National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-13
8atiaual gepnblifatt.
sTRANGE DLsC0TRRIEs.
'LIFoRNIA RELICS OF A FoRaorrE

hiFORNIA RELICS OF A FORGOTTEr
"a AGE
Y... ~utte Basin is about three ouarter
or : m tdth either way. and is capped b,
= ~ aS - " 7posed, from the exploration,
ma. - n =. ., 200 teeth in depth. and
which is evidently n, Z OF primary formation.
The claim will not exc sed twenty feet at the
deepest point. There hA We bean mortars and
pestIes found, and they a . continually being
found, underneath the bah, Is as they arc
washed away. Those ancient ei'c' contained
no carvings at all.
Near where the mortars and p sites were
found the remains Of q campfire ven plainly
visible. The charred brands, tho nv "rned
Goals and the ashes had more the appet fsSnee
Of being the remains Of fire but recently lNuifSS
and extinguished, than Of ons actually kidd ed
in the early ages of the world. That the h,lics
of 9 fire of q certainly yerY remotely sHcA
period should have been 50 intactiy pressrN d
In such entirety of freshness Is astoRishfsghr
| remarkable.
In near proximity to the old campfire there
were SIX excavations, or ''pot holes" as they
are commonly called, In the mari, some four
feet In depth, and i've or sir feet across the
surface, TIE holes being 10 funnel form and per-
fectly similar in regard to size, and with partic-
ular exactness' as to the distance each one from
the other. 4 piece Of pssfifed wood-svi-
IDENTIFY older-was found near this locality, -
was also portiorof petrihed bark.
Anumber of years since accompany Of miners
while sluicing near the centre Of the basin,
where the ground was ten feet deep uncovered
a large quantity of moftsrs, pestles, and uu-
merous other Indian trinkets, together with
four pipes constructed Of gray slate, eighteen
inches in length, two inches in diameter at the
centre, and faring at each end-both extsemi-
ties being formed exactly Ike the buttend Of 3
common tin horn. The pipes were tastefully
polished, both externally and internally.
Thedrilling Of the cavity was evidently done
with an instrument not Of sufficient length to-
perform the entire work from one end, as It
was plainly to be observed that the pipes were
drilled from either end, as the uBsven condt- =
ton Of the work at the centre clearly indicated.
These pipes were long kept N this place as
leuriosities, and frequently shown to different
Indians, that theuse for which they were con-
structed might be sscertained; bait the present
race of Indians beingas ignorant Of thepurpose
Of the manufacturing Of these Anguar anti
quasian relics as were'the whites. no Rght on
the object OF the use feswhich they ,werrmsds :
could!be obtained.
In mining out portiodof the ranch of tho
late Isssc Trip several years ago. many ancient
relics were unearthed similar to those already
mentioned. In a bank of twenty feet A. depth,
mortars, pestles, arrow hsads, and human :
bones were found from within two fee, from
. r.. g, -, I h.
skeletons on and near the msFf were NOT 40
perfectly preserved as those nearer the surt az,
but they had the appearance Of belonging 70 a.
giant race, as the frames were much lsriI y:
than those of the present inhabitants.
The trunk Of . black oak tres was found I
scout midway between the top and bottom of
one of the banks, and which was tn perfect
stxte of preservation twas cut into stove
wood, and proved to be of the most iniamma-
BILE rature, burning with the intensity that to
woVd perfectly saturated with oil would burn
and what seemed most remarkable about the
peculiar qualities Of the timber was the slow
manner in which it was consumed by the fire.
The earth everything the mari of the basin
has o singular and diversified appearance. The
banks Is they are washed away BY the miners
show stratified formations Of q very Numerous e.
and Interesting character, and each strata
seems to be composed Of substances wholly
dissimflar from the Others which would indi-
cate thss they were separately formed in differ
ent epoehs, and that the materials composing
them came from different sources. The evil
dence that the country was inhabited by race
of people previous to this formation Of any
earth over the mari is perfectly conclusive.
The excavations In the mari some have
thought, and some still think, were caused by
the action of water; but the most reasonable
theory is that they were the work of the an
cient inhabitants-perhapst they were the base
ments of the huts in which the people lived
such is the general belief Of those who have
given the subject the most thought and atteR-
ton, as the 'pot holes" are only to be seen in
the vicinity where the mortars, pestsls, and
other relics of antiquity are found.