The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1891-07-31
THOUSANDS OF TOMBS.
PREHISTORIC DEPOSITS DISCOVERED
BY A NEW HAVEN SCIENTIST.

| msn-Now In Course of Arrangement
In Central Park Museum, New York.
Mr.. James Terry, of New Haven. Conn, +,
has been for many years one of the most
indefatigable collectors Of archaeological
specimens. Beyond doubt ho has
travelled more miles on this continent
than any other living man. BY all
methods of conveyance and on foot this
enthusiastic searcher after archaeological
objects has traversed almost every State
and Territory in the Union. He has fol-
lowed every river of consequence in the
United States from its source to its
mouth, and the soil of every State bears
evidence of his spade and trowel. More
than is years ago he traversed the Pa
cifc coast from southern California to
Oregon, making wonderful discoveries.
He has wandered over Alaska repeatedly,
and some Of his rarest specimens were
obtained from that land. Mrs. Terry
has accompanied her husband on many
Of his expeditions. She was the first
lady tourist to visit Alaska.
Mr.. Terry has made careful researches
in the famous Columbia Valley, and has
spent weeks in gaining the good will and
confidence of and interviewing the In
dians of the Yakima, Warm Spring, and
Nez Perces regarding the origin of many
archaic specimens and sculptured pieces
found in the region, his object being to
connect the tribes with the sculptures.
He became convinced from these inquir-
| les that the specimens should be dissoci-
ated from any relation with historic
| 81. ;,,,r
the early civilizations in this country,
and their connections with the first in
habitants or the later Indians.
This important and mooted subject
early attracted the attention of Mr. Terry,
and along the Columbia River he found
evidence of the former existence of in
habitants much superior to the native In
dians, and of which no tradition remains.
Stone carvings were there found in abun-
dance. In 1882 in the Columbia Valley
Mr.. Terry found specimen that is the
finest of its kind yet discovered, the only
other specimens that resemble it being
one owned by Professor o. c. Marsh and
one owned by Thomas Condor, of Ore
gon. Mr.. Terry found his specimen near
the bank of the John Day River, tribu
tary of the Columbia The carvings in
question are in dark, pumceous, basaltic
rock, an abundance of which is found in
the valley, and each strongly resembles
the face of an ape. As was before stated,
Mr.. Terry's specimen is the finest yet
discovered. The broad, fat nose, with
supporting checks, and the contractions
or corrugatons of the forehead, charac-
teristics of the ape family, and the pecul-
lar mouth and chin are all cleverly re-
produced in the sculpture.
One Of the great questions which Mr..
Terry and other scientists are trying to de-
eide is-Whence came these sculptures,
and by whom were they made! Mr..
Terry is positive that it can not be shown
that the Indians have any knowledge of
these sculptures. When Mr.. Condor dis
covered his specimen he advanced the
theory that it was copy of some figure
heal Of derelict Malay proa, but Mr..
Terry upsets that idea by pointing out the
fact that three Of these sculptures are
known to exist, each with a distinctive
characteristic, and all of them found east
OF the Cascade Mountains, a distance of
200 miles from the coast, and with sew
eral intervening tribes who failed to pre-
serve any features of proa or junk figure
among their carvings.
Mr.. Terry is clearly Of opinion that the
aborignes came from Central America.
On the Pacific coast there have been
opened under Mr.. Terrys direction and
supervision upward Of 1000 tombs, and
he has in his collection the largest amount
of material known pertaining to the
coast races between the Gulf of Cali
fornia and Puget Sound. A large pro-
portion of the specimens were found in
mounds and graves, associated with
articles of stone and pottery in such jux-
opposition as to leave no doubt Of their
belonging to and being made by the
same people that fashioned the imple-
ments of stone and vessels Of clay. Mr..
Terry found the influence Of POlynesian
life, with its customs and usages, exem-
plified by q similarity of stone imple-
ments, which reflects much more than q
mere incident in the daily life Of a semi
barbarous race. The mere mere stone
weapon of the famous Maorie chiefs Of
New Zealand, made of the beautiful
nephrite, represents an emblem of rank Of
the most eminent degree, and is the most
highly valued of their possessions. Ex-
amples of this implement made of green
serpentine were found by Mr.. Terry in
the Columbia, Willamette Rogue, and
Klamath river valleys III reaching a
conclusion in regard to the origin of nu-
merous stone heads he has discovered, Mr..
Terry believes that the monkeys which
the carvings represent once existed in the
Columbia Valley, or that, in the remote
past, a migration of natives from some
region containing these monkeys reached
this valley and left one of the vivid i'm
pressions of their former surroundings in
these imperishable sculptures.
Mr.. Terry has at the museum building,
Central Park, New York, collections
which cost over $50, 600 to secure and trans
port not including travelling expenses.
In his researches he often employed a
number Of men to assist in making ex-
cavations. He visits New York daily,