6 BULLETIN UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 



50 yards off shore. 157 feet. 



300 yards off shore eastward, 160 feet. 



600 yards off shore, 170 feet. 



Three-quarters of a mile southeast, 175 feet. 



One mile southeast, 157 feet. 



One and one-fourth miles southeast, 148 feet. 



Half way between Wild Horse and Twin I.slands. 158 feet. 



The soundings were made by Maurice Ricker. now principal of the West 

 Des Moines High School, with our specially constructed apparatus, a line 

 with plumb bob. the line running between the wheels of a wire measuring 

 apparatus. The soundings show that the comparatively level lake bottom 

 extends to within a few feet of shore, and that the cliff rises abruptly from 



the lake bottom. 



Landing at the point is not generally to be accomplished. The west^^rlv 

 winds from the low pass at the former lake outlet to the west usually blow 

 eastward across the arm at Wild Horse bay. A wind usually blows up or 

 down the lake. The currents meet off Angel Point, and the wind may blow 

 from "any direction." There is no beach at the point, and boats of any kind, 

 large or small, would soon be badly pounded on the sharp rocks. 



On our visit in 1904 we had very fine weather and still water. The small 

 steamer Bigfork touched easily among the sharp edges, for the lake was 

 smooth as glass. We landed first on the evening of August 13, and returned 

 the next day to spend some time. Prof. J. M. Hamilton, now President of the 

 Montana College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, and the writer devoted 

 attention to the writings while Mr. Ricker made the soundings. Our party 

 was camped at Wild Horse Island. 



Professor J. P. Rowe, of the University, gives the composition of the rock 

 composing the cliff as follows: 



The cliff is of quartzite shale, and i)robably belongs to the Burke forma- 

 tion, or at least Pre-Cambnan. The hardness of this rock is between 5 and 7, 

 and withstands the weathering well. The walls would remain perpendicular 

 for a long time, regardless of the agencies of disentegration. It is almost 

 devoid of rifts and joints, antl in many places where found makes perpendicu- 

 lar cliffs. 



A few portions of the rock with the writings were broken off and brought 

 to the University for study. W. D. Harkins, Professor of Chemistry in the 

 University, examined the material used for making the hieroglyphics. He 

 reports it as being oxide of iron. 



The difference between the material used by the Indians in making these 

 writings and ordinary paint is apparent at once when comparison is made. 

 The Indian writings show up well in all photographs that have been taken. 

 On the cliff at the southern or left hand end of the writings, some one had 

 drawn the figure of a horse, some three feet long. It was a crude affair, 

 clumsily executed with a brush an inch broad, made with a peculiar gray- 

 brown paint. The photograph of the rock wall containing this picture, taken 

 in the same manner as the others shows nothing of the picture on the plate. 

 It is a clear blank so far as the horse is concerned, although the cliffs show 

 as well as in the other pictures. 



