564 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
Tue great majority of the North American Indians either died off, 
were killed, or became racially admixed and acculturated before they 
could be studied by physical anthropologists. This is particularly 
true of the Indians originally occupying the coastal regions of the 
United States, which naturally were the first parts settled. Thus, 
today much of our knowledge of the physical characteristics of these 
Indians has come from studies of skeletons. Yet rarely are skeletal 
remains identifiable beyond such general attributes as sex, age, and 
cultural affiliation. An exception is the skull of Chief Comcomly, 
subject of the present study. This specimen has unusually good doc- 
umentation and offers evidence of a distinctive culture trait, namely, 
intentional head flattening. Emphasis will be placed on the deform- 
ity, because this is a study in physical anthropology ; but the documen- 
tation is very valuable, as will become apparent. The above 
quotations, besides supplying the title and the first mention of 
Comcomly, are notable examples of the available documentation con- 
cerning this chief and the customs of his tribe. It is regrettable that 
space limitations will not permit the inclusion of many other such 
interesting and pertinent statements. 
The writer is indebted to Stanley P. Young, recently retired from 
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the In- 
terior, for calling to his attention the existence of Comcomly’s skull; 
to the Clatsop County Historical Society, Inc., of Astoria, Oreg., Otto 
Owen, president, and in particular to its corresponding secretary, 
Burnby M. Bell, for the loan of this skull; and to the Academy of 
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for the loan of skull No. 462 of the 
Morton Collection (John K. Townsend’s Chinook “chief”). 
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 
When in May 1841 Charles Wilkes, commander of the United States 
Exploring Expedition, visited the remnants of Astoria, the Astor 
establishment at the mouth of the Columbia River, he was taken to 
see the “tomb” of the Indian chief Comcomly.t. Known as “the hos- 
pitable chief,” Comcomly had been the leader of the Chinook tribe 
when Lewis and Clark arrived in the area in 1805; he had died during 
an epidemic in 1830 at an estimated age of 65 years.2 In reporting 
his visit Wilkes (1845, vol. 4, p. 343) gave a drawing of the “tomb” 
(pl. 1),3 and added, “The chief’s skull, it is believed, is in Glasgow, 
1Many different spellings of the name appear in the literature. The spelling used in 
the Handbook of American Indians (Hodge, 1907, p. 329) has been followed here, being 
at the same time a simplified form of that given by Lewis and Clark (see epigraph). 
Other spellings include the following: Com-com-le, Te-cum-le, Comcomli, Com-com-mo- 
ley, Kum-kumly, Kom-komle (see Lewis and Murakami, 1923, footnote 46 on p. 74). Some- 
times the initial ‘‘m’”’ is changed to “n.” 
2 This is based on Scouler’s (1905) estimate of Comcomly’s age in 1825 as 60 years. 
8Three years later Father De Smet also visited the “tomb,” being perhaps the last to 
record a visit thereto (see Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, pp. 442-443). 
