on tliis slope of the < ontinenl thai ii has c e to be regarded as a 



very rich field for the paleontologist. 



In fact, th" Pacific Slope is recognized the world over as one ol 

 the very richesl fields for the study of life during the geological periods. 

 So thoroughly has the great region been studied and carefully searched 

 thai to find a deposil of such rare treasures as are entombed in the 

 asphall beds :it Rancho La Brea, and this, too, almosl within the limits 

 oi a great city, is truly a happy surprise. The more remarkable is it 



since the deposil area is beyond compare. The forms are unique, s1 



thoroughly preserved, and readily accessible. 



This place has been known for its "tar" more than a century, and 

 the strange bones have been repeatedly reported locally, but the Govern 

 nn ni Survey and reports contain nut a word aboul them. The fossils 

 seem to have been regarded by all as the remains of ranch animals, and 

 of the hundreds of domestic animals which have perished every year 

 since the lirst Spanish missionary set font on this virgin soil. Even so 

 keen an observer and so careful a writer as Mr. Whitney, the State 

 Geologist, whose reporl appeared in 1865, regarded these bones as being 

 those of wild domestic animals. He describes the bony deposil as "a 



very large ai ml of asphaltum, mixed with sand and the bones of 



cattle and birds which have become entangled in it.'' 



The earliest known record of this tarry deposil is that of a Spanish 

 padre missionary, who reported it in his notes of exploration in 1769. 

 lie mentions in his diary the tar and the use of it for calking of canoes, 

 ami for roofing purposes. Little attention was paid to this deposit, 

 except thai the natives and the settlers used it for fuel, roofing and 

 paving. The roofs of the first adobe houses built in Los Angeles were 

 Covered with asphalt from La Brea springs. From that early day until 

 L863 there is little mention of the Brea beds. 



A large area of some odiid acres was owned by several Spanish 

 grantees, from whom the land was purchased- by Major Hancock, the 

 title subsequently being perfected by Senator Cole of Washington, who 

 afterward came into possession of a thousand acres of this land around 

 the present site of Colegrove. Major Hancock in L853 made a second 

 survey of Los Angeles, known as the Hancock survey. After the Civil 

 War the development of the asphaltuni deposits on the Rancho La Urea 

 was begun. The Major developed the use of the asphalt for sidewalks 

 and paving purposes, and shipped considerable quantities to San Fran- 

 cisco by sd ier. This asphalt was also much used for fuel by the 



early Los Angeles manufacturers. It was during this Hancock develop- 

 ment, in addition to that previously made, that the artificial lake, "The 

 Lit." was formed by removing large quantities of asphaltum.' 



In 1883 Major Hancock died, leaving his wife with her little family 

 of three to Lear the misfortunes of widowhood. In her sorrow for loss 

 of companionship, her anxiety on account of the perplexities of large 



financial plans, she left the city and sought, the quietude of a horn 



the ranch. Here she reared her little ones to lives of honor, and even 

 now. the buildings, nestled among the trees by the side of the pool 

 id' such marvelous treasures, are suggestive of peace and quietude, imlus 

 try and thrift. 



With a more luxuriant vegetable growth, a more semi-tropic climate, 

 a. more abundant rainfall and perchance a slightly lower altitude, this 



place was the scene of those bygone days when animals, prodigies in 

 size, vast in numbers, greal in variety and remarkable in development, 

 lost their lives and left their bones to rest through past ages in the 

 tarry splines. 



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