pay cost of transporting the collection back to Homer, Nebraska, should the said D. Charles Bristol demand the return of the collection.

"It is further agreed and understood by and between both parties that the said D. Charles Bristol collection shall remain intact and be kept and called one collection, and not be scattered. It shall be held in trust by the said Historical Society for D. Charles Bristol and his heirs until such a time as the said D. Charles Bristol shall demand its return. Upon the death of D. Charles Bristol it shall be held in trust for the legal heirs of the said D. Charles Bristol until such a time as they (the legal heirs) shall agree in writing to sell the entire collection to some person or institution where it can be maintained as a whole to be known as the 'D. Charles Bristol Collection.' At such a time the Nebraska State Historical Society shall have the first right to purchase the collection at the price offered; but if the said Nebraska State Historical Society can not or will not purchase the entire collection, then the Nebraska State Historical Society shall turn over the said D. Charles Bristol collection, each piece and every part of said collection, in good condition, and without question to the legitimate purchaser of the same, free of cost.

"D. C. BRISTOL.

"MRS. D. C. BRISTOL.

"GEO. L. MILLER,

President.

"H. W. CALDWELL,

Secretary.

"J. A. BARRETT,

Curator.

"E. E. BLACK MAN,
Archeologist.

"Witness:

G. M. BEST.

"[Notarial Seals.]"

September 10 I went to Homer and packed the collection, making a catalogue of the same at the time. I gave, as near as Mr. Bristol can remember, the history of each piece.

While at Homer I explored the surrounding country as much as time would permit, and Mr. M. A. Bancroft has volunteered to aid in the study of that vicinity. Mr. Bancroft is a wideawake, hustling newspaper man and he has succeeded in learning a few facts about the Omaha village which was once at the mouth of Omaha creek, a few miles east of where Homer now stands. The site of this village has gone into the river, but many mounds are scattered along the bluffs around Homer. Part of the history of this village is to be found in books.

I erected a tablet on the farm of Mr. T. C. Baird where a ledge of rock is covered with Indian pictographs. These should be photographed.

September 24 I visited the home of J. W. Ingles at Pleasant Hill in Saline county. Mr. Ingles came to Pleasant Hill when the Indians wandered through Saline county and has been in the mercantile business ever since. He has gathered a number of interesting and curious things, which he has loaned to the Historical Society for safe-keeping. No small part of this collection is a number of U. S. silver and bronze coins which will grow more valuable as time goes on. Two gold quarter-dollars are found in the collection, as well as a number of Indian relics. The smaller donations to the mu seum will be found in the catalogue of the museum.

The latter part of 1906 was spent in arranging the new collections brought in, and in placing the "Omaha Charlie” collection in the cases.

To the Honorable Executive Board, Nebraska State Historical Society:

The first part of the year was spent in rearranging the museum to make a place for the collections which have re

cently been added; a complete catalog of the museum was prepared in brief and is submitted as part of this report.

CAIRO TRIP.

May 1, I visited Cairo, Nebraska, to investigate a mound which had recently been opened near there. The account of this mound may be found in the Cairo Record of April 26, 1907, and need not be repeated here.

The grave is on a high bluff known as Kyne's Bluff which overlooks Sweet creek, near its junction with the South Loup river.

I am of the opinion that this lone burial was made during a hunting expedition and that the warrior was buried about 1870 or 1873. The implements and dress show him to have lived long after contact with the whites. His pipestem was found, but in the excavation they missed his pipe, which is probably there yet. I brought the bones and the other relics with me and have them in the museum.

It is not common for the modern Indian to bury even the prominent warriors five feet deep. I am of the opinion that part of that depth was made by the wind; I noticed that the bluff is composed of a light loose soil mixed with sand. In places it is nearly all sand. The wind seems to build the points of bluffs higher by blowing the light soil and sand into drifts a few inches back of the prominent face of the bluff and directly on top of it. There are a number of well-defined surface lines to be seen when the edge of the bluff is cut with a spade. This may be caused by an upward current of air carrying the loose particles up the face of the bluff when the wind blows directly against it.

The whole surrounding country is more or less "sand-hills" and by a study of the formation of these hills one can account for the remains of this Indian being five feet deep when he was probably buried three feet deep. There is an ideal camp ground for hunting parties near this permanent home.

gravé, but no signs of a

I made a trip to Weeping Water during May. I wished to find the flint outcropping in the bluffs near there and get a more definite knowledge of the mound just east of that town. The flint I failed to find, and the tops of the hills east of town skirting the Weeping Water valley show camp sites on nearly every level spot. Chipped flints and potsherds are to be found in many fields, showing that this stream was a well-traveled highway. The nature of the chips of flint lead me to believe that the highway led from the Nehawka quarries to the village sites on the Platte river.

There is a well-defined line of camp sites leading from the Platte river near Ashland to the Blue river near Beatrice, by way of Indian creek and Salt creek, and this Weeping Water trip convinced me that the same kind of a trail doubtless joined it not far from Ashland.

While at Weeping Water I secured an old grain cradle once used by Louis Giberson, who settled near Greenwood in an early day; he was a noted cradler and could put more grain in the windrow than any of his neighbors. This cradle was the one he used in this state. It was presented by his wife, Mrs. Giberson.

June 4 I delivered a lantern lecture before the York county teachers. While in York I called on C. C. Cobb, a merchant of that place who has gathered a fine collection of interesting material from all parts of the world. This he has tastefully displayed in a room built for it, which is 17 by 34 feet. His coin collection is especially fine, and his collection of musical instruments can not be duplicated in the West. We hope that he will think favorably of placing his collection in the Nebraska State Historical Society museum in time.

Johnson Brothers, dealers in shoes, purchased a fine lot of Indian costumes, moccasins, war-clubs, and beaded work when they lived near the Rosebud agency. This is all made with sinew and is a good representative collection of the work done at the Rosebud agency twenty years ago. You will find a complete catalog of this collection as part of this report. I packed the entire collection June 5 and shipped it to Lincoln.

To make room for this collection a new case was constructed 4 by 5 feet and 7 feet high. Johnson Brothers value this collection at $800. It is a nice addition to our museum; and is placed as a loan.

On June 15, I accompanied Prof. Harlan I. Smith, of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and Robt. F. Gilder of the World-Herald, on an exploring trip north of Florence to visit the place where the "Nebraska Loess Man". was found.

The trip was only a brief review of the excavation made and no new points were discovered save that at the depth of four feet from the surface bits of bone were found in the side of the wall of earth left in excavating; these bits of bone have the appearance of being gnawed by gophers.

Not far from these bits of bone, and in apparently undisturbed loess soil I found a small chip of whitish pink flint, very sharp and no larger than a gold dollar. This, to me, is an important find and carries more weight, as evidence, than anything else I have seen from that field. If this specimen of fiint was used by the loess man, this same loess man must have visited the home of this flint or he must have trafficked with those who did visit the original quarry.

If I mistake not this flint is the same as that brought north by the Pawnees about 1400 A.D. A number of bits of gray flint were found in the excavation which are certainly from the Nehawka quarry. This proves little, as the Nehawka quarry is not far away and primitive man used flint; the nodules crop out at Nehawka and this loess man may have found his flint on the surface. Perfect implements will be found in some future excavation, and when they are found much may be learned from them. Until the perfect implements are found, the best evidence to be obtained is found in the flint chips mingled with the bones of this loess man. is possible that these bits of flint are from the intrusive burial, or more properly the burial. (The bones of the loess man are supposed to be buried by nature at the time the loess was de

It