Strange Discovery in Old-time Cliff Abode.
A freak quadruped of unknown species is the latest discovery in the fields of anthropological research in southern Utah. Dean Byron Cummings, head of the department of archæology in the University of Utah, who annually leads expeditions into the deserts of southern Utah and northern Arizona, recently dug up the remains of the mysterious animal of ancient times in an old-time cliff dweller’s home.
The head and backbone of the animal was all that could be found, although the veteran research worker sought diligently to find other bones that might establish a clew to its identity. The cranium is similar to that of an ancient Indian, with sloping forehead and average brain capacity. On its skull was found a hank of wool resembling that of the modern sheep, and the part of the backbone that was intact, showing six vertebræ, was similar in most respects to that of the modern coyote.[{61}]
Salt Lake scientists and students of other States have examined the strange find, but are at a loss to explain its identity. It is thought by some to be a freak offshoot of the sheep species, while others identify it with the human species.
Dean Cummings had difficulty removing the body from the cliff dwelling, his Indian guides and other native Indians objecting on grounds that the body might have contained one of their sacred good spirits. The find is now in the University of Utah museum.