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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1901)
\ iU , - , 10 'Cbe Conservative * THE FINAL LOCATION OF CORONADO'S QUIVERA. Judge J. T. Kcngy , iu his veiy able article published not long since in the Kansas City Star and reprinted iu THE CONSERVATIVE , gives a very concise boundary of Ooronado's Quivera. A more able writer than Judge Keagy is scarcely to be found iu this very interesting Kan sas field. Ho has confined his article , however , to the documentary evidences to prove the location and boundaries of Corouado's Quivera and it seems to me that the readers of TIIE CON SERVATIVE should know more of the local evidences elaborated by Hon. J. V. Brewer in his memoirs "Quivera" and "Harahoy. " [ Dodd Mead & Co. , New York , $8.00 each ] . We shall not endeavor to review the article which cites you to the works of Baudalier , Hedge and Brewer for recent sources and Casteneda , Jaramillo and Corouudo as ancient authorities iu making his deductions , but shall ask you to accept the boundaries which this very eminent authority has given , and will proceed to show in a brief way the logical steps which led to the discovery of the ancient site and the establishment of the bounds laid down in Judge Keagy's article. From the field notes deposited in the State Historical Society of Minnesota , Mr. Brewer has kindly allowed me to draw much of the data herein contained , while other proofs will be found elab orated fully in his above mentioned works as well as his "Missouri River. " Mr. L. R. Elliott of Manhattan , Kan sas , first called Mr. Brower's attention to the flint implements found near his home. This led to a careful study of these flints , beginning in June , 1896. From this date the work went steadily onward , and , considering the effect of this study prosecuted in the Kansas fields and elaborated by Mr. Brewer , it makes this date a memorable one as the begin ning of labors which have , for all time , settled the question of the location of Coronado's explorations in 15-11. In the autumn of 1896 Mr. Brewer made a journey to investigate this field from which the flints came and I can not do better in my endeavor to give you an idea of the work done iu this field than to quote from his own account of this trip , published in "The Missouri River , " page 161. "At Manhattan I was joined by Mr. Elliott and Mr. W. J. Griffing , and by team we proceeded up McDowall creek on Friday , Nov. 20 , 1896 , to a farming locality in Geary county , Kansas , called Briggs , seven miles duo south from the Kansas river , fifteen miles from Man hattan. During a past geological era a limestone formation accumulated at that point , and there is a very considerable deposit of blue chert , the whole bearing a fossiliferous element of an encriual character , and no doubt there are other and numerous kinds of fossils iu the rock formations of the neighbor hood. * * # 1 'No attention appears to have been ex tended toward the locality by archaeolo gists iu the past ; at least , no publication describing the place has been found , al though such may exist. "Mr. Elliott , once before , drove to Briggs , examined both sides of the creek , noticing in several places the existence of chipped implements and flint spalls. "Such , briefly stated , was the situa tion at Briggs when Mr. Elliott , Mr. Griffing and myself went into a temporary ary encampment near the creek , at that point , for the purpose of exploring the locality. "The second terrace above the creek , on the north side , was found to have been , at some unknown date , the site of an extensive Indian village. Two hun dred and fifty chipped stone implements of different lauds , sizes , and varieties were picked up along the terrace , and placed in convenient piles. Flint blocks rejects , finished and half finished points and knives , broken implements , and a remarkable quantity of spalls , large and small , were scattered every where along the terrace. There are two cultivated fields there. Our cursory examination extended to but one of them on that side of the creek. At the pouit on the chart marked as the location of a workshop , wo discovered about a hundred imple ments , and the spalls could be numbered by the thousand. Up to a late hour of the day no article of iron , copper , pottery , or lead was found. Finally two small pot-shards were picked up down nearer the creek , but away from the central locality of the village site. Crossing the creek on a fallen tree , with some difficulty we were directed by Mr. Elliott to an other spot where village debris was found , but in limited quantities. Re turning to our team , the several piles of stone implements were gathered up and more were added. Wherever we searched the surface was littered with flint spalls and chipped implements. Visiting the bluffs of the neighborhood , no mounds were found , and no graves or places of burial are distinguishable. [ Later , six mounds or places of sepulture were dis covered at this site ] . Mr. Briggs pointed out the limit to which extended the scattered stone implements and debris , covering nearly one mile in length. The width of the village site is hardly ascertainable - tainable , for the terrace has been under a state of cultivation for so long a period , and the stone relics seem to be scattered so promiscuously from the flood plain to the base of the bluffs that it is difficult to determine the outward limits. The site is large enough to accommodate about one thousand ordinary sized lodges. Just how many there were will be known. probably never # # * "Mr. Elliott has asked the question : 'To what race of men can the establish ment of this village be ascribed ? ' "The the information answer , upon meager mation I have at hand , is not only a difficult but a delicate one. I have no sot theory to inflict upon anyone. My opinion , based upon the facts as they appear at this writing , is probably not more reliable than is Mr. Elliott's. That they were not of the mound- building race of men is practically cer tain. That they were probably Quiveran Indians , whomsoever they may have been , is possible , and I shall entertain that opinion until better evidence to the contrary than I now possess is produced. " Here wo have the account of the first exploration ; there is something interest ing in the first breaking of new ground in any line of investigation , and , al though the book goes on to elaborate the Elliott site and tells of others found during the same tour of investigation , nothing seems so interesting as this first breaking of ground , this first glimpse of the riches of archaeology hidden amid the hills and valleys , only waiting for the right man with knowledge , energy and good judgment enough to develop it. The exploration was carried on until , in 1898 , there had been explored a terri tory one hundred and fifty miles from east to west and sixty miles from north to south ; one hundred and thirty village sites of more or less importance had been located and partially explored. Mr. Brewer made three trips to this field : The first in November , 1896 ; the second in March , 1897 ; the third in March , 1898. 1898.We We can do but little in one article to show the exhaustive work of exploration which has been carried on in this field by Mr. Brewer , so ably assisted by Judge J. T. Keagy and others , except give a brief summary of the report elaborated and printed , as well as the field notes of the exploring party , however , we .wish to call your attention to the exploration of one other site exit of the many minutely treated in the sources ; this site seems to differ materially from the Elliott site. This site is situated some fifteen miles due east of the Elliott site , on Mill creek which flows a little north of east from Alma , Kansas , and empties into the Kansas river some thirty miles below Manhattan. The following account , which I have curtailed , is from , the pen of Judge and is in " " Keagy published "Quivera , page 87. It shows not only the archaeol ogy of the vicinity , but the eminent qualifications of the gentleman as an authority on these subjects. : "One of the results of the visit of Mr. J. V. Brewer to the valley of Mill creek in Wabauusee county , Kansas , in April , 1897 , was the subsequent discoveries described herewith "About the first of June , assisted by my son , J. A. Keagy , a lad nineteen years of age , I learned the localities where successful search could be prose cuted for securing chipped flint imple ments , made by a race of men who for merly occupied that portion of the valley of Mill creek at and above the city of Alma , the county seat. "Explorations from time to time during the summer and autumn were conducted up the west branch nine miles ,
