56 



THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



PETROGLYPHS IN OREGON. 



[Taken from the "Tenth Annual Report of the 

 Bureau of Ethnology, Pages 104-106]. 



Many bowlders and rock escarpments at the 

 Dalles of the Columbia river, Oregon, are 

 covered with incised or pecked glyphs. Some 

 of them are representations of human 

 figures, but characters of other forms predomin- 

 ate. 



Mr. Albert S. Gatschet, of the Bureau of 

 Ethnology, reports the discovery by him, in 

 1878, of rock etchings 4 miles from Gaston, 



est the mouth o' the canyon, consists of hori- 

 zontal zigzag lines and a detached straight line, 

 also horizontal. On another side of the same 

 rock is a series of oblique parallel lines. Some 

 of the most striking characters found upon 

 other exposed portions of the rock appear to be 

 human ftigures, i. e., circles to which radiating 

 lines are attached, and bear indications of 

 eyes and mouth, long vertical lines running 

 downward as if to represent the body, and 

 itnninating in a iurcation, as if intended for 

 legs, toes. etc. To the right of one figure is 

 an arm and three-fingered hand (similar to 



r\ 



FIG. 69, — PETROGLYPHS IN LAKE COUNTY, OREGON. 



Oregon, and 2)4 miles from the ancient settle- 

 ment of the Tualati (or Atfalati) Indians. 

 These etchings are about loo feet above the 

 valley bottom on six rocks of soft sandstone, 

 projecting from the grassy hillside of Patten's 

 valley, opposite Darling Smith's farm, and are 

 surrounded with timber on two sides. 



This sandstone ledge extends for one-eighth 

 of a mile horizontally along the hillside, upon 

 the projecting portions of which the inscrip- 

 tions are found. These rocks differ greatly in 

 size, and slant forward so that the inscribed 

 portions are exposed to the frequent rains of 

 that region. The first rock, or that one near- 



some of the Moki characters), bent downward 

 from the elbow, the humerus extending at a 

 right angle from the body. Horizontal rows of 

 short vertical lines are placed below and be- 

 tween some of the figures, probably 

 numerical marks of some kind. 



Other characters occur of various forms, the 

 most striking being an arrow pointing upward, 

 with two horizontal lines drawn across the 

 shaft, and with vertical lines having short 

 oblique lines attached thereto. 



Mr. Gatschet remarks that the Tualati tell a 

 trivial sto.iy to explain the origin of these 

 pictures, the substance of whicli is as follows: 



