Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 October 1894 — RARE RELIC FOUND. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

RARE RELIC FOUND.

Pipe of Onyx Once Smoked by a Cave Dweller In Utah. This pipe was found in San Juan County, Utah, during recent explorations of the caves and cliff houses of Utah and Arizona. It was incased in a neatly tanned beaver skin, which served as a pouch. This also contained some of the original smoking material, which consists of the inner bark of the red willow and leaves of the kinikinick plant, both of which grow in great abundance in the canyons of southern Utah. The bowl is egg-shaped, being inches in diameter and 2J inches long, is composed of Mexican onyx, and highly polished. The cavity of the bowl is lined with a black mineral cement and contains the ashes of the last puff the smoker enjoyed. The stem is Jof an inch in diameter and 1| inches in length, and is composed of jet highly polished and cemented to the bowl with pinon gum. The pipe was excavated from a depth of four feet beside the head of a remarkably well-preserved male mummy. The pipe was undoubtedly his property during life. How it was used is a mystery, as the lips of the smoker and the hot ashes in the bowl would come into close contact, and his mouth would seemingly be burned. It is evident that the pipe had to be held in an upright position while being used. The Navajo Indians, who once occupied the country where this pipe was found, are unable to give any information concerning it, and know nothing of its

history or origin. This remarkable specimen is now on exhibition in the archeological collection in the State ■University of Utah.

CAVE DWELLER’S PIPE AND POUCH.