings, while excavating a mound at Lake Delavan this week, is of great scientific interest, and may prove that a heretofore unknown race once inhabited southern Wisconsin. Information of the finds was brought to Madison today by attorney Maurice Morrissey, of Delavan. Curator Charles E. Brown, of the state historical museum, will make an investigation.

On opening one large mound last fall eighteen skeletons were discovered. Little attention was given the bones, which soon crumbled. When another mound was opened a few days ago, however, the excavators were impressed by the peculiar cranial characteristics.

Heads Are Much Larger.
The heads, presumably those of men, are very much larger than those of present day men. From directly over the eye sockets, the head slopes straight back and the nasal bones protrude far above the cheek bones.

The jaw bones are long and pointed and bear close resemblance to those of the monkey. The teeth in the front of the jaw resemble the molars in the mouths of persons today.

The skeletons were embedded in charcoal and covered with layers of baked clay to shed water from the sepulcher. They were found from four to ten feet below the surface.

ALTON EVENING TELEGRAPH, MAY 4, 1912
BONES OF OLD RACE FOUND.
Skeletons Discovered in Wisconsin Are Larger Than Present Men.

Madison, Wis., May 3. – Examination of a score of skeletons discovered in mounds at Lake Delavan and Lake Lawn Farm was declared today to indicate that a hitherto unknown race of men inhabited Southern Wisconsin ages ago. Information of the characteristics of the skeletons was brought to Madison today by Attorney Maurice Morrissey, of Delavan, and Charles E. Brown, curator of the State Historical Museum, will make a further investigation.

The heads are very much larger than those of any people which inhabit America today. From directly over the eye sockets, however, the head slopes straight back and the nasal bones protrude far above the cheek bones. The jaw bones are long and pointed, resembling those of an ape.

Skeletons supposed to be those of women had smaller heads, which were similar in facial characteristics.

The skeletons are embedded in charcoal from 4 to 10 feet deep and covered over with layers of baked clay, designed, it is believed, to shed water from the sepulcher.

Note: Various versions of this story ran in newspapers across the country.

MORNING OREGONIAN, MAY 11, 1912
BONES OF PRIMITIVE MAN ARE REVEALED

Prehistoric Skeleton is Found at Ellensburg.

2 ROWS OF TEETH IN UPPER JAW

Fossils Countless Ages Old Are Well Preserved.

Height 6 FEET 8 INCHES

Scientist Visits Place Where Builders Unearth Scientific Lore and Says It Is of Earliest Clans.

ELLENSBURG, Wash., May 10.—(Special)—A skeleton of a primitive man, with forehead sloping directly back from the eyes and with two rows of teeth in the front of his upper jaw, was uncovered here when contractors were excavating for an apartment-house on Craigs Hill today.

The hill is of the hogback formation and the excavation was made on the side hill about 20 feet below the surface and about 20 feet back from the face of the slope.

The skeleton was found in the cement rock formation, over which was a layer of shale rock. The rock was perfectly dry and doctors say that the skeleton could have remained in that formation hundreds of years without rotting.  The jaw bone, which broke apart when removed, is so large that it will go around the face of the man of today.  The other bones are also much larger than that of ordinary men.  The femur bone is 20 inches long, which, according to scientific men, would indicate that the man was 80 inches tall, or approximately six feet eight inches.

Scientist Examines Spot.
Dr. J. P. Munson, Ph.D., M.S., professor of biological sciences in the State Normal School, and who lectured before the International Biological Congress in Austria last Summer, visited the spot this afternoon, and, after examining the bones, pronounced them to be those of a primitive man.  The teeth in front are rounded down and the jaw bone, which, Dr. Munson states, is due to eating of uncooked foods and the crushing of hard substances.

The sloping skull, he says, shows an extremely low order of intelligence, far earlier than that of the Indians known to the white settler.

The skeleton, perfectly preserved, was exposed when a blast of dynamite loosened the cement rock so that when M. E. Root, who is employed by Mr. Belch, again approached the hillside he say, gleaming from the rock, a skull.

No effort was made to molest the remainder of the skeleton till later in the afternoon, when the small son of Contractor Belch was told by his father of the discovery.  With the aid of a pick the boy uncovered a perfect skeleton.

Citizens Are Interested.
Craigs Hill, which runs along the eastern edge of the city, is supposed to be of glacial formation, although some believe that the hill is a delta of a river which flowed from the Nanum Canyon across the valley into Yakima Canyon countless ages ago.

The removal of a heap of debris is anxiously awaited by a number of people, as it is expected that more bones and perhaps trinkets will be uncovered.

The thigh bones are on exhibition at the Record office, together with a jaw bone of unusual size.

KANSAS CITY STAR, MAY 11, 1912
FIND BONES OF ANCIENT MEN.
Prehistoric People of Washington Had Practically No Forehead.

ELLENSBURG, WASH, May 11.—Skeletons believed to be those of prehistoric people, were found today in a deep hill excavation.  The skulls showed practically no forehead, sloping sharply back from the eye sockets.  One skull contained a complete double row of teeth in the upper jaw.  One of the skeletons was six feet eight inches in height.  The hill is being explored for other skeletons.

DAILY CAPITOL JOURNAL, MAY 11, 1912
(UNTITLED NOTICE)

The skeleton of a prehistorical man has been found near Ellensburg.  The upper jaw had two rows of teeth, which shows reckless extravagance, as one row was no account with no teeth opposite them.

TACOMA TIMES, MAY 11, 1912
PREHISTORIC MAN’S SKELETON EXCAVATED IN ELLENSBURG

ELLENSBURG, May 11. –What Dr. J. P. Munson, professor of biological sciences in the State Normal school, pronounces the skeleton of a primitive man was found here today by workmen excavating for an apartment house.

The skeleton is that of a man about six feet eight inches tall.  The forehead slopes directly back from the eyes.  The jaw bone is so large it would go around the face of a man today, and the other bones are proportionately large.

Dr. Munson says the skull indicates the primitive man to have been of a far lower type of intelligence than the earliest known Indians.

EVENING STANDARD, MAY 11, 1912
FIND PRE-HISTORIC SKELETONS.

Ellensburg, Wash., May 11.–Skeletons believed to be those of pre-historic people were found today in a deep hill excavation.  The skulls showed practically no forehead, sloping sharply back from the eyesockets. One skull contained a complete double row of teeth in the upper jaw.  One of the skeletons was six feet eight inches in height. The hill is being explored for other skeletons.

SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MAY 11, 1912
PREHISTORIC SKELETONS FOUND IN WASHINGTON

ELLENSBURG, Wash., May 10.—Skeletons believed to be those of prehistoric people were found today in an excavation at Craig’s hill 20 feet below the surface.  The skulls showed no forehead, sloping sharply back from the eye sockets.  One skull contained a complete row of teeth in the upper jaw.  One of the skeletons was 6 feet 8 inches in height.  The hill is being explored for other skeletons.

MORNING OLYMPIAN, MAY 12, 1912
(UNTITLED NOTICE)

At Ellensburg they have unearthed a primeval man skeleton with two rows of teeth.  What an opportunity for the old time dentists.

YAKIMA HERALD, MAY 15, 1912
FIND GIANT BONES IN GLACIAL DRIFT
Dynamiting for Excavations at Ellensburg Workman Find Skeleton of Primitive Man

ELLENSBURG, May 11.—The bones of a primitive man were unearthed Thursday by Edward C. Belch, a contractor, who is making excavations for a 24-room apartment house on the site.  The bones were found buried 20 feet beneath the surface of Craig’s Hill.  The skeletons, perfectly preserved, were exposed when a blast of dynamite loosened the cement rock, so that when M. E. Root who is employed by Mr. Belch again approached the hillside, he saw a skull gleaming from the hillside.  No effort was made to molest the balance of the skeleton till later in the afternoon, when the small son of contractor Belch was told by his father of the discovery, when with the aid of a pick he uncovered the perfect skeleton.  This was taken to the school this morning, where the teachers quickly decided that the shape of the skull was that of a primitive man.

J. P. Munson, Ph. D., professor of biological sciences in the state normal school, was told of the discovery this noon, and went to see the site.  While there he unearthed a skull, which was broken by the pick.  Mr. Munson stated that every indication pointed to the fact that the skull was that of an Indian of a low degree of intelligence, as the forehead was sloping, and the teeth of peculiar formation.  The front teeth were worn off down to the jawbone, the result, as Professor Munson stated of eating uncooked foods, as was the habit of primitive people.  He could not estimate the length of time that the bones had been in the ground, but as the cement rock in which they were buried was perfectly dry, and beneath a strata of shale rock, conservative estimates place the age of the bones at many hundreds of years.

Craig’s Hill, which runs along the eastern edge of the city, is supposed to be of glacial formation, although some believe that the hill is formed by a delta of a river which flowed from the Nanum Canyon countless ages ago.

The skeletons were found 20 feet beneath the surface of the hill, the graves apparently having been tunneled into the hillside.  The femur of the largest skeleton is nearly 20 inches long.  This, according to Dr. B. J. Moss, would indicate that the man was 80 inches tall, or 6 feet 8 inches, as the man’s height is ordinarily four times that of the length of the femur bone.

One of the skulls was unusually large, and in the upper jaw has two complete and distinct rows of teeth in front, each set being perfectly formed.  This was regarded as decidedly unusual by the normal school professor, who examined the skull closely.  He did not regard the two rows of teeth as a racial attribute, but rather as a freak of nature.

The removal of the head of debris is anxiously awaited by a number of people as it is expected that more bones and perhaps trinkets will be uncovered.

NEWPORT MINER, MAY 16, 1912
OLD SKELETON IS FOUND
Bones of Primitive Man Are Found at Ellensburg.

Ellensburg.—A skeleton of a primitive man, with forehead sloping directly back from the eyes and with two rows of teeth in the front of his upper jaw, was uncovered here when contractors were excavating for an apartment house.

The skeleton was found in the cement rock formation, over which was a layer of shale rock.  The rock was perfectly dry and doctors say that the skeleton could have remained in that formation hundreds of years without rotting.  The jaw bone, which broke apart when removed, is so large that it will go around the face of the man of today.  The other bones are also much larger than that of ordinary men.  The femur bone is 20 inches long, which, according to scientific men, would indicate the man was 80 inches tall, or approximately six feet and eight inches.

ELLENSBURG DAWN, MAY 16, 1912
BELCH UNEARTHS A LARGE SKELETON

Edward Belch, who has been excavating on East Third street on the side of Craig’s Hill for the past two months for a large apartment house, unearthed last Friday a large skeleton fully twenty feet below the surface in a rock formation, over which was a layer of shale rock perfectly dry, and it is generally believed that it could have remained in that formation for ages without being entirely decomposed or lost.

The bones are exceedingly large, in fact the jaw bone is large enough to goround the face of an ordinary man of to-day.  In fact all the bones are much larger than those of the ordinary man of this age or any other age of which we know.  The femur is twenty inches long, which indicates that it was the skeleton of man fully six feet and eight inches tall—a giant.

Dr. J. P. Munson, who is professor of biological science in the normal school, after examining the bones pronounced them those of a primitive man.

The teeth in front are rounded and worn flat, almost down to the jawbone, which Dr. Munson states is due to eating uncooked foods and the crushing of hard substances with the teeth.  The sloping skull, he says, shows an extremely low order of intelligence, far earlier than that of the Indians known to the white settlers.

The head slopes directly back from the eye sockets and the upper jaw contains a double row of teeth in front.  Everything would indicate that at one time it was the skeleton of a powerful man.

No living person knows anything about how the skeleton came there.  Some profess to believe it was caught in a flood that at one time washed the sand gravel and dirt that created Craig’s Hill, while others think that the tribe dug into the hill and made the tomb purposely for the body.  The skeleton of which Mr. Belch has unearthed, the find being as much of a mystery and surprise to him as anyone else.

EVENING HERALD, MAY 17, 1912
OLD TIMER MUST HAVE BEEN A BIG FELLOW

Skeleton Discovered at Ellensburg Indicates the Original Must Have Measured Eight Feet—Is Regarded as of Great Value

PORTLAND, May 17.—“That discovery of the bones of a human giant at Ellensburg is one of the most interesting anthropological finds made in the Northwest,” said Chief of the General Land Office Field Division L. L. Sharp.  “I just returned from Ellensburg, where I had an opportunity to view the bones. The skull jawbone, thigh and other parts of the largest skeleton indicated a man to my mind at least eight feet high.  A man of his stature and massive frame would weigh fully 300 pounds at the least.”

The head is one of the most remarkable I have ever studied among prehistoric skulls.  It is massive, with enormous brain space.  While the forehead slopes somewhat, not averaging the abrupt eminence of our present race, the width between the ears the deep, well rounded space at the back of the head are convincing testimony of high intelligence for a primitive man.  The cheek bones are not high, like those of the Indian, nor has the head any resemblance to the Indian skull.  I am convinced that this skull is of a prehistoric man who was one of a remarkable race of people who inhabited this part of America some time prior to the Indian control.  The spot where the bones were uncovered is fully twenty feet beneath the surface.  There is the usual gravel formation on top, then the conglomerate, a strata of shale and in a bed of concrete gravel beneath the shale were the bones of this giant and of a smaller person.  The shale would indicate tremendous age, perhaps more than 1,000,000 years, for the deposit in which the skeleton was found. But this I deem impossible, and presume that the bones were put beneath the shale by means of a tunnel, perhaps, or some other system of interment.  I cannot think it possible that a human being of the advanced stage indicated by this great skull could have existed at the period when the shale was formed.

“The jaw is remarkable, and contains many teeth, chief among which are the massive grinders. These are worn down, probably from the habit of the man eating nuts, grasses and other food in a rough state.  The strength of the jaw is very apparent. Both skeletons found are incomplete. The head of the smaller is badly broken.  Not a very clear idea of height can be gained, but the thigh bone, if not disproportioned, indicates far greater height than that of the present race of man.”

In the valley where Ellensburg is situated, the sedimentary formation is very deep, at some places exceeding 1,000 feet.

MILWAUKEE SENTINEL, JUNE 8, 1912
PRIMITIVE MAN A GIANT
From the Seattle Post-Intelligence.

Eleven skeletons of primitive men, with foreheads sloping directly back from the eyes, and with two rows of teeth in the front of the upper jaw, have been uncovered in Craigshill, at Ellensburg, this state.  They were found about twenty feet below the surface, twenty feet back from the face of the slope, in a cement rock formation over which was a layer of shale.  The rock was perfectly dry.

The jaw bones, which easily break, are so large that they will go around the face of the man of today.  The other bones are also much larger than those of the ordinary man.  The femur is twenty inches long, indicating, scientists say, a man eighty inches tall.

J. P. Munson, professor of biology in the state normal school, who lectured before the International biological college in Austria last summer, visited the spot and pronounced them the bones of a primitive man.

The teeth in front are worn almost down to the jaw bones, due, Dr. Munson says, to eating uncooked foods and crushing hard substances with the teeth.  The sloping skull, he says, shows an extremely low order of intelligence, far earlier than that of the Indians known to the whites.

[Note: This version of the article was widely reprinted over the following months–J.C.]

OAKLAND TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 1912
BEST-PRESERVED SKELETON OF EXTINCT TRIBE HAULED FROM CHANNEL

Up to about three hundred years ago, a giant race inhabited the coastal regions of California. Remains of these people have been discovered in the islands of the Santa Barbara Channel. To William Altmann, assistant curator of the Golden Gate Park Memorial Museum, belongs the honor of discovering one of the tallest and best preserved skeletons of this extinct tribe. Altmann utilized his vacation a week ago in excavating an old Indian burial mound in the nursery of Thomas S. Duane, two miles from Concord, in Contra Costa County.

The giant skeleton found was ten feet from the surface and around it were a large number of mortars and pestles, charm stones, and obsidian arrow heads. The giant skeleton has been laid and reconstructed in the Curator’s office and placed on private exhibition yesterday. The bones are in a good state of preservation, being hard and firm, although brown with age. Two or three of the vertebrae are missing and the skull is broken into three parts.

The skeleton is seven feet four inches. The skull is in great contrast to that of the Indian today. The under-jaw is square and massive, being remarkably thick and strong.

PHALLIC CARVINGS
The artifacts are ornamented with phallic carvings, whereas the marks made by the former and present-day Diggers are not carved or ornamented in any way. The charm stones are of baked clay, a beginning of the more advanced works of pottery, which are not found with Digger remains. This interesting find was made on the Salvadore Pacheen Ranch, part of which is occupied by Duane’s nursery. It is Altmann’s intention to make a further exploration of the mound at an early [date] for other relics of this by-gone era.

A SUPERIOR RACE OF GIANTS ADMITTED IN CALIFORNIA
The find is of the greatest importance to anthropologists the world over, confirming as it does, the theory originally advanced when the giants were unearthed in the Santa Barbara Islands, that a superior race of Indians, both physically and mentally, preceded the Digger and other native races of the present day. This is evidenced also in the burial posture and the charm stones found near the body.

LOGANSPORT PHAROS TRIBUNE, JUNE 19, 1912
DOUBLE DENTITIONS

Charles Milton found a skeleton that is thought to be that of an Indian while digging sand near Lake Cleott yesterday. The bones are well preserved and very large. The jaw bone is almost twice as large as that of the ordinary person.

One peculiarity about the jaw is the fact that the teeth are double both front and back. The sandpit where the bones were found is supposed to be an old Indian mound. Several arrow heads were excavated and other like utensils were found. Among these was a peculiarly shaped flint supposed to have been a fish scaler. About two or three bushels of charcoal was found along the side of the skeleton.

MORNING REVIEW, SEPTEMBER 4, 1912
BONES OF ANCIENT GIANT
Amazing Discovery in Oregon is of Great Interest to Anthropologists

The discovery of the bones of a human giant at Ellensburg is one of the most interesting anthropological finds made in the northwest, according to L. L. Sharp, chief of the general land office.  “I just returned from Ellensburg,” said he, “where I had opportunity to view the bones unearthed.  The skull, jawbone, thigh and other parts of the largest skeleton indicated a man to my mind of at least eight feet high.  A man of his stature and massive frame would weigh fully 300 pounds at least.  The head is one of the most remarkable I ever have studied among prehistoric skulls.  It is massive, with enormous brain space.  While the forehead slopes down somewhat, not averaging the abrupt eminence of our present race, the width between the ears and the deep, well-rounded space at the back of the head are convincing testimony of high intelligence for a primitive man.  The cheekbones are not high, like those of the Indian, nor has the head any resemblance to the Indian skull.  I am convinced that this skull is of a prehistoric man who was one of a remarkable race of people who inhabited this part of American some time prior to the Indian control.

“The bones were uncovered fully 20 feet beneath the surface.  There is the usual gravel formation on top, then the conglomerate, a stratum of shale, and in a bed of concrete gravel beneath the shale were the bones of the giant and of a smaller person.  The shale would indicate tremendous age, perhaps more than 1,000,000 years, for the deposit in which the skeleton was found.  But this I deem impossible, and presume that the bones were put beneath the shale by means of a tunnel perhaps, or some other system of interment.  I cannot think it possible that a human being of the advanced stage indicated by this great skull could have existed at the period when the shale was formed.”—Portland (Ore.) Telegram.

LA CROSSE TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 4, 1912
FIFTY SKELETONS UNEARTHED—REMAINS OF GIANT ABORIGINES DISCOVERED<span “font-size:13.5pt;=”” color:black”=””>

More than fifty skeletons of the ancient mound builders were unearthed Saturday from five mounds in the town of Stoddard, by a party of Normal students and professors, who made a special trip to investigate them. Valuable relics were also recovered that will be on exhibition at the Normal museum.

The country around La Crosse has long been known as the center of Indian activities in centuries long past and as evidences of this fact there are many Indian mounds in this vicinity.

About thirty years ago agents of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., investigated several mounds in what is now the town of Stoddard. They unearthed much valuable material in the line of skeletons, arrow heads, and spear heads from the first few of a chain of a dozen mounds and at the present time there is in Washington a Stoddard Collection of Indian relics.

Since that time Smithsonian officials have often considered opening more of the mounds but nothing has been done. Spurred on by the generous offer of A. White, who owns the ground on which are located five large mounds, to donate the contents to the Normal School Museum (apparently no help from Smithsonian officials), the Normal authorities recently took the matter up, and several local citizens generously provided a fund for the expenses of an expedition to unearth the contents.

A SIX-FOOT, SIX-INCH SKELETON UNEARTHED
Professors A. H. Sanford and W. H. Thompson of the University of Wisconsin Department of History, and L. P. Deneyer of the Geology Department, together with a company of thirteen students left on Saturday morning with shovels to examine the ancient graves. Professor Austin and some of his students surveyed and made a contour map of the field determining the dimensions of the mounds and the lay of the surrounding country. The expedition was of a scientific character, and the results of the investigations will appear in printed form.

A large mound in the center, probably the grave of an Indian chief, was adjoined by two smaller ones on each side. The latter were investigated first and the efforts of the diggers were rewarded at once by the unearthing of a skeleton about five feet down, which measured six and a half feet in length.

The skull was very large being eight inches in diameter from ear to ear. The teeth were well preserved, but the other bones quickly fell to pieces. The first mound yielded eleven skeletons. The second contained only charcoal and burned bones indicating cremation.

EFFORTS YIELD MANY SKELETONS AND ARTIFACTS
The middle mound, which was the largest, required much effort to excavate. More than twenty skeletons were found besides the bowl of a clay peace pipe, a copper arrow head, copper skinning knife, a sandstone spearhead, and several flint arrow heads. The fourth eminence yielded over twenty five skeletons, pieces of clay pottery, and a bear’s tooth. The last mound, after digging about six feet down, brought up a large spear point of quartz with a red coloring design on each side. Adjoining the White farm is property owned by Homer Hart of La Crosse on which are located several more mounds.

MONROE COUNTY MAIL, JUNE 18, 1914
SCIENTISTS FIND GIANT SKELETON: IN LIFE THEY AVERAGED TWELVE FEET HIGH
Skeletons of a race of giants who averaged twelve feet in height were found by workmen engaged on a drainage project in Crowville, near here.

There are several score at least of the skeletons, and they lie in various positions. It is believed they were killed in a prehistoric fight and that the bodies lay where they fell until covered with alluvial deposits due to the flooding of the Mississippi River. No weapons of any sort were found at the site, and it is believed the Titans must have struggled with wooden clubs. The skulls are in a perfect state of preservation, and some of the jawbones are large enough to surround a baby’s body.

EL PASO HERALD, APRIL 19, 1915
ARIZONA GIANTS

“The skeleton of a giant fully eight feet tall has been found near Silver City,” said H. E. Davis. The thigh bone of this ancient inhabitant of the southwest measures two inches more than the ordinary man and must have been a giant of great strength. The jaw bone is large enough to fit over the jaw of an ordinary man. A peculiarity of the forehead is that it recedes from the eyes like that of an ape. The similarity is still further found in the sharp bones under the eyes. The skeleton was found encased in baked mud, indicating that encasing the corpse in mud and baking it was the mode of embalming. Near the skeleton was found a stone weighing 12 pounds, which, judging from its shape, must have been a club. The wooden handle has rotted away but there are marks on the stone that indicate that it had been bound to a wooden handle with tongs. It is rather peculiar that less than 30 miles from where this skeleton was found and located on the Gile river are the former houses of a tribe of small cliff dwellers. The existence of these two races so near together forms an interesting topic. “These ‘gorillalike’ or ‘monkey-like’ skulls have been reported in many states several times by Smithsonian personnel. Professor Thomas Wilson, the curator of Prehistoric Anthropology for the Smithsonian, said the following about the find of an eight-foot-one-inch giant skeleton in Miamisburg, Ohio, in 1897. “The authenticity of the skull is beyond doubt. Its antiquity is unquestionably great. To my own personal knowledge several such crania were discovered in the Hopewell group of mounds in Ohio, exhibiting monkey-like traits.”

LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 3, 1916
FIND BONES OF GIANT IN A CALIFORNIA CAVE

The discovery of a skull, jawbones and femur of giant proportions by D. L. Gilliland and F. M. Puntenney of Moonpark, in a cavern in one of the canyons of the great Pisgah Grando Rancho just over the Ventura county line, lends color to the belief, long held by residents of that scenic section, that the burying place of a prehistoric race of giants has been found. The find was made under peculiar circumstances, Messrs Gilliland and Puntenney who are officers of the law at Moonpark, were searching for two Mexicans, said to have been connected with robberies at Moonpark and Santa Susana. After scouring the various canyons they came upon a wide cavern deep in the brush and hidden from view by a rugged rampart of rocks.

Seeing that there was an opening in which the fugitives might take shelter, Mr. Puntenney pulled aside the underbrush and peered into the depths. Within he saw the grinning skull of huge size and the great femur, that must have formed the thigh bone of a mighty giant.  In this vast and silent region are to be seen ancient ruins that still stand in mute testimony of the fact that at some remote period in the history of our sunny Southland a race of giants lived and moved and had their being. And that in these small but fertile valleys, this long forgotten race built their crude homes and practiced the arts of life according to their original lights.The skull, jawbones and femur of the giant’s skeleton found by Messrs Gilliland and Puntenney, were brought to Moonpark in an office in that town, where examined by Dr. Philo Hull, who has pronounced them unquestionably those of a human being. The bones are being preserved and are on exhibition, they are attracting a great deal of attention.

CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL, SEPTEMBER 20, 1916
REPORT OF SIXTY-EIGHT SKELETONS AVERAGING SEVEN-FEET TALL

On July 13, Professor Skinner of the American Indian Museum, excavating the mound at Tioga Point, near Sayre, Pennsylvania, uncovered the bones of 68 men, which he estimates had been buried at least seven or eight hundred years. The average height indicated by the skeletons was seven feet, but many were taller. Evidence of the gigantic size of these men was seen in huge axes found beside the bones.

BEMIDJI DAILY PIONEER, OCTOBER 3, 1916
LARGE SKELETONS FOUND IN MINNESOTA

Some large mounds have been found in this territory. In some places a number of pieces of pottery have been unearthed. It will be remembered that when the dam at International Falls was under construction several hundred pieces of tempered copper were unearthed from a depth of 15 feet. The articles consisted of fish hooks, knives, spears, and arrows. The art of tempering copper, which was known by these early mound builders, is now a lost art. An unusually large skeleton was also unearthed and thought to have been a woman. Physicians who have examined the skeleton declare that it represented a type of early prehistoric persons who were seven feet tall or more and who possessed an especially large lower jaw. They drew this conclusion because the skeleton found was that of a person of very large stature. The jaw bone was wide and its construction is said to be a special gift of nature to the early man in order that he could masticate the coarser foods which then made up his subsistence. The skull is very large. The well rounded forehead gives evidence of considerable development of intelligence of the Rainy Lake territory. […] The skeleton will be sent to the Minnesota Historical Society.

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, NOVEMBER 22, 1920
THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM CLAIMS POSSESSION OF AN EIGHT- TO NINE-FOOT GIANT

Dr. W. J. Holland curator of the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh and his assistant Dr. Peterson, a few days ago opened up a mound of the ancient race that inhabited this state and secured the skeleton, who, while in the flesh, was from 8–9 feet in height.

The mound was originally about 100 feet long and more than 12 feet high somewhat worn down by time. It is on the J. B. Secrest farm in South Huntington Township. This farm has been in the Secrest name for more than a century. The most interesting feature in the recent excavations were the mummified torso of a human body, which the experts figured was laid to rest at least 400 years ago.

“Portions of the bones dug up and the bones in the leg,” Prof. Peterson declares, “are those of a person between eight and nine feet in height.” The scientist figures that this skeleton was the framework of a person of the prehistoric race that inhabited this area before the American Indian. The torso and the portions of the big skeleton were shipped to the Carnegie Museum. Dr. Holland and Peterson supervised the explorations of the mound with the greatest of care. The curators believe the man whose skeleton they secured belonged to the mound builder class.

THE VANCOUVER SUN, AUGUST 18, 1922
PRIMITIVE MAN, TEN FEET TALL, IS UNEARTHED

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 17 – The department of agriculture received yesterday from an agent on Tiburon Island, Gulf of California, the skeleton of a primitive man, more than ten feet tall.  It was found a few days ago.  Other bones of similar size have been encountered.

THE NEW YORK TIMES, AUGUST 19, 1922
STONE AGE CONNECTICUT
Prehistoric Inhabitants of Nutmeg State Were Flat-Heads of Great Strength and Huge Teeth

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Aug 19.–Two complete skeletons, believed to have belonged to inhabitants of the earth in the Stone Age, are said to have been unearthed by a band of archaeologists, headed by Prof. Warren King Moorehead, near the Housatonic River, at Laurel Beach.

The professor and his assistants have been digging in this section for some time and claim discovery of a number of indications that the section was once inhabited by a forgotten race.

Both skeletons appear to be well preserved. The bones are rough, denoting great strength, the skulls are flat and both possess a perfect set of teeth of unusual size.

Prof. Moorehead said it was his belief the bodies were buried in salt water several thousand years ago, which accounts for their preservation.  He also expressed the hope that he and his assistants would soon locate a burial ground of a tribe of an ancient race.