10 T3be Conservative.
KANSAS ARCHAEOLOGY.
The archaeology of Kansas is so
closely related to that of Nebraska
that a glance at that field will not
come amiss iu a study of this. Hon.
J. V. Brewer , who has elaborated the
Kansas field so graphically in two of
his volumes , "Quivera , " and "Har-
ahey , " invited mo to visit Kansas in
his company last October , and I am
sure the readers of The Conservative
will bo interested in what I saw there.
After an extended trip over Ne
braska , Mr. Brewer and I made our
first stop at Manhatta , Kan. Here we
remained only long enough to catch
the train to Junction City. At this
point we were met by Capt. Robert
Henderson , an old settler there , who
took us to his beautiful home , ' ' Logan
Grove , " and there wo were hospitably
entertained by his interesting family
over Sunday. At Logan Grove wave
the inspiring folds of "Old Glory"
every day that the si.n shines. You
can but faintly realize the good cheer
dispensed here.
Sunday was a beautiful dav and wo
were driven over to Fort Riley and
climbed to the Ogden Monument ,
where there is a view of the fort
worth going all the way down there
to see.
Monday morning we started , by
team , across the country to Alma ,
about thirty-five miles 'due east.
Thirty-five miles in that country
means something ; it means beautiful
but narrow valleys literally rock
crowned , it means following these
valleys and climbing flint ledges
where the valley is too narrow and too
valuable to admit of both a road and
a field , it means mile after mile of
roadbed made of flint spalls where the
road skirts half way up the steep
ledges. When one is once on top of
these ledges , the country seems one
unbroken , level plain for miles in all
directions. This plain is broken every
few rods , in any straight line , how
ever , with other and smaller valleys ,
rock crowned , until at the very heads
of the little draws the valley is scarce
ly wider than the road but still rock
crowned and canyon-like.
The level upland looks like one con
tinuous plain and the soil appears all
right. Not a rock is to bo seen there.
It seems that the deposits of limestone
were made nearly level ; this limestone
alternates with layers of flint , from
two inches to two feet thick , layer up
on layer ; first limestone , then flint.
Then a deposit of soil was made over
the rock and flint field. Then came
erosion , and the mighty torrents for
ages wore away the beds for the many
little streams down through these
rock-deposits , until thousands of these
little valleys are linked with the
larger ones and these , with the noble
Kuw river , until you can not travel a
V'-tt
hundred rods in a straight line with
out coming to a rocky precipice.
The Kansas river is sixty to one
hundred feet below the surrounding
level plain , and the intervening bluffs
are one great flint mine. The farmers
use the high laud for pasture and
fence their farms with great blocks
of flint. Mile after mile of stone
fence , every rod of which is an In
dian's gold mine , greets you on every
side.
side.All
All along the larger valleys , on low
laud and quite near water , are found
many ancient village sites , containing
the coarsely chipped' ' Quivera' ' flints ,
but no potshards. These sites are too
numerous to mention each one , and a
description of one must suffice for this
paper.
About two o'clock we halted in the
McDowell creek valley , near the
Elliott Site , " from which a ton of
chipped flints has been taken. There
were still many left , however , and a
number of these are now attracting at
tention in the State Historical Society
rooms at Lincoln.
The site covers about sixty acres
and the ground is so thickly strewn
with flint spalls that it must bo a
hard field to plow. No lodge circles
are perceptible and no pottery or
metal has been found. The rocks
cropping out of the bluffs near by
contain stratas of flint , but the tools
and spalls found on the site are of a
better quality of flint then shows on
the surface near. I have noticed this
peculiarity in the Kansas field
throughout and it leads me to believe
that they mined below the surface for
a better material.
The Hollingworth site near Holmes-
ville , this state , was occupied by the
'same people once living along the
Kansas river ; Not only are the im
plements the same , but the geographi
cal location with reference to water
and the surrounding country are the
same. After a personal survey of
both , I am prepared to say that the
Hollingworth site is identical with
the Kansas ' ' Quivera' ' sites.
The Nebraska sites along the Platte ,
Loup and Elkhorn valleys ( of which
I shall treat later ) are made by an
other people ; we visited a similar site
near Manhattan 011 our \yay home.
Mr. Brewer has described the
Quivera village sites in his book ,
"Quivera , " and draws the conclusion
that these people are the same that
Coronado visited in 1542 , and the data
on the subject seem to bear him out.
He further concludes that the ancest
ors of the Wichita Indians were the
identical people , which fact looks
plausible. Nebraska certainly had one
village of these people on her soil , and
the question then arises , did Corouado
get as far north as the Hollingworth
site ? This question may never bo
satisfactorily answered , but when the
natives told Oorouado , " this is the end
of Quivera , ' ' he seemed to have been
exploring in a northeasterly direction ,
so , if the natives told the truth , one
of two conditions only is possible ;
either Corouado. came into Nebraska
or the Quivera Indians emigrated into
Nebraska after Corouado's day. Either
condition leads to an interesting field ,
which I must not detail here.
The team was ready to start at four ,
and rather than risk a night on these
almost desolate hills , wo concluded to
drive to Alma that night ; it took a
drive of twenty miles over a strange
country. About sundown we came to
the end of the road , near an orchard ;
we enquired which of the many gates
led our way and loaded the carriage
with apples. 'Wo passed a house a half
mile farther on and the rest of the
drive was something to remember.
Some ono down there concluded to be
come progressive and depart from the J
usual custom of laying out the road
along the valleys ; so for puce wo
found a road on a section line , and
every few rods there was a new hill
just a little steeper than the last. One
of us walked most of the time and
called out the various irregularities
along the "rocky road. " Our bones
would now bo bleaching amid the
disintegrating flint spalls had it not
been for the natural sagacity of the
team. About nine o'clock , just as
the rising moon began to show the dim
outlines of distant hills , we saw the
lights in Alma. We were a thankful
tired but jolly lot , which did the sup
per table ample justice. Oh , yes , one
meets some interesting experiences
exploring , but lie is always hungry
and generally happy ; apples are not
archaeology , but they form a very
pleasant accessory.
At Alma we met Judge Keagy and
E. A. Kilian , two active and scholar
ly gentleman who find time out of a
busy life to inquire into the past.
From this vicinity Judge Keagy had
gathered nearly a thousand specimens
of chipped flints. This country is
very rich in relics. Wo went about
a half mile from town to see a steep
bluff , where the stream had cut a
sheer precipice of twenty or thirty
feet. Half way clown this bank ,
twelve feet below the surface , was
found an arrow-point , and you may
still see the lodge circle in cross-sec
tion with ashes and charcoal in the
fire-place in the center. This has
been covered by a change in the bed
of the stream to a depth of twelve
feet , while the surface bears trees
two feet in diameter. How long since
that arrow served the red man can
only be approximately determined.
After a very profitable and pleasant
stay of two days in Alma , wo took
the train for Manhattan , following
the Kansas river up stream. The val
ley is quite wide here and the great
bluffs of flint in the distance are very
picturesque.
Mr. W. J. Grifflug accompanied us
to the "Griffins : Site , " about two
miles from Manhattan. This site is
similar to the Boca site iu its relics ,
only it is on low ground and quite near
the water. I notice this condition
prevails in Kansas , while in this state
the villages are on high ground. This
may be due to the natural features of
the country , or it may have a more far-
reachiiig significance.
I brought back with mo a complete
lot of "Quivera" and "Harahey"
types which Mr. Brewer selected from
his collection. Judge Keagy and Mr.
Henderson also gave me collections.
The trip to Kansas has 'proved very
helpful in my work in this state. We
covered the ground rapidly but quite
effectually , and I appreciate more
fully Mr. Brower's Quivera and
Harahey since this trip. He has taken
a matter of five tons of flint implements
from the country we explored , to St.
Paul , Minnesota , at no small cost to
him in money and labor. The state
of Kansas can never replace them nor
can they duplicate them now. Too
long have the officials of the Kansas
State Historical Society slumbered ,
and Minnesota is the gainer. Science
has lost nothing , but the loss to Kansas
as a state is irreparable.
E. E. BLAOKMAN.
