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A pair of human
footprints once graced a slab of limestone on the west bank of the Mississippi River at
St. Louis. In 1816 or 1817 the slab was quarried from its postiion & removed by
a Mr. George Rappe to the village of Harmony (Now New Harmony), Indiana. The prints
were 10 1/2 inches long, & 4 inches wide at the toes, 6 1/4 inches apart at the heels,
& 13 1/2 inches apart at the toes, reported Henry R. Schoocraft: |
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"The toes being very much spread, & the foot
flattened in a manner that happens to those who have been habituated to go a great length
of time without shoes. Notwithstanding this circumstance, the prints are strikingly
natural, exhibiting every muscular impression, & swell of the heel & toes, with a
precision & faithfulness to nature, which I have not been able to copy, with perfect
exactness, in the present drawing...........
Every appearance will warrant the conclusion that these
impressions were made at a time when the rock was soft enough to recieve them by pressure,
& that the marks of feet are natural & genuine."
In the geologic scheme of things, this limestone hardened
about 270 million years ago. Both the rock & the prints in it were said to show
the same evidence of wear & aging.
From: Mysteries of the Unexplained, page 35,
by Reader's Digest.
They give their source as:
The American Journal of Science
& Arts, 1:5:223 - 31, 1822 |