Herbert Bolton, the “Palermo Stone,” and Two Cruel Pranks of History

In 1936, a story began to unfold in academia which tipped an avalanche of negative effects for decades. A fellow found a small, inscribed brass plaque on the side of the road in the San Francisco Bay area, not far from San Quentin Prison. It was not long before he was encouraged to show it to a California historian who might interpret its significance. The thing was taken to UC Berkeley, where the venerable Professor Herbert Bolton held court, and he and another historian ended up purchasing the plaque for $3,500.00... in 1936 dollars, which would translate into much more money today. Given that this was during the height of the Great Depression, and money was scarce and there were great tragedies unfolding all over the world, it is even more amazing, and suggestive of the importance these two men attached to this newfound artifact, which they believed was going to re-write North American history. *************************************************************************************************************** As news of the find emerged, several people claimed to have seen it in the same vicinity, and after looking at it they had tossed it into the weeds as a piece of junk... Finally it been scooped up by the last “finder,” who put it on its amazing trajectory. With such dubious origins, Bolton and his associate desired to authenticate and justify their artifact, and to silence skepticism, and so they had a metallurgist examine the plaque. Afterwards they proudly claimed unequivocally that the plaque had been left on the California shores by Sir Francis Drake, as a land claim for his King.

This was the favorite legend often kicked around in California historical circles, that California had actually been originally claimed by the English, and not the Spanish. And Bolton was one of the leaders of this “school.” Now he had the proof. The words scrawled on the brass turned Bolton's theory into historical fact and became his lasting legacy. *************************************************************************************************************** Soon the plaque was proudly displayed at the Golden Gate International Exposition. Copies were made of it and sent to the First Lady, and to Queen Elizabeth II. *************************************************************************************************************** This was all very exciting, until more information trickled out over the next few years. Herbert Bolton belonged to a bizarre club of academics, who prided themselves in hilarity and historical ironies. They were known to fund and place historical plaques wherever there was some irony to celebrate. In their heyday they placed a plaque in commemoration of where the Spanish priests, coming to Christianize the natives, signaled the establishment of their ministry with the sounding of... cannons. They placed the first “permanent” monument, a historical marker on a... ship, where it could conceivably float anywhere.

This was a powerful collection of historical geniuses, with a hysterical, even impish strain, and possessing a pool of knowledge and talent which could have convinced any museum anywhere of almost anything- within reason. And especially something that someone already wanted to believe.

Almost forty years later it all finally came out, when surviving members of “E Clampus Vitus” more or less confessed that the whole thing had been conceived as a joke among themselves, to heckle one of their most esteemed members, and that the joke got way out of their hands and had, well... terrible, unexpected consequences. E Clampus jokesters ducked out somehow and avoided much bad publicity for the trouble they had caused. ***************************************************************************************************************** The scandal and all of the uncertainty it inspired had dogged Bolton for the rest of his life, and strongly threw all of his scholarship into question. One of the perpetrators had committed suicide. The organization had to somehow repair its respectability, so they light-heartedly went on as if the scandal, barely ever documented then or now, was merely a sad chain of events, which had become like most of history; blotted with regrettable instances of man's inhumanity to man.

This brings us to the “Palermo Stone.” ( Sorry about the stitched-together photo, it had been printed across two pages in a newspaper magazine) Outside of a few scholars, few persons would have recognized history repeating itself, when the scarred chunk of sandstone, marked with the word “LSall” and the number 14 was reportedly found during highway construction in Brazos County. A fellow named Luke Palermo had found what appeared to be a crudely inscribed boulder, which may have been related to the French discoverer and explorer of the Brazos Valley, Ren`e-Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle. In fact he was believed to have been murdered by his own men, just across the river, somewhere near the crossing of the old La Bahia Trail and the fork of the Brazos and Navasota rivers.

And who might have researched and published this theory? That's right, Herbert Bolton. Bolton had literally marched the terrain between Matagorda and Navasota, and matched landmarks along the way as they would have been mentioned by those who left journals. (And yes, there were several, and in French) It was his scholarship pointing to modern-day Navasota as where La Salle must have met his premature death, and his published theories which inspired the Daughters of the American Revolution to commission the bronze sculpture of La Salle, which was prominently placed in Navasota in the middle of Washington Avenue, in time for the Texas Centennial in 1936.

It took years for the secrets of E Clampus Vitus to come out, but there was a clandestine network of scholars who knew since the 1930's about Bolton's problems and thus had to be wary of any artifacts related to his research. It seems that, while Bolton was doggedly out in the field documenting and pontificating, there were funny guys back in California devoted to popping his prolific history balloons. And there was no better way to accomplish that than placing counterfeit artifacts at his every turn, for him to embrace and publicize- and then be shocked and defrocked as they proved to be hoaxes. And as with most of their monuments, irony played a role in their conception... ****************************************************************************************************************** The original Palermo stone was associated with the Fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, circa about 2300 B.C., a stone which contained inscriptions which had been maliciously chiseled off of Egyptian steles and lost for thousands of years. It could have been just a coincidence, but more probably this Brazos Valley “find” by a Palermo might have been considered a hilarious spoof, designed to tease Bolton with his very own “Palermo stone.” It was probably immediately recognized as absurd, even to him, and might well have rattled his confidence about his controversial brass plate, the Holy Grail of his career. The Clampus Vitus had been trying to subtley clue him that they had planted the Drake Plate, but to no avail. Surely his friends would never do such a costly and embarrassing thing to him... So when the “Palermo stone” appeared in 1940 in Bryan, Texas, it was treated with inexplicable, almost institutional skepticism. Mr. Palermo took it to Texas A&M, and later to Houston scholars, and received some press coverage, and then the find died. Luckily, nobody with credentials would or could dare believe it, possibly remembering what embarrassing results evolved out of Drake's Plate.

Palermo genuinely tried to establish the stone's provenance and authenticity, and give it its due place in history, as he believed that it deserved. And this suggests that he was somehow led to the discovery, an innocent stooge, probably directed by someone connected to E Clampus Vitus. The eccentric fraternity had very cleverly concealed their association with Drake's Plate, so that the finders were never aware that the artifact had been placed where it might be “discovered.” The main difference in the Texas scenario was there was no passionate professor/collector like Herbert Bolton in Texas to sell it to. And thank goodness.

If the stone was for real, its timing, its association with a Bolton theory, and its almost unintelligible message, condemned it to obscurity. Disgusted with the whole mystery, Palermo loaned the stone to a local museum. It was last seen, gathering dust in the boneyard at the Brazos Museum... and then by 1990's, nobody knew its whereabouts. ************************************************************************************************************** Recently, Betty Dunn of Two Rivers Heritage Foundation in Navasota met someone who said they knew exactly where the discarded relic resided. It was in a barn in north Grimes County. And for such a precious artifact of Brazos Valley to end up there... it was unconscionable! Soon Mrs. Dunn had it and was studying it at her home. That was when the inconsistencies of the latest epiphany of a Brazos Palermo Stone began to puzzle its beholders.

It was more like a facsimile of the one photographed by newspapers in the 1930's. Marks and arrows were missing... important ones, and others had appeared, and spacing between the letters was not exact. This suggested that there had been two La Salle stones made by someone, which had ended up lost to history. Had Palermo made a copy for easy transport as he showed it around Bryan and Houston? Considered by him to be very valuable, and with the original stone quite cumbersome, a more portable copy of the artifact would have made perfect sense. If so, was this the copy? *************************************************************************************************************** OR, and this would be the suggestion by scholars, several spurious “Palermo Stones” might have been produced until the history gremlins were satisfied they had a believable forgery which might pass routine, non-academic inspection. The idea was not to change history, but to temporarily excite Herbert Bolton and harmlessly remind everyone that real historic finds were rare, and for people not to trust anything. Perhaps a local artisan had been commissioned to fashion it, and the road construction created the perfect event to unveil it, an historic landmark waiting near the Brazos River after centuries. Of course, the impish Clampus elites never worried much about the temporary damage done to local history. They would plant a forgery somewhere where it could easily be found, and then after some fun, one of their people would no doubt be the very person who would call it a forgery. No harm done... And that should have been the end of it. ******************************************************************************************************************* It would have been, if local historians like Pamela Puryear, and Russell Cushman, and Betty Dunn, had not cherished the thought of the rumored find, and wondered about it for many years. When Dunn finally located the stone, or at least one of them, it was a rock-my-world moment for myself and several history buffs. As I have studied and thought about it, its significance might have been changed, but not the depth of the story behind it. ***************************************************************************************************************** Eventually, the so-called Drake's Plate was deaccessioned and sold by the Berkeley archive, and this was a mindless and unnecessary purging. The plaque was actually quite significant, even if its importance had changed. Much like the removed fragments of Egyptian steles such as the Palermo stone, which had been "erased" thousands of years ago to destroy former legacies and simultaneously elevate the status of later pharaohs, the remnants of academic predecessors keep coming to the surface. It would have been much more useful to history for the brass forgery to have remained, and to be displayed, as a relic of professional ruthlessness and cupidity. ********************************************************************************************************************** Likewise, the Brazos “Palermo Stone” is important. It is, in itself quite historical, since Bolton's research has stood the test of time, even if a certain purchased artifact in his collection has not; Because it may well illustrate the degree old cronies of Herbert Bolton, perhaps out of professional jealousy, would go to discredit and humiliate him. And that it is probably the resounding theme of most conflicts throughout history.