Man wants to know what to do with old bones he found in an attic
10-27-07 - North America — , Colorado
Ralph Swett is a self-described pack rat, but even he was surprised when he pried open a box taken from a Ryegate attic decades ago and saw what was inside: two human skulls, some long bones, pieces of spine and other remains.
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Written on one of the skulls was an explanation. The bones belonged to victims of an Indian massacre in Colorado in 1854 and they'd been dug up during construction of a hotel in Pueblo in 1888. Another bone, a scapula or shoulder bone, bears what appears to be anatomical notations.
Now Swett, 77, who claims Abenaki heritage and is the leader of a loosely affiliated group of people with Indian ancestry who call themselves the Clan of the Hawk, is trying to decide what to do with the bones.
He first discovered the bones about 15 years ago, but put them away and rediscovered them last spring. Over the summer he had them on display in a small Indian museum on his property, but last week they were packed up and brought inside for the winter. He says he wants to do the right thing with the bones, but he doesn't know what that is.
"I was hoping somebody would come along and offer me a million dollars for them," said Swett.
Earlier this summer Swett told the Pueblo Historical Society about the bones. Vermont officials know about the bones, too, but so far the only official communication he had was one phone discussion with the chairman of Vermont's Commission on Native American Affairs.
"They're welcome to come, I have no problem with anybody or anything, but they belong to me," he said.
Deborah Espinosa, the director of the El Pueblo History Museum built near the site of the massacre, has referred the matter to the Colorado state archaeologist.
"I want these bones to come home to Colorado," said Espinosa. "It really sounds like he has a very significant part of our city's history."
Espinosa said that on Dec. 24, 1854, a number of Ute and Jicarilla Apaches Indians, upset by their treatment by the settlers in the region, attacked or kidnapped everyone at the trading post, which at the time was on the U.S-Mexican border. About 13 or 14 people died, including a handful of attackers.
Neighbors of the settlers who were killed buried them where they died. Espinosa said it was likely the bodies of the attackers were left to the elements. After the attack, the area was abandoned for years by outsiders.
"It's really a very dramatic story, one of the first episodes of the result of the rising American Indian tensions here," Espinosa said.
Swett doesn't think the bones are those of Indians, but rather the remains of settlers. "
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