1 06 THE A ME RICA N MUSE UM JO URN A L 



the San Gregorio, the Concepcion (7,315 pounds) and two or 

 three smaller masses, together aggregating about 41 tons m 

 weight, are considered by some authorities to be portions of one 

 fall, which occurred in prehistoric time in the southern portion 

 of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. They are known as the 

 HuejuquiUa group of meteorites, and they now occupy positions 

 of honor in the collection of the National School of Mines in the 

 City of Mexico. Bemdego was found in Bahia, Brazil, in 1784 

 and is now in the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro. 



Willamette has had a rather romantic history. It is reported 

 that, in the autumn of 1902, Mr. Ellis Hughes and a man named 

 Dale were prospecting for minerals in the forest adjoinmg the 

 ranch of the former in the valley of the Tuahtin, a stream flow- 

 ing into the Willamette River about nineteen miles above (south 

 of) the city of Portland, Oregon, when their hammers showed 

 that a mass projecting a little above the ground w^as of metal, 

 not rock. The prospectors soon learned that the mass was iron 

 and later discovered that it w^as an isolated block and a mete- 

 orite instead of a "reef" upon which could be located a great 

 mine, as they supposed at first. The exact location of the spot 

 where the meteorite was found is Lat. 45° 22' N., Long. 122° 

 35' W. (Ward). 



Messrs. Hughes and Dale kept their find a secret, hopmg to 

 be able to buy the land containing the meteorite. Not succeed- 

 ing in acquiring the land, Mr. Dale left the country, but Mr. 

 Hughes determined to get the meteorite by force, if not otherwise, 

 and in August of 1903 set about the task of removing it to his 

 own land about three-quarters of a mile distant through a dense 

 forest. He had only his 15 year old son and a horse to assist 

 him, but all were plucky and after three months of almost inces- 

 sant labor with appliances of the crudest description (principally 

 a capstan and wire cable and a truck made of logs) the big 

 meteorite rested upon the soil of the Hughes ranch. 



Then came publicity for the meteorite, and the Oregon Iron 

 and Steel Company, the owners of the land upon which it fell, 

 learned of its existence and removal from their property. Suit 

 was immediately instituted for its recovery, and the case was 

 carried to the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon before 



