The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-06-30
HORSES Size OF DOGS
ONCE CAVORTED AROUND IN THE
UNITED STATES.
Story of the Horse, as Written in
Fossils Today, Shows They Orig
mated Near San Francisco.

tory that until this year it had not
been believed they had existed on
the western continent, once cavorted
and frisked on the Mojave desert,
and, after cavorting and frisking, left
traces that have rewritten much in
the science of historical geology, says
a writer in the San Francisco Chron-
icle. Fossils picked up within
tWelve-month on the wastes of the
desert in Nevada tell a story of a
queer old world when annals could
gallop, unstopped by water, the whole
measure of the worlds circumfer-
ence.
In the face of rocks all the way
from France to China have been
found fossilized remains of the IA
nous Hipparion horse of the Pliocene
age, but until the Mojave told its
story of Prof. John Campbell Mer-
Ram of the University of California,
this country was thought to have
been one of the newer lands where
pliocene animals never roamed. The
discovery gave proof to the theory
that the continents were connected,
and brought a tinge of authenticity
to the cherished legend of the wan
ished bridge of land" The Mojave
went further.
A worldwide search for the par
ticular species of Dobbin that ran
wild before the 'Hipparion had never
filled the gap in knowledge until the
California professor started digging
again in the Mojave, the Thousand
Creeks, Virgin Valley and Nina fossil
fields of Nevada. Then was discov-
cred the horse of the middle or late
Miocene age, the great-grandaddy OF
the Hipparion, and proof positive that
so far as present research can show
horses inhabited what is now the Pa
cific coast before they trotted over
the slopes of the Older continent.
The story of the horse, as written
in fossils today, means that they orig
mated not many miles from San
Francisco, and have roamed over the
world. This continent is no longer
to be despised as the new" one be-
cause it was discovered by men at
later date, but that right here was
founded the time-honored genus ECU
us. 1t is a romantic story unfolded
after many failures and vicissitudes'
famed grounds for hopes and unex-
pected triumphs, and in all a story
of hard work.
The Mojave desert, since Prof
Merriam's visit, has taken on an in
ternational significance as a virgin
field for research. No one knows
what secrets lie buried in the SANDS
and. as the results so far have been
so promising, it is certain that natives
of the oil field regions will soon grow
accustomed to "high brow" profess
sOrS digging Tor DOneS'
The man who explores the MojaVe
goes back to the time when horses
had three toes and must go with
knowledge of the shifting sands OF
ages. Centuries ago when a Hlppa-
rior horse sought sheltered place
in which to die he performed favor
to science. for in those semi-sheltered
spots the preserving sands gently sitt-
ed in. In years the accumulated
sands and water covered the bones
with a deep conglomerate, which, Tor
storage purposes, has had no equal,
and which preserves to this day the
record of ages 1t is for this reason
that deserts and mountainous regions
are the hunting grounds for the geol-
ogists.
In addition to the horses of the
Miocene. Pliocene and Pleistocene
ages Prof. Merriam found in the MO-
lave the record of the twisted horn
antelope, likewise an evidence OF the
connection of the old world life with
that of America, for the Gland and
kudu of Africa were but first cousins
to the twisted horn.
Half of North America then is the
vast collecting grounds 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
mountains to the Sierra Nevada and
from San Francisco mountains north
ward for 1 500 miles. This great ex-
panse was, when DR.. Merriam started
his explorations, with the exception
of one small area, virgin field.
The Moiaye, it is predicted, Will
add more to the science world.