Ambrose Bierce Is Missing: and Other Historical Mysteries
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Kentucky UKnowledge History in General History 1992 Ambrose Bierce is Missing: And Other Historical Mysteries Joe Nickell Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Nickell, Joe, "Ambrose Bierce is Missing: And Other Historical Mysteries" (1992). History in General. 3. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_history_in_general/3 Ambrose Bierce Is Missing This page intentionally left blank Ambrose Bierce Is Missing And Other Historical Mysteries JOE NICKELL THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Copyright© 1992 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. Editorial and Sales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nickell, Joe. Ambrose Bierce is missing and other historical mysteries I Joe Nickell. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN: 978-0-8131-5417-6 1. History-Miscellanea. 2. Curiosities and wonders. I. Title. D21.3.N53 1991 902-dc20 91-3049 This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. § Dedicated to }OHN T. SHAWCROSS This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix 1. Introduction History and the Investigative Approach 1 2. Ancient Riddles The Mystery of the Nazca Lines 7 3. Biographical Enigmas Ambrose Bierce Is Missing 19 4. Hidden Identity Unmasking a Nazi Monster 35 5. Fakelore Swift's Lost Silver Mine 53 6. Questioned Artifacts D. Boone Riddles 72 7. Suspect Documents Lincoln's Bixby Letter 94 8. Lost Texts Cooke's "Missing" Edition 110 9. Obscured Sources Hawthorne's "Veiled Lady" 123 10. Scientific Challenges Pseudoscience and the Shroud 138 11. Afterword Some Lessons Learned 152 Notes 156 Index 173 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Portions of this book first appeared in the author's doctoral disserta tion, Literary Investigation: Texts, Sources, and "Factual" Substructs of Literature and Interpretation, University of Kentucky, 1987. I am su premely grateful to the members of my dissertation committee John T. Shawcross (director), R. Gerald Alvey, John Greenway, Michael Harris, Jerome Meckier, and Rupert Pickens-for their help. I also wish to thank the following publications for permission to reprint several articles, which appeared in somewhat different form under the titles given: Skeptical Inquirer (editor, Kendrick Frazier) for "The Nazca Drawings Revisited" and "Unshrouding a Mystery: Science, Pseudoscience, and the Cloth of Turin"; Lincoln Herald (editor, Joseph E. Suppiger; Scott D. Millar, executive vice presi dent, Lincoln Memorial University), for "Lincoln's Bixby Letter: A Study in Authenticity"; Filson Club History Quarterly (editor, Nelson Dawson) for "Uncovered-the Fabulous Silver Mines of Swift and Filson" and "Daniel Boone Fakelore"; and Free Inquiry (editor, Paul Kurtz; managing editor, Mary Beth Gehrman) for "Mechanic of Death: The Case of Ivan the Terrible." In addition to those individuals mentioned in the text I am also grateful to Robert H. van Outer and the University of Kentucky Photographic Services for photographic assistance; the staffs of the Margaret I. King Library, University of Kentucky, and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, West Liberty, Kentucky, for research assistance; my mother, Ella T. Nickell, for typing the manuscript; and the many others who helped in various ways, especially two who have since passed away-my father, J. Wendell Nickell, and my great uncle, Milton C. Nickell-with whom I spent much fondly remembered time in historical pursuits. This page intentionally left blank Introduction 1 ------ History and the Investigative Approach Man's view of history-the world's significant past events-does not remain static. Just as science came to discredit the theory of geocentricism (the belief that the earth is the center of the universe) and to acknowledge the truth of reports that stones fell from the sky, so it is with historiography (the writing of history):! One genera tion's dubious legend may become another's accepted historical fact-and vice versa. Take ancient Troy, for example. That citadel of Asia Minor had been made famous by Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, which related how the Greeks besieged Troy to rescue the beautiful Helen. Later pseudochronicles helped diffuse the legend of the Trojan War throughout western Europe. There even arose a patriotic tradition, lasting for a millennium, that the dispersed heroes of the tale had founded such Western nations as England and France.2 By the nineteenth century, however, most scholars had come to dismiss the tale of the Iliad-and with it the city of Troy-as mere fiction.3 Now the view has again changed, owing in part to the archaeo logical investigations of Heinrich Schliemann and others. In the 1870s Schliemann, a self-taught scholar, excavated what is now generally believed to be the fabled fortress of Troy. On the basis of much additional data-notably evidence that Troy was apparently sacked by invading Greeks about the twelfth or thirteenth century B.c.-the skeptical attitude toward the epic tradition has consider ably softened. 4 Schliemann had set out with a determination to uncover evi dence of Homer's ancient world. His success was fabulous: In addition to the legendary city, he discovered-across the Aegean Sea in Greece-royal graves with astonishing riches. His successful 2 Ambrose Bierce Is Missing approach-which culminated in the unearthing of clear proof of the great culture we now know as Mycenaes-was essentially a dra matic, investigative one. While the verbs research and investigate can be used inter changeably, and indeed may denote the same activity, the latter term connotes a particular type of scholarly or scientific examination or inquiry. Not only does investigation involve an attempt to bring information to light, but it implies a type of information that is particularly obfuscated. Thus we may speak of conducting paleon tological research, but of investigating the "mystery" of the dino saurs' extinction. When there may be a suggestion of deliberate obfuscation, as in the clandestine or even criminal activities of individuals, the term investigate may seem especially appropriate. Therefore, while we "research" the effects of smoking or the causes of economic growth, we "investigate" a diversion of funds or a homicide. In short, the systematic seeking of knowledge is re search, the attempt to solve a specific mystery an investigation. We may extend the distinction to the historical arena. Thus "historical investigation" is defined as that aspect of research in which appropriate methodologies are applied toward the resolu tion of historical conundrums. For example, whereas one might refer broadly to Revolutionary War research, one would doubtless speak of an investigation to determine whether some questioned battle actually took place. Again, one may conduct research toward the writing of an important figure's biography, but investigate an apparent secret in his or her life. The results of historical investigation may solve cultural, polit ical, biographic, or other enigmas, or may shed light on additional historical problems. While some of these results may become only footnotes to history, they obviate the need for further investigation, may open up new areas for study, and may enhance the interpre tation of that which was already known. Procedurally, just as with a problem in law or science, the investigation of a historical mystery may involve several potentially applicable hypotheses. As David Binder and Paul Bergman state in their legal text, Fact Investigation: From Hypothesis to Proof, "Investi gation is often all too readily thought of as merely a time to learn evidence. But remember that the evidence-gathering phase of in vestigation is normally preceded by analysis which ultimately dic tates what evidence one pursues. This analysis concerns in part the The Investigative Approach 3 potential legal theories and factual hypotheses that one may pursue during investigation."6 Additionally, W.I.B. Beveridge-in his The Art of Scientific Investigation-describes the significance of hypoth esis in investigation: "Hypothesis is the most important mental technique of the investigator, and its main function is to suggest new experiments or new observations. Indeed, most experiments and many observations are carried out with the deliberate object of testing an hypothesis. Another function is to help one see the significance of an object or event that otherwise would mean noth ing. For instance, a mind prepared by the hypothesis of evolution would make many more significant observations on a field excur sion than one not so prepared. Hypotheses should be used as tools to uncover new facts rather