Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/200

CHIPPED IMPLEMENTS OP FLINT. 189 The authorities state that in the neighborhood of Manhattan there was locjated a natural armory, con- sistinpT of material fitted for aU kinds of edge tools, aid so necessary was this flint or chert, to use the language of another: "The remarkable deposits of bluish gray flint found in the neighborhood sites de- scribed, and from which nearly aU the chipped imple- ments of the region were made, was a perpetual invi- tation intensely attractive to the barbarians who de- pend upon chipped implements for the arms of tha chase, the weapons of war, and as necessary in peace, and the supply conveniently available about the fertile region of the upper course of the Kansas river must liave characterized the locality as so very desirable, and its location was known so far abroad that con- tending tribes fought for its possession, with herds of buffalo, fruitful valleys and quarries of flint the prizes for which savage man staked his life." We are told that the Indian village where our troop was now sojourning was visited by Major Long's exploring party in 1820, at which time the Indians were in possession of flint-lock guns, knives, axes and other iron utensils obtained from the whites, but then they were not on the old site, but a mile distant at that time. In concluding this chapter, the following are some of the unusual articles unearthed in this locality: Pottery with handles, pipes of peculiar pattern, a piece of chain mail nearly destroyed by rust, skele- tons buried in sitting posture, flint spades, many beads and all kinds of trinkets; and bear in mind, most of l^ese articles have been discovered under the ground, so there can be no humbug about them.