Evening star., 1932-10-23

~ together a legend OF can
wv nibalistic giant which Dreyed
on ancient Indian tribes of
the American desert end
who. sleeping on a desert mesa. left his
| imprint for mankind to sec Army Air
Corps officers, whose missions take
them over the desert country, are keep
ing sharp eye out for evidence which
will clear up the story Of markings re-
Gently discovered by aviators in the
desert near Blythe. Calf
The first description of details of the
discovery of the giant figures, described
as one of the most important ethnolcgi-
cal finds in recent years in the South
! west, was received by the War Depart
ment here yesterday from Lieut.. Minton
w. Kaye, Air Corps. who made the first
photographs of the figures.
After making a preliminary survey
of writing" entirely new to ethrolo-
gists, Lieut.. Kaye guided the first
scientific party to the figures.
Reports His Findings.
Lieut.. Kaye, after describing diff
culties encountered in locating the fig
ures, which we're seen first by George
Palmer, World War flyer reports the
finding of the markings as follows;
Il discovered directly below me an
immense man stretched out upon the
brown roof of mesa as though he were
taking a sun bath or gazing up toward
his maker. And what a thrill I got
Words can hardly express my emotion
upon seeing this thing too stupendous
to have ever been conceived and built
by modern man; for modern man would
hardly spend the effort to construct
such as this way out at the end Of
nowhere.
Upon discovery of the large figure.
began circling, losing altitude and
studying the figure. So intent was 1
that I did not see that there were
other figures forming a triangle with
base of about one-haf mile. Technl-
cal Sergt Stephen McAlko my photo
grapher, motioned to me to look to one
side, where I saw another figure of a
man and then still another. I noticed
also that there were figures OF animals
and Of snakes"
Built on Huge Scale.
The figures were found to compose
three great subgroups laid out on the
fiat mesa surface on a scale so large
that they become inperCeptible to a
ground observer unless Re is deliber-
ately searching for them with knowl-
edge of their location and general ap-
pearance.
In making the figures. initial studies
show, the ancient Indians took advan-
tage of the formation of a brownish,
highly polished coating on all exposed
desert rocks over the centuries. This
deposit, known as desert varnish,' -
after hundreds of years covers all the
exposed desert surface and is respon-
sible for much of the brownish color
of the Western deserts.
The figures were formed by Scraping
away of the vanished surface rocks
leaving the frequently brightly colored
under rocks and soil exposed. The fig
ures show great contrasts in color. The
figures OF the men ard animals were
formed by a sort of intaglio process.
! The snakelike figures and a great
circle partially surrounding one of the
men were formed by beating TO a
smooth, polished surface the desert
rock.
Man 167 Feet Tall
These large figures" Lieut.. Kaye
explained have been termed as pic
tographs, which is slightly in error.
Nor are they petroglyphs. Photographs
are representations or figures painted
upon some surface, while petroglyphS
are symbols carved in or on some sub
stance. As the large figures on the
west bank of the Colorado are neither
painted or carved. in the strict sense
Of the word they are neither picto-
graphs nor potroplyphs."
Two of the figures Of the men, Lieut..
Kaye reported, have head dresses con-
sisting of wavy lines emanating from
either side of the head. These lines
are six in number and were formed by
the beating down of the surface. The
figures of the men range in size from
167 feet, with an arm spread OF IA
feet, to the smallest, which is 95 feet
long Eyes, nose and mouth were
formed of large rocks of texture
which would not acquire desert varnish,
these rocks being hauled some distance
| from a wash"
Lieut. Kaye expresses the belief that
the figures are ceremonial in character
This is borne out" he said, by the
fact that they are placed upon level
mesa top and hardly discernible from
! the surface, looking up toward that
mystic void called heaven. If they
had been made for other purposes they
, would have been placed upon Stops
or cliff to be seen from great dis
tance On top of the mesa they can
l
only from above, by the gods, or per-
| chance as in these modern days, by a
passing aviator.
Pottery Found Nearby,
Pottery was found near the figures
| including a broken vessel of type sin1i-
lar to that brought into the California
desert from the Gila River by the
Hohokam tribe about $50 AID, Lieut.
Kaye reported. It is believed that the
pottery, however, was left by later
tribe of Indians than those which made
the figures, probably as an offering.
Preliminary studies indicate connec-
tion between the newly found figures
and the amazing Indian maze neaI
Needles, Calf. The maze. titanic
piece of work, is composed of windrow-
OF rock covering an area almost one
mile square.
1t is reported that there is large
figure similar to those at Blythe, on 9
I mesa in the Gila country in Arizona
Lieut.. Kaye said There is a legenc
known to the Indians in the Gila coun'
try today that Haak, legendary can
nibalistic creature. was destroying mar