The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-04-30
California Relies of a Forgotten Age.

Little Butte Basin is about three-quar-
tiers of a mile i'm width either way, ard is
capped by a bed of mari, supposed. from
explorations made, to be at least 200 feet
i'm depth. and which is evidently not of
primary formation. The claim will not
exceed twenty feet at its deepest point
There have been mOrtars and pestles
found. and they are continually being
found, underneath the banks as they are
washed away. Those ancient relics con-
tanned no carvings at all. Near where the
mOrtars and peStles were found the re
mains of a campfire were plainly visible.
The charred brands, the unburned Goals
and the ashes had more the appearance OF
being the remains OF ilre but recently
built and eXtinguished, than of one act
uallv kindled in the early ages OF the
world. That the relics of fire of a GER
tainly very remotely ancient period should
have been so intactly preserved in such
entirety of freshness is astOnishingly re-
markable. In near proximity to the old
campfire there were six excavations, or
= pot holes" as they are commonly called,
i'm the mari, some four feet III depth, and
five or six feet across the surface, the holes
being in funnel form and perfectly similar
i'm regard to size, and with particular eX-
actness as to the distance each one from
the other. 4 piece of petrified wOOd-ev-
identity elder-was found near this locality,
as was also a portion of petritied bark.
A number of years since company OF
miners while sluicing near the center OF
the basin, where the ground was ten feet
deep, uncovered large quantity OF NOR
tars. pestles. and numerous other
Indian trinkets. together with four
pipes constructed of gray slate,
eighteen inches in length, two inches in
diameter at the center, and tlaring at each
end-bOth extremities being formed eX-
actly like the butt end of common TN
horn. The pipes were tastefully polished
both externally and internally. The drill
inc of the cavity was evidently done with
an instrument not of sufficient length to
perform the entire work from one end, "a
it was plainly to be observed that the pipes
were drilled from either end, as the une-
ven condition of tine inside work at the
center clearly indicated. These pipes
were long keptin this place as curlosItles,
and frequently shown to different Indians
that the use for which they were construct
ed might be ascertained; but the present
race of Indians being as ignorant of the
purpose Ofthe manufacturing of these sin
1ular anti0uarian relics as were the whites,
no light on the object or the use for
which they were made could be obtained.
Inmining out portion of the ranch OF
the late Isaac Trip several years ago. many
ancient relics were UneaTthed similar TO
those already mentioned. In bank OF
twenty feet in depth mOrtars, pestleS, ar
rOw-heads and human bones were found
from within two feet of the surface to the
Verv extreme bottom. The skeletons on
and near the mari were not as perfectly
preserved as those near the surface, but
they had the appearance of belong
inc to giant race, as the frames were
much larger than those of the pres
ent inhabitants. The trunk Of
black oak tree was found about midway
between the top and bottom OF one OF the
banks, and which was in a perfect state OF
preservation. Ii was cut into stOve-wOOd,
and proved to be OF the most intlammable
nature. burning with the intensity that
wood 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 con-
sumed by the fire. The earth everything
the mari of the basin has a singular and
diversified appearance. The banks as they
are washed away by the miners show stra-
titled formations of very numerous ana
interesting character, and each strata seems
to be composed of substances wholly dis
similar from the others. which would In
dicate that they were separately tOrmedln
different epochs, and that the materials
composing them came from different
sources. The evidence that the country
was inhabited by race of people preyi-
Ous to the formation of any earth over the
mari is perfectly conclusive. The excava--
tiOns 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 ancient
neutrality-suspicious. they were the base
ments of the huts N which the people
lived-such is the general belief Of those
who have given the subject the most
thought and attention. as the ''pOt holes
are only to be seen in the vicinity where
the mortars. pestles and other relics of an
tinuitv are found