﻿28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 



/^ 



Ijeen discovered through the digging of a shallow well in the vicinity 

 no one would have suspected their presence here. Several years 

 earlier fossil hones had also been found at nearly the same depth 

 (about 9 feet) in another well, now filled in, which had been dug 

 at a distance of about 250 feet from the present open one. It was 

 thus assumed that the fossil-bearing gravel deposit was of rather wide 

 extent, and that by making a long stripping with plow and scrapers, a 

 considerable area of " pay gravel " might be uncovered and worked 

 at comparatively small expense. The spot chosen as being most 

 promising was naturally that between the two wells. 



" At Willcox, the services were procured of a reliable man with 

 teams, plow and scrapers and this work was put into execution. 

 Thanks are here due Mr. Harris, a local real estate agent, who lent 

 valuable aid in this connection. I was also indebted to this gentleman 

 for permission to put through the project, for the locality worked 

 was on deeded land which he had in charge. 



" As the stripping progressed, it became evident that the strata, or 

 layers, of deposits passed through did not conform to the section 

 exposed in the abandoned well. Hence, on reaching the 7-foot level 

 three prospect holes, about 15 feet apart, were put down to a depth 

 of about 6 feet, or 4 feet lower than the top of the gravel deposit in 

 the well. In none of these holes was there any sand or gravel en- 

 countered thus proving that the gravel exposed in the well was part 

 of an ancient stream channel of limited lateral extent. This discovery 

 of course caused a complete abandonment of the trench excavation 

 work, and the remainder of our time was spent in ' mining ' the 

 gravel from the sides of the well as far as was considered safe to do 

 so. In this way several good fossil horse teeth were procured. 



" From Willcox. I went by way of Tucson to Feldman, arriving there 

 about noon of the 29th of March, where I was joined by Dr. Bryan. 

 Feldman is a ranch and post office in the lower valley of the San 

 Pedro, about 90 miles north-northwest of Benson and about 10 miles 

 above the junction of the San Pedro with the Gila. The valley here 

 is very much narrowed and deepened, the river bed being nearly 

 2,000 feet lower than at the Curtis ranch. The gradient of the 

 streams and ' w^ashes ' emptying into the San Pedro in this vicinity 

 is very steep and benches and divides rise quite abruptly on either 

 side. Erosional exposures one might expect to find here under 

 these conditions are very much reduced by a heavy covering of gravel 

 of relatively recent age. But paleontological evidence for confirming 

 the age of this part of the valley was so much desired, a special effort 



