d the
bodies with white or yellow sand, which I suppose was carried from
the river-bank, 200 yards distant. The skeletons approximated the
walls of the grave, and contiguous to them was a dark-colored earth,
and so decidedly different was this from all surrounding it, both in
quality and odor, that the line of the bodies could be readily
traced. The odor of this decomposed earth, which had been flesh, was
similar to clotted blood, and would adhere in lumps when compressed
in the hand.

This was not the grave of the Indian warriors; in those we find pots
made of earth or stone, and all the implements of war, for the
warrior had an idea that after he arose from the dead he would need,
in the "hunting-grounds beyond," his bow and arrow, war-hatchet, and
scalping-knife.

The facts set forth will doubtless convince every Mason who will
carefully read the account of this remarkable burial that the
American Indians were in possession of at least some of the
mysteries of our order, and that it was evidently the grave of
Masons, and the three highest officers in a Masonic lodge. The grave
was situated due east and west; an altar was erected in the center;
the south, west, and east were occupied--_the north was not_;
implements of authority were near each body. The difference in the
quality of the beads, the tomahawks in one, two, and three pieces,
and the difference in distance that the bodies were placed from the
surface, indicate beyond doubt that these three persons had been
buried by Masons, and those, too, that understood what they were
doing.

Will some learned Mason unravel this mystery and inform the Masonic
world how the Indians obtained so much Masonic information?

The tomahawks, maxillary bones, some of the teeth, beads, and other
bones, have been forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution at
Washington, D.C., to be placed among the archives of that
institution for exhibition, at which place they may be seen.

Should Dr. Spainhour's inferences be incorrect, there is still a
remarkable coincidence of circumstances patent to every Mason.

In support of this gentleman's views, attention is called to the
description of the _Midawan_--a ceremony of initiation for would-be
medicine men--in Schoolcraft's History of the Indian Tribes of the
United States, 1855, p. 428, relating to the Sioux and Chippewas. In
this account are found certain forms and resembl