A sucker born every minute
Fort Dodge had a role in a famous 19th-century hoax
By CYNTHIA KANESHIRO Messenger staff writer
On Oct. 16, 1869, the ‘‘discovery’’ of a giant in the earth touched off what was one of the greatest hoaxes in America, and Fort Dodge was part of it.
On that day, a 10-foot, 4 1/2-inch tall, 2,990-pound ‘‘petrified man’’ and the ‘‘eighth wonder of the world’’ was found on a farm in Cardiff, N.Y.
According to David Parker, director of the Fort Museum and Frontier Village, the origins of the hoax started in the spring of 1866 when George Hull of Binghamton, N.Y., was in Ackley visiting his sister.
‘‘There was a tent show revival, and the preacher quoted text from the Bible, Genesis 6:4, that ‘There were giants in the earth in those days,’’’ said Parker.
According to Parker, Hull was an avowed atheist, and got into a discussion with the traveling preacher.
‘‘Hull decided to have fun with the guy,’’ said Parker.
In the summer of 1868, Hull was in Fort Dodge and asked about gypsum rock quarries, according to Parker.
According to a May 23, 1958, story in The Messenger, Hull and a Mr. Martin of Cedar Rapids tried to quarry a slab of gypsum themselves, but failed. They hired Michael Foley, of Fort Dodge, to do the job for them.
Foley managed to cut out a slab that weighed about 5 tons and was 20-feet long, 3-feet wide, and 18-inches thick.
‘‘The chunk of gypsum was sent to a railhead in Boone, then on to Chicago,’’ said Parker.
According to the Messenger story, the size and weight of the slab presented a problem for Hull — the roads of the day were not in the best shape. About 1,200 pounds of material was hacked off the slab.
‘‘In Chicago, sculptors who were sworn to secrecy were hired to carve the block of gypsum into a shape of a reclining giant, holding his stomach as if he was in great pain,’’ said Parker.
Parker pointed out that sulfuric acid was used to ‘‘age’’ the giant, and that needles were used to simulate skin pores in order to make the giant as realistic as possible.
The giant was then put in a box and shipped to Union, N.Y., where Hull retrieved it on Nov. 4, according to the Messenger story. By then, Hull had concocted a story on how the giant would be found.
Hull had a cousin, William ‘‘Stub’’ Newell, who lived outside of Cardiff. The plan was to bury the giant on Newell’s farm and to leave it there for about a year.
According to Parker, the area was a hotbed for paranormal activity.
‘‘Seances were held, and strange things happened. It was a great spot to do it,’’ said Parker.
The following spring, a farmer less than a mile from Newell discovered bones that scientists from Cornell University pronounced to be fossils. The incident helped pave the way for the discovery of the giant several months later, according to the Messenger story.
Hull told Newell to start telling his friends that his well was running dry, which Newell did over the summer.
On Oct. 16, 1869, Newell hired well drillers to dig a new well. Using a dowsing rod — a two-pronged stick used to find subsurface water — Newell led the drillers to the spot where the giant was buried.
‘‘They were told where to dig, and they dug, and they found the giant,’’ said Parker.
‘‘Nobody knew what it was,’’ continued Parker. ‘‘Within no time, trainloads of people from New York City were coming to see the giant. A tent set up, and admission was charged.’’
When winter weather started moving in, the giant was moved from Newell’s farm to be put on display in Syracuse. Admission was upped to
Originally posted by naitaka
Most of the finds were probably mammoth or mastodon bones. (There was an interesting show on the Discovery Channel a few weeks ago about a man in New York state who found a mastodon skeleton literally in his back yard.) Hoaxes also occurred, such as the 'Cardiff Giant'.
A sucker born every minute
Fort Dodge had a role in a famous 19th-century hoax
By CYNTHIA KANESHIRO Messenger staff writer
On Oct. 16, 1869, the ‘‘discovery’’ of a giant in the earth touched off what was one of the greatest hoaxes in America, and Fort Dodge was part of it.
On that day, a 10-foot, 4 1/2-inch tall, 2,990-pound ‘‘petrified man’’ and the ‘‘eighth wonder of the world’’ was found on a farm in Cardiff, N.Y.
According to David Parker, director of the Fort Museum and Frontier Village, the origins of the hoax started in the spring of 1866 when George Hull of Binghamton, N.Y., was in Ackley visiting his sister.
‘‘There was a tent show revival, and the preacher quoted text from the Bible, Genesis 6:4, that ‘There were giants in the earth in those days,’’’ said Parker.
According to Parker, Hull was an avowed atheist, and got into a discussion with the traveling preacher.
‘‘Hull decided to have fun with the guy,’’ said Parker.
In the summer of 1868, Hull was in Fort Dodge and asked about gypsum rock quarries, according to Parker.
According to a May 23, 1958, story in The Messenger, Hull and a Mr. Martin of Cedar Rapids tried to quarry a slab of gypsum themselves, but failed. They hired Michael Foley, of Fort Dodge, to do the job for them.
Foley managed to cut out a slab that weighed about 5 tons and was 20-feet long, 3-feet wide, and 18-inches thick.
‘‘The chunk of gypsum was sent to a railhead in Boone, then on to Chicago,’’ said Parker.
According to the Messenger story, the size and weight of the slab presented a problem for Hull — the roads of the day were not in the best shape. About 1,200 pounds of material was hacked off the slab.
‘‘In Chicago, sculptors who were sworn to secrecy were hired to carve the block of gypsum into a shape of a reclining giant, holding his stomach as if he was in great pain,’’ said Parker.
Parker pointed out that sulfuric acid was used to ‘‘age’’ the giant, and that needles were used to simulate skin pores in order to make the giant as realistic as possible.
The giant was then put in a box and shipped to Union, N.Y., where Hull retrieved it on Nov. 4, according to the Messenger story. By then, Hull had concocted a story on how the giant would be found.
Hull had a cousin, William ‘‘Stub’’ Newell, who lived outside of Cardiff. The plan was to bury the giant on Newell’s farm and to leave it there for about a year.
According to Parker, the area was a hotbed for paranormal activity.
‘‘Seances were held, and strange things happened. It was a great spot to do it,’’ said Parker.
The following spring, a farmer less than a mile from Newell discovered bones that scientists from Cornell University pronounced to be fossils. The incident helped pave the way for the discovery of the giant several months later, according to the Messenger story.
Hull told Newell to start telling his friends that his well was running dry, which Newell did over the summer.
On Oct. 16, 1869, Newell hired well drillers to dig a new well. Using a dowsing rod — a two-pronged stick used to find subsurface water — Newell led the drillers to the spot where the giant was buried.
‘‘They were told where to dig, and they dug, and they found the giant,’’ said Parker.
‘‘Nobody knew what it was,’’ continued Parker. ‘‘Within no time, trainloads of people from New York City were coming to see the giant. A tent set up, and admission was charged.’’
When winter weather started moving in, the giant was moved from Newell’s farm to be put on display in Syracuse. Admission was upped to $1 per person, according to the Messenger story.
Some of the greatest scientific minds and theological minds of the time studied the giant, according to Parker.
‘‘Some thought it was carved by the lost tribe of Israel, or that it was carved by ancient Indians,’’ said Parker.
By that time showman Phineas T. Barnum had heard about the giant, according to the Messenger story. Barnum tried to buy the giant, but was turned down. Instead, he had his own giant made.
In December, another offer for the giant was made. A syndicate made up of three men led by David Hannum offered $37,500 for a three-quarter share in the giant. Hull agreed to the offer.
Toward the end of December, Hannum took the giant to New York City. He found out that Barnum was already displaying his own giant and was advertising it as the original Cardiff Giant.
According to HistoryBuff.com, Barnum claimed that Hannum had sold the original giant to him, and that Hannum’s giant was a fake.
People believed that Barnum had the real giant, which Hannum disputed. Hannum, according to the Web site, was quoted in a newspaper, saying that, ‘‘There’s a sucker born every minute.’’
Hannum, still under the impression that his giant was real, took Barnum to court.
When the lawsuit came to trial, according to the Web site, Hull stepped forward and confessed that the Cardiff Giant was a hoax.
‘‘The lawsuit was dismissed because the judge ruled that Barnum could not be sued for having a fake Cardiff Giant because the original was a fake anyway,’’ said Parker.
Although it was exposed to be a hoax, people continued to see it. Hannum’s giant traveled around the U.S., and eventually ended up at the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1948.
But Fort Dodgers felt that they should have their own Cardiff Giant — after all, the giant was born here.
Cliff Carlson, of Wesley, started working on a Cardiff Giant in the 1970s and into the early 1980s. That giant is now on display at the Fort Museum.
‘‘Since the one in New York is a fake and they readily admit it, we claim that ours is the ‘real’ Cardiff Giant,’’ said Parker.
Parker pointed out that the giant draws visitors from all 50 states, as well as visitors from foreign countries every year.
‘‘Most people don’t know what to think about it. Older people are familiar with the story, while younger people never heard about it at all,’’ said Parker.
per person, according to the Messenger story.
Some of the greatest scientific minds and theological minds of the time studied the giant, according to Parker.
‘‘Some thought it was carved by the lost tribe of Israel, or that it was carved by ancient Indians,’’ said Parker.
By that time showman Phineas T. Barnum had heard about the giant, according to the Messenger story. Barnum tried to buy the giant, but was turned down. Instead, he had his own giant made.
In December, another offer for the giant was made. A syndicate made up of three men led by David Hannum offered ,500 for a three-quarter share in the giant. Hull agreed to the offer.
Toward the end of December, Hannum took the giant to New York City. He found out that Barnum was already displaying his own giant and was advertising it as the original Cardiff Giant.
According to HistoryBuff.com, Barnum claimed that Hannum had sold the original giant to him, and that Hannum’s giant was a fake.
People believed that Barnum had the real giant, which Hannum disputed. Hannum, according to the Web site, was quoted in a newspaper, saying that, ‘‘There’s a sucker born every minute.’’
Hannum, still under the impression that his giant was real, took Barnum to court.
When the lawsuit came to trial, according to the Web site, Hull stepped forward and confessed that the Cardiff Giant was a hoax.
‘‘The lawsuit was dismissed because the judge ruled that Barnum could not be sued for having a fake Cardiff Giant because the original was a fake anyway,’’ said Parker.
Although it was exposed to be a hoax, people continued to see it. Hannum’s giant traveled around the U.S., and eventually ended up at the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1948.
But Fort Dodgers felt that they should have their own Cardiff Giant — after all, the giant was born here.
Cliff Carlson, of Wesley, started working on a Cardiff Giant in the 1970s and into the early 1980s. That giant is now on display at the Fort Museum.
‘‘Since the one in New York is a fake and they readily admit it, we claim that ours is the ‘real’ Cardiff Giant,’’ said Parker.
Parker pointed out that the giant draws visitors from all 50 states, as well as visitors from foreign countries every year.
‘‘Most people don’t know what to think about it. Older people are familiar with the story, while younger people never heard about it at all,’’ said Parker.
