This is used by the Alaskan coast natives.
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.