In 1911, a pair of miners ventured into a cave in a remote part of the state of Nevada to find valuable guano (bat excrement).
However, as they dug deep into the thick layer of guano, they began to uncover human bones of unusually large size. It was reported that some skeletons reached heights of 7 to 8 feet (213-240 cm)!
The fact that these were indeed remains of humanoid beings, not mammoth bones or other prehistoric giant animals, was evident from the skulls found, some of which even had fragments of reddish hair preserved.
This cave is located approximately 20 miles from the town of Lovelock, hence it was dubbed Lovelock Cave in newspapers, and the enormous skeletons found within came to be known as the Lovelock Giants.
Excavations in this cave also unearthed woven sandals resembling those made by Native Americans centuries ago. However, these too were of giant proportions, fitting a foot approximately size 29 in American shoe size.
For comparison, a men’s size 14 shoe in the USA is equivalent to a size 46 in Russian sizing. So, these “slippers” were indeed gigantic.
These findings align with Native American legends of a race of red-haired, fair-skinned giants who constantly warred with indigenous tribes. At some point, the tribes managed to drive them into the cave and exterminate them.
“One of his greatest discoveries was a skeleton found about twenty miles south of Lovelock, Nevada. The skeleton indicated that the body it belonged to was exactly seven feet seven inches tall. This was one of the ‘giant men’ of an ancient race, the skeletons of which were discovered in Central Nevada,” described press accounts of the work of mining engineer John T. Reid, who participated in excavations at Lovelock Cave.
Unfortunately, no evidence of the discovery of giant skeletons in this cave has survived to this day. In reality, these skeletons seemed to vanish from the media space immediately after numerous articles in American newspapers about their discovery.
Only strange giant slippers and some household items (of regular size for local Native Americans) remained. Plus, a handprint on the cave wall, which was twice the size of an average human palm…
The Paiute Indian tribes called these red-haired giants Si-Te-Cah, and the first Spanish conquistadors also heard stories about them, not even in the territory of present-day USA, but in Peru. There, local aborigines told them about an extremely aggressive race of red-haired savages who “sailed by sea on rafts made of reeds, resembling large boats, and some of their men were so tall that an average-sized person barely reached their knees.”
Some researchers believe that the height of these “giants” was greatly exaggerated and that they were actually red-bearded Vikings who indeed sailed to the shores of America many centuries ago.
For the short-statured Native Americans, tall, fair-skinned, red-haired Vikings could easily appear as true giants, even if their height was not over 6 feet (about 185 cm). And yes, the Vikings were a very aggressive people.
But if they were “just” Vikings, why is there so much mysterious aura surrounding the giant skeletons from the Nevada cave? Where did these skeletons disappear to? Nowadays, most of the artifacts found in Lovelock Cave, including the large sandals, are housed in the historical museum in Winnemucca, Nevada. But there are no skeletons.
And they were found not only in Nevada – in the 19th and early 20th centuries, they were found in New York, as well as in Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Some skeletons were photographed before their strange disappearance.