328 ANTHROPOLOGY. 



Most of the stone heaps are from 3 to 5 feet high and 8 to 12 in diam- 

 eter at the base. In every case fragments of charcoal, a half cart-load 

 of coarse square -ravel, evidently arrow heads, and of other tools or 

 weapons of merely the dSbris of rocks there fractured by fire, and frag- 

 ments of Hint, jasper, obsidian, and other materials were found, but no 

 human or animal bones. 



About ten miles from this locality, upon the basaltic terrace back of 

 Bottler's ranch, and along the basaltic terraces above a chain of lakes 

 between Emigrant G-ulch and Dome Mountain, and on the West Galla- 

 tin, are long, and frequently, though not always, parallel lines of very 

 small stone heaps. 



Long and patient investigation failed to develop any definite form or 

 apparent object in them, though they are always continuous, connected, 

 and tolerably uniform in shape, average from one-half to a whole 

 bushel in size, and are situated about a pace apart, so that a man can 

 walk for miles upon them. They areseldom inclosures and never squares, 

 circles, or other regular forms. They never, in any remembered case. 

 show, by their position on summits of hills, on forks of canons, or on 

 slopes of terraces, the slightest attempt at defense, often passing around 

 and below crests, rocks, and bowlders, which now absolutely overlook 

 and command them. 



That they are the work of human hands cannot be for a moment 

 doubted, and, being somewhat eroded and imbedded, I suppose them 

 also to be very ancient. These are my only conclusions in reference to 

 them. 



THE SHOSIIONIS, OR SNAKE INDIANS, TIIEIR RELIGION, SUPERSTITIONS, 



AND MANNERS. 



By Col. Albert G. Brackett, U. S. A. 



The different bands of Shoshonis roam throughout Wyoming, Mon- 

 tana. Idaho, Northern Utah, Northern California, and Southern Oregon, 

 Taken as a whole, they number fully 8,000 souls, but are broken up and 

 never operate together. While some have always been friendly to the 

 whites, others have been their enemies, and the renegades living in 

 ( Oregon pursue the pale-faces with peculiar rancor. The party of Indians 

 which gave SO much trouble to the whites in 1878 near the boundary 

 line between Oregon and California, under the name of Modocs, was 

 made up in part of Snake Indians. The Snakes Living near Stien's 

 Mountain, in Oregon, hunt and fish for a living, and never let an oppor- 

 tunity pass without doing what damage they can to the white settlers. 

 Why one portion of this nation should be so hostile and another so 

 friendly is not easily explained. 



These Indians were first encountered by Lewis and (Mark's party while 

 on their way to the Pacific, in 1805. They were very poor, but assisted 

 our people as well as they were able. They lived in the valleys and 



