Now in March of 2024 the Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum has become very popular with over 40,000 now printed. We are still attacked with an unusually heated fervor by some of our fellow members of the Church who believe the Mesoamerican theory. I would like to respond briefly.

There is really only one big difference between the Heartland theory and the Mesoamerican theory. It has to do with the location of Cumorah. NY or Mexico? The Mesoamericans believe the plates Joseph Smith found in a hill was not necessarily “the Hill Cumorah.” They also believe the final battles of the Nephites occurred somewhere in Mexico.

Editorial Position of the
Annotated Book of Mormon

From: David Hocking, Rod Meldrum, Jonathan Neville, Boyd Tuttle, Wayne May, and Rian Nelson

Whatever you feel is fine with us, but but we strongly believe the Book of Mormon plates were buried in the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York and the last battles of the Nephites happened near that same hill. Hill Ramah where the Jaredites were destroyed is also the exact same hill. (Ether 15:11) See more at the blog here:

Here is what the Editors of the Annotated Book of Mormon shared with the Mesoamericans, who attacked our book.

1. We still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah; and
2. We trust people to make their own informed decisions.

The prophets have been clear about two points:

(i) the Hill Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is in New York and
(ii) we don’t know for sure the locations of other Book of Mormon events.

Email to Mesoamerican believers: “We have adopted the above in red as our editorial position, as anyone who reads the book can see. If you were confident in your position, you would encourage all to read the Annotated Edition and see the flaws for themselves, but instead you warn your readers to “stay away” and then stand before them as their “truth filters” and “Interpreters” thus preventing them from ever entering in.” Annotated BofM Editors

Why do many insist that the final battle of the Nephites and Lamanites didn’t happen at the one and only Hill Cumorah? Many yell the words, “It’s a clean hill”, meaning there are no arrowheads found there, or they say, “where are all the bones?” Bones from 1,400 years ago that weren’t even buried? No breastplates or head plates? Ever hear of spoils of the war. Too small of a hill? The final battles didn’t happen just on a little hill, but in the Land of Cumorah. See Mormon 6:2. Oliver Cowdery said in Letter VII it was the hill of the final battles. Good enough for me. It makes sense. I believe the final battles happened in the Land of Cumorah, near the hill.

The purpose of the information below is to share with you significant archaeological evidence for the ancient Hopewell and Adena Culture in the Hill Cumorah Land. There is evidence of fortifications, pottery, copper, weapons, palisades, forts, mass burials, mounds, tools and other artifacts all around this land in Upstate NY. I believe the Hopewell culture matches up with the Nephite culture extraordinarily well. The Hopewell originated in 600 BC at the panhandle of Florida from Crystal River to Pensacola, Florida. History documents this. The Hopewell then traveled north into Georgia and Tennessee. There is evidence of a huge society of the Hopewell from Missouri to Illinois to Indiana and then to Ohio which was the dominant historical area of this people. History shows the end of the Hopewell civilization around the year 400 AD near Hill Cumorah in New York. Historians say the Hopewell just disappeared and historians have no idea what happened. I feel I have a good idea. The final battle at Cumorah was 385 AD. This is some of the best evidence of a possible link to the Hopewell and the Nephites.

Cumorah Question

A series of objections to Mormonism were emailed by a professor friend of music superstar Jay Osmond (drummer of the world famous Osmond Brothers and Osmond family musical dynasty) requesting Jays response and answers to his challenges.  The questions, which were to be used in conjunction with a course being taught by professor D. Kline in a prominent eastern university, were forwarded to researcher and author Rod L. Meldrum, an advocate for the Book of Mormon who has also conducted scientific research in several related fields of science and DNA, for a response. [All Questions and Answers here]: Below is just one of those questions and its answer.

Question from Dr. D. Kline: There should be over 230,000 bodies around the Hill Comorrah [Cumorah]. The place Joseph Smith saw his vision, and the one geographical site confirmed by the Mormon Church. There should be mass burial sites, steel swords, bones, and much more. Such an epic battle would have left behind vast amounts of archaeological evidence, yet all that has been found is a few stone weapons. And as if the lack of archaeological confirmation is not enough of a problem, the LDS Church refuses to allow outside excavation. Contrast this with Biblical archaeology, where any known Biblical sites have been excavated and verified.

Answer by Rod Meldrum: Really? There were 60,000,000 bison exterminated on the plains, most of which were left where they lay when they died. Where is the evidence for this massive slaughter, today? And these were not small 150 pound human’s but 1800 pound animals with much heavier bones and bodies. Yet there is nothing left of them today to show they were indeed here. Any dead body quickly deteriorates to nearly nothing in short order in these wet/humid climates. The only way anything from a human body would be preserved is through burial and the Nephites specifically record that the Lamanites left the bodies of the fallen Nephites “and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth.” This is clearly indicative of non-burial and therefore no one should expect such remains.

Some have incorrectly assumed that the final battles of the Book of Mormon occurred in one single relatively small location or even on the Hill Cumorah itself, but the book, as well as the archaeological evidence, suggests otherwise. In 1851, the Smithsonian Institution published the book Antiquities of the State of New York which provides overwhelming evidence of massive burials all over the western portion of the state of New York. Here are a few quotes from this authoritative and informative book.

PAGE 79 “A MILE TO THE EASTWARD…IS ANOTHER OF THE ‘BONE PITS,’ ALREADY SEVERAL TIMES REFERRED TO, WHICH IS ESTIMATED, BY THOSE WHO EXCAVATED IT ORIGINALLY, TO HAVE CONTAINED FOUR HUNDRED SKELETONS HEAPED PROMISCUOUSLY TOGETHER. THEY WERE INDIVIDUALS OF EVERY AGE AND SEX.”

PAGE 99 “THE “BONE PITS” WHICH OCCUR IN SOME PARTS OF WESTERN NEW YORK, CANADA, MICHIGAN, ETC., HAVE AN UNQUESTIONABLY CORRESPONDING ORIGIN. THEY ARE OF VARIOUS SIZES, BUT USUALLY CONTAIN A LARGE NUMBER OF SKELETONS. ONE OF THE PITS DISCOVERED SOME YEARS AGO, IN THE TOWN OF CAMBRIA, NIAGARA COUNTY, WAS ESTIMATED TO CONTAIN THE BONES OF SEVERAL THOUSAND INDIVIDUALS…”

PAGE 100 “…THE AREA WAS A DEPOSITORY OF THE DEAD. IT WAS A PIT EXCAVATED FOUR OR FIVE FEET DEEP AND FILLED WITH HUMAN BONES… HUNDREDS SEEM TO HAVE BEEN THROWN IN PROMISCUOUSLY, OF BOTH SEXES AND ALL AGES. NUMEROUS BITS OF ARROW-POINTS WERE FOUND AMONG THE BONES AND IN THE VICINITY…”

PAGE 103 “AMONG THEM WERE A FEW FETAL BONES. MANY OF THE SKULLS BORE MARKS OF VIOLENCE, LEADING TO THE BELIEF THAT THEY WERE BROKEN BEFORE BURIAL…”

PAGE 144 “IN EXCAVATING THE CANAL [ERIE CANAL] THROUGH THE BANK… ANOTHER BURIAL PLACE WAS DISCLOSED, EVIDENTLY MORE ANCIENT, FOR THE BONES CRUMBLED TO PIECES ALMOST IMMEDIATELY UPON EXPOSURE TO THE AIR… THE NUMBER OF SKELETONS IS REPRESENTED TO HAVE BEEN COUNTLESS…”

Below are some articles from local newspapers near Palmyra from 1818 to 1822.

Vol. XIV.                            Geneva, N. Y., August 7, 1822.                             No. 10.

A Mound, of extraordinary dimensions, has been recently discovered & opened in the southeast part of this county. It is about fifty feet in length and eighteen in breadth at one extremity, and gradually terminating to a complete point at the other. Within this space large quantities of human bones have been dug up, apparently of all ages. Some of the skull bones are very large, and one thigh bone in particular is said to be much too large for the present race of men. The bodies appear to have been thrown in without any order or regularity, as the bones are found cross-wise and in every form. No relics of utensils or implements have been found with them, and whether they were the victims of a battle, or from what cause they were disposed of in this manner, we pretend not to say, but from the works in the vicinity of the mound resembling fortifications, we should judge that to have been the case. Large trees have grown directly over the mound, and the bones on being exposed to the air soon become calcareous. After giving this statement, we leave it to the curious, and those better skilled on this subject, to make such speculations as these facts render deductible.(A large number of human bones in the last stage of decay, were lately found in the town of Nunda — Allegany Co. — promiscuously covered over in a field; near which, on the top of a hill, were the remains of an old fort, inaccessible on every side but one, which appears to have been the work of a civilized people; but tradition even does not point to the time about which it was erected.)

Note: This article was reprinted in the Aug. 14, 1822 issue of the Palmyra Herald and Canal Advertiser.

Vol. XIV.                            Geneva, N. Y., September 18, 1822.                      No. 16.

 Circleville, O., Aug. 20.
Our Antiquities. — A few days since while some mechanics were digging near the north west corner of the “square fort” in this place, they came to a strata of earth, differing in quality and color from that which composed the wall generally — on which reposed the skeleton of a human being which had probably been mouldering there for centuries. The skeleton was discovered about ten feet from the summit of the wall, and four from its base, or common level of the adjacent earth. The bones are said by those who first discovered them, to have extended nine or ten feet, from head to foot! They immediately crumbled on exposure to the air. The wall is composed of clay, which is readily converted into bricks — for which purpose it is rapidly disappearing before the devouring hand of man. The layer of earth on which the skeleton was found, was composed of dark fine sand, much resembling alluvial soil; it extended three or four rods in length, and is totally unfit for the purposes for which the remainder of the wall is using. — Olive Branch.

Vol. I.                            Palmyra, N. Y., Wednesday, January 21, 1818.       No. 9.

From the North American Review.
[ Nov. 1816 ].

LITERARY.

Indian Antiquities. — The following account, which we take from the Western Gazetteer, adds something to our former knowledge of those hitherto inexplicable wonders, that are found in such abundance in our western country. We have not room to examine any of the speculations, which have entered the heads of our philosophers and antiquarians on the subject; and if we had, we should hardly expect, where all is conjecture and uncertainty, to afford much amusement or profit to our readers. There is something, however, extremely curious in the inquiry itself; although we cannot hope, that any very important or certain results can be drawn from the few facts, which have as yet been given to the world. We can safely infer from them nothing more, than that this immense tract of country, which has every mark of having been for centuries past a desolate wilderness, has been thickly inhabited at some former period by a warlike people, who had made much greater advances in the arts of civilized life, than any of the aboriginal inhabitants of North America, who have been. known since its discovery by Europeans. The mounds described below are situated in the town ot Harrison, Indiana Territory. ‘We examined from 15 to 20. In some, whose heights was from ten to fifteen feet, we could not find more than four or five skeletons. In one, not the least appearance of a human bone was to be found. Others were so full of bones, as to warrant the belief, that they originally contained at least one hundred dead bodies; children of different ages, and the full grown, appeared to have been piled together promiscuously. We found several scull, leg and thigh hones, which plainly indicated that their possessors were men of gigantic stature. The scull of one skeleton was one fourth of an inch thick; and the teeth remarkably even, sound and handsome, all firmly planted. The fore teeth were very deep, and not so wide as those of the generality of white people. Indeed, there seemed a great degree of regularity in the form of the teeth, in all the mounds. In the progress of our researches, we obtained ample testimony, that these masses of the earth were formed by a savage people. Yet, doubtless possessing a greater degree of civilization than the present race of Indians. We discovered a piece of glass weighing five ounces, resembling the bottom of a tumbler, but concave; several stone axes, with grooves near their heads to receive a withe, which unquestionably served as a helve; arrows formed from flint, almost exactly similar to those in use among the present Indians; several pieces of earthen ware; some appeared to be parts of vessels holding six or eight gallons; others were obviously fragments of jugs, jars, and cups: some were plain, while others were curiously ornamented with figures of birds and beasts, drawn while the clay or material of which they were made was soft, and before the process of glazing was performed. The small vessels were made of pounded or pulverized muscle shells, mixed with an earthen or flinty substance, and the large ones of clay and sand. There was no appearance of iron; one of the sculls was found pierced by an arrow, which was still sticking in it, driven about half way through before its force was spent. It was about six inches long. The subjects of this mound were doubtless killed in battle, and hastily buried. In digging to the bottom of them we invariably came to a stratum of ashes, from six inches to two feet thick, which rests on the original earth. These ashes contain coals, fragments of brands, and pieces of calcined bones. From the quantity of ashes and bones, and the appearance of the earth underneath, it is evident that large fires must have been kept burning for several days previous to commencing the mound.

Almost every building lot in Harrison village contains a small mound; and some as many as three. On the neighboring hills, northeast of the town, is a number of the remains of stone houses. They were covered with soil, brush, and full grown trees. We cleared away the earth, roots and rubbish from one of them, and found it to have been anciently occupied as a dwelling. It was about twelve feet square; the walls had fallen nearly to the foundation. They appeared to have been built of rough stone, like our stone walls. Not the least trace of any iron tools have been employed to smooth the face of them, could be perceived. At one end of the building, we came to a regular hearth, containing ashes and coals; before which we found the bones of eight persons of different ages, from a small child to the heads of the family. The positions of their skeletons clearly indicated, that their deaths were sudden and simultaneous. They were probably asleep, with their feet towards the fire, when destroyed by an enemy, an earthquake, or pestilence.”

Vol. I.                            Palmyra, N. Y., Wednesday, January 28, 1818.      No. 10.

Extract from the Western Gazeteer.

The author of this interesting and valuable work, in speaking of the antiquities of the state of Indiana that now exist near Vincennes, County of Knox, says that “On the hills, two miles east of the town, are three large mounds; and others are frequently met with on the prairies, and upland, from White-river to the head of the Wabash. They are in every respect similar to those in Franklin county, already described.

The French have a tradition, that an exterminating battle was fought in the beginning of the last century, on the ground where Fort Harrison mpw stands, between the Indians living on the Mississippi, and those of the Wabash. The bone of contention was the lands lying between those rivers, which both parties claimed. There were about 1000 warriors on each side. The condition of the fight was, that the victors should possess the lands in dispute. The grandeur of the prize was peculiarly calculated to inflame the ardor of savage minds. The contest commenced about sunrise. Both parties fought desperately. The Wabash warriors came off conquerors, having seven men left alive at sunset, and their adversaries but five. The mounds are still to be seen where it is said the slain were buried.”

By D. C. Miller.            Batavia, N. Y., October 18, 1822.             Vol. 11, No. 553.

AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.

To the editors of the Louisiana Republican.                        

Gentlemen: —
In the course of my observation & travels through several parts of the United States, I have kept minutes of the most remarkable events which have occurred under my own observation, extracts from which I design, occasionally, to submit to you, and if you think them worthy of insertion in your useful paper, you are at liberty to use them accordingly.

All accounts extant, relative to the size of the ancient settlers of our country, agree that this race of beings must have been larger than the present; but none that I have seen give any evidence of this fact. From my own observation, I have evidence at least of one person of gigantic stature.

In the year 1810, I opened, with several other persons who accompanied me for the purpose, one of the flat mounds common in the western country. It was built of regular layers of flat stones, and covered lightly with earth. This was 4 miles west of the town of Worthington, in Ohio, and within a few rods of the banks of the river Scioto. — In this mound we found the skeletons of a number of bodies, some of a very large size, they were deposited directly due east and west, the heads to the west; precisely as is the practice in Christian burials.

After several hours fatigue in opening & examining this mound, we retired to a house of a Mr. Miller, about 200 yards from the spot, who informed us that he had taken a skeleton from the mound adjoining the one we had examined, which was supposed to be, when living, a man of at least 7 feet 4 inches. He stated that such was the opinion of all who had seen the bones in his possession — that the bone of the leg, which had lost a little at each end, was then longer than the bone of the tallest man in the settlement, measuring from the heel to the cap of the knee.

Mr. Miller stated that he had also in his possession, the jaw bone of this skeleton, which he said, would cover loosely the face of any of his neighbors; and that, when he found the skeleton, he picked from one of the joints of the neck bone, (which was also much larger than any he had seen before,) a stone arrow point; from which circumstances, it was thought his death had been occasioned. I made many inquiries of Mr. Miller, who seemed to be a very intelligent man. He informed me that he had been living at his residence on the Scioto, for many years; — that when he first settled there, he was told by all the old Indians that these mounds existed at a period beyond the recollection of the oldest of them, and that the tribe of Indians before them could give no account of the mounds, other than that they were burying places before they inhabited the country.

From these circumstances, together with some others, which have come under my observation, I have been of opinion, that the bones frequently found in these mounds, must have been the skeletons of a race of beings inhabiting the country, of whom the Indians had no knowledge. The most remarkable circumstance stated by Mr. Miller was, that when ploughing his field, he traced plainly the remains of an ancient building in the form of a house, as there was a manifest difference in the appearance of the earth; and pointing at the same time to the hearth stone in his fire-place, he observed “the hearth-stone which you see there, I took myself from the place where I suppose the fire-place was in the ancient building of which I speak.” The Indians, he added, gave him the same account of the appearance of this old building as they had of the mounds; that it existed before their time. During the war, and while on my way to Detroit, I intended calling on Mr. Miller, for more particular information, but upon my arrival at Worthington, I learned that he was dead.

Every information tending to prove the existence of a vast ancient population of any part of our country, ought to be preserved — but few persons can or will afford to spend time and money to the attainment of such an object. I have occasionally noted what had passed under my observation since the year 1807 in the western country; and, as I find leisure, will transmit them to you to be filed away through the medium of your paper, till better proof can be obtained of the existence of a vast ancient population of our country.

It would, in my opinion, be a very laudable act in the general government to encourage or authorize some competent person to collect the most important facts in relation to this subject. And the present state of profound peace and tranquility of our country is, perhaps as favorable as any other in the history of our national affairs for such an undertaking.  
A TRAVELLER.

Note 1: This article was also reprinted in the Oct. 30, 1822 issue of the Palmyra Herald and Canal Advertiser, along with an article on Mordecai M. Noah’s scheme for a gathering of Israel in America.

Note 2: Early settlers moving into the western country once frequently encountered burial mounds and graves containing the bones of such ancient giants, but evidence of these exceptionally tall and robust Indians is rarely uncovered today. The prevalence of these reports during the 1820s and 1830s lead some Americans to speculate that their land had once been inhabited by a civilized (perhaps white) race of “mighty men of yore.” Mormon writers have often pointed out the evidence of these large skeletons as supporting the story of the Jaredites or Nephites in the pre-Columbian Americas. LDS author Phyllis C. Olive, on pages 30-34 of her 2001 book, The Lost Tribes of the Book of Mormon, sets forth her evidence that the Book of Mormon people were not only the “Mound-Builders,” but that they were also a “large and mighty nation living in the near vicinity of the Hill Cumorah and throughout the entire mound building region — the giant, Mound Builders so long sought for; a people who bear remarkable similarities to those described in the Book of Mormon.” See also the same writer’s 1998 book, The Lost Lands of the Book of Mormon, where she expresses the same ideas. The thought does not seem to have occurred to these Mormon writers, that pre-1830 reports of American antiquities could have influenced the writing of the Book of Mormon itself.

Source: http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/NY/miscNYSg.htm

This pile of bones (above) comes from 200+ small Hopewell forts around Cumorah, but mostly east of the Hill, which would be the direction that the Lamanites would come from the Ohio collapse.  Squire did the survey work uncovering numerous bones in piles in the ditches around the forts and some mound piles of stack bones with swallow dirt cover.  Aboriginal Monuments of Western New York (below)……Wayne May has it for sale on his site. wwwancientamerican.com first and second edition. Both are good. Bone piles are in the Holland Purchase book as well, any early book on western New York, mentions the antiquity of numerous bones around the small enclosures of western N.Y. See Wayne’s DVD on this subject (above).

| E.G. Squier | Aborignal Monuments | Table of Contents |

CHAPTER IV

MOUNDS, BONE-HEAPS, ETC.

VARIOUS references to mounds or tumuli, resembling those found in the Valley of the Mississippi, have been made in the preceding pages. These mounds are far from numerous, and hardly deserve a separate notice. It is nevertheless an interesting fact to know that isolated examples occur, in situations where it is clear no dependence exists between them and the grand system of earth-works of the Western States. It serves to sustain the conclusion that the savage Indian tribes occasionally constructed mounds; which are however rather to be considered as accidents than the results of a general practice. The purposes of the mounds of New York, so far as can be determined, seem uniformly to have been those of sepulture. They generally occur upon commanding or remarkable positions. Most of them have been excavated, under the impulse of an idle curiosity, or have had their contents scattered by “money-diggers,” a ghostly race, of which, singularly enough, even at this day, representatives may be found in almost every village. I was fortunate enough to discover one upon Tonawanda Island, in Niagara River, which had escaped their midnight attentions. It was originally about fifteen feet in height. At the base appeared to have been a circle of stones, perhaps ten feet in diameter, within which were several small heaps of bones, each comprising three or four skeletons. The bones are of individuals of all ages, and had evidently been deposited after the removal of the flesh. Traces of fire were to be discovered upon the stones. Some chippings of flint and broken arrow-points, as also some fragments of deers’ horns, which appeared to have been worked into form, were found amongst the bones. The skulls had been crushed by the superincumbent earth.

The mounds which formerly existed in Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Livingston, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Chenango, and Delaware counties, all appear to have contained human bones, in greater or less quantities, deposited promiscuously, and embracing the skeletons of individuals of all ages and both sexes. They probably all owe their origin to a practice common to many of the North American tribes, of collecting together at fixed intervals the bones of their dead, and finally depositing them with many and solemn ceremonies. They were sometimes heaped together so as to constitute mounds; at others placed in pits or trenches dug in the earth; and it is probable they were in some instances buried in separate graves, but in long ranges, or deposited in caverns, either promiscuously or with regularity.

The period when this second burial took place occurred at different intervals amongst the different tribes, but was universally denominated the “Festival of the Dead.” Bartram, speaking of the burial customs of the Floridian Indians, says: “After the bone-house is full, a general solemn funeral takes place. The nearest kindred and friends of the deceased, on a day appointed, repair to the bone-house, take up the respective coffins, and, following one another in the order of seniority, the nearest relations and connections attending their respective corpses, and the multitude succeeding them, singing and lamenting alternately, slowly proceed to the place of general interment, when they place the coffins in order forming a pyramid. Lastly, they cover all over with earth, which raises a conical hill or mount. They then return to town in order of solemn procession, concluding the day with a festival which is called the ‘Feast of the Dead?‘”¹³ The author here quoted adds in a note, that it was the opinion of some ingenious men with whom he had conversed, “that all those artificial pyramidal hills, usually called ‘Indian Mounts,’ were raised on such occasions, and are generally sepulchres;” from which opinion he takes occasion to dissent. There is no doubt a wide difference between the mounds thus formed and the great bulk of those connected with the vast ancient enclosures of the Western States.

The large cemeteries which have been discovered in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio, seem to have resulted from a similar practice. In these the skeletons were generally packed in rude coffins composed of flat stones, placed in ranges of great extent. The circumstance that many of these coffins were not more than two or three feet in length, gave rise to the notion of the former existence here of a pigmy race. The discovery of iron and some articles of European origin in one of these cemeteries in the vicinity of Augusta, Kentucky, shows that this mode of burial existed at a late period among the Indians in that direction.

The “bone-pits” which occur in some parts of Western New York, Canada, Michigan, etc., have unquestionably a corresponding origin. Several of these have been described in a previous chapter. They are of various sizes, but usually contain a large number of skeletons. In a few instances the bones appear to have been arranged with some degree of regularity.

“The Bones of Several Thousand Individuals”

One of these pits discovered some years ago, in the town of Cambria, Niagara county, was estimated to contain the bones of several thousand individuals. Another which I visited in the town of Clarence, Erie county, contained not less than four hundred skeletons. A deposit of bones comprising a large number of skeletons was found not long since, in making some excavations in the town of Black Rock, situated on Niagara River, in Erie county. They were arranged in a circle, with their heads radiating from a large copper kettle, which had been placed in the centre, and filled with bones. Various implements both of modern and remote date had been placed beside the skeletons.

In Canada similar deposits are frequent. Accounts of their discovery and character have appeared in various English publications, among which may be named the “British Colonial Newspaper,” of September 24th, 1847, and the “Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,” for July, 1848. From a communication in the latter, by Edward W. Bawtree, M. D., the subjoined interesting facts are derived.

A quantity of human bones was found in one spot, in 1846, near Barrie, and also a pit containing human bones near St. Vincent’s. Great numbers were found in the latter, with several copper and brass kettles, and various trinkets and ornaments in common use among the Indians. This discovery led to the examination of a similar pit, about seven miles from Penetanqueshene, in the township of Giny. “This pit was accidentally noticed by a Canadian while making sugar in the neighborhood. He was struck by its appearance and the peculiar sound produced at the bottom by stamping there; and, in turning up a few spadefuls of earth, was surprised to find a quantity of human bones. It was more accurately examined in September, 1847, and found to contain, besides a great number of human skeletons, of both sexes and all ages, twenty-six copper and brass kettles and boilers; three large conch-shells; pieces of beaver-skin in tolerable preservation; a fragment of a pipe; a large iron axe, evidently of French manufacture; some human hair (that of a woman); a copper bracelet; and a quantity of fiat auricular beads, perforated through the centre.

“The form of the pit is circular, with an elevated margin; it is about fifteen feet in diameter, and before it was opened was probably nine feet deep from the level of its margin to its centre and bottom; it was, in one word, funnel-shaped. It is situated on the top of a gentle rise, with a shallow ravine on the east side, through which, at certain seasons, runs a small stream. The soil is light, free from stones, and dry. A small iron-wood tree, about two inches in diameter, is growing in the centre of the pit.

“The kettles in the pit were found ranged at the bottom, resting on pieces of bark, and filled with bones. They had evidently been covered with beaver-skins. The shells and the axe were found in the intervals between the kettles. The beads were in the kettles among the bones, generally in bunches of strings.

“The kettles, of which Fig. 4 is an example, resemble those in use at the present day, and appear to be formed of sheet copper, the rim being beaten out so as to cover an iron band which passes around the mouth of the vessel. The iron handle by which they were suspended hooks into eyes attached to the band above mentioned. The smallest holds about six gallons; the largest not far from sixteen gallons. The copper is generally very well preserved; the iron, however, is much corroded. Two of the kettles were of brass.

“The largest of the conch-shells, Fig. 5, weighs three pounds and a quarter, and measures fourteen inches in its longest diameter. Its outer surface has lost its polish, and is quite honey-combed by age and decomposition; the inside still retains its smooth lamellated surface. It has lost its color, and appears like chalk. A piece had been cut from its base, probably for making the beads that were found in it.¹⁴ From the base of the columella of the smallest shell a piece had been cut, evidently for the purpose of manufacturing beads. The extreme point of the base of each shell had a perforation through it.

“The axe, Fig. 6, is of nearly the same model with the tomahawk now in use among the Chippeway Indians, though very much larger, measuring eleven inches in length and six inches and a half along its cutting edge. Numbers of these have been found in the neighborhood on newly cleared land.

“The pipe is imperfect. It is made of the earthenware of which so many specimens are found in the neighborhood, in the form of vessels and pipes. The spots where the manufacture of these articles was carried on are still to be seen in some places.

“The beads are formed of a white chalky substance, varying in degree of density and hardness; they are accurately circular, with a circular perforation in the centre; of different sizes, from a quarter to half an inch, or rather more, in diameter; but nearly all of the same thickness, not quite the eighth of an inch. They may be compared to a peppermint lozenge with a hole through the centre. They were found in bunches or strings, and a good many were still closely strung on a fibrous woody substance. The bracelet is a simple band of copper, an inch and a half broad, closely fitting the wrist. The hair is long, evidently that of a woman, and quite fresh in appearance.

“Another pit, about two miles from that just noticed, was also examined in September. It is considerably smaller, being not more than nine feet in diameter, by about the same original depth. It is situated on rising ground, in a light sandy soil, and there is nothing remarkable in its position. A beech-tree, six inches thick, grew from its centre. It contained about as many skeletons as the other pit, but had no kettles in it. The bones were of individuals of both sexes and of all ages. Among them were a few fetal bones. Many of the skulls bore marks of violence, leading to the belief that they were broken before burial. One was pierced by a round hole, like that produced by a musket ball. A single piece of a brass vessel was found in the pit; it had been packed in furs. A large number of shell beads, of various sizes, were also found here. Besides these, there were some cylindrical pieces of earthenware and porcelain or glass tubes, from an eighth to a quarter of an inch in diameter, and from a quarter to two inches long.¹⁵ The former had the appearance of red and white tobacco-pipes, worn away by friction, the latter of red and white glass. A hexagonal body, with flat ends, about an inch and a half in diameter, and an inch thick, was also found. It was composed of some kind of porcelain, of hard texture, nearly vitreous, and much variegated in color, with alternate layers of red, blue, and white. It was perforated through the centre.

“The third of these pits was examined in November, 1847. It is situated in the township of Oro, on elevated ground. The soil is a light sandy loam. It measures about fifteen feet in diameter, has the distinctly defined elevated ring, but the centre less depressed than in those before examined, which may have resulted from the greater bulk of its contents. On its margin grew formerly a large pine, the roots of which had penetrated through the pit in every direction. The bones, which were of all sizes, were scarcely covered with earth. The skeletons amounted to several hundreds in number, and were well preserved. On some, pieces of tendon still remained, and the joints of the small bones in some cases were unseparated. Some of the skulls bore marks of violence.

“As in the first noticed pit, so in this, were found twenty-six kettles—four of brass and the rest of copper, one conch-shell, one iron axe, and a number of the flat perforated shell beads. The kettles were arranged in the form of a cross through the centre of the pit, and in a row around the circumference. The points of this cross seem to have corresponded with the cardinal points of the compass. All except two of the kettles were placed with their mouths downwards. The shell was found under one of the kettles, which had been packed with beaver-skins and bark. The kettles were very well preserved, but had all been rendered useless by blows from a tomahawk. The holes were broken in the bases of the vessels. Should any doubt exist as to the purposes of these pits, the fact that the kettles were thus rendered unserviceable would tend to increase that doubt, as it appears to have been a proceeding so very contrary to the habits and ideas of the Indians in general.¹⁶

“A pipe was found in this pit, described as having been composed of blue limestone or hard clay. On one side it had a human face, the eyes of which were formed of white pearly beads. An iron axe and sundry beads were also found here.

“A fourth pit was opened in December, 1847. It is situated on a gentle slope, in the second concession west of the Penetanqueshene road, in the township of Giny. In size it corresponds very nearly with the two first described, and probably contained about the same number of skeletons. In it were found sixteen conch-shells; a stone and clay pipe; a number of copper bracelets and ear ornaments; eleven beads of red pipe-stone; copper arrow-heads; a cup of iron resembling an old iron ladle; beads of several kinds, and various fragments of furs. The shells were arranged around the bottom of the pit, not in a regular row, but in threes and fours; the other articles were found mixed with the bones. The bones were of all sizes, and the skulls uninjured except by time. The accompanying sketch (Fig. 7) will sufficiently indicate the character of the pipes. The arrow-heads, as they are supposed to have been, were simple folds of sheet copper, resembling a roughly-formed ferule to a walking stick. Besides the flat circular beads, which were found in great numbers, were a few cylindrical porcelain beads, etc. The red-stone beads were five eighths of an inch broad, and three eighths thick, with small holes at one end, uniting with each other.

“There is reason to believe that the above constitute but a very small proportion of the pits that may be found in this neighborhood. The French Canadians, now that their attention has been directed to the subject, say that they are of frequent occurrence in the woods. But besides these larger and more evident excavations, smaller ones of the same shape and apparent character are often met with. They are usually called ‘potato-pits.’ So far as they have been examined, they do not contain deposits. Some appear to have been covered with bark at the bottom. One was examined in which were found some pieces of pottery and one or two human bones mixed with stones and black mould; which seemed to strengthen the supposition previously formed, that they were Indian graves from which the bones had been removed for interment in the large pits.

“A fifth pit has also been examined. It occurs about eight miles from Penetanqueshene, near the centre of the town of Giny. Close by its side is another pit, which is not circular but elongated, with a mound on each side. At the brow of the hill, if it may be so called, and commencing about twenty yards from the pits, there is the appearance of a long ditch extending in a southwestern direction; another ditch about half the length of this meets it at right angles on the top of the rising ground, and is continued a few yards beyond the point of junction; a third ditch intersects the short one, as shown in the following plan.

Figure 8.

“The two first ditches form two sides of a parallelogram; but there is no sign of an enclosure at the other sides, where the ground is low and nearly level. The long ditch is seventy-five paces in length, the other half that length. The first terminates at a moderate sized gum-tree, the latter at the foot of a large birch. These ditches appear to be a succession of small pits or graves, and have an average depth of from one to two feet. Excavation disclosed no bones. Upon the north side of the shorter and upper ditch, several Indian graves were found, not placed in any order, but scattered around at various distances apart. Three of these were examined and found to contain human bones. In one was an entire skeleton. No implements or ornaments accompanied the bones.

“The bones in the large pits were covered with three or four feet of earth, which is more than is usually found over them, and the marginal ring was in consequence less apparent. It contained very few relics besides the bones, which, from their decayed condition, seemed to indicate that burials here were made at a very remote period.”

In Isle Ronde, situated near the extremity of Lake Huron, is a burial-place of the aborigines corresponding generally with those just described. It was visited in 1843 by Mr. Schoolcraft, who states that the human remains appeared to have been gathered from their original place of sepulture and finally deposited here. The bones were all arranged longitudinally, from north to south, in a wide grave or trench. There is upon the same island an Indian cemetery of comparatively modern date, in which the interments were made in the ordinary way. Another similar burial-place was visited by Mr. Schoolcraft, in the town of Hamilton, seventeen miles west of the head of Lake Ontario. The burials had been made on a high, dry ridge, in long trenches and rude vaults; the bones being piled upon each other longitudinally as at Isle Ronde. The trenches extend over the entire ridge; and one of these examined by Mr. Schoolcraft was estimated to include not less than fifteen hundred square feet. Various remains of art, pipes, shells, beads, etc., were found with the bones, and among them several brass kettles, in one of which were five infant skulls.

The origin of the various cemeteries above noticed admits of no doubt. The same practice which Bartram described as existing among the Floridians, and which we have reason to believe prevailed among the Indians of Tennessee, Kentucky, etc., also existed in a slightly modified form among the more northern tribes. They, too, had their solemn “Festival of the Dead,” which is minutely described by Charlevoix, Brabeuf Creuxius, and other early writers. Says Charlevoix: “This grand ceremony, the most curious and celebrated of all connected with the Indian religion, took place every eight years among some of the tribes, every ten years among the Hurons and the Iroquois. It was called the ‘Féto dos Morts,’ Festival of the Dead, or ‘ Festin des Ames.’

“It commenced by the appointment of a place where they should meet. They then chose a president of the feast, whose duty it was to arrange every thing and send invitations to the neighboring villages. The appointed day arrived, all the Indians assembled and went in procession, two and two, to the cemetery. Among some tribes of stationary habits, the cemetery was a regular burial-ground outside the village. Some buried their dead at the foot of a tree, and others suspended them on scaffolds to dry; this last was a common proceeding among them when absent from home on a hunting expedition, so that on their return they might more conveniently carry the body with them.

“Arrived at the cemetery, they proceeded to search for the bodies; they then waited for some time to consider in silence a spectacle so capable of furnishing serious reflections. The women first interrupted the silence by cries of lamentation, which increased the feeling of grief with which each person seemed over- come. They then used to take the bodies, arrange the separate and dry bones, and place them in packets to carry on their shoulders. If any of the bodies were not entirely decomposed, they separated the flesh, washed the bones, and wrapped them in new beaver-skins. They then returned in the same procession in which they came, and each deposited his burden in his cabin. During the procession the women continued their lamentations, and the men testified the same marks of grief as on the death of the person whose bones they bore. This was followed by a feast in each house, in honor of the dead of the family. The succeeding days were considered as public days, and were spent in dancing, games, and combats, at which prizes were bestowed. From time to time they uttered certain cries, which were called ‘les cris des âmes.’

“They made presents to strangers, and received presents from them on behalf of the dead. These strangers sometimes came a hundred and fifty leagues. They also took advantage of these occasions to treat on public affairs or select a chief Every thing passed with order, decency, and moderation; and every one seemed overcome with sentiments suitable to the occasion. Even the songs and dances expressed grief in some way. After some days thus spent, all went in procession to a grand council-room fitted for the occasion. They then suspended the bones and bodies in the same state as they had taken them from the cemetery, and placed there the presents intended for the dead. If among the skeletons there happened to be one of a chief, his successor gave a grand feast in his name. In some cases the bodies were paraded from village to village, and every where received with great demonstrations of grief and tenderness, and every where presents were made to them. They then took them to the spot designated as their final resting-place. All their ceremonies were accompanied with music, both instrumental and vocal, to which each marched in cadence.

“The last and common place of burial was a large pit, which was lined with the finest skins and any thing which they considered valuable. The presents destined for the dead were placed on one side; and when the procession arrived, each family arranged itself on a sort of scaffold around the pit; and as soon as the bodies were deposited, the women began again to cry and lament. Then all the assistants descended into the pit, and each person took a handful of earth, which he carefully preserved, supposing it would serve to give them success in their undertakings. The bodies and bones were arranged in order, and covered with furs and bark, over which were placed stones, wood, and earth. Each person then returned to his home, but the women used to go back from day to day with some sagamatie (pounded parched corn).” ¹⁷

13. Travels, p. 5l4.

14. Dr. Bern W. Budd, of New York, states that this shell, the pyrula perverse, abounds in the Gulf of Mexico and particularly in Mobile Bay. It has also been found by the officers of the U. S. Coast Survey as far north as Cape Fear, in North Carolina.

15. These were clearly the European imitations of the much prized Indian wampum.

16. Dr. Bawtree is mistaken in supposing this practice uncommon. The Oregon Indians invariably render useless every article deposited with their dead, so as to remove any temptation to a desecration of the grave which might otherwise exist. A similar practice prevailed among the Floridian Indians.

17. Charlevoix, Vol. II., p. 194, ubi supra; Creuxii Historia Canadensis, p. 97.

If you are willing and able, you can find thousands of references to mounds, bones, artifacts, and remnants of ancient Nephites and Lamanites all over the area of New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Only a fool will not look for evidence but simply close their mind and complain.

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