Grass Valley telegraph., 1856-03-11
RemarknbIe Indian Tradition.

Remarkable Indian Tradition.
The following remarkable Indian tradition
will be read with considerable interest in
connection with the accounts of the late
earthquake at San Francisco. It was origi-
aally published, He believe, in the Alta
California" some six years ago, and appear
ed with the assurance that the facts embodied
were derived from perfectly reliable source.
Among the old men of the Indian Tribes
who until recently lived in the vicinity OF
San Francisco Bay, were preserved legendary
tales of their forefather's achievements, and
still the facts embraced in the sketch below
live in recollection. It is said of these In
dians, that there are those who have wei
coined their parents return from hostile ex-
curslons into the country lying near Monter-
ey, by route along the sea coast, passing
over country since submerged, and where
the opening of tie bay Of San Francisco now
lies. PUT this and that together" and at
the same time keep in mind the severe ''shak-
ing" which occurred in that atvicinity some two
or three weeks since, and the reader will de-
rive new light concerning the geographical
structure of California and the changes she
may have undergone within very brief pc
riod of time.
The Lake of California.
AN INDIAN TRADITION.
The aborigines of California. like those of
every other portion of America, have long
been fading away before the progressive
march of civilization, or mixing with the
Spaniards who conquered them two centuries
ago. have lost their identity as aboriginies.
Like their eastern brethren they are leaving
their ancient hunting grounds, the homes
and sepulchres of their fathers, and wander
ing they hardly know where, while the white
man. as by right divine, takes and calls their
lands his own. But still they have their le
gends and their traditions, and even now
they gather around their broken council fires
"a mockery Of PALMER days-and tell, the
fathers to their sons, the tales Of former
times, which their forefathers had told them.
Among the traditions current among them
is the relieving which is certainly full of in
ferest. They relate that where the Bay Of
San Francisco now is, was formerly great
lake, longer and broader and deeper than the
bay. According to their accounts this Lake
was more than three hundred miles in length,
with no outlet to the ocean except in the
rainy season, when it would overflow its
banks and small stream would flow to the
ocean son2e thirty miles south of the present
outlet to the Bay.
The ridge of hills along the coast was then
unbroken and served as a dyke to prevent
the waters of the lake from escaping to the
ocran. The level of the lake was many feet
above that of the ocean, and its waters ex-
tended far up tOswhat is known as the Sacra-
inento valley and southwark covering the
valley Of the San Joaquin.
On the banks of this lake, centuries ago,
populous tribes of Indians dwelt, whose viii
lages lined its shores. Indeed, if credence is
to be given to the tales Of Indians, the popu-
lation of California will never equal those
ancient days, when the red men fished in the
fresh waters of the lake, and hunted their
deer undisturbed through the forests.
The hills along the coast are formed of
soft sand stone, and through this, the tradi-
tion relates the water began to make a
breach. which yearly grew wider, until it
burst through and among the hills with tre-
mendous power, leaving steep cliffs and pre-
cipices to mark its way. And what was once
a lake. several hundred miles in length, is
now bay not forty miles long. This may
would seem far more reasonable to attribute
it to some volcanic commotion which in those
days might have been as prevalent there as
they are now in Mexico and Central America.
How far this tradition can be cOrroborated,
must be determined by those who have the
means. But no one who has witnessed the
steep bluffs around San Francisco or has
passed the singular entrance of the Bay, call
(7nidQn Cot itc in n1or
walls, or has seen the no less singular bluffs
OF Raccoon Straits, few miles north Of San
francisco, can for moment doubt but that
they were formed by some powerful agency,
either fire OF water.
On the hills around San Francisco fresh
water shells are found, and the small island
OF 1erba Buena, which lies directly onnosite
the town, rising out of the Bay at least one
hundred feet, Is completely covered with
shells, which facts go far to prove the truth
of that tradition, which has no doubt bocn
handed down from from former generations
as marking an era no less important in In
dian tradition than the deluge is in sacred
history. This event may have taken place
thousand years or even twenty centuries
ago, as the tradition affords no data as to
when it occurred. It is a subject well worthy
of study, and which may throw some light as
to the origin of the gold dust, and the man
ner of its distribution over so large tract of
country.
WHY is IT why is it that California seq
en- per cent bonds are selling in New York at
16 per cent discount, while United States Str
cent bonds are selling in the same market for
16 per cent premiums The interest of the
one is paid as promptly as that of the other.
Whv then sbould there he 80. .rer cent differ-