Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1881 — Skeleton of an Indian Chief in Armor. [ARTICLE]

Skeleton of an Indian Chief in Armor.

Some time ago, some boys while playing in the rear of the town hall at East Machias, discovered what appeared to be the burial place of an Indian. The remains have recently been exhumed and are, perhaps, the most interesting ever discovered in Maine. They are evidently those of a chief. A copper band nearly two inches wide encircled the head. To the right ear, which was dried and well preserved, were attached ornaments of copper two and one-half inches long by one wide. A part of the scalp was also preserved, showing the long black hair peculiar to the Indians. Upon the breast rested an iron knife completely oxidized. A piece of the skin with the imprint of the knife was also found. The face was covered with a mat made of the leaves of the cattail "rush. Birch bark was used to envelop the head, while the whole body was wrapped in a moose skin of which the hair and a few fragments remained upon the breast Outside of this skin was a copper breast-plate sixteen or seventeen inches long. There was also found a triangular hatchet, like those used by the early French settlers. Captain John Smith mentions such hatchets in the hands of the savages. Dr. J. P. Sheahan, of Dennysville, has obtained possession of these relics, which resembles others obtained by him from Frenchman’s Lake, New Brunswick. It is stated that Dr. Shehau is preparing a minute description of the skeleton and its surroundings for the Maine Historical Society. Portland {Me.) Advertiser.