32 EXPLORATION OF BURTON MOUND [BTH, ANN, 44 
dition relates, Thomas Robins bought the property and built the mas- 
sive adobe house which was for more than 70 years the most conspicu- 
ous feature of the Santa Barbara water front. During the forties the 
owner was Capt. George C. Nidever, known in California history 
as the rescuer of the last surviving Indian woman from San Nicolas 
Island. Captain Nidever sold the property in 1851 to Augustus F. 
Hinchman, lawyer and prominent resident of Santa Barbara. In 
1860 Mr. Hinchman sold the tract to Lewis T. Burton, who made 
it his home for 19 years, and after whom the mound has been called 
in more recent times. Upon the death of Mr. Burton in 1879, the 
Seaside Hotel Association took possession of the property and the 
building of a resort hotel on the mound was planned. This project 
was finally realized in the erection of the Potter Hotel in 1901-2. 
Ownership of the hotel changed hands in 1913 and the name was 
altered first to the “ Belvedere ” and then to the “ Hotel Ambassador.” 
The hotel burned to the ground on April 19, 1921, and the site was 
thereby again released for archeological investigation. 
Taking advantage of the unique condition presented by the burning 
of the hotel, archeological excavation was made possible for the 
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, through the 
generosity of Mrs. Thea Heye, of New York City. By arrangement 
with the Bureau of American Ethnology the expedition was placed 
in charge of the writer. 
The results of this excavation of the Indian town of Santa Barbara 
proved rich and interesting beyond expectation. The collection of 
objects taken from the mound will be placed on exhibit at. the 
Museum of the American Indian in New York City. 
Heartfelt acknowledgment is here given to Mr. George G. Heye 
and to Mrs. Thea Heye, who with their usual generosity and enthu- 
siasm supported the excavation work during many months. I wish 
also to express my great indebtedness to Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, 
chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, for his kindness in 
arranging the cooperative work and for his assistance in carrying it 
through to its consummation. Mr. 8. W. Strauss, who in the name 
of the Ambassador Hotel Corporation gave permission to excavate 
the site, is deserving also of most grateful acknowledgment. 
But most of all I want to express indebtedness to my friends 
Prof. D, B. Rogers and Mr. G. W. Bayley, who were with me during 
almost the entire work and contributed in innumerable ways to its 
progress. 
The photographs were made by Mr. William Orchard, of the staff 
of the Museum of the American Indian, who also assisted in many 
other ways, and by Mr. Albert Sweeney, of the Bureau of American 
Ethnology. The geological specimens were identified by Dr. Edmund 
Hovey, of the American Museum of Natural History, and Mr. Earl 
