Conservative * 11
up the south branch four miles and down
the main stream three miles.
1 'The branches mentioned unite their
waters in forming the main stream near
the city of Alma , where our explorations
commenced.
"The distance traveled within the
limits mentioned was over two hundred
miles , and the results amply repaid us
for the efforts expended.
"Over that portion of Mill creek valley
covered by our explorations , within the
limits of nearly every mile of distance ,
the flint ohippings and the completed
points of the ancient implement maker ,
indicated a certain and somewhat ex
tended prehistoric occupancy of the en
tire locality examined.
"The time of year , however , on ac
count of'growing vegetation , was un
favorable for successful work , but , over
the surface explored , it can be safely
stated , no such abundance of chipped
flint implements exists as has been
described as obtainable on the Briggs
farm , in Geary county , by Mr. Brewer ,
in his book , 'The Missouri River. '
"Observations over u traversed dis
tance of one hundred and fifty miles , up
the creek , on both sides of the stream
and its branches , brought to our notice
about two hundred pieces of broken flint
implements and one hundred perfect
flint points , spears , knives and other
forms , to be described hereafter. "
Here follows a detailed description of
implements found. Many mounds were
opened ; and , while the description of
each is interesting , but one quotation
must suffice for this article :
"All the mounds , except the two on
section 25 , were alike in construction ,
having bases about twenty-five feet in
diameter and two feet in height. They
were constructed of limestones weigh
ing from one to fifteen pounds , covered
over with loam. Fully one-half of the
material is limestone rock , as described ,
a portion of which indicates the action
of fire. No calcined human remains
were noticed among the considerable
quantities exhumed. "
The following refers to the potteiy
found here , which is generally absent in
this part of the field. However , there
are localities in the Kansas field , which
wo shall treat in the future , where pot
tery is abundant. ' 'During the continu
ance of the explorations described , at
several points along Mill creek , pot-
shards wore noticed and gathered ,
usually made of clay , pounded stone
and sand. "
Mr. Brewer makes mention in his
'Quivera , " page 44 , of a pink or flesh-
colored flint being found here ; similar
in every respect to the specimen found
at the Roca ( Nebraska ) site and des
cribed in THE CONSERVATIVE of Feb. 14.
"Mr. Keagy has also found an oc
casional chipped knife or other imple
ment , made from a flesh-colored flint ,
foreign in its nature to the chert de
posits in place near the village sites on
the upper waters of Mill creek. " This
' is not at all a curious coincidence , as it
proves that the pre-historio peoples of
TC
this region had communication with
each other and that this trail was used
by the same tribes which inhabited the
Roca site. This forms a strong addition
al link in the chain of evidence proving
that the old Santa Fe trail was a fre
quent route of travel in prehistoric
times.
During Mr. Brewer's last trip in 1898 ,
it seems that many points of evidence
were more carefully noted. On March
17 , 1898 , Mr. Brewer started at a point
near the Arkansas river known as Paw
nee Rock and traversed the whole dis
tance to the Elliott village site near
Manhattan , a distance of over one hun
dred and thirty miles in a direct line
north-east. He became fully convinced
that this route , known as the old Santa
Fe trail , was a prehistoric route from
what is now New Mexico ( then , prob
ably the Zuni cities , now in ruins ) to
the group of Indian villages discovered
by Ooronado in 1541.
He traversed this distance on foot and
by team carefully exploring every part
of it and fully proving every step as ho
proceeded. According to the ancient
accounts loft in manuscript by Coronado -
ado and Jaramillo , who wore over the
route , and Castaneda , who wrote this
part of the Corouado expedition at second
end hand or from heresay , wo can but
believe that the route was traversed by
Corouado in 1541 , while ho was being
guided by Ysopeto to the permanent
settlements of the people they met near
what is now Pawnee Rook.
At the risk of proving tedious I wish to
elaborate some points barely touched
upon by Judge Keagy in his admirable
article. It will bo noticed in following
Corouado in his march across the plains
from what is now New Mexico , that
while the army was under the guidance
of the "Turk" the chronicler says they
bore too much toward Florida , and so
had gone much farther east than was
necessary to reach the province of
Quivera , so "guarded by the needle , "
they bore due north until they came to
the river which they called Saints Peter
and Paul. This river , Ysopete , the
other Indian guide , recognized. Cross
ing this river , they went , as the chron
icler says , up , but , as Judge Keagy re
marks , he meant down. As you will
note the top of a map being north , it is
a very plausable error on the part of the
writer to think of the country as a map
rather than to think of the course of
the stream. One must take these Span
iards as they mean and not always as
they say. In another place the writer
( Jaramillo ) says they followed the
course of the river ; this doubtless means
their course was the same as the river's
course , or that they were going down
stream. At least there is no stream that
can possibly answer the requirements of
the manuscripts except the Arkansas ;
there is no doubt , after all the sources
of information have been exhaustively
handled , but what Coronado crossed the
Arkansas at a point where its current
flowed north-east , and that they fol i ;
lowed the north bank in that direction.
That a native of these settlements
should guide the army over the well-
known trail between his native country
and the country of his captivity is not a
violent presumption and the account of
Jaramillo says that Ysopete recognized
the river ( Saints Peter and Paul as Cor
ouado named it , or the Arkansas , as less
ecclesiastical mortals persist in colling
it ) and could communicate with the
natives ho mot here. It is not a great
stretch of imagination to believe that
the route traveled by Coronado after ho
crossed the river , was a well-known
ancient trail ; but Mr. Brewer has added
positive proof to probability. He notes
a line of ancient village sites throughout
the whole route and so pronounced are
these evidences that ho was able to es
tablish the very point at which this
route made a branch , or was joined by
another , near MoPhersou , Kansas ; one
coming from north-east toward Man
hattan and one coming from more nearly
east , toward Cottonwood river. Assum
ing that the former was traversed by
Corouado , ho proceeded to trace this
one to the group of village of which the
Elliott site is an important center. As
ho came near Paint creek in his journey
of investigation , the view of the "Smoky
Hills" in the distance was enough to
convince the most sceptical that these
are the mountains referred to by Coron
ado in his letter to the king in 1541. The
fact that this trail leads into a country
that abounds in beds of chert , used so
extensively by the aborigines for arms of
warfare , as well as implements of agri
culture and domestic economy is in itself
an evidence that Coronado followed it ,
as he makes frequent mention of these
same implements of flint , of which Mr.
Brewer has 26,000 in his collection.
The natural relief of the country
shows that this is an easy route and
these aborigines were governed , as are
their more recent brethren ; they , like
the great transcontinental railway ,
would naturally go along the lines of
the least resistance.
Mr. Brewer arrives at the conclusion
that at least three and possibly four
races of people had successively inhabi
ted this field ; he noted the difference in
the general locations of the sites , a simi
lar difference to the one noted here in
Nebraska , that the ancient aborigines
occupied high ground with their villages
the second terrace , as italicised above.
The great number of village sites dis
covered in the field would naturally lead
one to think that Coronado's "not above
twenty-five villages in all" placed the
number too small by far ; but if we
divide the number of village sites by the
number of different races which Mr.
Brewer thinks have inhabited this
region , we may give Coronado credit for
