New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-01-18
Anciens America,

For the past twenty years OF more tn,
various expeditions to the Far West have
been accommodating the materials which viii
| enable the geolOgist to reconstruct the phys
zeal history OF these now barren, treeles!
plains. Numerous cemeteries of the ancien,
inhabitants have been discovered, whose
remains have been more or lees disentOmbeG
by the action of the elements. 1t is now
| known that vast chain OF fresh water
lakes covered the surface Of this continent
to "a greater or less extent, from the Mis-
sissippi to the Pacific coast, and from the
Arctic Sea to Mexico. Some of these
| lakes were OF enormous size. The great
ancient lake basin, known as Mauraiscs
Iares, OF the bad Lands" covered a
large portion of Nebraska, Dakota and
! Colorado, an area of 10000 to $4,000 square
miles. Az far back as 1858, the writer visited
one Of there far-famed bone deposits on the
White Earth river. in Dakota. near the
northeastern base OF the Black Hills. 1t is
one OF the widest and Most desolate re.
| gions on this continent. 1t has been very
! appropriately named by the Dakota Indi
! ans Mako Seetcha. or bad Lands, .
| which signifies very difficult land to travel
! over: not only from the ruggedness of
/ the surface. but also from the absence of
any good water, and the small supply of
wood and game. 1t is only to the geologlst
that this place can have any permanent at.
fractions. He wends his way through its
| wonderful canOns among some of the grand
est ruins in the world. 1t resembles, in
deed, a gigantic city fallen to decay.
| Houses, towers, minarets and spires NAV
apparently be seen on every side. These
| fantastic piles assume the greatest variety
of shapes when viewed in the distance, and
| not unfrequently the rising or the set
| ting sun lights up these grand old ruins
with wild, strange beauty. In the sum.
mer the sun pours its rays on the bare
I white walls, which iehect them on the
weary traveller with double intensity. not
I only depressing him with the heat, but SO
dazzling his eyes that he is not unfrequent-
~ affected with temporary blindness. II is
at the foot OF these ruins that the fossil
} treasures are found. In the lower strata
We find the teeth and jaws of hyopota-
mus, river horse much like the hippopota.
mus, which must have lived in the marshes
that bordered this lake. Here, TOO. the
titanotheyium, a gigantic pachyderm, was
associated with a species of hornless rli.
pocerOs. Higher up in some OF these lake
sediments thousands of turtles were i'm.
beddea, and are preserved to the present
time with surprising perfection, their harder
portions being as complete as when the
animals were swimming about in the ter
tiary waters hundreds Of thousands OF
years ago. They vary in size from an inch
or two across the back to three OF four feet
Associated with the remains Of turtles are
those Of number Of Tuminant., al, belong.
ing to extinct genera, and possessing pecu-
liar characters which ally them TO the deer
and the hog Indeed. DR.. Leidy calls them
Illuminating hogs. Like the domestic species
they were provided with cutting teeth. and
CANNES, but the grinding teeth are con-
structed after the same pattern as those of
all living ruminants. 1he feet Of these
animals were provided with four toes. and
none Of them possessed horns or antlers
They appear to have existed in immense
numbers, and 70 have lived in great herds
like the bison of the West. Remains of
more than seven hundred individuals of one
species have been already studied and de.
scribed by DR.. Leidy. Their enemies were
numerous: among them were wolves, hy.e-
nodOns. and saber-toothed tigers.
In the summer OF 1857, while the writer
was attached to the exploring expedition
under the command of Lieutenant Warren,
he discovered on the Niobrara river another
of those remarkable graveyards, in which
was entombed a fauna closely allied to, vet
entirely distinct from that on White river,
and plainly intermediate between that of
the latter and of the present period. Sew
eral species OF extinct camels and great
variety OF the horse family characterized
this fauna. One of the horses was about
the size OF the common domestic animal,
while another allied form, about the
size of Newfoundland dog, was
provided with three hoofs to each
foot. through the lateral hoofs were rudi-
mental. DR.. Leidy has already identified
twenty-seven species of the horse family
which are thus known to have lived on this
continent prior to the advent of man
about three times as many as are now found
living throughout the world. Among the
carnlvOres there were several species of
foxes and wolves, five varieties of the cat
family, and three species of hyena. Some
of the skulls OF the tiger-like animals ex-
hibited the marks of terrible conflicts with
the hyenas. Among the rodents were
porcupine, small beaver, rabbit, mouse, etc.
The pachyderms, or thick skinned ami
mails, were very numerous, and are of the
greatest interest from the fact that none of
them are living on the continent at the
present time Five species of the rhinoce-
ros are found, mastodon, an elephant and
numerous forms allied to the domestic hog,
varying IN size from that of the African
hippopotamus down to that of the domestic
cat. From the discovery of this group of
extinct animals wa may draw the inference
that Nebraska and Dakota were the homes
OF race closely allied to those inhabiting
Asia and Africa at the present time. From
their characteristics we are led to believe
considerably warmer than it is now. The !
inference Is also drawn that America, in.
stead Of being as it is usually called, the |
new world is really older than the east.
e!n hemisphere.
The discoveries in Kansas and Wyoming
are still more wonderful. During the past |
summer Professor Cope has occupied con.
time under the auspices of the |
survey in exploring another Of these won |
derful graveyards of long past period. |
from which he has taken TIE osseus remains |
OF more than ono hundred species, more |
nearly resembling those of White and Nj |
Cbrara rivers, but most of them specifically |
distinct. At least seventy species are new
TO science. ranging from the size of the mole |
nearly 10 that of the elephant: sixteen |
species only are reptiles.
Many forms of the insectiyerous animals
related TO the mole. and OF very small size. |
We been procured. The delicacy and mi.
huteness OF these fossils are surprising,
GnaWlng animals, or rodents, left numer-
Gus remains of eighteen species, some not |
larger than the domestic mouse. Some
were the predecessors OF the rabbits. others
D! squirrels, and others of mice. Of cloyen-
footed quadrapeds a great many species
sc been found. Some we're nearly inter.
mediate between the deer and the hog in |
structure. Like the latter, they had no I
lorns- They were about as large as sheen
others were about the size of gray SOUR
res, being the smallest of this class of ami
mails ever discovered. Several species
IT horses We're living during the
same .period; their bones and teeth
IRE found in abundance. The rbi.
lQcerOS abOunded in CoInrado :, - |