The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-03-28
ABIG WHALE ON LAND
STRANGE DISCOVERIES MADE IN
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

skeleton Of the Big Fish Unearthed In .
Street In Los Angeles--The Old Pros
pector's Discovery History Written In
the Hills and the Rocks.
Once while watching the excavation
of u street through one of the steep hills
that constitute a feature of the city of
Los Angeles l 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 q
street and running foul" as the sail
ors put it, of a whale, and whenever l
passed that way l almost expected to
hear some one shout, There she blows':
and could sec 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
with whales on dry land, l was not sur
prised when a friend related a similar
experience to me and the establishment
its discovery produced. He was an old
resident and in former years had been q
prospector, and at times the old fever
for discovery came upon him, upon
which he would wander off ON the edge
Of the desert or up among the noun
tains of southern California - search
Of color.
On one Of these expeditions he fol-
lowed up q dry wash, which in winter
was u 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 q deep amphitheater. On
the north side the mountain had been
cut down vertically, and from where he
stood it looked as though q gigantic
knife had cleft the mountain side, leav-
ing the edge bare and the red earth
filed with great powders ready to roll
down after each winter rain.
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 . huge bone,
which might have passed for the limb
of a tree imbedded in the soil. Follow
ing up the slope, he raised his eyes to
the cliff and saw protruding from it
other bones. Gradually, to his amaze
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 in
the natural position, as 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
2, 500 feet into the air, the roots of the
great trees clasping its bones, the win
ter rains undermining it, 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 q 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 of
the southern Sierras.
l have since seen portions of an
other whale in a branch of the coast
range near San Juan CapistraRe, and
not far distant, in q quicksand. was
discovered the remains Of q large ele.
\ plant allied to the mammoth, while ten
miles from San Juan / visited q bed of
large shells that covered acres Of coun-
try, so closely packed together that they
were shoveled out in solid masses and
ground up into lime.
Along the southern Sierras, especial
~ in the coast range, it is possible to go
whaling. fishing and shell hunting from
1000 to 3, 600 feet above the present
level Of the ocean and with a positive
assurance Of finding the remains of
some OF these stranded animals. That
this extraordinary CONFUSION of nature
did not occur SO very long ago is evil
dent from the good preservation of the
bones, and on the seashore shells are
found 40 feet above high water mark
almost identical with those living be-
low them.
Several thousand years ago came the
birth OF the coast range Of mountains.
They were forced upward, and with
them the entire coast was elevated.
Previous to this the ocean undoubtedly
plowed over the orange groves of south.
ern California, and the great deserts
may have been arms of the sea from
which projected isolated peaks.
The island of Catalina probably ap-
peared at this time, and upon its sum.
NIT arc found great deposits of shells
1000 feet above the sea. With them
are found the teeth of gigantic sharks
that must have been nearly 100 feet in
length, capable Of attacking the largest
whales.
The entire country Of northern Cali.
fornia presents the details Of its history
in stone, and one familiar with those