Phillips County Museum News for May 22, 2019

Spring brings many joys and one that I appreciate is the chance to get outside and just wander.

Keep your eyes to the ground and you never know what treasure or gruesome item you will find. In 1935 men fencing in the breaks of Frenchman Creek discovered bones protruding from the ground. An investigation into the bones found a human skull that had been laid in a shallow grave.

It appeared the hole had been lined with thick bark to provide a type of coffin. A lid had been given to the coffin made from the same material. The soil had covered the grave, but elements had eroded both soil and bark until the skeleton became visible.

Sheriff R. Campbell reported that a longtime county resident believed the skeleton was a woman named Coe who died many years ago in the Whitewater community and was buried in the vicinity. It is my hope that none of us find human skeletons but keeping your eyes to the ground has produced many treasures from the prairie.

Visit us at the PC Museum. Hours are Monday -Saturday 10-5.