Attorney General Jack Conway, in an effort to avoid escalating an ongoing dispute with an Ohio city regarding our rock, sent a letter last month to Portsmouth, Ohio city officials and two nefarious residents of Ohio seeking a settlement. AG Conway is trying to avoid a long drawn- out civil case in federal court.
It is theorized that possibly some prehistoric Indians were the original owners of this rock. It bears numerous carvings of initials, names and a crude face. I'm wondering about those initials. What script were they written (carved ) in ? Were they in Sanskrit? Arabic ?Hebrew? German or maybe Russian since the prehistoric Indians were said to have walked across Bering Strait when it was frozen and then stranded here, hence the first Indians. (Misnomer, as we all know.)
I'm a little leery about the initials.
Anyway, the 8-ton boulder, known as Indian Head Rock, was an attraction for tourists on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River but it has been submerged in the river for the last 90 years. Prior to its submersion it had been listed on Kentucky's official antiquities register. In 2007, the two above mentioned nefarious men removed it from the Ohio River, without going to federal court for a permit. The bolder now rests in a garage in Portsmouth, O. We want our rock back!
We also want a public apology and $90,000.00 for the attorney fees and to build the building we want to house the rock in! A letter has been sent to the historian who led the removal effort, to the City Solicitor,and one of the alleged divers, and as yet there has not been a response to these letters. The dead line for the response was last Wednesday but the day passed and no response.(Shows you what caliber of people we are dealing with). Shaffer and Vetter the two that removed said rock and are facing felony charges referred all questions to their lawyers who also did not respond. Portsmouth's mayor did not respond either.
A fiery speech was made on the House floor by a member of the Kentucky State Legislature and a resolution was passed calling for the rock's return. It is still a no show! State Rep. Reginald Meeks, said he is "very satisfied" with the proposed settlement of this problem. "These historic and ancient items we have in our state deserve to be protected, I believe it's appropriate that the rock have a final resting place on land that's near the site where it originally was removed from the river." Lots of luck getting the $90 thou,Reg.
Someone in Portsmouth is between a rock and a hard place!! I'll wait for the return of the rock! Watch for further developments.
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