The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-12-14
AN AMERICAN MONSTER.
It Was an Elephant That Lived
Many Years Ago.
Gigantic Fossil Mammoth with Tusks
yixteen Feet In Length Recently
Unearthsd In California Won
dsrful Preservation OF Pre-
historic Animals.

The elephant, now confined to Africa,
Asia and the adjacent islands. had in
former years a wide geographical
range. From the Equator to the
shores of the Arctic Ocean it was
found, either as the mammoth. masto-
don. pygmy elephant, or. in earlier
times, the dinotherium, supposed to
have been a proboscidian ancestor.
There is scarcely a portion of the
North or South American Continents
but was the grazing ground for these
huge creatures. High on the slopes of
the Andes the remains of mastodons
have been found. and the tusks of
mammoths in earlier days were COM
mon objects protuding from the sands
of the New Siberian Islands or dredged
up of the coast of England and Nor
way. New Jersey. New York. Ohio
and Kentucky have been prolific in
these remains, and it is not difficult to
picture the scenes which transpired in
the days when these giants inhabited
our fields and woods.
Up to tho present time elephants
have been known ON the American
Pacific Slope only by individual teeth
Of mastodons, picked up here and there,
but recent discovery shows that the
greatest Of all elephants. the mammoth,
or. rather, its ally, Elephas Ansericanus,
roamed the hills and valleys. The dis
covery was made by the laborers ex-
cavating for the new line from Los
Angeles to San Diego. and though the
skeleton was almost completely de-
stroyed, enough was preserved to show
that it was one of the largest individu-
ais ever found. The location was be-
tween the towns of Ell Toro and San
Juan Capistrano, about two miles north
OF the latter. The country ali about
here is undulating and hilly, and oppo-
site the cut where the animal was dis
covered is marsh, or morass, that
has probably been there for centuries,
the stream in winter and the water
from the hills having formed a valley
perhaps two hundred yards wide. The
railroad cutting was made through the
point of hill extending out into this
valley, and was about thirty feet deep;
first, through stratum of what might
In the East have been taken for drift
q mass of water-worn pebbles of all
sizes. from ten to fifteen feet deep.
There, l should judge. had in former
times been the bed of an arrayo, or
wash. as similar deposits or beds are
found in the washes of all the canons.
Below this deposit came bed of very
light and fine sand eight or ten feet
thick, and probably much deeper below.
As the picks and shovels of the men
entered this they exposed what was
apparently the trunk of tree. extend
ing directly across the cutting. TWAS
40 regular in shape that the men
stopped work and called the attention
OF the foreman to it, who began care
fully to cut away the sand. 1t was
soon shown that the supposed tree was
the tusk of an enormous animal, that
reached quite across the opening. Soon
another tusk appeared. but so delicate
that the greatest care had to be taken
TO preserve even portions Of it.
By removing the sand the full head
and tusks were displayed, and the
value Of the discovery made apparent
1t was huge elephant. or what had
been one, lying prone across the cut;
the head resting on the left bank, and
the tusks extending across at q dis
lance OF nearly sixteen feet. The tusks
were almost as large as mans thigh,
and when attached to the living animal
must have presented a magnificent spec
tacle-two columns of cleaning ivory,
perhaps sixteen feet in length. bending
out and away in graceful curves.
Every attempt to remove the skeleton
intact. failed. The first report was
that mastodon had been discovered;
but later, on examining the teeth.
found it to have been specimen of the
so-called American elephant, an ami
NAL which possibly took the place Of
the mammoth in this country. One of
tho teeth. which looked like q great
block OF cement, weighed. perhaps.
five pounds, and had the parallel dem
tine ridges peculiar to the species.
The teeth were admirably adapted
Tor grinding purposes. They were
buried deeply in the jaw. only the upper
surface showing, and were formed OF
number Of transverse horizontal
plates composed of q mass of dentine
fncased in an outside layer of enamel.
which was in turn covered by layer
81 cement that filled the. spaces and