Fig. 466.—No thoroughfare.
The design on the left is undoubtedly a notice in the nature of warning, that, although a goat can climb up the rocky trail, a horse would tumble down.
During his connection with the geographic surveys west of the one hundredth meridian, Dr. Hoffman observed a practice among the Tivátikai Shoshoni, of Nevada, of erecting heaps of stones 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 in height according to the elevation requisite 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 this custom proved very beneficial to the early prospectors and pioneers.
Fig. 467 is a copy, one-sixteenth actual size, of colored petroglyphs found by Dr. Hoffman in 1884 on the North fork of the San Gabriel river, also known as the Azuza canyon, Los Angeles county, California.
Fig. 467.—Rock painting, Azuza canyon, California.
The bowlder upon which the paintings occur measures 8 feet long, about 4 feet high, and the same in width. The figures are on the eastern side of the rock, so that the left arm of the human figure on the right points toward the north.
Fig. 468 is a map drawn on a scale of 1,000 yards to the inch, showing the topography of the immediate vicinity and the relative positions of the rocks bearing the paintings.