Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1895-02-23
4 BIG WHALE ON LAND
STRANGE DISCOVERIES MADE IN
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

Skeleton of the Big Fish Unearthed In n
pector's Discovery History Written In
the HIS and the Rocks.
Once while watching the excavation
of street through one of the steep hills
that constitute "a feature of the city of
Los Angeles | saw something project
ing from the soil, which, when uncov-
cred by the workmen, proved to be the
skeleton of a whale that had been lying
there for untold ages Its huge length
stretched across the street, its tail lost
beneath the fashionable houses of the
vicinity
There was something irresistibly tas
cinating in this idea-walking up a
street and running foul, as the sail
ors put it, of a whale, and whenever |
passed that way | almost expected to
hear some one shout, There she blowsp
and could see in my minds eye the
giant rising from the deep water that
once flowed over the now populous City
of the Angels and the surrounding hills.
Having had this slight experience
avith whales on dry land, was not sur
prised when friend related similar
experience to me and the establishment
its discovery produced He was an old
resident and in former years had been n
prospector, and 1T times the old fever
for discovery came upon him, npon
which he would wander off on the edge
of the desert or up among the noun
tains of southern California III search
of color.
On one Of these expeditions he fol-
lowed up dry wash, which in winter
was "a roaring torrent and which for
ages had sent down the rock and gravel
of the adjacent mountains To the val
ley below, finally turning into a branch
canyon, which gradually grew narrower
and narrower until he found himself at
the top of the range near the divide
overlooking a deep amphitheater. On
the north side the mountain had been
cut down vertically, and from where he
stood it looked rs though IA gigantic
knife had cleft the mountain side, leav-
ing the edge bare and the red earth
filled with great powders ready to roll
uOWn AFTER ttttn NiHltT IulH
This ledge and the deposit at its base
attracted the attention of the prospect
or, and coming to the latter he found
among the heaps of stones a huge bone,
which might have passed for the limb
of tree Embedded III the soil. Follow
ing up the slope, ne raised his eyes to
the cliff and saw protruding from it
nj " n
ment, they took shape and he saw the
skeleton of a gigantic whale stretched
along the side of the mountain, stand.
ing out in strong relief against the red
earth Some of the bones had fallen
down, but the greater number stood i'll
the natural position, rs the monster had
died, and the whale that had once sWum
over this spot and exposed its enormous
length to the hot sun now lay stretched
along the ancient sea bottom. 1t had
been lifted by some mighty cataclysm
$500 feet into the air, the roots of the
great trees claSping its bones, the win
ter rains undermining ii, while the sea
that was once its home had receded and
lay blue in the summer haze 20 miles
away.
The old prospector could hardly real
ize for a moment that the skeleton OF
the monster was before him. Then tax
ing his pick and attacking it, he became
a whaler literally among the pines o.
the southern Sierras.
| have since seen portions of an
other whale in branch of the coas
range near San Juan Capistrano anC
not far distant, i'll a quicksand, wa