Wadsworth semi-weekly dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1902-04-29
DR.. LEONARD'S GIFTS.
Washtenaw, Michigan. Times:

. R&&N66Ss
been coming off and on for the last
ten years and they are the gift Of the
University's mysterious friend, Dr.. J..
C. Leonard, of Nevada.
Few people who have seen the col
lection. realize the unlimited pains and
privations which the donor has under
gone to procure these relics, and very
few people realize the magnitude Of
the collection or the unique and Won
derful relics 1t contains or the history
which surrounds each, and probably
none know anything Of the personality
of DR.. Leonard, the "man Of mystery
Although DR.. Leonard was born in
Michigan he is not a graduate, nor
was he ever a student in, the Univer-
slty, SO his kindness to that institution
cannot be attributed to that source.
He was born in Birmingham. in 1888,
and moved to California in 80, where
he has lived ever since. making few
trips east to visit his mother, who still
lives in that place. In California he
follows the profession Of a travelling
dentist and LEADS the life of a hunter
rarely passing the night under the
shelter OF a roof, but rather. rolled In
his blankets. sleeps out Of doors. He
has accumulated his collections travel
ing through Idaho, Nevada and Cali
fornia with his mule teams, and at one
time he was reported dead by the Chi
cago papers. because his teams got
away and left him alone on the desert.
He followed his mules 800 miles and
finally recovered them, after enduring
the terrible agony Of the desert with
out food or water. In his searches he
has explored places where white men
have never before been and has found
many evidences and remains Of the
Cliff Dwellets whose history he pur-
poses to write at an early date. In
one place he has discovered a noun
tain covered with pottery standing
around a camp fire where a prehistoric
race left it when they finished their
last meal, and vanished. who knows
where1 He says it is possible to
gather a carload Of pottery at this
place.
Among his more recent gifts are
some stone images. beautifully carved.
a deck Of Indian cards having pictures
of the various tribes on the faces and
their blankets on the backs. some
human bones. and remnants Of the
Indian massacre Of AZ and so. The
skull Of a woman, across whose breast
was found a rifle and neal her the
bones Of an Indian with a bow and ar
rows and arrow heads; in her pocket
was found an old lock and a daguer-
rsotype. This is the sole record Of
some grim tragedy, unknown and I'M
written.
There is an exceptionally fine COL
lection of flints and arrowheads and
p~etrifactions, among them a petrified
toad. One interesting thing is a bottle
split out from a tree two feet in diam
eter and fifty feet from the ground on
the old Fremont trail. There are
scalplng knives and t~omahawks. and
other weapons Of savage warfare. In
addition to this there are mastodon and
human bones, and many of the animals
in the museum come from the same
source. At one time DR.. Leonard
sent by express two live coyote cubs.
with directions that they be kept unit
they attained the size best suited to
the needs Of the University and then
killed. This was done and the two
half grown animals are now among the
collection. His collection Of ores, es-
pecially the iron collection, is very
complete, and there are many old
relics OF the trail Of the forty-niners,
in the way Of wagon-irons, ex-shoes,