The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-09-13
OUR REDMEN ASIATICS.
SUCH THE VERDICT OF sMlTHso-
MAN INSTITUTION SCIENTISTS.

slope settles Long Disputed QueHu@A I
finds Traces Of Twenty Aboriginal
Nations Scattered over the Golden state.
~Unquestlonably Of Aslatic origin
Is the verdict as to the California
Indians rendered by a special com-
mission sent TO that part OF the coun-
try by the Smithsonian Institution.
Prof. W. II. Holmes, anthropologist
in-chief Of the National Museum,
voices the opinion, which practically
settles a long disputed question, In a
bulletin that is about to be published.
He says that the aborigines now found
In the Golden state came long ago
from the far north, from Behring Sea
and beyond. having crossed over from
Asia by way Of the "frigid arch" which
affords a land passage interrupted
only by a narrow water barrier few
miles in breadth.
Prof Otis T. Mason, Of the Smith
sOnian Institution, calls attention to
the fact tina the shortest line between
the Straits of Malacca and the CONT
nent of North America Is a great cir
Gle passing northward along the east
coast Of Asia, across Behring Striat,
and southwark to the Columbia River,
| in Oregon. This was the route fol
! lowed by the first corners to America
Not only was it the shortest, but 1t
may be said that food grew in pro
fusion all along 1t by the wayside.
Early man was obliged to travel in
those tracks which were marked out
by nature and provisional for his
journeys. Water furnished the great
est quantity and variety Of food for
the least effort, AMI the same element
afforded easiest transportation.
Travel was mainly in boats. OF
course. 1t is easy to imagine COM
pany of the remots ancestors of Cali
fornia Indians setting out, thousands
of years ago, from the Indian Ocean
in an open boat for voyage of 10000
miles to the Columbia river. Theroute
was nearly all the way by sea-an in
side passage through landlocked seas
and sounds. It led through the Inio
Malayan archipelago, the South China
and Malay seas, and East China and
Yellow seas. the Japanese and Tar
tary seas, the Okhotsk sea, and Beh
ring sea and its bays, the Alaskan SEE
and inlets, the Tlingetr Haida sea,
Vancouver sea and the Columbia ba
sin.
All Of these marine ENCLOSURES
swarmed with animal life suitable TO
human food The East China an,
Japan seas furnished ineXhaustibl'
} supplies Of fish. water fowl, crabs
= oysters, etc. In Behring sea tier
, was no limit to subsistence. No soon
: er was a latitude approached wher
/ the rigors of the climate demanle'
extra clothing and fuel for the bod
2 than marine mammals and land man
/ mails were superintendent. Thes
Q early travellers would naturally avof
t the deep ocean, which is a desert t
. the voyager, offering no food supply
4 In the shadows the landmarks wer
0 their lighthouses AMI the inlets wer
s their harbors innumerable.
s In California at the present tins
d says Prof Holmes. are found rem
0 nants of 20 distinct nations. speakin
r as many languages. These varie
:. ethnic elements, embraced within
d region only 500 miles in length by &c
+ miles in width, seem to have bee
l. attracted one after another to tn
= lowland and coastal valleys by tt
IS bait of an unfailing food supply.
= formidable are the barriers of moul
lie tain ranges on the east and so TO
20 bidding the deserts on the south tn
le few communities once settled the
l. would ever take the trouble to SEE
g homes elsewhere. 1t would apes
er that the peoples we're caught like ifs
IN es in trap-the way in was cas-
i'd but the way out was hard.
n, The Indians, or rather their reno
X ancestors, came from Asia by way
m Behring Strait, because that was t
a. easiest as we'll as the shortest rout
I'd On an ordinary map it does not To-
at the shortest, but it is such, nevertl
n, less, and that this is true may cas-
re be ascerained by brief examinati
&C of any geographical globe. It is CT
ad sidered reasonably certain by ma
ed scientists that the earliest bein
lie. properly called human dwelt not
he from the Straits of Malacca, and Il
ed from there their descendants spre
10 over the world.
ed One can conceive OF a stream
ers canoes flowing for many centur
we from the Indian Ocean and peOpli
ats America steadily from Asia by way