Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1892-04-20
NATURES. MUSEUM.
Skeletons Of Strange Creatures
Found in the Earth.
A Place I'm Oregon Which Is q Verftable
Burying Ground OF BIRDS and Animals
Now Extinct-A Valuable
@E.. Discovery. .r...

A party OF explorers who have been
spending the entire year in the Blue
mountains south of here, says q Hcpner
(Orc.) correspondent of the San Fran
cisco Chronicle, have Just come in to
remain until the snow goes of next
spring. These gcntlcmcn have been
sent out by museum in the cast to
search for fossils. and from the speci-
mons they exhibit and the story they
tell they have found vcritablc hu wing
ground Of animals and birds which arc
now extinct. The Gentlcmcn have Sc
cured over one thousand specimens of
crctaccous fossils, and will spend the
winter in classifying and packing them
for shipment. ~ s ~..I. Fse -, H..
1t is claimed by palcontologists that
fossil bones of birds arc very rare. and
In no instance previously has there been
perfect specimen obtained. Soutll of
the Blue mountains is what is known
as the Sagcbrush desert. and in this
desert is small lake called Fossil lake.
This lake is in the midst of a scene
which for wild desolation and weird
plcturesqucncss has not its equal prob
ably in the world. To the south end
east stretch the barren. waterlcss
wastes of the desert, while to the
northeast rise the dcsolatc heights Of
the WAGON Tire mountains. These
mountains receive their name from the
finding of the tires of the wagons of
the lost emigrants. whose bones
whitencd on the sands of the plain.
Few hunters dare to cross this drcary
waste of one hundred nnd fifty miles
diameter, for the springs are few and
hard to find. aE.A.E
1t was in this desert that the party
made their headquarters during the last
year, and it was there that they brought
/ to li%Et tho 'strangost lot of fossils the
world has ever soon. Such is the con-
dition of tn" earth, air and watcr that
tho bones of the extinct animals and
birds have been kept intact for centu-
ries, and now como forward to confouhd
the theories cf savants, who have ex-
pounded lcarnedly on fossil remains and
from one hone constructed whole ami
mails. , In the. shifting sands nboat,the
stones Of the desert lake arc found tho
bones 1t must have been the strnngcet
collection of wild beasts and birds that
ever walled the earth which gathered
about the shores of this lake. There
nre bones of fowls Of character that
makes it evident TINT the region wos
once tropical, although it is. now cold
and barren. Horses Of rare shape
were there, and three distinct species
Of camel, the smallest no larger than Il
deer, llamas, n1ammoths, giant sloths
as big as oxen, with many extinct
species Of wolf and dog. In all, fifty
seven specimens Of birds and sixty-two
of animals were, found, and mingled
with the bones were spear and arrow
heads which had been chipped out of
volcanic glass by human beings.
1t is an evident fact that the savage
was here when some Of these strange
animals lived, for there was found inn
bedded in the thiShEbone of a mammoth
an arrowhead made out of this volcanic
glass. The place where these bones
are found Is known among the cattle
men of the country as "tbe iboneyard. :"
but until research was madeit was aup-
posed that the remains were those Of
recent animals. ~
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