The American West is riddled with holes - craters, mines, pits, dumps, tunnels, caverns, caves, sinkholes, certain towns, missing places, holes is perception.. and especially holes in our history. I have spent the past four years researching western holes and the deeper I get into the cultural geology of the subject the more potently the scandals reveal themselves. Naturally, the scandals all seem to involve white history in America, even if the hole in question is an ancient one.

Most holes in the west are scars left behind by westward expansion, the Gold Rush, military apocalypse mongering, resource theft, and ethnic cleansing. Yet Western history is written with pride for it’s pioneers, homesteaders, railroaders and city builders with little remorse for the rampant devastation that so strikingly surrounds us. White presence has not only scarred the landscape, but also burnt fat cigarette holes through the fabric of our future. Over 900 nuclear bombs have been detonated in the West. Entire tribes of native peoples have been erased from the landscape. The City of Los Angeles steals resources from a 1,000 mile radius to survive. Seattle freights all of its garbage to a tiny town in Oregon where it is dumped and spread on open ground. The Navy uses wagon ruts on the Oregon Trail for target practice. Am I painting a bleak picture?

In 1912 a duo of ragtag miners digging bat guano out of a cave near Lovelock, Nevada stumbled across an incredible discovery - ancient skulls and artifacts from a long gone race of red-headed giants. Local Paiute lore tells stories of the fury and cannibalism of the red-headed giants known as the Si-Te-Cah. The Paiutes fought many battles to destroy their horrific nemesis, eventually succeeding, but not before devastating losses. The Paiute quilted ceremonial garments from the bright red hair of the last giants in memory of the struggle. A local woman in Lovelock claims to have one of these ceremonial garments to this very day.

The 1912 discovery was hailed as proof that the ancient giants existed, but the skeletons were quickly hidden away “somewhere” and tragically lost. Despite the fact that the evidence no longer exists, many locals, including some Paiutes, still uphold the legend of the Si-Te-Cah. Kooky white supremacists have clenched onto the theory, hailing it is proof that the red headed giants were Vikings and were even perhaps the first colonizers of the continent. Someone recently wrote erotic fiction about a lusty miner girl getting taken away by the giants. You can buy it on Amazon for 99 cents. It’s really dirty and I don’t recommend it. Instead, google search the “Si-Te-Cah” and spend some time following conspiracy theory blogs down their endlessly delightful rabbit holes.