Graves of plantation slaves unearthed as drought empties water from Texas reservoir
One of the worst droughts in Texas history has unearthed a chilling discovery, a graveyard for freed slaves..
While the heat may be taking a toll on crops, livestock and people's livelihoods, it has helped archaeologists to reveal a small piece of American history.
Two graves have been uncovered that are believed to have been buried for more than a century.
Skull and bones: Experts believe they belong to a plantation slave and were buried more than a century ago
'This grave was actually uncovered by erosion from the water,' Sgt. Hank Bailey of the Navarro County Sheriff's Office.
'It was several feet deep years and years ago.'
Cemeteries were marked and moved before the Richland Chambers Reservoir in Navarro County, Texas, was filled in the 1980s, but this small cemetery without tombstones went unnoticed.
Human remains were initially discovered in 2009 by boaters when the water level was low, but the water rose quickly and archaeologists and historians have been waiting ever since for the reservoir to reveal the cemetery again.
Fascinating find: Sgt. Hank Bailey of the Navarro County Sheriff's Office holds up a jawbone
Bruce McManus, chairman of the Navarro County Historical Commission, said: 'It's not one of the great finds of history, but it's important to us on a local level.
'It's one of the lost cemeteries we've been looking for.'
The remains that have been found will be reburied elsewhere, ABC News reports.
Rich with water: How the Texas reservoir looked before this summer's terrible drought
Dried out: How a large part of the reservoir looks now because of the lack of rain
TEXAS: AFTER THE SLAVERY,
CAME THE SEGREGATION
Slavery was greatly expanded after the United States annexed Texas as a state in 1845.
Its government passed legislation further restricting the rights of blacks.
By 1850, the slave population in Texas was 58,161. By 1860 there were 182,566 slaves, 30 per cent of the total population.
In 1860 almost 25 per cent of all white families owned at least one slave, with Texas ranking 10th in the U.S. in total slave population and 9th in percentage of slave population (30 per cent of all residents).
In 1865, the Union General Gordon Granger and over 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston to take possession of the state and enforce the two-year-old Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves.
His proclamation stated that the relationship between free slaves and slaveowners would now be hired labour and employer.
Slavery was officially abolished on December 18, 1865.
The use of free slaves continued well into the late 19th century when more and more segregation rules were introduced. By 1900 the state's black population dropped to 20 per cent as many headed north and more European settled arrived.
For now, investigators are keeping the cemetery's location a secret because they are afraid of looters. The discovery of the graves comes after a piece of debris from the doomed space shuttle Columbia was found in a Texas lake.
Drought caused the water levels to recede, exposing the relic eight years after it fell to Earth.
Nasa confirmed today that the object found in Lake Nacogdoches was part of Columbia’s power reactant and storage distribution system, which held the cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen necessary for the vehicle’s fuel cells to produce electricity in space.
The record heat is not only adding to the local history books, but also to the stress placed on energy providers.
The electrical grid is under so much stress that companies are bringing old power stations back to life.
'We are setting all-time peak records three days in a row,' said Luminant spokesman, Scott Diermann.
'We've never had that happen before.'
Texas is not alone. Four of the eight largest power grid operators in the U.S. and Canada have set all-time records over the last two weeks.
In Dallas, the heat is supposed to keep on coming.
Forecasters predict Dallas will see triple-digit temperatures for at least another week.
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