In 1909, the Arizona Gazette published an incredible story that until this day, fuels a number of conspiracy theories.

According to the article, a man called G.E. Kincaid of Lewiston, Idaho was traveling down the Colorado River when he stumbled upon an unprecedented find.

In a number of stories circulating the Internet and countless books written about the subject, G. E. Kincaid is described as “an explorer and hunter all his life” and a man who worked for more than thirty years for the Smithsonian Institute.

He was traveling alone, down the Colorado River, in a wooden boat, in search of “the mineral” (translation: gold) When Mr. Kincaid claimed to have seen “stains in the sediment” on the east wall of the canyon gorge he was traveling through.

He most likely landed his boat, and made his way up the east side of the canyon, and over a “shelf”, then walked past “steps” to the “mouth of a cave” entrance.

He went inside the entrance and discovered hallways, rooms, “mummies” “copper objects” and various other “artifacts” along with what appeared to him at the time to be “hieroglyphics” of an “Egyptian” or “Oriental” type.

After having accessed a “cavern is nearly inaccessible,” it is believed that Mr. Kincaid carried a few artifacts back to Yuma Arizona and then sent them off to Washington (presumably to the Smithsonian, although he did not say that specifically). After delivering the artifacts to scholars, the Smithsonian Institute went on to further investigate the site under the supervision of a man called “S. A. Jordan” and a group of archaeologists, a “group” that eventually was to amount to 30-40 persons.

Different stories tell different things. Some stories and books place Mr. Jordan as an employee of the Smithsonian, while other stories suggest he merely ‘supervised’ the mysterious expedition.

The Smithsonian has denied this story as a hoax. (see recent video below)

Explorations in the Grand Canyon

“Over a hundred feet from the entrance is the cross-hall, several hundred feet long, in which are found the idol, or image, of the people’s god, sitting cross-legged, with a lotus flower or lily in each hand. The cast of the face is oriental, and the carving of this cavern. The idol almost resembles Buddha …” “Surrounding this idol are smaller images, some very beautiful in form – others crooked-necked and distorted shapes, symbolical, probably, of good and evil… All this is carved out of hard rock resembling marble…”

Many authors, including David Hatcher Childress, wrote about the discovery that, according to many, is evidence of an extremely advanced civilization that once inhabited parts of the Grand Canyon.

A lengthy front-page story of the Arizona Gazette on April 5, 1909, gave an extremely well-detailed report of the discovery and excavations of a rock-cut vault allegedly led by one Professor S.A. Jordan of the Smithsonian.

The discovery and findings are unprecedented and could change the way we look at history, explain the authors.

The Smithsonian, however, claims to have absolutely no knowledge of the discovery or its discoverers.

The entrance

The alleged cave is filled not only with artifacts not native to the region but the cyclopean architecture is nearly inaccessible.

According to reports from the Gazette, the entrance is 1,486 feet down the sheer canyon wall.

Above a shelf which hid it from view from the river, was the mouth of the cave.

There are steps leading from this entrance some thirty yards to what was at the time the level of the river.

The passageway

Kincaid explained that “the main passageway into the cave is about 12 feet wide, narrowing to nine feet toward the farther end.”

“About 57 feet from the entrance, the first side-passages branch off to the right and left, along which, on both sides, are a number of rooms about the size of ordinary living rooms of today, though some are 30 by 40 feet square.” “These are entered by oval-shaped doors and are ventilated by round air spaces through the walls into the passages. The walls are about three feet six inches in thickness.”

The Buddha of the Grand Canyon?

The story is wild and drives imagination to the limits. Kincaid explains that located a mere hundred feet from the entrance is a room he referred to as the cross-hall, said to be several hundred feet long. There, he found an idol or image, what he refers to is the God of those who carved and built the face.

“Its a depiction of a figure sitting cross-legged, with a lotus flower or lily in each hand. The cast of the face is oriental. The idol almost resembles Buddha, though the scientists are not certain as to what religious worship it represents. Taking into consideration everything found thus far, it is possible that this worship most resembles the ancient people of Tibet.”

Mystery hieroglyphs

But if the mysterious cave, the remnants of a Buddha statue weren’t enough, there’s more.

According to Kincaid, “Carved on all the urns, over doorways, and tablets of stone, are mysterious hieroglyphics, the key to which the Smithsonian Institute hopes to discover. The engravings on the tablets probably have something to do with the religion of the people. Similar hieroglyphics have been found in southern Arizona. Among the pictorial writings, only two animals are found – one of them looking prehistoric.”

Advanced ancient civilization?

“Undoubtedly a good many thousands of years before the Christian era, a people lived here which reached a high stage of civilization. The chronology of human history is full of gaps…”

Such stories and legends are widely spread across North, Central and South America.

Tales of long lost civilizations that existed on the “New Continent” thousands of years ago have been popularized throughout the years. Nevertheless, stories have remained just that: stories, and just as with this article published by the Arizona Gazette, we can only wonder whether such a discovery was actually made, more than one hundred years ago, deep within one of the most amazing geological formations on Earth: The Grand Canyon.

Today, all that remains of this story is a conspiracy theory that suggests how the Smithsonian Institute went on to cover-up what is referred by believers as the greatest archaeological coverup in the history of mankind.

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