Skeletons of Giants in Alaska

SKELETONS OF GIANTS IN ALASKA
Ancient Cemetery Uncovered in the Atlin Gold District.
Special Dispatch to The Call. VANCOUVER, Nov. 17.— James L. Ferkinson, an American miner of Atlin, arrived here today with news of the finding of a number of skeletons in an ancient Indian cemetery in the north, which is of startling scientific interest. Perkinson is one of the owners of the Yellow Ja cket, a rich claim which is supposed to be the fountain head of Pine, the principal creek in Atlin district. Two weeks ago the first excavations were being made for a new tunnel on the property and what appears to have been an old Indian burying ground was opened up.

Five skeletons, nearly complete, were exhumed and each is the set of bones that belonged to a giant of prehistoric times. One of the skeletons measures over seven feet in length, so that the man must have been considerably over that height. Then there were two others of within an inch of seven feet and the remaining two were more than six feet in length and the men were of gigantic frame.

The altitude is high and the ground was half frozen, so that the bones were preserved almost intact. Perkinson says that he expects if they had kept on digging they would have found many more, as these were lying comparatively close together. The bones of the fingers and toes bad crumbled away, but the finger of one skeleton hand was sufficiently strong to hold a ring of what appears to be lead or some similar base metal. The skeletons were unusually well formed, but one unique feature was that the arms were several inches shorter than ordinarily appears, while the size of the bones of the forearm was enormous in comparison to the usual models.

Beside two of the skeletons were spears, rudely shaped with a soft metal and pointed with sharp stones. The spears were only about three feet long and five inches thick at the top. tapering at the lower end. The top contained a socket into which a wooden shaft was notably placed, in order to wield the big piece of metal. Other pieces of stone and carved metal were found. The general physical appearance of the skeletons, according to the cursory examination of the miners, was similar to that of the Indians of the present day. They were certainly of the flathead type of the present northern tribes. That the burying place Is of ancient origins evidenced by the fact that the Indians say none of their tribesmen have lived within fifty miles of this place as far back as stories have been handed down. There are several mounds, presumably made by the Indians, in the vicinity of the new mine tunnel now being extended.

Source:  San Francisco Call, Volume 87, Number 171, 18 November 1900