30 BUREAU or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 76 



quently heard, that " many " or " very many " burials had been made 

 here. The only human remains which he saved are the complete 

 skull of an adult, remarkably preserved and apparently that of a 

 white woman; a rather large lower jaw, of a man; a few long bones; 

 and jDarts of skulls and jaws of three or four children. 



From comments made and questions asked by visitors while the 

 investigation was in progress, it seems that bones and teeth of deer 

 and other animals are mistaken for those of people. No human 

 bones were uncovered in this Avork, except as noted below. 



There is a firm belief in the community that somewhere in this 

 cave is concealed $100,000 in gold, seven " pony loads " in all, which 

 was put here by an old squaw, sole survivor of a massacre by which 

 her tribe was exterminated. Much of the irregularity of surface 

 noted in the deposits is due to the efforts of persons trying to find 

 this money. 



Before starting the work it was necessary to deepen the little 

 stream, Avhich had cut its way through the accumulation much nearer 

 to the Avestern than to the eastern wall of the cavern, in order to 

 allow the Avater to run out of the lower end of the deposit. Thorough 

 drainage of the whole mass was impossible, as water continually 

 seeped in from the gravel bed farther up, a condition which could 

 not be remedied. 



Bedrock was reached at a depth of 3 feet below the channel. The 

 lower 2 feet of this distance Avas through a black, mucky substance 

 which was so tough and sticky that removing it was like digging 

 through a bog. 



Following the bedrock as a floor, the Avestern side of the deposit 

 was first examined. It had a Avidth of 35 feet at the mouth of the 

 caA'e, gradually narrowing inward for a distance of 75 feet, where 

 it terminated at the level of the water. Its greatest elevation, at 

 the side of the entrance, Avas about 10 feet ; but this does not mean 

 that its thickness Avas so much at any point, as the rock sloped up- 

 ward quite as rapidly as the surface. So many stones Avere scattered 

 through it, fallen from the sides and roof, or rolled in from the out- 

 side Avhere they had broken loose from the cliff, that not more than 

 one-fourth of the area could be excavated. These rocks varied in 

 size from cobblestones to blocks weighing 3 or 4 tons. They were 

 at all levels, some lying on the rock floor, others only slightly im- 

 bedded in the earth. Yet the superficial accumulation extended 

 under all of them except such as were in direct contact with the 

 bedrock, proving that the caA^e was occupied throughout the period 

 in which such downfalls occurred. An additional evidence of age 

 is the fact that the usual debris, such as bones, flints, pottery, ash^s, 

 etc., lay in immediate contact with the bedrock Avhere this has weath- 



