The place and conditions under which the skeleton was found also lend an air of controversy. The skeleton is said to have been found about eighteen inches deep under a cow-path and at the head of a small ravine worn back about thirty feet from the lake shore. In soil conditions as they exist at the lakes, such a ravine would not have been the result of years of work, as is implied, but would have been the work of a freshet. That the wearing back was the result of the work of years is implied in the statement that “Turning at the head of this recession is a cattle path.” Here the inference is plain that the cattle for years had turned to avoid the ravine. Once started, the spring freshets and summer rains would have rapidly worn the ravine back to a greater distance than thirty feet. All those stating that the body was buried where found say it was buried upon the summit of a bluff. The conclusion is evident that a thirty foot backward recession of a ravine would hardly have occurred in the face of a bluff. By its finders the body is said to have been buried only about eighteen inches deep. With the eroding effects of a cattle path would it have been still that depth below the surface after a lapse of nearly a half century? One would think that such could hardly be. For discovery and interment of the remains of Joel Howe, see _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. XI, pp. 551-553. [263] There will probably always be more or less controversy as to the number of bodies found and buried. The present writer has sought to be conservative in accepting evidence. See Smith’s _A History of Dickinson County, Iowa_, pp. 88, 89; _Address of John N. Maxwell_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, pp. 539, 540; _The Narrative of W. K. Laughlin_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, p. 543; Mrs. Sharp’s _History of the Spirit Lake Massacre_ (1902 edition), p. 74. [264] Smith’s _A History of Dickinson County, Iowa_, p. 90; _Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers_, Vol. VI, pp. 922-937. [265] Smith’s _A History of Dickinson County, Iowa_, p. 90. [266] Smith’s _A History of Dickinson County, Iowa_, pp. 91-94. [267] _The Narrative of W. K. Laughlin_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, p. 544. [268] Smith’s _A History of Dickinson County, Iowa_, pp. 98, 99; _Address of John N. Maxwell_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, p. 530; _The Narrative of W. K. Laughlin_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, p. 544. [269] _The Spirit Lake Massacre and Relief Expedition_ in the _Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers_, Vol. VI, pp. 995, 996; _Narrative of W. L. Laughlin_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, p. 544; _Address of John N. Maxwell_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, p. 531. [270] _Address of John N. Maxwell_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, p. 531; _The Narrative of W. K. Laughlin_ in the _Annals of Iowa_ (Third Series), Vol. III, p. 544.