<>3° AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s., i, 1899
keeper). In Murphy's there lived William Griffiths (ditch super- intendent) and Dr Jones, all good friends one with another, and all owners in the Union Water Company's ditch, except probably Coons. Griffiths delivered the skull to Dr Jones, how long after Madison (Mathewson) found it I know not, but when Dr Jones found cobwebs in it he threw it out of his office, but decided to take it back again. From this on, I suppose the history of the skull is well known. I recollect that when the public began to talk about it, the common belief was that Scribner, Coddington, and Coons, of Angels, and Griffiths of Murphy's, knew how the skull got into Madison's shaft, and used it simply to play a practical joke on their friend Dr Jones; and, as has been said, they were capable of doing it. There is no doubt that Madison was sincere in his belief that the find was genuine."
As all authentic details relating to the history of the skull are valuable, the following extracts are made from a paper written several years ago by Dr A. S. Hudson, of Stockton, now deceased. The manuscript was obtained for me by Prof. Edward Hughes of Stockton, and being imperfectly finished and some- what erratic in treatment, it is not considered advisable to pub- lish it in full ; but such parts as relate to his visit to the mining region are interesting and suggestive and may be given.
In 1883 Dr Hudson corresponded with Dr John Walker of Sonora, who in a letter stated that he had taken a lively interest in the skull, opposing its claims to authenticity, and had endeav- ored to convince Whitney that he was doing a great injury to science by accepting the evidence. He induced a friend to con- vey to Whitney the information that " the specimen was found at Salt Spring valley, near the surface, and not in a mine on Bald mountain, but Whitney treated the information discourteously." Continuing, the letter stated that "about the time the discovery was made several caves were found and skulls of the same descrip- tion taken from them ; they were evidently the burial places of Dig- ger Indians. No one about the diggings supposed otherwise."
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