Debate develops over Mormon Fort bones

Friday, May 29, 1998 | 2:21 a.m.

The remains of what appears to be a 19th century Paiute Indian have been unearthed at the Mormon Fort, state officials and a spokesman for local American Indians have confirmed.

"It was an educated guess without the proper testing that the remains are that of a Native American," Nevada Division of State Parks Supervisor Roy Orr said Thursday.

The significance of the find at Southern Nevada's oldest standing structure is a subject for debate as state and local records indicate that no one -- Indian or non-Indian -- was buried at the site since 1849, six years before the fort was built, Orr said.

The discovery of the incomplete skeleton occurred May 20 during an archeological dig at the site adjacent to Cashman Field at Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue, Orr said.

Las Vegas 1, a 24-hour cable television news channel affiliated with the Sun, KLAS-TV and Prime Cable, broke the story of the discovery in its Wednesday night broadcasts.

The TV station reported that the remains were believed to be that of an Indian woman. Officials on Thursday would not confirm whether the skeletal remains were that of a man or a woman.

Richard Arnold, longtime executive director of the Las Vegas Indian Center, says the remains are being treated as those of a Paiute because of the manner in which the body was buried and because the Southern Paiute tribe is indigenous to the region.

Asked if the Paiutes planned to take court action to stop the dig so as not to disturb other Indian bodies that may be buried there, Arnold, a Paiute, said: "That is a decision that will be left to the tribal elders and their collective wisdom."

Digging at the fort began two years ago, not for the purpose of looking for ancient gravesites, but rather to help officials build a replica of the original fort on the site.

Plans call for digging to continue, Orr said, noting that the next phase, to restore the old creek that used to run by the fort, is scheduled to begin in July or August.

Arnold and Orr agreed that the handling of the discovery of the bones met the requirements of both the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the state's Protection of Indian Burial Sites law.

After the bones were found, representatives of the State Historical Preservation office, Nevada Indian Commission and local tribes examined the site.

Because the means of burial for Indians is different than that of non-Indians, experts were convinced that the remains were not that of an early Mormon settler or of a more recent homicide victim.

However, whether the remains indeed are that of a Paiute is fodder for debate as Southern Nevada in the mid-19th century was a popular trading area for many tribes.

Also, it is possible that the remains predate the Mormon Fort, though Arnold does not necessarily agree with Orr on that point.

"An error could have been made in the record-keeping of that time or some records could have been lost or destroyed," Arnold said, rebutting official records that say no one was supposed to have been buried at the fort in the past 149 years.

However, Arnold would not entirely rule out the possibility that the remains were that of an Indian who died before the fort was built. He said Paiutes believe their ancestors date back "to the beginning of time" in Southern Nevada.

The remains were turned over to tribal elders who have placed them in storage until a decision is made as to where and in what fashion they will be reinterred, Orr and Arnold said.

The fort was built in 1855, the year Mormon President Brigham Young sent 30 men to Las Vegas Springs to, as he was quoted as saying, "build a fort there to protect immigrants and the U.S. mail from the Indians and teach them how to raise corn, wheat, squash and melons" -- and to expand the Mormon state of Deseret.

William Bringhurst became president of the Las Vegas mission and oversaw the building of the 154-square-foot adobe fort by both missionaries and Indians. The walls were 2 feet thick and stood 14 feet high. A U.S. post office was established at the fort shortly after it was built.

In 1857, Young terminated the Las Vegas mission as settlers found it difficult to grow crops in the extreme desert heat and high alkaline soil. As the years passed, the fort fell into decay and just a small portion of it remains today.

Officials hope to re-establish the fort as a major Southern Nevada monument complete with ranch houses, vegetation and a creek.