Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-09-01
BONES0F MAsTODON'
Fossil of One of Worlds Most
Colossal Creatures.
Three Mammoth Molars unearthed In
Old Doegett Mine, Near Walker,
Acknowledgment Contain
Four cuspids Each.


San Francisco, 'al.-Five gigantic
teeth, which in some prehistoric pc
Rod probably graced the cavernous
mouth of a mastodon, predecessor OF
the mammoth, and one of the most
colossal creatures that have ever In
habited the earth, have been I'M
eartued in the old Doggett mine, on
the banks of the klamath river, near
Walker, Cal. The three largest of
these stupendous molars contain four
cuspids each, each tooth measuring
seven inches across from the frst to
the last cuspid and little er six
inches from the tip of the root. or
that part of 1t which remains. to the
top of the center cuspid. The teeth
measure four and a half inches in
width
~ In a remarkable state of preserva-
ton, they were found in a pocket of
sand and gravel eighteen feet under
the surface of the earth, by gang of
shovelmen in charge of Edward B.
Frost. mining engineer, who was in
charge of an excavation project at
the mine.
That the teeth were those Of an
herbivorous animal seems evident
from their evenness. They are too
large to have belonged to the mann
moth. This would seem to indicate
that they belonged to the mastodon.
which lowered in size above the man.
moth as that creature did above the
modern elephant
Close to the teeth was found an
ancient stone Ratchet, which is be-
lieved to belong to a period cock
istent with that In which the animal
to which the teeth belonged is be-
lieved to have lived. Indians of the
Klamath river tribes, on being shown
the Ratchet, declared that they mad
never seen or heard of anything re-
sembling 1t. and the medicine men
and chiefs stated that the traditions
Of their people contained no account
to show that the Ratchet had ever
been made or used by them.
In the same pocket where the
teeth were found was a horn seven
and half feet long. which crumbled
in the hands of the shovelmen when
they attempted to take II up. The
horn measured at the butt fourteen
inches in diameter. but, according to
| Frost, who has spent some time in
Alaska, where he saw several speci-
mems of the horn of the prehistoric
mammoth unearthed. 1t bore no re-
semblance to the horn of that ami
NAL The horn, Frost states, was Of
the same contour as that Of ordinary
cattle. and contained a core and a
thin shell similar to that of the OK.
These relics were found in a
stratum of earth which bears evidence
Of being the ancient channel OF the
klamath or some other river from
which the klamath was evolved.
The general formation of the earth
gives every indication Of having been
massed ages and ages ago. and from
the trees and the partly petrified
trunks of trees which were found at
bedrock twelve feet under where the
relics were unearthed. there is ssery
reason to believe that the teeth have
lain imbedded where they were found
upward of 10000 years
That the teeth and horn could not
have travelled far from the very spot
where the animal met his death is
the belief of Frost. He bases this on
the fact that the gravel would grind
to powder anything that was caught
in 1t as 1t slowly moved along as a
mighty mass in the process Of Great
ing some new geologic formation
This he states is partly proved by the
quick disintegration of the horn once
1t was touched by the hand of man.