PALMER ON UTAH MOUNDS. 169 



cient water ditches, used by the former inhabitants of these ruins, not 

 only to water their fields, but to bring the water to the dwellings for 

 domestic purposes, and to be used in making the rude mud bricks or 

 adobes of which the houses were built, and the ruins of which form the 

 so-called mounds of Payson. The reason that the soil is so poor in the 

 vicinity of the ditches is because the constant tlow of water carried off 

 the rich earth, leaving the sand and gravel in its place, and the modern 

 cultivation of the surrounding land has only covered over these sutficient 

 soil to hide them from view, so that grain and corn planted in this thin 

 soil soon present a very decided contrast to that planted in the richer soil 

 near by. 



In a letter published in the Eureka (Nevada) Sentinel* Mr. Potter 

 gives a somewhat different account from that by Miss Wirt. lie says, 

 '' in the right hand'' of the large skeleton " was a huge iron or steel 

 weapon which had been buried with the body, but which crum- 

 bled to pieces on handling.'' Mr. Potter, it seems to me, must 

 have mistaken a piece of juniper wood that had decayed to dust by the 

 side of the skeleton for his supposed '' iron or steel weapon." The color 

 would be the same, and to one so ready to draw conclusions to suit his 

 preconceived desire to have his explorations verify the book of Mormon, 

 this would be sufficient. The Book of Mormon tells of a people called 

 Nephites, who once inhabited Utah, and who were acquainted with the 

 use of iron, so that metal must be found to prove the fact. a. close ex- 

 amination would have convinced him of its being wood instead of iron 

 or steel, or may-be even the wood was wanting ; one cannot be blamed 

 for being skeptical after so little truth is found in Mr. Potter's state- 

 ments. A great many mounds have been leveled in other parts of Utah 

 by other persons without finding iron or steel. 



It is also stated that, " near the skeleton was also found pieces of cedar 

 wood, cut in various fantastic shapes, and in a perfect state of preserva- 

 tion, the carving showing that the people of this unknown race were 

 acquainted with the use of edged tools." As I could get no trace of these, 

 I would state that many rotten pieces of wood, and only one sound piece, 

 were found by me in Utah, and these were without form or ornamenta- 

 tion. Nor have I ever found tools in Utah ruins that either whites or 

 Indians could use to cut or carve cedar wood into fantastic shapes. In 

 this letter he also makes a different statement regarding the stone boxes 

 containing wheat. He says : "• Close by the floor was covered with a 

 hard cement, to all appearances a part of the solid rock, which after 

 patient labor and exhaustive work we succeeded in penetrating, and 

 found that it was but the corner of a box similarly constructed, in which 

 we found about three pints of wheat kernels." The letter further says : 

 "• We have found plenty of charred corn-cobs, with kernels not unlike 

 what we know as yellow dent corn." Close examination would have 

 shown that it was the same kind of corn now grown by the Pah Ute 

 Indians and the Moquis of Arizona. The letter also speaks of finding 

 '■'■ moulds made of clay for the casting of different implements." Many 



*Since re-published in Popular Science Monthly for Nov., 1877, Vol. XII, p. 123. 



