The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1914-07-09
HORSES WERE SMALL
Legend of American Desert an
Open Secret to Biologists.
FcaSiIized Remains of the Steeds That
Ran Wild During Miocene Age
Found in the Mojave Desert
of Nevada.

of Nevada.
Horses, some no larger than shep-
herd dogs, and others so old in his
tory that until this year 1t had not
the western continGnt, once cavorted
and frisked on the Mohave desert, and,
after cavorting ana frisking, left
tracks that have rewritten much in
the science Of HISTORICAL geology. Eos
sils. picked up within a twelve-month
on the wastes of the desert in Nevada,
tell a story of queer old world when
animals could gallop, unstopped by
water, the whole measure Of the
worlds circumference.
In the face of rocks all the way
from France to China have been found
fossilized remains of the famous Hip
parton horse of the pliocene age, but
until the Mohave told its story to Prof.
John Campbell Merriam Of the Uni
versity of California this country was
thought to have been one of the new.
er lands where pliocene animals never
roamed, writes AID Schuster in the San
Francisco Chronicle. The discovery
gave proof to the theory that the con-
tinents were once connected and
brought tinge of authenticity to the
cherished legend of the vanished
bridge of land" The Mohave went
further.
A world wide search for the parti-
cular species of Dobbin that ran wild
before the Hipparion had never filled
the gap in knowledge until the Cali
fornia professor started digging again
In the Mojave, the Thousand creeks,
Virgin valley and Nina fossil fields of
Nevada Then was discovered the
horse of the middle or late miocene
age, the great granddaddy of the Hip
parton, and proof positive that, so far
as present research can show, horses
inhabited what is now the Pacific
coast before they trotted over the
slopes of the colder" continent.
The story of the horse, as written
in fossils today, means that they origi-
mated not many miles from San Fran
This continent Is no longer to be de-
spised as the new" one because il
was discovered by men at a later date,
but that right here was founded the
time-honored genus Equus. 1t is ro-
mantle story, unfolded after many
failures and vicissitudes, false grounds
for hopes and unexpected triumphs,
and in all, story of hard work.
The Mojave desert, since Prof. Mer
RAMS visit, has taken on an interna-
tional significance as a virgin field for
research No one knows what secrets
lie buried in the sands and, as the re-
suits so far have been so promising,
it is certain that natives of the oil
field regions will soon grow accus-
toned to high brow" professors dig
ging for bones"
The man who explores the Mohave
goes back to the time when horses
had three toes and must go with
knowledge of the shifting sands of
ages. Centuries ago, when Hippar-
ion horse sought sheltered place in
which to die he performed a favor to
science, for in those semi-sheltered
spots the preserving sand gently sifted
In. In years the accumulated sands
and waters covered the bones with
deep conglomerate, which for storage
purposes, has had no equal and which
preserves to this day the record of
ages. 1t is for this reason that deserts
ord mountainous rooi0nS AFRO tho hunt
ing grounds for the biologists.
In addition to the horses of the milo
Gene, pliocene and pleistocene ages,
Prof Merriam found in the Mohave
the record of the twisted horn antel
ope, likewise an evidence Of the con-
nection of the old world life with that
of America, for the Gland and kudu of
Africa were only first cousins to the
twisted horn.
Half of North America, then, is the
vast collecting ground for fossils
which the world of science has left
to Prof Merriam and men who have
been his students and assistants in
the University of California. The
wonder is the field has been so long
neglected The great basin from
which many more discoveries may
come extends from the Wasatch noun
tains to the Sierra Nevada and from
San Francisco mountains northward
for 1900 miles. This great expanse
was. when Dr. Merriam started his
explorations, with the exception Of
one small area, virgin field.
The Mohave, it is predicted, will
odd more tn the science world