The UnXplained: Giant Skeletons Found In Wild West Cave (Season 4) | History

Lovelock, Nevada, 1911. Inside a narrow cave, two miners are searching for bat guano, a key ingredient in making fertilizer. But as they head deeper into the darkness, they make an unexpected discovery. They find more than 40 human skeletons, some of which are abnormally large. In 1911, giant bones were found in Lovelock Cave. Large human skulls and skeletons that measured between seven and eight feet in height, which for ancient man would have been rather significant. This caused a sensation and one of the strange things about the discoveries in Lovelock Cave is that the skeletons were often found with red hair. And so it does seem like there are a different kind of people than the Native Americans from the area. Although many of the large bones found in Lovelock Cave were unfortunately lost to time, for decades, the number of skulls were preserved at a local museum. Until about 10 years ago, there were four very large skulls on display inside the museum. These were then removed and ceremonially buried. What's also interesting is that over 100,000 artifacts were excavated from Lovelock Cave. The strange thing is that many of the artifacts were huge, like you have giant size sandals, like a 15 inch long shoe, which is size 29 US, which would fit someone who's about nine feet tall. And even pieces of clothing, which was so big, looked as though they were worn by giants. The idea that giant bones were actually found in a cave in Nevada may sound far-fetched to some. But the truth is that there were many such discoveries reported during the Wild West. In the southwestern United States, there's several very strange stories of these dead corpses or skeletons being found regularly. In terms of the reports of giants, this is a compelling motif. People were fascinated by this idea of a giant race that had lived here previously. And this connects to a lot of biblical belief that tended to be fairly literal back in the day. And the Bible talks about back when there was a race of giants that lived among the earth. And so for many people in the Wild West, when you see some skeletons dug out of the earth that seem to corroborate this, this was an affirmation of literal biblical beliefs as well. Is it really possible that a race of giants once inhabited the Old West, as the numerous discoveries reported throughout the 1800s suggest? And if so, was evidence of these giants recovered in Lovelock Cave? Perhaps a clue can be found by examining the history of the indigenous Paiute people who have inhabited the Nevada desert for centuries. A woman named Sarah Winnemucca, who was a descendant of Chief Winnemucca of the Paiutes, wrote a book in the 1800s and recounted her people's battle with this race of giants, the Sitika. Now, what's fascinating about this is that she says that it was an actual battle, not part of tribal lore or mythology, but something that actually occurred. The Sitika were red-haired and lived in the mountains near the Paiute nation, and they were cannibals. According to the Paiutes, they naturally grew tired of being cannibalized, and they confronted these giants. A war was started between the giants and the Paiute people. For three years, they battled one another. The last of the giants holed themselves up in the Lovelock Cave, and the Paiute people stuffed the openings with a bunch of brush and firewood and lit the place on fire. And that was the end of the red-haired giant cannibals. What's also interesting is that when the discovery was made in 1911 at Lovelock Cave, they also found evidence of extreme burning, which took place near the entrance to the cave. So this matches the story almost precisely. And again, we have evidence of red hair because Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins actually saved some of the hair and sewed it into a morning dress, which she used when she gave lectures. And so the story of the Paiutes defeating the giants then suddenly became a reality. For many, the evidence in support of the Paiute story about the red-headed giants is compelling. Not only because of what was found in Lovelock Cave, but also because there have been reports of giant bones being discovered in other places throughout the western Nevada desert. If you go back and look through the records, you can find numerous accounts of bones, skeletons, and giant-sized artifacts that have been found in this area. In 1904, it was reported that an 11-foot-tall skeleton was found. And then we have accounts in 1931 of an eight-and-a-half-foot skeleton that was reported. And so the fact is you have the stories, you have the skeletal evidence, and you have the artifacts and even the legends that prove this was a real story of giants in this area. To be sure, the Paiutes believe this to be a historical truth. People might dismiss them as just folklore. But again, who's to say that it didn't happen? Of course there were ethnic conflicts. Of course there were wars. And of course people tend to remember this. So this has been a real important part of many, many people's historical beliefs and how they think about their own history.