Looking for a legacy in
a bag of bones
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October 31, 2011 |
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A human
jaw bone found in a Eureka,
Montana, dumpster in August last summer
resulted not in an attempt to launch a
murder investigation, but in an attempt
to give respect and dignity to a the
people whose contributions and
sacrifices helped build our nation. |
The Lincoln County, Montana, Sheriffs Office is
seeking help from anyone with information about
a bag of human bones found in a Eureka, Montana,
dumpster in August.
After months of analysis, it's been determined
that the lower jawbone and loose teeth found in
a zip-lock bag likely belong to someone whose
toil helped build this part of the country.
In the late 1800s, thousands of Chinese
immigrants helped build this country's railroads
and mines; "coolies" who left their homes
in Asia for the promised land with the intent of
building a better life than what they had in
their home countries.
Like the English, the Irish, the Germans, the
Lithuanians, those who came first were often
reviled and subject to indignity, subject to
often humane conditions, but they persevered,
and became part of this great melting pot we
call the United States of America.
That jawbone, those teeth, anthropologists say,
belonged to one of those Chinese immigrants
whose hard work helped build this nation, but
who didn't live long enough to live the American
dream.
In dying, though, he may have left those of his
family who survived, and became U.S. citizens, a
legacy.
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office doesn't know
who he was, only that he's part of our history.
The bones they have in their possession, those
of an adult Asian male, are the bones of an
ancestor of a Libby Logger, a Troy Trojan ... a
Bonners Ferry Badger. He died to let his child
go to school in a place where they might have a
better future than he did.
He didn't live the dream ... may have even been
a selfish man only looking out only for himeslf.
Even so ...
Chinese helped build the railroads of this
country, the roads, the dams. They did the hard
work, and did it well, knowing what every
American knows ... this is a land of opportunity
... a chance.
What we saw as sacrifice and toil, they saw as
opportunity.
They came and built businesses, familes and
lives. They built us. They ARE us.
The cooking pits they once gathered around near
Eastport while the hard work of cutting and
laying those lines are now listed on the
National Register of Historic places in Boundary
County.
This man, whose jaw bone we found in a dumpster
once worked here. Thanks to science, we know
what his nationality was ... before he became an
American.
The Lincoln County Sheriffs Office wants to see
that the few remains they now have in their
possession are treated with the respect they
deserve, that they are buried with dignity. That
those of our citizens who remember what he did
for them will have the chance to say goodbye to
one of the ancestors who brought them here.
There is no criminal investigation. Only an
attempt to find those who may remember. The sons
and daughters of a man who came to this country
in search of freedom and opportunity. He might
have died, but his legacy likely lives on.
If not in a person or a family ... maybe a
culture that has benefited our nation
immeasurably.
The facts are these;
On August 22, a mandible was found in a plastic
zip lock bag, along with loose teeth, at the
Trego Green Boxes and turned over to a deputy
sheriff in Eureka. After a local dentist and
medical doctor confirmed it to be human the
following morning, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s
Office entered the mandible into evidence and
initiated an investigation.
On August 23, the Trego Green Boxes were secured
and searched. Additionally, the trash truck
carrying garbage from that collection site was
intercepted outside Libby and escorted to the
landfill where its contents were searched. Both
searches turned up no additional evidence of
human remains.
The next day, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s
Office took the mandible to the Montana State
Crime Lab for further analysis. Following a two
month analysis, which included the assistance of
an anthropologist at the University of Montana,
it was determined that the mandible is from an
adult male, likely representing remains from a
historic Chinese burial.
The State Crime Lab concluded that the mandible
was likely from a Chinese immigrant most likely
working in the late 1800s as either a miner or
on the construction of the railroad.
After receiving these results from the State
Crime Lab, the State Historic Preservation
Office was notified and they provided The
Lincoln County Sheriffs Office with burial
instructions.
Prior to burial, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s
Office would like to make every attempt to
collect any additional remains from this case.
To assist in this effort, we are asking for the
person who dropped off this mandible at the
Trego Green Boxes to come forward and assist
them in this investigation.
To be clear, this is not a criminal
investigation.
If anyone has any information pertaining to this
case, please call the Lincoln County Sheriff’s
Office at (406) 293-4112 or speak with a
Sheriff’s Deputy at the Eureka office.
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