Welcome To Illinois:The Cave Time Almost Forget.

Every child who grew up attending public school has had the same little ditty drilled into their head until it became a mantra, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” Yes, Christopher Columbus did land in the New World on that date, however there is much debate on the subject of whether or not Columbus was the first from the Old World to truly step foot on the shores of America. Over the last forty years shocking evidence has come to light that the New World may have been visited many years before Columbus’ historic voyage.

In 1964, a Swedish archeology student discovered the ruins of a Viking settlement in L’anse Aux Meadows, in Newfoundland and some evidence that may prove blood thirsty, axe wielding, badass Vikings may have been the first to step foot on the shores of North America. Or Perhaps the Welsh can make the claim to be the first. According to written records and some ruins that were discovered here in the good old US of A, a Welsh prince named Madoc, may have led an entire colony of settlers to the New World in the twelfth century. It is believed by many students of alternetive archeology that, Madoc’s settelers, in order to survive, were absorbed into the local Native population as evidenced by a now extinct tribe called the Mandan, who had light hair, gray eyes and possessed the ability to grow facial hair. Colonists who encountered the Mandan, said these very European looking natives were the most civilized and their language sounded suspiciously Welsh. The Mandan’s were whiped out by smallpox in the early 18th century.

Or perhaps an Irish monk can lay claim to being the first. In the 5th century, Brenden made an historic visit in search of a Island called, “The Land of The Blessed.” Many believe that Brenden, may have actually made it to the North American continent and lived among the Native population teaching them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some Native American tribes have legends concerning a white man who came from across the sea and taught them about the one true God. However in 1982, new evidence came to light from right here in the Prairie state that may prove that none of these cultures were the first that perhaps ancient Egyptians may have been the first to discover the America and left evidence of their visit in a cave in Southern Illinois.

In the summer of 1982, Rusty Burrows a spelunker from Illinois may have been the man who found the controversial evidence that proved an ancient connection to the Land Of the Pharoahs. While hiking through the vast wilderness of southern Illinois, Burrows, literally stumbled onto a cave when he tripped on a tree root and almost fell to his death into the yawning black maw. Burrows, was of the mind that no cave should ever go unexplored got his gear together and jumped into the dark unknown.

When Burrows reached the bottom of the cave he discovered strange writing on the wall that looked suspiciously like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. As Burrows, explored the cave he discovered human remains that were ceremoniously buried with swords, Urns and other artifacts which pointed to the possibility that this cave may be the tomb of some great Egyptian prince or another person of great significance. At first, Burrows wanted to keep this amazing find a secret after all who would believe that ancient Egyptian explorers actually made it the heartland of the United States. But like anything else, the discovery was made known to the mainstream scientific community and it was game on.

Almost immediately, without seeing the cave, archeologists and other researchers denounced the cave and it’s artifacts as a fraud and a hoax perpetrated by a man who wanted to make a quick buck. To the mainstream scientific community the idea of ancient Egyptians reaching the new world was preposterous. Egyptians were not well known explorers and neither did they stray to far away from home when they sailed. Upon seeing a few of the artifacts, researchers claimed that the clay figures were proof of the hoax. The artifacts were to amateurish looking for a people who were well known artisans. Immediately believers in the cave blasted back by saying the people who fashioned the artifacts had possession of very crude tools and could not give it the same professional look that they would given them back home. The mainstream was not convinced.

If the cave and it’s strange artifacts are proof of the presence of ancient Egyptians, how did they get here? Burrows and other students of alternative Archeology believe that the ancient visitors made landfall some where in Louisiana and made their way up the Mississippi into southern Illinois. It is also believed that the ancient visitors took refuge in the cave for two reasons either they came under attack by the local native tribes or perhaps the harsh winter of Illinois drove them underground where they either eventually froze or starved to death. Either way the ancient Egyptian expedition, if it did happen was screwed from the start. I suppose it should also be noted, when settlers began exploring and setting up shop here in Illinois they discovered something very strange about the Algonquin people and their language. The Algonquin language sounded like a Semitic language, much like ancient Hebrew or Punic. Of course this could coincedence and nothing more.

To this day archeologists and paleontologists both agree that Burrows’ cave is a downright hoax and nothing else and do not plan to investigate further. But what if it isn’t a hoax? Perhaps Rusty Burrows is telling the truth that an expdedition from Egypt penetrated the dense forest’s of the midwest and died in southern Illinois leaving a tomb and artifacts as proof of their presence. It is true that many ancient cultures did lack the technology to build ships that could cross the vast oceans of the world. That is except for the Phoenicians. The Phoenician people were a society of merchants and explorers from the middle east who erected great ships that could easily have made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Phoenicians were always looking for new people to trade with and would go to the ends of the Earth to do so. Perhaps these ancient people made it to the shores of North America and upon meeting with the local Native tribes decided to strike up some kind of trade. Oh well, I guess we will never know unless these men of science get up off their dead asses and look into the mystery of this Cave.

Rick E. Hale
t_seeker@hotmail.com