68 EXPLORATION OF BURTON MOUND [BLH. ANN. 44 
On the occasion of a very low tide in 1871 Mr. Charles T. Hall 
while walking on the beach in front of the mound noticed a pecul- 
iarly round bowlder, and on turning it over it proved to be an 
ancient Indian mortar. This mortar was purchased from Mr. Hall. 
(See p. 77.) 
Mrs. Constance D, Ealand informs us that the beach at low tide 
at the foot of Chapala Street used to be considered by early residents 
a good place to look for Indian relics. There, near where the sul- 
phur spring (see p. 70) comes out of the beach, Mrs. Ealand used 
to pick up broken bowls, pestles, and other objects, such as abalone 
spangles and beads. There is reason to believe that these objects 
came both from the cemeteries and former habitations of the Indians. 
Several others have furnished similar information. 
DerscripTION OF THE Mounp 
The contour map of Burton Mound (fig. 2) is based on a map prob- 
ably prepared by J. K. Harrington about 1901 for the Potter Hotel 
Co. and shows the former shape of the mounds. According to this 
map, Burton Mound was about 600 feet long in northeast-southwest 
direction and about 500 feet across. The highest ridge was about 
100 feet long by 75 wide, and extended from the center to the north- 
eastern end of the mound. The northeast and northwest slopes were 
the steepest. The slope of the mound became more abrupt about 400 
feet back from the beach, which the long axis of the mound paralleled. 
The crest of the mound was about 650 feet from the beach. The 
mound comprised about 2 acres. 
The elevation of the mound is given as about 30 feet above high 
water in the pamphlet “ Santa Barbara As It Is,” 1884, p. 64. The 
top of the mound in its present graded condition is 24.27 feet above 
mean tide level. The contour map gives the elevation as 20 feet above 
the flat land in front of the mound toward the beach. The flat land 
at the inland base of the mound was approximately 7 feet higher. 
Tules formerly grew in the low land west of the mound. North 
of the mound, toward Mission Creek, the land was also low and flat. 
A lagoon with tules and perennial water fed by the springs extended 
from near the beach in front of the mound along the eastern base, 
terminating in a shallow gully near its northern end. 
A much smaller and lower mound formerly stood at what is now 
the intersection of Chapala Street and West Cabrillo Boulevard and 
extended about 125 feet southwest of that intersection, or as some 
informants have expressed it, to approximately opposite the north- 
east end of the hotel. Its southwest end is shown on the contour 
map. Like the Burton Mound, this smaller eminence had its long 
axis parallel with the beach. The elevation was only about 8 feet 
over the surrounding flat land. 
