Monongahela Giant

The Monongahela Giant was an alleged giant skeleton that was claimed to have been excavated from a vault at the Colvin farm near Monongahela, Pennsylvania during 1859, described in a newspaper report of the Pittsburgh Chronicle as measuring 8 feet (2.44 m.) in height and as having been found in a seated position, surrounded by "ornaments of exquisite workmanship, denoting a greater skill than usually belonged to the Indians, together with crockery and warlike implements." No further information has been found regarding the claim at this time.

Press Coverage

• "The skeleton of a giant…", Findlay Jeffersonian (Findlay, OH): 1, 8 Apr. 1859, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17358588/the_skeleton_of_a_giant/, "The skeleton of a giant, eight foot high, has been exhumed from the farm of Mr. Colvin, near Monongahela City, Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Chronicle says: From the position of the bones in the vault under the stone, it is supposed the bodies were buried in a sitting position, the skull bones and those of the trunk being all in a heap, while those of the legs were scattered along towards the foot of the vault. At the foot, also, of many of these graves were found various articles or ornaments of exquisite workmanship, denoting a greater skill than usually belonged to the Indians, together with crockery and warlike implements. The graves in the vicinity number several hundred, and go to show that the field was at one time an extensive burying ground."