This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.
Had things gone a bit differently on January 6th, 1869, Rock Island may well have been the site of an archeological discovery to rival the tombs of Egypt.
W. H. Rossington, a reporter for the Rock Island Argus, was the first to break the story. A small party of scientists staying at the Rodman House had been exploring the cave that lay under Arsenal Island. This was the same cave in which Black Hawk claimed a mythical white swan lived. There were rumors during the Civil War that kegs of gunpowder had been secreted there by Southerners in an attempt to blow up the Island.
However, the scientists had discovered a small cavity at the rear of the cave which led them into a large interior apartment, obviously cut by human hands. Here lay, said the Argus, "one of the grandest collections of antiquarian curiosities ever discovered on this continent." There were 21 bas-reliefs, and inscriptions carved into the walls. There was a painting of a royal chieftain with a prisoner kneeling at his feet, and vassals leading animals—elephants, polar bears, lions, and various kinds of monkeys—into court. The richly embroidered cloths bespoke a great civilization—certainly the mound builders who were all the rage in the 19th century. Here was proof that there really was a great prehistoric civilization in the Mississippi Valley.
In an even more ornate further room, the scientists had come upon a great copper sarcophagus nine feet long and three feet wide inscribed with several hundred figures in a funeral procession. Inside were countless bones and weapons.
The scientists discovered a stairway in one corner leading down to another hidden room. Over the doorway, in Indian characters, was the phrase "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here," the same inscription Dante found at the gates of hell.
The Rock Island discovery was soon news around the world. It made the London Times. There was only one problem: the story was not true. Reporter Rossington had apparently encountered a slow news day and needed to fill space.
It was clear his talents were wasted as a journalist. He left the Argus soon thereafter and became a prominent lawyer in Topeka, Kansas.
Rock Island Lines with Roald Tweet is underwritten by Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
