Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1891 — Found a Very Old Sword. [ARTICLE]

Found a Very Old Sword.

A rare archaeological treasure was unearthed at Dubuque, lowa. Henry Wagner, an old gentleman living in Hee b’s Hollow, in the northern part of the city, was digging in his garden when his spade turned over the bladn of a rusty sword lying about two feet below the surface. When the rust and dirt which thickly incrusted the blade was carefully removed, numerous inscriptions became visible. On one side near the hilt is an ornamental scroll bearing the date 1580; above is the figure of a bound leaping; still further up the blade is engraved a mailed hand holding a sword. On the reverse is a suit of armor with lances and crossed swords, and above it a papal miter. Over the entire blade runs delicately engraved scroll work, which is now only faintly visible. Local archaologists think the sword a relic of the early French explorers who first visited the valley of the Mississippi.