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My conclusion regarding the object of the deposit of the statue in this place, is as follows:–It was for the purpose of hiding and protecting it from an enemy who would have destroyed it, had it been discovered. It must have been carefully laid down, and as carefully covered with boughs and twigs of trees which prevented it from being discovered. Traces of this new decomposed vegetable covering can be seen on every side of the trench, and it is quite evident this vegetable matter originally extended across and above the statue.

Above this stratum of decayed matter, there is a deposit of very recent date, from eighteen inches to two feet in thickness, which may have been washed in, and likewise turned on by plowing. A farmer who had worked the land, told me that he had “back furrowed” around it, for the purpose of filling up the slough where the statue now lies.

It is positively absurd to consider this a “fossil man.” It has none of the indications that would designate it as such, when examined by a practical chemist, geologist or naturalist. The underside is somewhat dissolved, and presents a very rough surface, and it is probable that all the back or lower portion, was never chiseled into form, and may have been designed to rest as a tablet. However, as the statue has not been raised, the correct appearance of the under surface has not been determined, save by feeling as I pressed my hand as far as I could reach under different portions of the body, while its lower half lay beneath the water.

This is one of the greatest curiosities of the early history of Onondaga county, and my great desire is that it should be preserved for the Onondaga Historical Society. Efforts are being made by some of our citizens to secure this in the county where it belongs, and not suffer it to bear the fate of other archeological specimens found in this region.

Hoping to be able to write you more in a few days, I remain
yours truly, JOHN F. BOYNTON.”

IS THE BODY A PETRIFACTION?

“The majority of visitors disagree with the opinion of Dr. Boynton, that the figure is a statue, and pronounce it a petrified man. It is claimed that no sculptor would have invented such an unheard of position and design for a statue. No sculptor could have so perfectly imitated nature, especially in the minutiae which render the image such a wonder. It is claimed by the stone cutters and quarrymen who are constantly engaged in cutting the Onondaga County stone, that no single block could have been found of sufficient size, without a seam, from which to have chiseled out such a monster, (they claiming that the seam would have caused any such statue to split and fall apart under the necessary concussions required for cutting it to anything like its perfection in form.)

Other persons argue that no model of such a human being would have been likely to have been presented to any of the Indian or other inhabitants of America, within the past few centuries.

Many also ask for what reason should such an immense and expensive statue be hewn out and placed in so unfrequented a part of the country? How could it have been transported from the region of rocks to its present location, in a swamp entirely free from stones) especially since it is completely without any base or support of stone on which it can rest.” “No statue is known to have been constructed,” say the petrified advocates, “in reclining posture, unless the artist left some portion of the block of stone upon which the figure should rest, and be supported and strengthened for a durability of ages.”

Other incidental suggestions are set forth as follows, by a writer in the Syracuse Daily Standard. “