The first part of this examination of the Smithsonian Institution’s role in suppressing evidence that giants once roamed the mountains and forests of North America focused on the man James Bailey introduced to audiences in Boston, New York and Philadelphia in 1894 as the Pennsylvania Giant, but it’s just one of many similar accounts relating to giants that filled newspapers and journals across the continent before and after the outbreak of World War I.

One of the earliest recorded instances featured the discovery of a giant skeleton in the “History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania” in 1878, which told how a “General Mckean” had uncovered an 8ft 2in giant in 1822 while a cellar, about six feet below ground, was being dug at his Bradford County farm.

The workers hit what they feared was “an impenetrable rock” but, on striking it with a crowbar, it gave out a hollow sound so they continued their efforts and eventually broke it, the pieces falling into what appeared to be a vault. So, with hopes of finding long-buried treasure, they carefully removed the earth around the area.... FULL STORY