MALLERY. ] SUSPICIOUS INTERPRETATIONS. > 769 
His courage was conspicuous. When he found the line of dusky warriors giving 
way at the foot of Presque Isle hill, he leaped upon a small bowlder, and by voice 
and gesture endeavored to make them stand firm. He almost immediately fell, 
pierced by amusket ball, and expired by the side of therock. ~ * * They earved 
many rude figures of a turkey’s foot on the stone, as a memorial of the English name 
of the lamented Me-sa-sa. The stone is still there, by the side of the highway at the 
foot of Presque Isle hill, within a few rods of the swift-flowing Maumee. Many of 
the carvings are still quite deep and distinct, while others have been obliterated by 
the abrasion of the elements. 
This tale may be true, but it surely does not account for the turkey- 
foot marks which are so common in the northeastern Algonquian re- 
gion, extending from Dighton rock to Ohio, that they form a typical 
characteristic of its pictographs. They have been considered to be the 
sign for the bird, the turkey, which was a frequent totem. Lossing’s 
story is an example of the readiness of an Indian, when in an amiable 
and communicative mood, to answer queries in a manner which he sup- 
poses will be satisfactory to his interviewer. He will then give any 
desired amount of information on any subject without the slightest 
restriction by the vulgar bounds of fact. It is dangerous to believe 
explanations on such subjects as are now under consideration, unless 
they are made without leading questions by a number of Indian au- 
thorities independently. 
Specially convenient places for halting and resting on a journey, either 
by land or water, such as is mentioned supra, on Machias bay, generally 
exhibit petroglyphs if rocks of the proper character are favorably situ- 
ated there. The markings may be mere graffiti, the product of leisure 
hours, or may be of the more serious descriptions mentioned below. 
Some points are ascertained with regard to the motives of the 
painters and sculptors on rocks. Some of the characters were mere 
records of the visits of individuals to important springs or to fords on 
regularly established trails. In this practice there may have been in 
the intention of the Indians very much the same spirit which induces 
the civilized man to record his name or initials upon objects in the 
neighborhood of places of general resort. But there was real utility 
in the Indian practice, which more nearly approached to the signature 
in a visitor’s book at a hotel or public building, both to establish the 
identity of the traveler and to give the news to friends of his presence 
and passage. At Oakley springs, Arizona territory, totemic marks 
have been found, evidently made by the same individual at successive 
visits, showing that on the number of occasions indicated he had 
passed by those springs, probably camping there, and the habit of 
making such record was continued until quite recently by the neigh- 
boring Indians. The same repetition of totemic names has been found 
in great numbers in the pipestone quarries of Minnesota, on the rocks 
near Odanah, Wisconsin, and also at some old fords in West Virginia. 
These totemic marks are so designed and executed as to have in- 
trinsic significance and value, wholly different in this respect from 
10 ETH——49 
