The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1908-04-25
A Soda Creek Mystery

/ III ieceul ISSUE OF tne hepuDilean,
W. H. Morrow argues that Capt. L. L.
Bethoud 5 famous discovery of human
remains of supposed glacial age " as not
made at Idaho Springs, as has been
generally Supposed, but at some for
gotten mining camp some 20 miles to
( the southwest of that point This ar
gument, based on the discrepaucy be
tween Capt. Berthoud S estimate Of the
latitude and longitude of his discovery
and that assigned to Idaho Springs on
/ recent maps, is refuted by the follow
\ ing facts; Aglance at any accurate top
/ ographie map viii show that the inter-
! section Of latitude 80 degrees and 50
I minutes and longitude l05 degrees and
[ 40 minutes is located on one of the high
est peaks of the Mount Evans mass at
an elevation Of about 1880 feet, a
{ most improbable sight for placer min
/ ing. Persons familiar with the great
difficulties OF accurate geographic meas
urements in mountain wilderness ike
the Rocky Mountains during the first
/ decade of the history of Colorado are
not surprised at the numerous errors
found in our older records. As an ex-
ample, the official map of COLORADO ter
ritory, published by the authority of
I Surveyor General F NJ. Case in 1861
| (Which may be seen in the fiat case c
in the history hall of the Colorado his
torical society, locates the 105th merid-
ian and parallel 30 miles from their
present known position. The names
| of the remote mining camps of
/ the Rocky Mountains being absent
/ from most of the maps of that date,
it was necessary for Capt. Berthoud to
give what was then generally supposed
to be the correct latitude and longitude
of Idaho Springs.
As to the supposed glacial age of the
4 bones. it should be remembered that in
[ 1860 the modern science Of glacialogy
/ was in its infancy and that long after
this period eminent Euorrean. American
I biologists made serious errors in their
: Interpretation of Pleistocene phenom-
ena. especially in the Western states.
! If the prince of American biologists, j.
I ID. Dana, COMPOUNDED the old stream de-
posts of Clear Creek at Golden with
moranimal material, certainly Capt.
Berthoud should not be charged with
gross error if he assigned to deposits
an age which would not be given by
present biologists.
During a several years residence at
Idaho Springs had exceptional oppor-
tunities for studying the geology and
archaeology of that vicinity. and for
acquainting myself with the legends of
the earliest residents. In preparing
my paper for the Smithsonian Institute
Clear Creek counties, | Investigated all
attainable accounts of records of pre-
historic man. Capt. Berthoud's manu-
script notes in my possession describe
: his find SO accurately that know with
. in a few feet where he found the bones
on the west bank of Soda creek, just
! west of the largest hot spring at Idaho
Springs. Having spent % years in
studying the Pleistocene geology OF
northern Colorado, and being the author
of number of important papers on the
subject | am perhaps qualified to give
, expert testimony on this branch of ge.
; ology. With the possible exception OF
the friable condition of the bones, as
described by Capt. Berthoud, can see
: no good reason for assigning them any
: considerable antiquity, and from state.
0 ments in his manuscript think that they
may represent the bones of an Indiar
drowned and buried, as have been per
sons in the adjacent gulches within his.
toric times, by floods in the narrow
n CLUTCHES following the severe mountain
0 storms known as '.cloudbursts. Per.
f sons familiar with the rapid formation
n of the enormous landslide, talus and al
: luvial fan deposits in the Rocky Noun
d tains, are not surprised at finding al
s great deapths from the surface very
: modern relics, e. g., the fossil bear
: trap" and fossil bit-chain' in the col
e lection Of onr State Historical society
h which were found under circumstance!
: that under normal conditions would in
+ dictate great age. AS previously stat
n ed, it is quite possible that these bone!
: are the remains of some Ute who diet
e while trying to secure relief at the 'bis
medicine" spring, and whose remain'
;. were inferred in the convenient Ut
fashion, by being placed under an over