'Cbe Conservative.
your right where the balcony box is
found in a modern theater building.
Use of the CUVCH.
These caves were used , according to
Greeley , in the ceremony of crowning a
chief , and in the secret trial of a chief
for cowardice the only offence punish
able by death. The poor victim was
privately executed , after conviction , by
a jury of his peers , and was buried in an
unknown , unmarked grave. These are
a few of the remains left in this state by
the unknown Aborigines ; none of our
present Indians can explain them , ex
cept in a few instances where they have
remembered the tradition. The stone
implements are quite common , but the
warlike arrow point , knife and toma
hawk do not predominate. Several
very fine specimens of axes have been
found. When I was in Nance County I
picked up a flint drill , so small that it
will scarcely cover the thumb iiail , it is
one of the finest specimens of stone
work I ever saw. All the specimens
show skill and au artistic taste in their
construction. I have a number of rocks
used as mills the upper stone with
hand marks deeply worn on the upper
side , while the other side shows a sur
face made by grinding. I have found
many valuable specimens near the Boca
village which I discovered or at least I
am the only one who has explored it ar-d
published the account.
Shards of Pottery.
But the most interesting specimens
found in the Nebraska field , and entirely
absent in the Kansas field , ( Mr. Brewer
does not mention the fact , at least , and
he has published the very best account
of the Kansas field I have seen ) are the
shards of pottery with cloth impressions
on them. These shards are strewn
thickly along the banks of many streams ,
especially around Columbus and Fuller-
ton.
ton.At
At the Boca village I have found
abundance of these shards and a sys
tematical study of pottery in general
revealed these facts : The oldest known
specimens of black pottery , tempered
with quartz pebbles , mica , and pottery
shards are found in Scandinavia and
date back 2000 years B. C. The pottery
found here in the Eoca village and also
at Columbus and Fuller ton corresponds
in every minute detail with this early
Scandinavian pottery described by
Buohe , and with no other. The Romans
made black ware but it was brittle ;
these specimens are remarkably well
preserved , when we consider that they
have withstood the constant cultivation
of the fields , where they are found , for
thirty years and are still firm and tough.
Specimens of this same ware are founc
in many parts of eastern Nebraska in
great abundance.
The cloth impressions are similar to
those found on the pottery shards of
Missouri , Tennessee , Carolina , New
England , Greenland , Iceland , Ireland
and Scotland as well as the early speci
mens of Scandinavia. I have carefully
studied the ethnological reports of the
Smithsonian Institution and compared
these specimens with the numerous outs
found there and I give above the result
of that study. The Zuni pottery is
formed by coiling little roles of clay , one
on the other , to the desired shape and
size , and the tempering is invariably
sand. Bnohe tells us that the Scandi
navian pottery was moulded in wicker
baskets , lined with cloth ( and in some
cases , leaves or grass ) to keep the clay
from sticking to the wicker work , then
feebly burned by placing the plastic
vessels in a hole in the ground , or in a
pile above ground , and piling branches ,
grass , reeds , etc. , around them and over
them. This black ware takes its color
from the "buffalo chips , " used for fuel
by these Aborigines in lieu of wood as
they were by the early settlers of the
west. These "chips" impart a black
color to any clay burned with them ,
which you may learn by experiment.
On some of the specimens found the
marks of a hand are plainly visible on
the inside , showing that they were made
as Buohe describes the Scandinavian
process. Now in the Kansas field not a
single mention is made of cloth im
pressions on the specimens of pottery
found ; but from the illustrations in Mr.
Brewer's memoirs I infer that grass was
used instead of cloth , probably because
of a lack of this material among the
nomadic people. The handles , edges
and sides of these vessels were orna
mented with geometrical designs by
making marks in the plastic clay. In
some cases the coarse material of the
vessel was coated , inside and out , with
a coat of finer clay , which assumes a
brownish or bluish tinge when burned
and which holds a covering of fine sand
on the outside , but the inside coat is
pure clay and quite smooth.
These specimens are among the finest
ever found in America. They are very
unlike the pottery of eastern Iowa ,
Ohio , or the Zuni pottery of New
Mexico , showing that the makers sprang
from a very different stock. This
pottery forms a very strong link con
necting the Aborigines of America with
the old world.
Proof of Qulvera.
Now in the face of these remains
found far north of the point reached by
Ooronado and extending in one un
broken line nearly to the fields which
Mr. Brewer ( and in fact almost every
well posted writer on this subject ) seems
to think is the Ooronado field of explora
tion in 1541 , we can but logically con
clude that a greater civilization has
existed in the Nebraska field than is
shown by remains in the Kansas field.
If this were all the evidence we could
bring to bear upon the subject we must ,
even then , conclude that a nation of
; i
people once inhabited this Nebraska
field , who were more worthy of a far-
reaching fame than were the few
nomadio villages explored by Coronado.
But this is not all the evidence ; the
documentary evidence existing is far
more definite and conclusive than any
account of the Ooronado expedition.
Mr. Brewer in hia memoirs , Qaivera ,
conclusively establishes the fact that
Ooronado reached and explored the
Kansas field , with which conclusion we
heartily agree. In his second volume of
memoirs , Harahey , he continues to dis
cuss the same location and Ooronado.
These works are both very clear and
conclusive in the one field ; could Mr.
Brewer have explored farther and
covered this Nebraska field , I doubt not
he would agree with the tone of these
papers. He does not go far enough and
there is room now for a now memoir. I
can plainly trace evidences shown in
both his books of a greater civilization
farther north. In a private letter he
informs me that so many proofs were
discovered after he published Vol. I that
he was obliged to publish Vol. II ,
Harahey. He locates Harahey adjacent
to Quivera on the north , from which
Ooronado summoned the chief , who
came with two hundred naked follow
ers with their scalp locks ornamented ;
this was a common trait among warlike
Indians all over America and is noted
by many writers.
We shall some day endeavor to present
proof that the people of Harahey were
the dividing line between the quiet ,
pastoral people , north , and the more
warlike people , south. These people to
the south may have been a branch of
the same stock ; the best authorities call
the Wichita Indians the Pawnee picts
or Black Pawnees , and tradition says
they branched from the original Pawnee
stock many years before the whites
knew them.
Origin of the Pawnees.
The Pawnee Indians of Nebraska have
a tradition that they came from "down"
or as some authorities persist in saying ,
south ; this is not true "down" meant
down stream. Another version of the
same legend says they came from the
"rising sun" and that a branch went
south or as the expression "with the
Wiohitas" in time designated the direc
tion south , it has been so translated.
This branch was the Pawnee piots
or Wichitas as Mr. Brower's memoir
seems to infer. Their contact with the
warlike people caused them to defend
themselves and they became warlike
from necessity , the frequent wars made
them nomadio and as the bison offered
easy means of subsistence they followed
the natural law and went along the lines
of the least resistance.
The Pawnees proper who went north
were in a climate too chilly for the
naked barbarians to inhabit with com
fort so the main branch of the original
JA fs Will * * j * '
