By Cheri Sicard
Back in 1911, while mining for bat guano, two men exploring Nevada’s Lovelock Cave made a shocking discovery. The men found more than 40 human skeletons, some of which were abnormally large.
According to this video from The History Channel, some of the skeletons measured between 7 and 8 feet in height, something unusual in ancient civilizations.
Even stranger, some of the skeletons had red hair, which definitely did match up with the Native Americans from the area.
Besides the ancient skeletons, many artifacts were also excavated from Lovelock Cave. Many of these were also giant-sized. For instance, a shoe that in today’s sizing would be a size 29, and clothing that looks as if it were worn by giants.
As strange as it sounds, there were other similar stories circulating throughout the Southwest. The Bible even references a race of giants. For those living in the Old West, these discoveries verified their biblical beliefs.
Local Paiute history, written by Sarah Winnemucca, recounts the native tribe’s battle with a race of red-haired cannibalistic giants in that region.
According to her accounts, the Paiutes, tired of being cannibalized, fought back and the war went on for three years, with the last of the giants holing up in Lovelock Cave where the Paiutes trapped them inside. The entrance was blocked with brush and wood and lit on fire, allegedly putting an end to Nevada’s giant red-haired cannibals.
The 1911 discovery seems to back this up as, in addition to the skeletons, they found evidence of extreme burning at the entrance to the cave.
Some dismiss the Paiute story as folklore. However, the Paiutes regard it as a historical fact.
Whether or not you believe in the red-haired giants, you can’t deny there is a lot of compelling evidence surrounding the mysterious Lovelock Cave.
Those who are curious can visit. Find more information about Lovelock Cave on the Travel Nevada website.
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Years and years ago my treasure hunting and gold prospecting buddy and I spent many a week out this way sifting through mine ruins and metal detecting for gold (and whatever else we could find). We’d heard tidbits of this story and occasionally wished we could find the cave. I’m not sure when the BLM erected this visitor site. We never found either. But now that the linked article gives specific directions we’ll make a trip out there – just to say we did. A great pack-a-lunch day trip.
I remember hearing about this cave on the old Art Bell overnight radio show.
And Art Bell always had the unusual news of the day or night.
Lots of hype. Actually, no skeletons of such size can currently be found. The “giants” were actually about 6 feet tall. Also, the red hair was most likely caused by chemicals in the soil.
I guess you have insight that the history channel doesn’t?
It was on TV! It has to be true.
Great story, thankyou.
There are a lot of amazing things in this earth’s past. Why some wish to think giants are off the table befuddles me. Why and how can one take that position given the possibilities? Given the volume of finds, world-wide and stretching over 100s of years, could that all be fake? To what end?
That is certainly interesting. Thank you, Cheri!
The Nevada Sasquatch. 😉🙂
I wonder if they have done DNA testing to determine their ancestry.
Thank you for the discussion, Cheri! Certainly bears at least a quick look if we are ever within a half-hour (30 miles) during a future RV trip. Have a great week and safe travels!