[gan'ong] 



STONE MEDALLION OF LAKE UTOPL\ 



91 



Wetmore bought it "everybody was going to see it"; and that Colonel 

 Wetmore gave it to Sheriff Harding. Mr. McGowan said there was 

 no question as to its genuineness; Laney was a stone mason, not a 

 stone cutter, and was a shiftless character incapable of working any 

 fraudulent scheme of this kind. He added that the Indians said it 

 was work of the French. 



Captain Jesse Milliken, of St. George, recognised locally as 

 having an unsurpassed knowledge of Lake Utopia and its recent 

 history, told me in 1915 that he remembered very clearly the discovery 

 of the stone. It was found by Laney, a stone mason, when seeking 

 good foundation material for a building, for it was customary here- 

 abouts to hunt up pieces naturally jointed with good faces for bedding, 

 and the place where the Laney stone was found offers good fragments 

 of this sort. Laney took it home and kept it before his door for some 

 time, but his wife objecting to its presence because it scowled at her, 

 he sold it to Mr Wetmore, Collector at St. George, for $2.00. Mr. 



Wetmore later made search of the place for other relics, and even, 



with others, attempted to dig on a spot close by, pointed out to him 



by an Indian as the grave of a chief at the head of which the stone 



had been set. 



In the course of our talks. Captain Milliken remarked that he 



had himself an experience with the finding of the stone in this way, 



that soon after the discovery he 



went to the approximate place 



and there found a line spotted 



through the woods to the ledge 



against which it had rested, the 



moss being wanting where the 



stone had been, and its outline 



distinct. The sequel to this re- 

 mark was inevitable, and I asked 



Captain Milliken to take me to 



the place, which he very willingly 



did. He led me without hesitation 



to the ledge, though he could 



not recall, naturally enough, the 

 exact place where the stone had 

 rested. Here follows a synopsis 

 of my notes on this matter: 



On the west side of the Lake, about 

 half way from the Canal to its head, is 



