48 The American Geologist. 
July, 1905 
that he was the first white discoverer of it and, believing he had 
a right to it, he constructed a rude wagon and hauled it to his 
own home, about three-quarters of a mile distant. He alleged that 
this meteorite was the property of the Clackamas tribe of Indians 
(now disbanded and nearly all dead), and that they had a tradition 
that this magic rock, called by them "Tomanowos," came from the 
moon, and possossed supernatural influence. He claimed that it 
was fashioned, erected, maintained and used by them to hold the 
fluid in which they were wont to dip their arrows before engaging 
in battle with their Indian foes, and that their young warriors were 
compelled to journey over there and visit this spirit being on the 
darkest nights. To substantiate these claims two Indian witnesses 
were produced, who testified that the above facts were true, 
according to the legends of their tribes. One of them was a mem- 
ber of the Klickitat tribe of Indians and the other was a Wasco 
Indian. 
Both parties to this case agree that the object is a meteorite, 
but no proof has been offered by either to show when it arrived on 
earth. The Oregon Iron & Steel company denies that it is an 
Indian relic, and claims title to it by virtue of ownership of the 
land upon which it was found. 
It may safely be assumed, probably, that this iron fell 
on the land where it was found, although there is no proof 
of it. The Indians who previously visited and worshipped 
it could not have transported it. If they had ownership of 
the land they owned the specimen. As they did not remove 
it. when the land passed from them it would seem that the 
meteorite went with the land. But the consideration that 
they had used it as a special object, for a special purpose, 
foreign to the uses to which land as such is devoted seems 
to make it an object of personal property. They may have 
erected it in the position in which it stood, and may have 
deepened the "potholes" on its upper surface. If a man 
sculptures a statue from some rock on his land, when he 
sells the land the statue does not go with the land. If the 
Clackamas Indians did not own the land, and yet visited 
and controlled the specimen for a specific use without ob- 
jection from others, it seems reasonable to assume that the 
specimen was not an appurtenance of the land and that 
they had the right to remove it. If they abandoned it, 
without removal, it seems to belong to that class of Indian 
relics of which many examples are known and which the 
finder, rightly or wrongly, becomes the owner. 
Tf the specimen is an Indian relic the ownership thereof 
