Rocky Ford enterprise. (Rocky Ford, Colo.) 1887-1950, 1900-11-09
MAMMOTH REMAINS.
Reported Finding Of n SKULL of Gses,
stsr In san s:ntro County.
California,

TIL. evidences Of life belonging to
the rrcg.aclal age are rare In Califor.
MIA: SIN specimen has been discoy.
cred near the coax; In San Matco coun.
~. II the statement contained In n
lIalfmoou hay dlrFatch may be relied
upon. \ wcii-rre1CFvcL skull OF the
mammoth Is raid to have been recently
taken on, OF the bed OF pilarcitos crcci.
by some boys who were employed In
hauling sand at n point about n mile
cas-: OF Haliinoon bay. The skull Is
reported TO be about five feet In length
and portions of the ;usi.S foot long
are attached TO II and are six inches
In diameter at the junction with the
bone. These extend into the crrcbrsI
cavity. Bones OF the mammoth were
also found in the ncighborhood some
years ago.
The discovery of these remains. saws
the San Francisco Chronicle. is no
proof that the mammoth ever wan.
drrcd nj large during life in these parts.
The evidences are. OF course, indiSpu:-
able that great herds of these preyla.
cial beasts pasturcd In the valley of the
Yukon and on the shores of Siberia
and the Behring sea. During some vic.
lent CONFUSION OF nature great ice
sheets cnvclopcd the far north, and
many of their carcasses have been
preserved therein up to the present
time. hides, hair. flesh. bones and tusks
being found in perfect condition. Mines
OF mammoth ivory were probably
worked in Alaska long before the terri.
tory became field for the search OF
gold. These mammoth remains have
been discovered in the placers of the
klondike and at other points in the
frozen banks Of the Yukon and its trib.
utaries There would be nothing inn
probable in the assumption that the
mammoth remains now unenrthcd on
Pilarcitos creek near the shores of
Halfmoon bay had been deposited at
the point where found by stranded ice
foe brought down from the far north
at some remote period by the ocean
current which sweeps down the west.
ern coast of the continent.
The only evidences of the mammoth
life which once inhabited the earth
found anywhere in the vicinity were
the footprints of the mammoth sloth
80" "eit uncovered IN the carson
tNev.) sandstone quarries. Wyoming
is the most fertile field on this CONT
nent, outside of Alaska. for the fossil
remains of the gigantic animals which
existed here in past geological ages
The University of Wyoming has Sc.
cured from the sandstones of that
state the largest and most perfect and
complete collection of these fossils in
existence.
II any of these gigantic animals ever
had their habitat in California. the
changes which ice and flood and other
agencies have since produced have
swept away all traces of them. The
'aiaveras skull of prehistoric man
Which Bret Hartc immortalized in verse
belongs to the world of fiction, not OF
TACT. Even though we are short on
FOSSIL remains, it might not require
much straining OF the imagination to
assume that the diminutive horned
toad OF the southern counties is the
degenerate descendant of the horned
dinosaur, which ranged from 10 to IL
ieet in length and whose fossil remains
nave been excavated from the plains
OF Laramie, or that the nimble lizard
ionnd everywhere in the state is the
direct descendant of the gigantic
saurinns OF the reptilian age.