I 
Or 
HUMAN REMAINS: AMADOR AND EL DORADO COUNTIES. 2 
basalt, and about 300 feet in from the mouth of the tunnel. There were also some stone mortars found 
at about the same time and place ; and at various times there were also found numerous fossil bones of 
different animals, and fossil wood. 
[Signed] JAMES CARVIN. 
Subscribed and sworn to before me, 
Wm. O. SWENSON, 
Justice of the Peace, Calaveras County, California. 
At Murphy’s, in the detritus accumulated in the deep crevices intersecting the limestone belt 
at that point, a large number of teeth and bones of various animals, including the elephant and 
mastodon, have been found. It is reported that with these various relics of the human race were 
obtained, at depths of from ten to twenty feet beneath the surface. No further particulars, how- 
ever, have been received. The same is true with regard to several other localities in this region, 
especially Railroad Flat and San Domingo. At the latter locality a large number of mortars, 
pestles, and stone dishes have been found in the auriferous gravels at various depths. 
AMADOR COUNTY. 
The list of localities in Amador County at which human remains have been found is short, as 
would naturally be expected, since there are comparatively few deposits of deep gravels there. 
Near Jackson it is reported that various stone implements were found in the gravels between 
the year 1852 and 1857. The locality was about two miles south of the town. Some mortars 
were dug up of large size, weighing from twenty to forty pounds. 
Other localities where similar discoveries have been made, but where no special investigations 
have been made either by Mr. Voy or the writer, are: Little Grass Valley, near Volcano ; Poker- 
ville, where discoveries of implements were made in 1858 ; Fiddletown ; Forest Home. At the last- 
named locality some stone mortars were found, about the year 1864, at a depth of forty feet below 
the surface, in some hydraulic claims. One of the mortars is now in Mr. Voy’s collection. Mr. 
Goodyear heard of similar occurrences in this county, and at Randall’s Claim, near Aqueduct City, 
was informed by the owner that he had found mortars (of which one was still kept) in the aurif- 
erous gravel at depths of eight or ten feet beneath the surface. 
EL DORADO COUNTY. 
El Dorado has been prolific in its yield of human relics and implements. Indeed, the number 
- of localities where such things have been found is so great, that most of them must be passed over 
with mere mention of the name, and a few additional particulars in relation to finds of special 
importance. 
Between 1852 and 1865 numerous stone mortars, and other interesting relics, as also some mas- 
todon remains, were found imbedded in the auriferous gravel at Shingle Springs, about ten feet 
below the surface. One of these mortars, which is about ten inches high and six in diameter, is 
preserved in Mr. Voy’s collection. 
At Diamond Springs, in 1855, stone mortars and other stone relics were found in auriferous 
gravel, at a depth of one hundred feet. 
In the vicinity of Placerville quite a number of discoveries of a similar kind have been made, 
at various times. One of the most interesting of these is described in the following letter from a 
physician, once a Californian, but who in 1870 was residing in Geneva, Wisconsin. This is given 
in full, as containing very detailed and valuable testimony in regard to a discovery of human 
remains at a locality at which he was formerly engaged in mining. This letter was written in 
answer to one addressed to him by the State Geologist, asking for information in regard to a find 
reported to have-been made in former years. 
