Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-25
Miner Brings Skull
That Indicates
Murder
May Explain Disappear
ance of Some Famous
Prospector
Victim OF Foul Play Believed to Have
Been Dead Two Years, and Des-
ert Tragedy May Remain
Mystery

The upper portion of a mans skull, a
quantity of dark brown hair and the
towel in which the head was wrapped,
brought to Los Angeles yesterday from
Death Valley, are mementoes of a trag-
edy the details of which will probably
never be fully known.
Billy Keys, a famous Death Valley
prospector, following the directions of
Michael Carroll, exhumed the body of
an unidentified man in the sink of
Death Valley near the Tule springs,
about twenty miles south of Furnace
Creek ranch. The body was discovered
January 10, and Mr.. Keys arrived in
Los Angeles yesterday with the grew
some evidence of his find.
The location of the grave, the posi-
tion in which the body had been in
tered, the unmistakable mark of vio-
lence upon the skull, and all other feat
ures of the situation point to the fact
that the unfortunate man was mur-
dered.
Mr. Keys, upon arriving at the spot
to which he had been directed by Car
roll, who came across the body while
crossing the valley, faced an ordeal
from which even pioneer desert rat.
familiar with all sorts of experiences,
would shrink.
Grave Is Shallow
The grave was scarcely a hole in the
sand, and everything proved that the
Of ho htry- Of hn haI
been done hastily and that only enough
had betn done to cover up traces of the
crime.
The grave was hardly two feet deep,
with less than six inches of earth above
the remains, and the body was doubled
up like a jack-knife and chucked into
the hole with the feet almost as high
as the head.
In the grave were found a pair of
striped trousers and pair of No
prospector's shoes, and close by were
towels, pick and a shovel, and part of
a valise, the rest of which had prob
ably been eaten by the coyotes. A few
yards away, hidden under a greasewood
bush and partially covered with small
sticks was a piece of canvas covered
bly, been hidden by the man who perpe-
trated the crime.
The initials F. H. were printed on the
canvas. On the skull is the mark of a
hammer, and it is believed that the
fracture resulting from hammer blow
caused the death Of the prospector.
Dead Two Years
Mr.. Keys states that single wagon
track may be traced from the Bennett
we'll road to a point within 100 feet Of
where the body was found, showing
that some one has been in that imme-
diate locality with an outfit.
Mr.. Keys thinks that the man has
been dead more than two years. During
the summer of 1905 fourteen men We're
lost in Death Valley. Since that time
four or five bodies have been recov-
cred and in some cases partially identi-
fed Among those who disappeared in
1906 were Bergman, Titus, Judge Be
thune Dusty Rhodes, and a man famil-
larly called the desert post" The body
found may be the remains of one of
these men. However. the means OF
Identification are so meager that the
secret of Bill Keys discovery may
never be given to the world
Judging by the size of the trousers
and of the shoes, as we'll as by the skel-
eton, the unfortunate prospector was a
small man. The fact that not card
or any piece of paper by which identif-
cation could be made was found is an
other indication of foul play.
Death Valley Losing Terrors
Happily, the terrors of Death Valley
are fast passing away. Many persons
have been lost every year in this val
ley, beginning in the days of the old
'49ers who first endeavored to travel this
perilous territory. The names of Funer-
al range, Death valley, Furnace creek,
Emigrant springs and Helrs Hole orig
mated In the days when men were first
attracted from the east to California
TO hunt for gold. The names were given
because of the horrible experiences of
the early pioneers in this same section
OF the country.
Within the past two years, however,
have been greatly changed The activ-
ity manifested in the Bullfrog mining
district has been extended to all parts
or the Funeral range and Death Valley
country, and today people may cross
Death Valley I'm perfect safety. From
Rhyolite to Skidoo, a distance of sixty
hVe miles, wagon and automobile
road has been constructed, and at Stove
Pipe springs, within the bosom of Death
Valley, road station has been estab-
lished where accommodations are af-
forded for man and beast. Wagon
roads, trails and sign boards are becom.
Ing common within this once isolated
spot and while the terrors are not alto
gether eliminated one acquainted with