Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/681

 6l6 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s.. i, 1899

Sonora, Sawmill Flat, Yankee Hill, Columbia, Springfield, and Shaw's Flat. I crossed over and passed around Table mountain, visiting Rawhide and Tuttletown ; and traversing the great gorge of the Stanislaus, spent several days in the vicinity of Murphy's, Altaville, and Angels Camp. These places were all centers of great activity in the early days of gold mining, as amply attested by vast excavations covering many square miles of territory ; and I was told by those who had seen it that the Indians flocked in from the surrounding mountains to such an extent that it was not unusual to see the lodges of a thousand Diggers gathered about a single camp ; and the hills and valleys still bear ample evidence of their presence. Numberless pits and trenches were then gaping to receive the scattered utensils of these people, whose village sites one after another were under- mined and destroyed, and collectors reaped a goodly harvest of supposed ancient relics from the mines. The Snell collection, referred to by Whitney and culled from by Voy, was gathered from this locality and consisted of the usual stone implements and utensils of the Indian tribes, as well as of several forms not in common use today and thought by some to especially rep- resent the ancient time. A remnant of this collection is now owned by Mr J. W. Pownall of Columbia, and will probably pass eventually into the keeping of the University of California. Three specimens were obtained for the National Museum.

As indicated in the preceding paragraph, a thorough knowl- edge of the aboriginal occupancy is of vital importance in this discussion ; but Whitney knew little of the native culture, as his remarks amply show, and he could not have separated objects that had fallen in or had been introduced by other means into the mines from like objects originally belonging in the gravel — if such there were. Neither Whitney nor Voy, so far as I can learn, had any idea of the need and vital importance of such dis- crimination. Their lists of finds from the mines are hardly more than lists of Indian implements.

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