On One of My Last Expeditions and a Story Yet to be Told
A Painting of Mine Depicting Prehistory Life Along the Niangua
Me, Not far from Cave in Story, After Camping on the North Face of A Bluff
A Cave Much Similar to One in Story
A sculpture of mine, the face of PrehistoryFoot Prints Into The Dawn Of Prehistory
The journey to distant horizons was undoubtedly intended as a point of origin but little did I realize just how an elusive trace it would be. My footprints can be found along the way and beyond several millenniums into the deep shroud of prehistory. The trace plainly speaking did not follow a straight line, for after all I was and am Earth bound. I discovered early into the journey I would not reach the horizon I so wanted to find. There is an inherent part of me that fueled an insatiable curiosity and greatly influenced my desire to explore the unknown. I also discovered the unknown would always be just out of reach and no absolute conclusive discovery would ever be made.
My foot prints can be found along with tantalizing fragments of early mankind that dated back long, long before the birth of Christ. Retracing the roads, trails and mere paths that meandered unhurriedly into the dawn of man has brought me closer to kindred spirits of old. I share the same DNA as some of them possessed, therefore enabling me to fashion from stone or wood desired images and the same talent that allows me to paint on canvas my interruptions of what I see and feel. Upon their land I stood, where beneath my feet lay their stories and much of it is lost or misplaced. My life story is not lost or misplaced as yet.
The life-way of early man has and is constantly being analyzed, tangled in a web of controversy of conflicting opinions. I have no doubt that I traced man back to at least eighteen thousand years or more, but even so I was no where near the infancy of humans. The physical aspects I encountered and closely noted along the way stirred my imagination; therefore all that I have learned or possess of the journey is subject to dispute. This is of little concern to me, for I have no desire to add the bedlam of wonderful assumptions that will never cease. My journey to distant horizons represents a personal endeavor, a splendid and frequently dangerous adventure into Prehistory and has provided me with a deeper sense of immortality.
The wraths of the gods have and still remain a major aspect of mankind. Many of the gods emerged from the collective mindset of early man, influenced by the wind, fire, sun, rain and every conceivable superstition within the early humans. Sacrifice became an important ritual in the belief that one could obtain favor or spiritual afterlife if something of great importance was offered to the gods. Blood the essence of life eventually became the mainstay sacrifice for scores of centuries, resulting in many poor souls put to death. Incredibly within a short period of time something changed and a part of humanity found solace not in the sun, moon and stars but in man’s inner being or eternal soul. This dramatic change resulted in the establishment of fundamental values, however blood sacrifice prevailed but with animals. The written word was established and thus the Old Testament appeared on the scene changing forever the hierarchy of controlled religion. Jesus Christ the Son of God brought forth Christianity to put an end to blood sacrifice by giving of his earthly body and blood to die for man’s sins on a cross.
As far as I know man is the only creature on Earth that buries his dead with ceremony. Carefully placed in the ground, or laid on a funeral pyre where ultimately the body is reduced to ashes, therefore releasing the spirit or soul. The elaborate tombs of the kings of old, attest to the belief that these individuals were thought to be immortal.
There were many burial grounds of the Prehistory people in the Americas at the arrival of the Europeans, sadly many of the grave sites were plundered or simply plowed under for planting crops. Many of the burials contained artifact to be used by the deceased on the journey to the afterlife. Precious metal, stones and finely woven garments and pottery were respectively and lovingly place with the deceased. Weapons for the male were very important and the very best placed in the grave. In some cultures it was not unusual where at least one female was killed and her body placed in the grave. There was I am inclined to believe exceptions made in the ritual of placing the deceased in the ground. I know of two burials where both deceased were females and the bodies had been mutilated. In one grave the feet and hands had been removed and an attempt, (poorly executed) partially cremated. The other site also contained a female, pregnant at the time of burial had met her death by a savage blow to the head and both of her feet had been removed. The cremation was also incomplete. These two burial sites were approximately thirty miles apart, one located on the Niangua River the other on the Osage Fork River. I can only assume these two women were punished dreadfully for some reason. I doubt if the two events were directly related. After noting type of pottery shards in and around the burials it is my opinion both individuals died about ten thousand years ago.
In the summer of 1970 while following a creek, (tributary of the Niangua) I located a north south bluff. This bluff is approximately one mile up river from the Niangua Bridge. The bluff is well above the floodplain of the river and faces east. The bluff in comparison to others along the river is not impressive. It appeared to me at least to be very old and in a state of marked deterioration. Huge chunks of its face had broken off and slid or rolled down a steep slope. Much of the top portion of the bluff was no more. The primary disruption of the bluff had not been recent, but occurred several years before. Erosion however, was taking its toll on the ancient pinnacle. In one very large piece I noted a sizable deposit of crystal clear quartz and it was evident to me at least that some of it had been chipped or cut out.
The slope I was to traverse was covered in thick brush and briar, so much so I was forced to remove my pack and hold it in front of me to continue on. It was a struggle to climb the slope and I times the brush was higher than my head and I could not see the bluff. After about thirty minutes I took a break and smoked my pipe. I decided I was about half way up when I stood to begin the climb again.
Red wasps are noted for their huge nest, especially in remote areas. Most nests are relatively close to the ground and if avoided, the wasps are not a threat. I finally came to a small clearing and could see the bluff clearly on up the hill. Anxious to begin exploration of the formation I stepped out of the brush, but in doing so came directly in contact with a very large wasp nest. The nest was teeming with deadly sentries and they immediately swarmed around me, stinging me. I could not run, for the brush was too thick and fell to my knees and pulled from the backpack an old blanket I always carried. The wasps were hitting me unmercifully. They sounded like hail hitting the blanket. Under the blanket I began pulling dead leaves into a pile. I was afraid I would be stung to death and had decided to set afire the leaves in hope of driving them back.
Several minutes past until I had a large pile of leaves under me and I struck a match and drop it onto the leaves. Smoke billowed up, but I stayed under the blanket until I could no longer breathe and with back pack in hand I darted out into the clearing. The more aggressive wasps followed and I took a few additional hits on my neck and arms, but within a few seconds the wasps dispersed around the smoke. I clawed my way up the remaining distance to the bluff and collapsed. I don’t remember how many wounds I had, but too many nevertheless. Water from my canteen cooled my feverish skin and I sat for a time resting quite shaken and wounded by the event. My left hand swelled grotesquely and I could feel other stings on my neck and back and arms. There was little I could do but leave and return another day.
Upon my return to the bluff a few days later I wisely averted the nest and in the cool of morning began a careful exploration. Near the north end of the bluff I discovered what looked like a tunnel large enough for me to enter and I did so but with caution, for in the past I had been confronted by skunks, coyotes and on two separate occasions by a female bobcat and in another cave opening a wounded buzzard. Snakes were also a danger, especially Copperheads.
I discovered quickly the opening was not the beginning of a tunnel, but a direct access into a spacious cave. I settled back on my heels and slowly played the beam of my flashlight the length, breadth and height of the cavern. Intrigued by what I saw, a cavern of at least thirty feet in length and breadth, with a ceiling height of about twenty feet. I slowly scanned the area and found erosion had damaged the floor on each side of the cavern for about three feet out from the walls. Gravel and mud covered these areas. The center of the cavern appeared to be bone dry. Near the front where I sat, I saw with dismay two pot holes from previous digs and on closer scrutiny found them to be very old. Upon standing up I look back and discovered the original opening had been quite large, but now was choked with fragments of the bluff that had collapsed many years before.
I took from the backpack a small garden spade and knelt down at the highest point in the center of the cave and began pushing aside the soft dry dirt. It didn’t take long until I had a hole around me about eight inches deep. It was during this time I raked across the fragment of a large shell tempered earthen vessel. Moments later I found the rest of it. I carefully laid the pieces aside and widened the hole and near the east end discovered hearth stones and bone fragments belonging to turkey and deer. Wood ash and charred wood was evident around the stones. Two small Dalton type points were also found. (I had yet to use a screening box and later chose not to do so.)
After a short break, smoking my briar and enjoying a cup of coffee I moved to the west end of the dig and began pulling the dirt up and over the rim of the dig. Pot shard, animal bones and small scrapes of leather was abundant for about the last twelve inches down. Three hours had past when I discovered human rib bones lying east to west. A story was about to unfold, a secret beyond recorded history.
I remove an oversized paint brush from the pack and began brushing aside the
powder dry soil, revealing with each stoke more of the skeletal remains. I lost track of time as I worked, completely absorbed in the discovery at hand.
By mid afternoon the skeleton lay before me, remarkably well preserved, containing small clumps of hair and some mummified facial features, but not enough to determine sex. I had disturbed some very small bones in or near the center of the skeleton and upon closer examination discovered them to be the remains of a child. A portion of the skull about the size of a chicken egg was noted.
The discovery of the smaller bones literally set me back and I turned my complete attention to the adult remains. With a magnifying I started at the top of the head and found a hole and with this in mind slowly covered every inch of the skeleton. It did not take long and the story was near completion considering the time it had lain there. Both feet had been removed and each leg bone fractured. Evidence of charring was also evident on the lower torso. The only artifact found in the burial was a braided rawhide bracelet still clinging to the left wrist bone.
During the next hour I began replacing all the artifacts as I had found them and carefully filled in the hole and then it was time to leave. Outside I took the time to roll stones into the opening as best I could to preserve this haunting place, where once life and death occurred. Adios.
The journey to distant horizons was undoubtedly intended as a point of origin but little did I realize just how an elusive trace it would be. My footprints can be found along the way and beyond several millenniums into the deep shroud of prehistory. The trace plainly speaking did not follow a straight line, for after all I was and am Earth bound. I discovered early into the journey I would not reach the horizon I so wanted to find. There is an inherent part of me that fueled an insatiable curiosity and greatly influenced my desire to explore the unknown. I also discovered the unknown would always be just out of reach and no absolute conclusive discovery would ever be made.
My foot prints can be found along with tantalizing fragments of early mankind that dated back long, long before the birth of Christ. Retracing the roads, trails and mere paths that meandered unhurriedly into the dawn of man has brought me closer to kindred spirits of old. I share the same DNA as some of them possessed, therefore enabling me to fashion from stone or wood desired images and the same talent that allows me to paint on canvas my interruptions of what I see and feel. Upon their land I stood, where beneath my feet lay their stories and much of it is lost or misplaced. My life story is not lost or misplaced as yet.
The life-way of early man has and is constantly being analyzed, tangled in a web of controversy of conflicting opinions. I have no doubt that I traced man back to at least eighteen thousand years or more, but even so I was no where near the infancy of humans. The physical aspects I encountered and closely noted along the way stirred my imagination; therefore all that I have learned or possess of the journey is subject to dispute. This is of little concern to me, for I have no desire to add the bedlam of wonderful assumptions that will never cease. My journey to distant horizons represents a personal endeavor, a splendid and frequently dangerous adventure into Prehistory and has provided me with a deeper sense of immortality.
The wraths of the gods have and still remain a major aspect of mankind. Many of the gods emerged from the collective mindset of early man, influenced by the wind, fire, sun, rain and every conceivable superstition within the early humans. Sacrifice became an important ritual in the belief that one could obtain favor or spiritual afterlife if something of great importance was offered to the gods. Blood the essence of life eventually became the mainstay sacrifice for scores of centuries, resulting in many poor souls put to death. Incredibly within a short period of time something changed and a part of humanity found solace not in the sun, moon and stars but in man’s inner being or eternal soul. This dramatic change resulted in the establishment of fundamental values, however blood sacrifice prevailed but with animals. The written word was established and thus the Old Testament appeared on the scene changing forever the hierarchy of controlled religion. Jesus Christ the Son of God brought forth Christianity to put an end to blood sacrifice by giving of his earthly body and blood to die for man’s sins on a cross.
As far as I know man is the only creature on Earth that buries his dead with ceremony. Carefully placed in the ground, or laid on a funeral pyre where ultimately the body is reduced to ashes, therefore releasing the spirit or soul. The elaborate tombs of the kings of old, attest to the belief that these individuals were thought to be immortal.
There were many burial grounds of the Prehistory people in the Americas at the arrival of the Europeans, sadly many of the grave sites were plundered or simply plowed under for planting crops. Many of the burials contained artifact to be used by the deceased on the journey to the afterlife. Precious metal, stones and finely woven garments and pottery were respectively and lovingly place with the deceased. Weapons for the male were very important and the very best placed in the grave. In some cultures it was not unusual where at least one female was killed and her body placed in the grave. There was I am inclined to believe exceptions made in the ritual of placing the deceased in the ground. I know of two burials where both deceased were females and the bodies had been mutilated. In one grave the feet and hands had been removed and an attempt, (poorly executed) partially cremated. The other site also contained a female, pregnant at the time of burial had met her death by a savage blow to the head and both of her feet had been removed. The cremation was also incomplete. These two burial sites were approximately thirty miles apart, one located on the Niangua River the other on the Osage Fork River. I can only assume these two women were punished dreadfully for some reason. I doubt if the two events were directly related. After noting type of pottery shards in and around the burials it is my opinion both individuals died about ten thousand years ago.
In the summer of 1970 while following a creek, (tributary of the Niangua) I located a north south bluff. This bluff is approximately one mile up river from the Niangua Bridge. The bluff is well above the floodplain of the river and faces east. The bluff in comparison to others along the river is not impressive. It appeared to me at least to be very old and in a state of marked deterioration. Huge chunks of its face had broken off and slid or rolled down a steep slope. Much of the top portion of the bluff was no more. The primary disruption of the bluff had not been recent, but occurred several years before. Erosion however, was taking its toll on the ancient pinnacle. In one very large piece I noted a sizable deposit of crystal clear quartz and it was evident to me at least that some of it had been chipped or cut out.
The slope I was to traverse was covered in thick brush and briar, so much so I was forced to remove my pack and hold it in front of me to continue on. It was a struggle to climb the slope and I times the brush was higher than my head and I could not see the bluff. After about thirty minutes I took a break and smoked my pipe. I decided I was about half way up when I stood to begin the climb again.
Red wasps are noted for their huge nest, especially in remote areas. Most nests are relatively close to the ground and if avoided, the wasps are not a threat. I finally came to a small clearing and could see the bluff clearly on up the hill. Anxious to begin exploration of the formation I stepped out of the brush, but in doing so came directly in contact with a very large wasp nest. The nest was teeming with deadly sentries and they immediately swarmed around me, stinging me. I could not run, for the brush was too thick and fell to my knees and pulled from the backpack an old blanket I always carried. The wasps were hitting me unmercifully. They sounded like hail hitting the blanket. Under the blanket I began pulling dead leaves into a pile. I was afraid I would be stung to death and had decided to set afire the leaves in hope of driving them back.
Several minutes past until I had a large pile of leaves under me and I struck a match and drop it onto the leaves. Smoke billowed up, but I stayed under the blanket until I could no longer breathe and with back pack in hand I darted out into the clearing. The more aggressive wasps followed and I took a few additional hits on my neck and arms, but within a few seconds the wasps dispersed around the smoke. I clawed my way up the remaining distance to the bluff and collapsed. I don’t remember how many wounds I had, but too many nevertheless. Water from my canteen cooled my feverish skin and I sat for a time resting quite shaken and wounded by the event. My left hand swelled grotesquely and I could feel other stings on my neck and back and arms. There was little I could do but leave and return another day.
Upon my return to the bluff a few days later I wisely averted the nest and in the cool of morning began a careful exploration. Near the north end of the bluff I discovered what looked like a tunnel large enough for me to enter and I did so but with caution, for in the past I had been confronted by skunks, coyotes and on two separate occasions by a female bobcat and in another cave opening a wounded buzzard. Snakes were also a danger, especially Copperheads.
I discovered quickly the opening was not the beginning of a tunnel, but a direct access into a spacious cave. I settled back on my heels and slowly played the beam of my flashlight the length, breadth and height of the cavern. Intrigued by what I saw, a cavern of at least thirty feet in length and breadth, with a ceiling height of about twenty feet. I slowly scanned the area and found erosion had damaged the floor on each side of the cavern for about three feet out from the walls. Gravel and mud covered these areas. The center of the cavern appeared to be bone dry. Near the front where I sat, I saw with dismay two pot holes from previous digs and on closer scrutiny found them to be very old. Upon standing up I look back and discovered the original opening had been quite large, but now was choked with fragments of the bluff that had collapsed many years before.
I took from the backpack a small garden spade and knelt down at the highest point in the center of the cave and began pushing aside the soft dry dirt. It didn’t take long until I had a hole around me about eight inches deep. It was during this time I raked across the fragment of a large shell tempered earthen vessel. Moments later I found the rest of it. I carefully laid the pieces aside and widened the hole and near the east end discovered hearth stones and bone fragments belonging to turkey and deer. Wood ash and charred wood was evident around the stones. Two small Dalton type points were also found. (I had yet to use a screening box and later chose not to do so.)
After a short break, smoking my briar and enjoying a cup of coffee I moved to the west end of the dig and began pulling the dirt up and over the rim of the dig. Pot shard, animal bones and small scrapes of leather was abundant for about the last twelve inches down. Three hours had past when I discovered human rib bones lying east to west. A story was about to unfold, a secret beyond recorded history.
I remove an oversized paint brush from the pack and began brushing aside the
powder dry soil, revealing with each stoke more of the skeletal remains. I lost track of time as I worked, completely absorbed in the discovery at hand.
By mid afternoon the skeleton lay before me, remarkably well preserved, containing small clumps of hair and some mummified facial features, but not enough to determine sex. I had disturbed some very small bones in or near the center of the skeleton and upon closer examination discovered them to be the remains of a child. A portion of the skull about the size of a chicken egg was noted.
The discovery of the smaller bones literally set me back and I turned my complete attention to the adult remains. With a magnifying I started at the top of the head and found a hole and with this in mind slowly covered every inch of the skeleton. It did not take long and the story was near completion considering the time it had lain there. Both feet had been removed and each leg bone fractured. Evidence of charring was also evident on the lower torso. The only artifact found in the burial was a braided rawhide bracelet still clinging to the left wrist bone.
During the next hour I began replacing all the artifacts as I had found them and carefully filled in the hole and then it was time to leave. Outside I took the time to roll stones into the opening as best I could to preserve this haunting place, where once life and death occurred. Adios.
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