Man who found mysterious stone carving buried in his Western P.E.I. yard sets out to uncover its origin

Curiosity

Cape Wolfe man believes face carving might be decades, if not centuries, old

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CAPE WOLFE, P.E.I. — After stumbling upon a stone carving of a face buried underneath his lawn, a Cape Wolfe man is on a mission to discover the strange object's origin.

Carson Cross was mowing his lawn last June when his machine caught on a large stone sticking out of the ground.

Cross has lived on the property for about two years but never noticed the stone before.

He hopped off the mower and pried the spade-sized object out of the ground. He did not expect that when he turned it over, a carving of a face – not unlike the famous Moai of Easter Island – would be staring up at him.

"At first I wasn't sure what the heck it was," said Cross. "I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Just because it's not the kind of thing you expect to find in your yard."

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Next to the face, the numbers 1408 are etched into the stone on one side – the letters BC on the other. The final side is stained white.

Cross put the carving in his garage and has since dubbed it André, as to him, the face looks European, because of the moustache and the center part of the hair.

"Also, I asked him some questions in English, and he ignored me, and then I asked him in French, and he responded," Cross joked.

Cross has since tried to uncover the mystery behind André – namely, where it came from and how old it is.

He has reached out to local museums and historians, and when driving around the province, tries keeping an eye out to see if any other houses have similar stones on display.

Cross is no closer to having answers. But he has not given up on his quest and, between sleuthing, has developed a few theories of his own.

"Maybe it's a grave marker, possibly kids made it, maybe it's like a bad mojo thing," said Cross. "I don't really want to mess with it, so it's stayed in the garage."

André's story has also been shared with Tony Gallant, who operates the Abandoned P.E.I. Facebook page.

A few weeks ago, Cross reached out to Gallant and, a week or so later, they met for a chat. By the time their conversation ended, Cross took the stone out of his truck to show Gallant.

"I could tell when he was coming out with it, that it was something awful heavy," said Gallant. "It really blew my mind when he’d come out of the truck with it."

Gallant is interested in odd, old and re-discovered things, frequently posting about them on his Facebook page.

After seeing the carving, Gallant knew the object would be a good fit to share on his page, which has more than 10,000 followers.

"I’ve never seen anything online about anyone around the Island finding anything like it," said Gallant. "It was pretty interesting."

The post generated some buzz online, with people sharing it around and positing their own speculation as to its origins.

For Cross, it's exciting to see that so many people have taken an interest in the carving.

"I haven't been able to see anything like it. I’d love to have anybody give feedback. A lot of my information is just my own thoughts, not facts." – Carson Cross

Although André's origins remain a mystery, Cross – who considers himself a history buff – thinks the stone is at least several decades old.

While he's not certain, Cross has a hunch the letters BC are initials, and 1408 represents a date, but not necessarily a year.

"I haven't been able to see anything like it," said Cross. "I’d love to have anybody give feedback. A lot of my information is just my own thoughts, not facts."

Regardless of exactly where it came from, Cross suspects he has stumbled upon something special with a history worth learning.

If the statue is as old as he thinks, he would like to see it placed in a local museum. He doubts it'll put Cape Wolfe on the map, but even so, would love it if the statue generated interest in Western P.E.I., a place he has grown to love.

"I look forward to finding it a place where it won't be lost again."

Kristin Gardiner is a reporter with the SaltWire Network in Prince Edward Island. She can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @KristinGardiner.

Curiosity