REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 69 



puerto de Santa Barbara " or as " el rancho de la playa." After 

 the confiscation of the mission lands the ownership of the beach 

 ranch passed into private hands. During the forties the owner was 

 none other than Capt. George C. Nidever, known in California 

 history as the rescuer of the last surviving Indian woman from San 

 Nicolas Island. Captain Nidever sold the property in 1851 to 

 Augustus F. Hinchman, whose daughter, Miss Stella F. Hinchman, 

 has furnished valuable data about the history and traditions of the 

 mound. In 1860 Mr. Hinchman sold the tract in turn to Lewis T. 

 Burton, who made it his home for 19 years and after whom the 

 mound has been called in more recent times. None of the early 

 owners had allowed excavation on the property and with erection 

 of the Potter Hotel on top of the mound in 1901 all hope of 

 archeological investigation was lost. This hotel burned to the 

 ground on April 19, 1921, and the old village site was thereby again 

 released for archeological investigation. 



The results of this excavation of the Indian town of Santa Bar- 

 bara proved rich and interesting beyond expectation. The graves 

 that were opened were crowded with human bodies, trinkets, and 

 a great variety of utensils. Among the rarest specimens are the 

 largest soapstone canoe ever discovered in California, a wooden awl 

 such as is described by the early historians, and a number of objects 

 of problematical use. There are soapstone pipes, fishhooks of 

 abalone and bone, sinker stones, arrowheads of great variety, spear- 

 heads, about 140 fine mortars, pestles, including some very long ones, 

 beads of many kinds, pendants, daggers, bowls and kettles of soap- 

 stone, including some of the largest ever found, native paints, etc. 

 About 300 skeletons were taken out, among them some very ancient 

 skeletons from the coquina or reef-rock layer. These are now in 

 the hands of Dr. Bruno Oetteking, of the Museum of the American 

 Indian, who is preparing an elaborate report on them. 



At the close of January, Mr. Harrington returned to Washington 

 and has since then been engaged in the preparation of his report 

 on the Burton Mound. 



Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, ethnologist, was engaged for the greater 

 part of the year in office work. This consisted chiefly in the his- 

 torical analysis of the large mass of material in native text 

 relating to the formation and structure and import of the League 

 or Confederation of the Five Iroquois Tribes or Nations. He was 

 also occupied in the translation of the farewell address of Degana- 

 wida, a founder of the confederation, into literary English. In 

 this address Deganawida briefly summarizes the scope and import 

 of the institutions and the laws of the league; herein, with the mas- 



