The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-18

When soldiers Of fortune 60 into the
wilds and return with tales of peoples
of such stature that the world knows
not their kind, of such fcetness Of foot
that the deer of the hills and the hare
OF the plain are caught with the bare
hands, of such ferocity and hereditary
eXclusivencss that no drop OF alien
blood has ever entered their veins and
no individual has ever gone among
them from the outside world and re-
turned TO tell the tale, the public is
wont TO take these reports with saw
ing grain of salt.
But when such things are recorded
by mcthodicai scientists with interna-
tionsl regulations, working under such
institutions as the government bureau
of cthnolugv. they must be believed.
Further. when these men detail stories
of adventure among such savage peo-
pic that shame the inventors of the
most imaginary tales, there is nothing
90 do but accept them as being cvi-
dcnflv below the actual occurrence III
fact. fer these men arc more likely to
dcpreciatc than nxaggeratc,
Dr. W. J. McGnc, eminent gcologist
ethnoloeia., head of the government bu
rcau OF soils, secretary to the conserva-
G)pIl fbllllll>SlOu aSN Sibl'u'hS' ipi NHN
greatest amount OF miscellaneous sci
cntiGc information of any man IN
America. tells the present story. Il is
Of The Seri Indians. strange tribe
dwelling on Tiburon island, in the Gulf
of California, aud least known of all
the peoples of the world because most
completely set off TO themselves by |
tipathy for outsiders. Despite the inn
preston that DR.. McGee might give of |
being 'sWivcl-chair scientist Of Z,
somewhat unusual corpulency, he is one !
of nc TWO men who have successfully |
led parties 10 this island, The other he /
ing - Arizona Charley Meadows, the |
wild west celebrity who went there IN
search Of attractions and Of gold. But
when the facts are known these same |
scientists in the government employ are
the tuest adventures in the world. |
and they daily with death with a
greater disregard than The veriest
swashbuclIler who ever fought under
foreign 6ag.
The stories that have for forty years
emanated from rhe Gulf Of California.
telling of the strange people VINO in
habit these parts and unreliably of the
gold 20 be found there, have been the
inspiration of something like dozen
parties from the United States that
have attempted TO go among them IN
search of wealth or romance, as the
case might he, Latterly, among these
was an expedition sent cat by San
Francisco newspaper in launch and
was overpowcred by the natives and
murdered, two American miners whose
severed hands were found by DR.. Me
Gee nailed to a crucifX, and, finally,
Tom Grendell, handsome and roman
tic member of Col, Roosevelt S rough
riders. who started for the land of the
Seri with the idea of establishing for
himself kingdom among these mag
nifcent ahorlgines, but OF whom moth
ing was ever afterward heard
The land of the Seri includes, in
to Tiburon island, a strip Of
coast in the vicinity of
that island made fairly accessible by
the presence of one or two small
springs. Beyond this. into the main
land of Mexico, stretches away the
make its crossing almost impossible
aud 10 form the barrier that for tens
of thousands of years has kept the
Eeri people distinct unto themselves.
Throughout Mexico, and for that mat
ter the whole of North America, there
Is abundant evidence Of the prehistoric
residence of highly civilized people,
DuG lHlS SIOpS WIFI INC oVll |
Even geologically there is evidence
that these people have lived in their
isolation, but there is no evidence in
the form Of stone implement or the
mound of fallen house such as abound
elsewhere, that the original peoples of
North America ever exerted any infu-
ence over the Seri. There is no kipship
between them and the other Indians
Of the mainland, and no words in COM
mon in their language. They are
racially independent, and their origin
Is an chronological mystery.
With these points in view, it is, nat
urally, of greatly added interest to get
from DR.. McGee reliable description
of their peculiarities. In the first
place, they are the largest in stature
Of any race Of people that exists in the
world today The men average six feet
in height, and great numbers Of them
90 far beyond that mark. The women
are but little less tall and will aver
age around five feet, ten inches. They
are slim-limbed, small Of head, large Of
hand and foot, deep-chested, and with
out the tendency toward corpulency so
common in other Indians. They are of |
the lowest grade Of civilization in