St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-22
A Peculiar Discovery in Tuo-
lumne County, Cali
fOrnia.
A Remarkable Cavern Con-
tanning Bushels of HUI
man Bones.
Living People Were Thrown
in and Could Never
Get Out.
They Suffered Terrible Tort
ures Before Death Came
to Thar Relief.

A remarkable cavern recently eX-
plOred in Tuolumne county, California.
proves to contain masses of human
bones. which may be of high scientific
value.
The nature of the cave and the posi-
ton of the bones when discovered in
dictate that the place Was used as
prison in which warrior savages threw
their captiyes to die. The evidence of
Imprisonment is that skeletons were
found crowded together. side by side,
at the very highest place to which the
victims could have craWled and found
lOdgment, while at the bottom were
confused and broken heaps of the bones.
In the natural formation of the cave
there were no means of descent by
which any tribe OF Indians could have
used the place for the purpose of burial,
no weapons were found, AMI the posi-
tiOnS OF the higher tier of skeletons.
under a large, oYerhanging ledge OF
marble. could not have been obtained II
the bodies had been thrown from the
top.
This well-like cave is two and half
miles from the old mining town OF Co
lumba. nearly on direct line from the
latter place TO Angels. and Just across
the StanisIaus from CaIaveras county.
No white men have ever been about
there except the miners and few quar-
rymen, and miners have never paid
much attention to the Till, knowing that
no gold would be found i'll It's marble
formations.
The existence of the cave has been
known to few PEOPLE for ten years.
john McNamee, marbleWOrker in a
quarry at Columbia, having entered il Il
decade agO: but it has never ben
thoroughly explored until within few
weeks time McNamee told his fellow
miners about the cave and the bones,
but nobody paid much attention to him.
Within the month the cave has been
redlScOYered, and the adventurous men
who have lowered themselves into Its
depths found what at first seemed to be
tile bottom 256 feet below the surface.
But in one corner OF the marble chain
Der was hole, which continued mucn
farther downward.
Ii was a weird descent, with stalac
titles of every shape and size hanging
nom Une pink and Wnite ANA Dluish
walls. Small chambers opened on every
Side-chamberS ornameuted with stat
agmlteS and occupied by stray remnants
vi former human beings.
Suddenly the first vision of bones was
caught as one of the torches was held
under the Overhauging wall. This recess
extended about six feet Inward, entirely
separate from the rest Of the cave. The
whole surface was covered with lime
coating, but there were no StalactiteS.
Half buSnel or so of bones were Oh
the floor of this recess, which WAS the
last point TO which ancient prisoners
could have climbed when they had
been thrown into the cave to die OF
starvation. if not killed by the fall fro III
the entrance.
From The cave there was no hope of
uuaided escape. but i'll this ledge was
the one place where the living could be
out of their tOrmentorS' reach, and still
he separate from the dead. The prison.
prS may have fought for this position. If
any large numbers We're in the dungeon
at one time, and undoubtedly the dead
were dragged from there TO make way
for the living that came after.
A long distance below the little cav
ern of refuge the cave WidenS out into
grand hallway with high roof that
is suggestive OF an arched cathedral
interior. This hall is % or 80 feet long,
and its average width would be about ID
feet.
Below the cathedral, at an additional
depth of so or 40 feet, is another large
space, but darker and not so beautifully
formed as the upper hall. 1t has large,
uneven projections of marble, and a
couple of hooks that have both the stall
acUiteS and stalagmiteS.
Just beyond this is the 2S6-f0Ot point,
where the dead bodies of the victims
must have been thrown by the living
prisoners. The cave still continues. but
the entrance to the lower section is mar
row and is through the wall of the main
portion. Here is a complete change in
the formation and conditions. To this
depth of PSI feet the cave is of marble,
and has the lime coating; it Is dry and
the air is wholesome; no unusual echo
can be produced, and there is no hollow
sound to the words that are spoken. But
the light showed the interior OF this
lower cave to be entirely different.
There was none of the common marble
of the hill, and not trace of stalac-
tite, but instead was a beautiful green
iSh pOrphyry, with MANY loose rocks
and large quantities of gravel that
seemed to have recently fallen. The
SOidty in appearance that character
lied the upper portion was lacking here.
and it seemed as if a slight displace-
ment might bring down the thousands
of tons of earth and rock.
a descent on the rope was made for
distance of sixty feet. A large guam
tity of loose pieces OF broken rock,
weighing from % to $50 pounds, had to
be dslOdged and sent rumbling down
ahead, and even then the strain Of the
rope on the larger rocks unloosened
gravel that fell and was not at all re-
assuring at the end of the rope. In this
hole the surface was slightly damp, and
the atmosphere was muStv.
Some of the bones were brought to
San Francisco, and experts declare that
they are smaller than the ordinary
bones of men. That would indicate
tnat the people who died in the cave
were of inferior tribe, such as the Dig
ger Indians. who lived III that region.
Other caves in TuOIumne and Gala
veras counties have been brought to
public notice, and some of them have
contained human bones, but this one
is remarkable for the number Of victims
who persisted in it.
Scientists agree the cave must have
been used as prison by the Indians.