Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1909-01-22
LAKE HOLDS BONES
ASPHALT POOL IN SALT LAKE
OIL DISTRICT A MoRGUE.
Relics of Past Times in Form Of
Claws, Teeth and SIX. lis Found
Investigation Draws scien-
lists and Tourists.

Sherman, Utah.-The crowd Of curl.
Gus visitors to the asphalt pool in the
Salt Lake oil district grows in proper
lions from day to day, as investigation
progresses The find Of bones that
were weighted with the age of centu-
ries when Christ and the apostles
were busy with affairs in Galilee has
we'll as laymen. Already there is
well-worn trail from Rosemary to the
pool of mystery.
The persons who would view the
wonders has but to trek eastward
from Rosemary along La Brea boule-
ward as far as Fourth street and north
along that thoroughfare for distance
of 1900 feet The pool is there, with
the natural gas constantly bubblfng
from below The chance visitor might
suspect the buildings to be caused by
frogs or fishes, but upon near ap-
proach to the lake he discovers that
what at first had the appearance OF
water is a combination of water and
the several oil products.
The lake occupies deep impress
sion In the swale Its banks are OF
dried asphalt and in appearance is not
unlike that Of roughly paved asphalt
street. This Is the sink from which
years and years ago this dried Pc
troleum product, known as la brea.
was dug and transported to San Fran
cisco, where 1t was employed In the
construction of pavements and side
walks. Bones were found a-plenty IN
the brea at that time, but as they fell
not under the eye of persons versed
in the records of the past the pre-
sumption was that the find was moth
ing more than that of horses or cattle
that had become mired in the asphalt
when it was in a liquid state. In the
early days this la brea was hauled by
wagon to Santa Monica, where by
lighter it was transported to ships
that stood off shore and was taken to
San Francisco. This was before the
building Of the first pier at Santa
Monica The industry flourished for
time, until the percentage of bone
matter was found to be SO great as to
render the otherwise desirable ma
| terial unserviceable. That was the
first and only endeavor to turn the Pc
troleum product to commercial advan-
tage, although the derricks of flowing
oil wells surround the pool.
Quite recently it became known that
these bones had no counterpart in the
| animals that are found to-day In this
part of the state, and with view to
determining the scientific value of the
discovery systematic investigation has
been attempted. The result is that col
| lege professors and PSYCHOLOGISTS have
succeeded in finding portions of giant
sloths, saber-tooth tigers, elk. deer, i'm
mense wolves and other rare and curl
GUS animals that must have been in
cased for centuries in natures oil pre-
sentative. Claws, teeth, skulls-all
portions of the great beasts-are
found. When one Of the explorers had
reached depth from which the air
had been excluded for aeons there
was the distinct scent of purified
flesh. Blow flies buzzed, and the next
stroke of the prospector's pick ex-
posed to view bundle of bones from
which oozed slime that must at one
time have been flesh.
4 However. the explorers say the
work is rather fascinating than other
wise. They never know what wonder
the next blow of the hammer will ex-
pose to view. The bones are so thick
ly studded in the asphalt that their
separation and classification becomes
a matter of extreme difficulty. No
where thus far have there been found
any evidences of sea life-no shells or
pebbles-and the question arises,
where on earth was this asphalt death
trap of the age during the time when
the mountains of the Santa Monica
range were being uplifted, as they evil
IDENTIFY were, since near their SUBMITS
are found great fossil turtles, clans,
fishes and other products of the ocean.