lr ¥ I-I Holmes 
April loth,1903 
Smith son ian Inst it ut ion , 
Washington. 
Dear sir- 
Tuesday of this week I was notified,through the Missouri Histori¬ 
cal Society (of which I am an officer) of a very remarkable discovery of 
archaeological specimens near this city; the following day I visited the 
locality, and was very much surx^rised at the magnitude of the find. 
Thinking it might he of interest to your institution I wired you early 
this morning as follows-” Recently discovered near St Louis hundreds roug! 
hematite and granite grooved mauls in iron ore pocket-well worth investi¬ 
gating'- which confirm. The area, from which ore has already been re¬ 
moved, is comparatively small, say 7o to So feet square. Everything 
points to the fact that the entire ore bed has been turned over, and alJ 
through the ore is found any number of grooved mauls, material of majori¬ 
ty, is hematite. I took a number of photographs, two of which I en¬ 
close, one showing a pile,- which I estimated to contain more than six 
hundred implements, weighing four to fifteen pounds. The second photo 
shows general appearance of the mine, openings shown were seemingly made 
by the aboriginies, and their mauls are found everywhere. With a pick I 
loosened seven in less than ten minutes at a point near lower right hand 
cover of photograph Ho, 2 As stated in my message to you, I think 
this discovery well worth a thorough investigation by your institution, 
and Iwill gladly render all assistance possible. Will add, quite a num- 
ber of rather rough flint arrow points and spear heads,as well as few 
gauges have been found with the mauls; also an occasional finished hema¬ 
tite ax,showing rough usage. 
Will thank you for your opinion relative to this discovery. 
Very truly yours, 
