Science Forums 2

[Turtle]

So I posted this as a 'Quirky History Fact', but I think it needs further exploration. Is this story true? If not, what's the real story? If so, where is the network of caves exactly, and where are the artifacts from it now?

Given we have evidence the Egyptians traded in the Americas by virtue of cocaine & tobacco in their mummies (Tobacco and cocaine in Egyptian mummies), is it possible they lived here as well?

Anybody here hear of this before? ........

Phoenix Gazette Grand Canyon article text, April 5, 1909

Originally Posted by ARIZONA GAZETTE

According to the story related to the Gazette by Mr. Kinkaid, the archeologists of the Smithsonian Institute [1], which is financing the expeditions, have made discoveries which almost conclusively prove that the race which inhabited this mysterious cavern, hewn in solid rock by human hands, was of oriental origin, possibly from Egypt, tracing back to Ramses. If their theories are borne out by the translation of the tablets engraved with hieroglyphics, the mystery of the prehistoric peoples of North America, their ancient arts, who they were and whence they came, will be solved. Egypt and the Nile, and Arizona and the Colorado will be linked by a historical chain running back to ages which staggers the wildest fancy of the fictionist.
...
"First, I would impress that the cavern is nearly inaccessible. The entrance is 1,486 feet down the sheer canyon wall. It is located on government land and no visitor will be allowed there under penalty of trespass. The scientists wish to work unmolested, without fear of archeological discoveries being disturbed by curio or relic hunters.

A trip there would be fruitless, and the visitor would be sent on his way. The story of how I found the cavern has been related, but in a paragraph: I was journeying down the Colorado river in a boat, alone, looking for mineral. Some forty-two miles up the river from the El Tovar Crystal canyon, I saw on the east wall, stains in the sedimentary formation about 2,000 feet above the river bed. There was no trail to this point, but I finally reached it with great difficulty.

PS Would a kind Editor fix my misspelling of Egyptians in the title?