Conservative. 11
becoming twenty-two inches in dia
meter and having 260 feet b. m. lumber.
The late E. E. Barney , the veteran oar
builder , of Dayton , Ohio , who vqd mew
of the best judges of timber iu Amerjjcay.
took a very great interest in'the catalpa ,
having published au exhaustive pamph
let , which is now quite"rare , giving the
results of his investigations , experi
ments and Gorrespoudende , upon the
subject. < % yv
Many railway- officials in early days
experimentedvtoth catalpa trees , the
testimony of seVeral being quoted' in
booklet form. Mr. Barney spent several
thousand dollars in pains-taking
researoluind demonstrated the value of
this woo'd to railway interests.
The late Robert Douglas , of Waukegan -
gan , Illinois , also expended a large sum
in similar investigations and was
thoroughly imbued with the importance
of the catalpa to commerce.
FACTS AND THEORIES ABOUT THE
FLINT MINES OF NEHAWKA.
BY E. E. BLAOKMAN.
Iii THE CONSERVATIVE , May 23 , there
appeared an article quoted from the
Nebraska City News , October 16 , 1858 ,
"Traces of Ancient Mines , " in which
the writer , even at that early date ,
called public attention to the extensive
excavations along the Weeping Water in
the vicinity of where Nehawka now
stands.
From that day to this , the mystery of
these strange evidences of ancient occu
pancy has been left undisturbed , except
by a very few enquiring minds in the
immediate neighborhood. From time
to time public notice has been directed
to the spot by these interested parties ,
but no effort has been made to fathom
the mystery , which the early writer pro
nounced unfathomable , except by Mr.
Isaac Pollard , who owns the land where
one of these extensive groups of mines
'is located. Mr. Pollard has made an ex
tensive excavation of a cross-section of
this group , which admits of a careful
study of the nature of the excavating ,
which those Aborigines did to procure
their flint.
Evidence and Archaeology.
This early writer seemed to think that
"what this race achieved and what it
thought , and what due curse , as in one
night , swept it from the earth , is , and
probably always will bo a mystery. "
Now , there are straws which tell
which way the wind blows ; there are
coming events which cast their shadows
before , and every act leaves an evidence
which may be read by the keen-eyed ,
more plainly than the direction of the
wind by the frivolous straw.
This great mine , for instance , will
aid us materially in the study of the
people who planned and worked it ; we
know they were mining experts and
conducted the work with as much sys
tem and science as the twentieth cen
tury miner , with all his boasted skill ,
uses today. Flint was the gold of the
Aborigine , and he contended against
the obstacles of nature as persistently
for his coveted flint as does the miner
of today , for his all-powerful gold.
The chipped flints are an open book to
the archaeologist. They show by their
form and material the class of people
who chipped them. The pottery used
is also a true index to their characteris
tics. These we find in abundance in
the vicinity of the names. Could they
both be found in the debris of the mine
or on the uncovered floor of the mine ,
true nature , in a general way , could be
told , but so far , diligent search has
failed to reveal but a single shard of
pottery and not a single perfect type of
chipped flint. This is not strange , as so
small an area has been opened and fur
ther work there may reward our efforts.
Character of Flints Found.
The flints found on top of the earth
are the "Quivira Type , " as found in the
Kansas field by Brewer ; a very rude ,
coarsely-chipped specimen. I took sev
eral hundred specimens , more or less
perfect types , during my stay.
There is also found the "Harahey
Type" as described and illustrated by
Brower. These two types seem to pre
dominate , although a few specimens are
found which do not come under either
type. The Harahey flint is smooth and
fine , being thin and evenly chipped ,
showing much skill in their manufac
ture. There is an individuality about
these chipped flints , and I am almost
ready to go on record as one who be
lieves that they are the work of the
same people , although they differ so
widely in the skill of manufacture ; they
were simply made for a different pur
pose , hence the wide difference in form
and skill.
Lodge Circles.
The lodge circles excavated , showed
evidences which bring them under the
class of lodge circles , excavated in the
"Lowe site" and elaborated in these col
umns. Here I find the same burned clay
masses found at the "Lowe site" and
the mystery only deepens. The two
types of flints both broken and perfect ,
rest together , and pottery of three dif
ferent styles is found. One piece of
pottery taken , is as large as your two
hands , the largest I have ever seen in
this state ; many fragments were found
nearby , and we hope to construct a
nearly perfect vessel. These pieces wore
found in a lodge circle , two miles south
of Nehawka , on the farm of Mr. L. J.
Griffith , at a depth of two and a half
feet. Two of the potshards have cloth
impressions on them.
Bones Exhumed.
One sepulture was excavated which
yielded a few bones in an advanced
stage of decay ; only the largest bones
remained ; the vertebra and ribs were
a. rIP
entirely decayed ; the greater part of the
skull was secured. This skull
is about a quarter of an inch thick IP
. '
*
and has a very low brow ; the other pe '
culiarities may bo determined after the
pieces have been joined and a more
careful study made.
This field demands more study than it
is possible to devote to it at this time ,
but Mr. Barrett and Mr. Sheldon , who
visited me in camp , were much im
pressed with the importance of the work
being done. They enjoyed two days of
real camp life and carried a heavy load
of specimens back with them.
A Weeping Water Graveyard.
In the near future , we will endeavor
to arrange for some illustrations of the
types of flint found , and when leisure
will permit , I will try to outer more in
to detail , but during the summer wo can
barely state briefly what we find.
Mr. A. Tumbley , of Nebraska City ,
gave me letters of introduction to gen
tlemen in Weeping Water , and I stopped
to investigate a graveyard there. It
proved to be a very high mound which
had been opened a number of times. I
secured two flints and many shards of
pottery on the surface , which serve to
identify it as belonging to the same people
ple as did those at Nehawka.
We may have small evidences to
guide us in archaeology , but so we have
in any science , and a little care and
much searching will yet give us the true
history of these Aborigines. One thing
is certain , they were not lazy as are the
recent Indians , although it seems evi
dent that they were the remote ances
tors of the same.
Theories Regarding the Mines.
Many theories have been proposed rel
ative to these mines from time to time ;
one of these as related by Mr. E. A.
Kirkpatrick , may be of interest in this
connection.
A number of years ago as this gentle
man was passing through a little town in
western Iowa ; he met a gentleman who
told him the following story :
"I have never been in Nebraska , but
once , then I went to the gold mines
south of the Platte river about twelve
miles. You follow up the stream that
empties into the Missouri about twelve
miles south of the Platte , for some eight
miles , until you come to a little branch
which joins it from the north ; about , two
miles due north of this point is a high
hill , which is doubtless an ancient gold
mine. It is left in deep pits , and the
old furnaces were still there when I vis
ited it many years ago. I will tell you
how I came to go there : I found an old
book in my grandfather's library which
told of two men who went to this place
to work the old abandoned Spanish
mines. They collected a large quantity
of gold and wore in the way to amass
great wealth , when they were attacked
the Indians and had to run for their
Rri
