32 PICTOGKAPHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN 7 INDIANS. 



At the Chalk (hade is a large bowlder measuring aboul six feet in 

 heigbl and tour feei either way in thickness, upon one side of which is 

 one half of what appears to have been an immense mortar. The sides 

 of this cavity are vertical, and near the bottom turn abruptly and hor- 

 izontally in toward the center, which is marked by a cone about three 

 inches high and six inches across at its base. The interior diameter 

 of the mortar is about twenty four inches, and from the appearance of 

 the surface, being considerably grooved laterally, it would appear as it' 

 a core had been used for grinding, similar in action to that of a mill- 

 stone. No traces of such a core or corresponding fl rm were visible. 

 This instance is mentioned as it is the only indication that the authors 

 of the etchings made any prolonged visit to this region, and perhaps 

 only for grinding grass seed, though neither grass nor water is now 

 found nearer than the remains at Watterson's Ranch and at Benton. 



The records at Watterson's are pecked upon the surfaces of detached 

 bowlders near the top of a mesa, about one hundred feet above the 

 nearest spring, distant two hundred yards. These are also placed at 

 the southeast corner of the mesa, or that nearest to the northern most 

 of the main group across the Benton Range. At the base of the east- 

 ern and northeastern portion of this elevation of land, and but a stone's 

 throw from the etchings, are the remains of former camps, such as stone 

 circles, marking the former sites of brush lodges, and a large number 

 of obsidian flakes, arrowheads, knives, and some jasper remains of like 

 character. Upon the flat granite bowlders are several mortar holes, 

 which perhaps were used for crushing the seed of the grass still growing 

 abundantly in the immediate vicinity. Pifiou nuts are also abundant 

 in this locality. 



Upon following the most convenient course across the Benton Range 

 to reach Owen's Valley proper, etchings are also found, though in lim- 

 ited numbers, and seem to partake of the character of " indicators as 

 to course of travel." By this trad the northernmost of the several 

 groups of etchings above mentioned is the nearest and most easily 

 reached. 



The etchings upon the bowlders at Watterson's are somewhat differ- 

 ent from those found elsewhere. The number of specific designs is lim- 

 ited, many of them being reproduced from two to six or seven times, 

 thus seeming to partake of the character of personal names. 



One of the most frequent is that resembling a horseshoe within which 

 is a vertical stroke. Sometimes the upper extremity of such stroke is 

 attached to the upper inside curve of the broken ring, and frequently 

 there are two or more parallel vertical strokes within one such curve. 

 Bear-tracks and the outline of human feet also occur, besides several 

 unique forms. A few of these forms are figured, though not accurately, 

 in the Ann. Report upon the Geog. Surveys west of the 100th meridian 

 last mentioned (1870), Plate facing p. 320. 



Lieutenant Whipple reports (Rep. Pac. R.R. Exped. Ill, 1850, Pt. Ill, 



