[TexanToTheCore]

I noticed on the Topo map that the rivers flowing through the area meander quite a bit. This occurs when the gradient is slight and the flow is quite slow. Those oxbows could very well form and become marshes.

[Free Trapper]

I long believed the message to be a prayer or to leave word of impending death,much like the note found on the Russian submariner last year.This could also be the reason the stone was left in a nondescript spot.A quick memorial to your dead,then hotfoot it out of there.Thanks for the pointer to the book Crystalk.I find the letters being unknown until the 60's one of the most positive aspects to the stones authenticity.