The San Francisco call., 1898-03-18
The Prehistoric Turquoise Mines of California and the Ancient In- dian Workers.
BY GUSTAV ESSEN.

It Is safe to say that the discovery of prehistoric turquoise mines of Califor- mia and certain traces of the prehiS- toric race of Indians which worked these mines and traded with the wealth extracted from them forms the most inn portant discovery yet made in the his tory of the native races Of the Pacific Coast It brings us into close contact with a race of Indians vastly superior to those now existing on this coast, i'm mensely more civilized than any of which we so far have had any knowl- edge with exception of the Aztecs and the Mayas of Mexico and Central Amer ica The principal Indian relics on this coast consist, as we have long known, of shell mounds and of painted rocks. Tn a few places a few scratched or painted signs representing animals, men and conventional signs have been found in favorably situated rocks in the Sierra Nevada, but these have al ways been of the crudest workmanship and of the most primitive composition, so primitive indeed that science has hardly thought them worthy of careful investigation. Every archaeologist will therefore hail with delight the discov- cry of remains of a superior civilization recorded by tens of thousands of in scriptions in an almost perfect state Of preservation What makes this yet more interesting is the fact that these inscriptions are found in the immediate vicinity of extensive mines of precious stones, and that they are found only in the vicinity of these mines. A thor ough examination of these relics would require many months of hard work and the expenditure of much money, for which time and opportunity have not yet been had, but the results already recorded after preliminary investiga- tion by The Call expedition are Suffi- cient to warrant the fulfillment of high expectations as regards the ultimate re- suits which may be had, when time and money are placed at the disposal of sci entific investigators.
 What the Relics Consist of.
 The relics left of this prehistoric race of Indians in California consist of five different items, each one of which is of great interest, but which when taken together may well be said to form an open page of the history of now van ished race which, when properly read and deciphered, will reveal to us the arts, life history and the semi-civiliza- tion of a race of which we until now have known almost nothing. These rel ics which now confront us are as fol- lows. EXter1Or mines or precious tur- quoise stones of very high quality; se- ries of highly complicated hieroglyphs, numbering tens of thousands and ex- tending for twenty to thirty miles around the turquoise mines; hundreds of caves immediately below, or in, the rocks in which the glyphs are cut, and in which caves there is every reason to believe that the mine workers of this ancient race dwelt while they were working the mines; numerous stone inn plements of the best workmanship, used in the working of the mines, and which implements are now found not only scattered over the surface of the an- cient turquoise pits, but actually found in the mines. where they had been left by the miner expecting to return and resume his work, when the war, to which perhaps he was suddenly called, would be over; pieces of pottery with impressed, not painted, ornaments.
 There are also other traces of the an- cient people in this vicinity such as ar tificial trails leading to the water holes and openings, one>of the trails being cut out in the hard, solid rock of the cliff.
 The Turquoise Mines.
 The use of the precious stone tur- quoise was very extensive among the Aztecs and among the people which built the Casas Grandes of the Gila and