Pictographs of the North American Indians. A preliminary paper / Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882-83, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1886, pages 3-256

by Garrick Mallery

WARNING AND GUIDANCE.

An amusing instance of the notice or warning of “No thoroughfare” is given on page 383 of the present writer’s paper, Sign Language among North American Indians, in the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. It was taken from a rock-etching in Cañon de Chelly, New Mexico. A graphic warning against trespass appears in Schoolcraft, Vol. I, Plate 48, Figure B, op. page 338.

During his connection with the geographic surveys west of the one hundredth meridian under the direction of Capt. G. M. Wheeler, U. S. Army, Dr. Hoffman observed a practice which prevailed among the Tivátikai Shoshoni, of Nevada, in which heaps of stones were erected along or near trails to indicate the direction to be taken and followed to reach springs of water.

Upon slight elevations of ground, or at points where a trail branched into two or more directions, or at the intersection of two trails, a heap of stones would be placed, varying from 1 to 2 or more feet in height, according to the necessity of the case, to attract attention. Upon the top of this would be fixed an elongated piece of rock so placed that the most conspicuous point projected and pointed in the course to be followed. This was continued sometimes at intervals of several miles unless indistinct portions of a trail or intersections demanded a repetition at shorter distances.

A knowledge of the prevalence of this custom proved very beneficial to the early prospectors and pioneers.

Stone circles and stone heaps of irregular form were also met with, which to a casual observer might be misleading. These resulted from previous deposits of edible pine nuts, which had been heaped upon the ground and covered over with stones, grass, and earth to prevent their destruction by birds and rodents. These deposits were placed along the trails in the timbered regions to afford sustenance to Indians who had failed in the hunt, or who might not reach camp in time to prevent suffering from hunger.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXX

ROCK PAINTINGS IN AZUZA CAÑON, CALIFORNIA.

Plate LXXX (A, B, C) represents colored pictographs found by Dr. Hoffman in 1884 on the North Fork of the San Gabriel River, also known as the Azuza Cañon, Los Angeles County, California. Its description is as follows:

A and B are copies, one-sixteenth natural size, of rock painting found in the Azuza Cañon, 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California.

The bowlder upon which the paintings occur measures 8 feet long, about 4 feet high, and the same in width. The figures occur on the eastern side of the rock, so that the left arm of the human figure on the right points toward the north.

The map (C) at the bottom of the plate presents the topography of the immediate vicinity and the relative positions of the rocks bearing the two illustrations. The map is drawn on a scale of 1,000 yards to the inch.

The stream is the North Fork of the San Gabriel River, and is hemmed in by precipitous mountains, with the exception of two points marked c, c, over which the old Indian trail passed in going from the Mojave Desert on the north to the San Gabriel Valley below, this course being the nearest for reaching the mission settlements at San Gabriel and Los Angeles. In attempting to follow the water-course the distance would be greatly increased and a rougher trail encountered. The pictograph A, painted on the rock marked b on the map C, shows characters in pale yellow, upon a bowlder of almost white granite, which are partly obliterated by weathering and annual floods, though still enough remains to indicate that the right-hand figure is directing the observer to the northeast, although upon taking that course it would be necessary to round the point a short distance to the west. It may have been placed as a notification of direction to those Indians who might have come up the cañon instead of on the regular trail. Farther west, at the spot marked a on the map, is a granite bowlder bearing a large number of paintings part of which have become almost obliterated. These were drawn with red ocher (ferric oxide). A selection of these is shown in B on the plate. This is on the western face of the rock, almost vertical. This also appears to refer to the course of the trail, which might readily be lost on account of the numerous mountain ridges and spurs. The left-hand figure appears to place the left hand upon a series of ridges, as if showing pantomimically the rough and ridged country over the mountains.

The middle figure represents gesture, which in its present connection may indicate direction, of the trail, i. e., toward the left, or northward in an up-hill course, as indicated by the arm and leg, and southward, or downward, as suggested by the lower inclination of the leg, and lower forearm and hand on the right of the illustration.

The right-hand figure, although similar in manner of delineating gesture and general resemblance to the Shoshonian method, is not yet determined in that connection.

These illustrations, as well as other pictographs on the same rock, not at present submitted, bear remarkable resemblance to the general type of Shoshonian drawing, and from such evidence as is now attainable it appears more than probable that they are of Chemehuevi origin, as that tribe at one time ranged thus far west, though north of the mountains, and also visited the valley and settlements at Los Angeles at stated intervals to trade. It is also known that the Mojaves came at stated periods to Los Angeles as late as 1845, and the trail indicated at point a of the map would appear to have been their most practicable and convenient route. There is strong evidence that the Mokis sometimes visited the Pacific coast and might readily have taken this same course, marking the important portion of the route by drawings in the nature of guide boards.