On September 6, 1999, Labor Day, "The Fall River Herald News"  published,  on the front page, two articles  about Dighton Rock. One was entitled "A Rock for All the Ages". The first one was bias.  The other was called  "Origin of inscriptions not set in stone". This one was good and  has correct information.

The newspaper also presented two color photos of the rock: one 9 x 5,5 inches and the other 3 x 3 inches.  The first article was written by a staff writer Sean Flynn based on an interview with Keith Lemelin, from Somerset, Massachusetts, who says that the Greeks came over, before Homer's time,  and made the inscriptions on Dighton Rock!

Fall River is a city of 100,000 inhabitants and 58 per cent are of Portuguese extraction. It seems to me that the reporter wanted to stir up the emotions of the Portuguese-Americans instead of putting emphasis on the truth of the facts.

So I decided to send a letter today  to the Editor of the "Fall River Herald News" to clear up the air. I sent it by e-mail and by fax. I will let you know if the Editor has the guts to publish it in its entirety.  Here is my letter. 

Dear Editor:
I read  today, September 6, 1999, with much  interest   the story on front page of  the" Fall River Herald News"  written by your staff reporter  Sean Flynn entitled "A Rock for all the Ages", in which he describes  a  so called "new theory" presented by  Keith Lemelin of Somerset, that the Greeks made the original inscriptions on Dighton Rock.

First the idea that  the Greeks came over before Homer's time is nothing new and it is pure fantasy!  Second Mr. Lemelin points to  the first drawing made by  Reverend John Danforth in 1680 to explain that according to  "an Indian tradition men of another country came up the River Assonet  in a wooden house"  (on a ship) and made the inscriptions on Dighton Rock!

Mr. Lemelin does not know that the drawing  which  he is pointing  to --  made  by   Danforth in 1680--  shows clearly the 45 degree extremities of the Portuguese Cross of the Order of Christ!  Even today the American Encyclopedia shows only 69 different  types of crosses. Indeed there are  317 different  types of Crosses in the world and the Portuguese Cross of the Order of Christ is the only one in the world with branches terminating in 45 degree angles.

All the American scholars and historians "missed the boat"  until Prof. Joseph Dâmaso Fragoso, of New York University,  discovered in 1951,  three Crosses of the Order of Christ engraved on Dighton Rock. Your reporter states that there are more than twenty different  theories for Dighton Rock.

But I think we should inform the public that some of them are ridiculous and even stupid.  
(1)   Pre-glacial Man - 25,000 years ago. In 1917.  E. Blackman presented  to the Nebraska Academy of Science that the pre-glacial Man  made the inscriptions on Dighton Rock.!…  I think  pre-glacial  Man  was more concerned with his own survival!
(2)   The Egyptian Priests, 2700 B. C. crossed the Atlantic  and made the inscriptions on the rock
(3)   Tyrans and the Jews  about 1000 B.C.
(4)   Persians
(5)   Trojans and Greeks during Homer's time about  700 B. C. 
(6)   Libyans
(7)   Druids of Britain advocated by John Finch as Sacrifice Memorial in 1824
(8)   Jesus Christ- proposed by Buckman Smith in 1863 
(9)   The Devil -  proposed by Cotton Mather 
(10)    Chinese  advanced by Rev. John Lundy in 1883
(11)    Japanese , why not,  if the Chinese did it
(12)    American Indians  Rev. John Danford, 1680- 17th Century
(13)    Phoenicians proposed by Antone Court  de Gebelin (1781) - 18^th Century
(14)    Vikings - advanced by Carl Christian Rafn (1837)- 19^th  Century
(15)    Portuguese  proposed by Edmund Delabarre, 1918 - 20^th Century

The other so called theories are:

- The work of Nature only

- Pirates before Columbus

- American colonists

-Verrazano's  expedition

-Modern Indians.

The inscriptions engraved on Dighton Rock  are indeed  the  ARCHEOLOGIACAL EVIDENCE of any theory.  Any theory that does not have ANY inscriptions engraved on the face of the rock to prove it, is automatically  OUT, and it  is pure fantasy!

Geblin for the Phoenician theory,  and Rafn for the Viking theory NEVER saw Dighton Rock.  They never examined the "patient"! They made the diagnosis FROM  three thousand miles away!

Professor Delabarre, Professor Fragoso,  and myself,  we spent more than thirty years studying the  face of the Dighton Rock,  IN LOCO, during the day, during the night, and with tangential lighting.

The Corte Real Theory proposed by Delabarre, in December 2^nd 1919,  is now more than eighty years old, and no serious refutation has been advanced against it up to now!

Your newspaper should be commended for  bringing  to the front page the story of Dighton Rock. Too bad that today, Labor Day, the Museum of Dighton Rock is going to be closed until Memorial Day of the year 2000. Why? Because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts does not have money to pay a Curator or Director for the Museum to be open all year around for the general public and the high School students to visit the rock.

I have been the guide  to thousands of students  who have visited he Museum. When they are inside  I always tell the teachers to divide their classes in four groups: American Indian, Phoenician, Viking and Portuguese. Then  have each group defend   their assigned thesis. With this approach the students will learn much more about American History.

And finally you may quote me:  the Dighton Rock Museum is closed  NINE   months out of the year because the Representatives and Senators of the region do not care  for the historical significance of the Dighton Rock and for its importance in the tourism of the region. They should be ashamed of themselves.

The American people should be the final judge on  which is the true theory of Dighton Rock. Open the doors of  the Museum and show  respect for the  intelligence of the American people. Let us do it   the American way. Let the American people vote on it. After all the Dighton Rock is an American monument and does not belong to any other nation!

I have much more information about Dighton Rock History, articles and controversy on my website.  The address is:  www.dightonrock.com  . Take a look at it . It is free, like the entrance to Dighton Rock Museum.

Many thanks
Respectfully
Manuel Luciano da Silva, M. D. 
Vice-President of the "Friends of Dighton Rock Museum" 

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