Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [318]
So Sinclair was not able to confirm, by direct inspection or testimony, his claim that the horizontal drift tunnels running from the Valentine vertical shaft were in fact connected to other tunnels. His objection thus appears to be simply a weak and highly speculative attempt to discredit a discovery he opposed on theoretical grounds. The gravels in which the skull fragment was embedded lay 180 feet below the surface and beneath the latite cap of Table Mountain. The skull fragment could thus be from 9 million to 55 million years old.
Whitney (1880, p. 265), in his discussion of this find, noted: “It is clear that, had it not been for the accidental presence of Mr. Hubbs on the spot, at the time the piece of skull was found, we should never have heard anything of it. And if Mr. Hubbs had not given it to an enthusiastic observer, like Dr. Winslow, it would probably never have come to the notice of scientific men. One should bear in mind how few of the discoveries of human relics or remains which are made are likely ever to be heard of beyond a very limited area, even under the most favorable circumstances, as is well illustrated by the facts in this case.”
6.2.6.4 A Human Jaw from Below Table Mountain
J. D. Whitney (1880, p. 264) personally examined a collection belonging to Dr. Snell, consisting of stone spoons, handles, spearheads, and a human jaw—all found in the auriferous gravels beneath the latite cap of Tuolumne Table Mountain. The jaw measured 5.5 inches across from condyle to condyle, which is within the normal human range. Whitney (1880, p. 288) remarked that all the human fossils uncovered in the gold-mining region, including this one, were of the anatomically modern type. The gravels from which the jaw came could be anywhere from 9 to 55 million years old.
6.2.6.5 Human Bones from the Missouri Tunnel
Whitney reported several discoveries from Placer County. In particular, he gave this account of human bones that were found in the Missouri tunnel: “The Missouri Tunnel runs from the Devil’s Cañon southerly into the ridge between it and the Middle Fork of the American River, a little above Yankee Jim’s. This region has been described in the preceding pages as deeply covered with volcanic materials. In this tunnel, under the lava, two bones had been found . . . which were pronounced by Dr. Fagan to be human. One was said to be a leg bone; of the character of the other nothing was remembered. The above information was obtained by Mr. Goodyear from Mr. Samuel Bowman, of whose intelligence and truthfulness the writer has received good accounts from a personal friend well acquainted with him. Dr. Fagan was at that time one of the best known physicians of the region” (Whitney 1880, p. 277).
In October 1989, our researcher (Stephen Bernath) contacted the California Division of Mines and Geology regarding the age of the deposits at the place where the Missouri tunnel was located. George Saucedo informed him that the andesitic deposits in that vicinity are probably part of a larger formation that has yielded a potassium-argon date of 8.7 million years ago. Thus the human skeletal remains found under the andesitic deposits in that location would have an age of over 8.7 million years.
6.2.6.6 Dr. Boyce’s Discovery
Professor Whitney (1880, p. 276) reported a discovery made in 1853 by a physician named Dr. H. H. Boyce at Clay Hill in El Dorado County, California. In 1870, Dr. Boyce wrote to Whitney (1880, p. 276), who had requested information: “While engaged in the business of mining in the spring of 1853, I purchased an interest in a claim on this hill, on condition that it prospected sufficiently well to warrant working it. The owner and myself accordingly proceeded to sink a shaft for the purpose of working it. It was while doing so that we discovered the bones to which you refer. Clay Hill is one of a series of elevations which constitute the water-shed