Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-17
FLINTS OF THE INDIANS
PREHISTORIC QUARRY DISCOVER
ED ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
Where the Material for Arrowheads
Came From-Weapons Of
the Aborigines.

From the New York Herald
All boys and a great many men have
wondered how the Indians made their
weapons. knives, arrowheads and spears.
from cold, CLASSY flint. forty times harder
than iron and full of fire when you
strike it with steel But for the flint
lock guns of early American days how
could the heroes of Fennimore Cooper have
done their wonderful shooting? For GEN.
fury boys have been digging up arrow
heads in ploughed fields. but where the
flint originally came from to be fashioned
into weapons of war has been a mystery
At last there is light on the subject. The
American Museum expedition, under Har-
Ian j. Smith. announces the discovery of
the prehistoric quarries where the extinct
Pacific coast Indians got flint for their
wea cOns.
were discovered. in the solitudes of the
Selah canyon Of the Natchez river, seven
miles from North Yakima. in the state OF
Washington. According to geological. arch
geological and other signs, these mines must
be many centuries old. Perhaps when
Alexander the Great was tanning his IA
nous stallion the American Ind ans we
whiting out flint weapons by thousands
Perhaps the flint was once like clay, easy
to fashion. But it is as hard as diamonds
now.
Prof Smiths Discovery.
Until this recent discovery it was one of
the mysteries of archaeology where the
coast Indians got their silica and how they
made their weapons from it. This is how
the flint mine was discovered: Professor
Smith started from the Pacific coast on
muleback to determine exactly how far the
coast Indians of prehistoric times wan
dered inland. A big flood was raging In
the Yakima river. The thermometer stood at
100 degrees and rattlesnakes were as thick
as blackberries frightening both the mule
and the professor.
For time the survey was interrupted by
these swarms of rattlesnakes that the
floods had driven from their OVERLOOKED
dens. Frequently there were enough snakes
within mile to bind the Nebraska wheat
crop. In lodging the snakes and hunt
ing for places of safety Professor Smith
made the discovery of flint that will give
him fame.
He entered canyon with misgivings. but
finding the walls of the great cliffs covered
with prehistoric inscriptions and pictures he
became oblivious to danger. In 'aniazement
he deciphered the prehistoric inscriptions
and drawings on the rocky walls, telling
that further up there was something of i'm
portance. Ascending to considerable al
titude he came upon the debris of ancient
quarries. The fragments of flint powders
indicated the presence of the original
tOric world.
Flints Still Awaiting Shipment.
A pile of flint rocks ready for use still
await transportation. Chips of blocks that
had been removed lie in piles around the
quarry for a quarter of a mile stone
hammer for quarrying was found on the
dump. Specimens of the rock and samples
Of the weapons and stone hammers have
been shipped east.
1t is expected that the experts will now
be able to solve the great problem of the
extinct coast Indians-just who they were.
when they lived and why they ceased to
exist. These are considered important
questions as the tribes left remarkable for
tifications along the whole coast and en-
tirely around Vancouver and other coast
islands In addition they had magazines
well stocked with arms. The Notifications
are such that they might easily be de
Tended with modern guns
people. expert in war. should have become
extinct in the prime of their national life
is problem to be solved. They left evil
dences of culture visible. exactly as if they
had suddenly abandoned it-been annihiliat-
ed. Was 1t some Martinique explosion of
gas or some awful pestilence, with clouds
of scorpion locusts dropping from the sky?