The Sunday Oregonian, Portland, OR., December 1, 1929, section 2, page 2
Includes several photographs

CLIFFS OF COLUMBIA HOLD KEY TO HISTORY
Modern Rosetta Stone, Yet Unfound, May Open New Page of Human Life Antedating Anything Known to Date

     The history of the Pacific northwest before the time of the domesticated horse - during the stone age of the Columbia river region - disclosing the culture and living habits of Oregon aborigines, may soon be revealed by numerous stone carvings on cliffs and boulders along the Columbia and its tributaries.
     Many of these carvings or glyphs -- called petroglyphs because they are in stone - are shrouded in history. But there is there is a definite understanding, some portraying men, birds, dear, antelope, fish, lizards, snakes, bear, wolves, dogs, beetles and other animal forms.

Horse Missing From Glyphs

     But there are apparently no old glyphs of the horse, although this animal was in common use in the Columbia river region when the first white man gazed upon the Oregon country.
     Because these old carvings, worn and covered with a dark and solid coating, picture no horse, it is believed that the animals had not yet put in their appearance when these inscriptions were made.
     Realizing now the historical value of these discoveries, citizens of Arlington, Or., have taken a sudden interest in the carvings which abound just across the river from them, and are using every means of finding out what they are all about.
     As the first step in their educational program, sponsored by the Lions' club and Women's club, the service organizations invited Dr. John B. Horner, director of historical research and professor of history at Oregon State college and an authority on Oregon history and archaeology, to explain the meeting meaning of the carvings.
     Citizens of Arlington, headed by the mayor and city council and accompanied by members of the Lions' and Women's clubs, residents of Roosevelt, across the river from Arlington, and students from three high schools attended the address and explanation of the carvings given by Dr. Horner along the banks of the Columbia recently.

States Working Together

     Arlington citizens have become aroused about the potentialities of the carvings so close to their town, and the Lions' club has several active committees working to create greater interest in the petroglyphs. Eventually the plan to improve the road leading from the ferry to the inscriptions on the boulders. A group is working with Washington authorities in an effort to reach an agreement on some method of preserving the findings, and by next summer Arlington hopes to be able to show to thousands of visitors and tourists the discoveries which Dr. Horner says may aid in solving some of the mysteries of the ancients races.
     Quoting as an authority one of the leading scientists of the world, Dr. Horner pointed out that the American continent was first born among the continents, and because of this fact the petroglyphs had particular significance.
     "It is possible that the Pacific northwest was populated even before Europe, and at that early period the inhabitants along the Columbia were living in their stone age," said Dr. Horner.

"Glyphs" Not Sun Paintings

     "These petroglyphs are not to be confounded with the cliff paintings or petrographs of the sun that were made along the Columbia by sun worshipers at some early time. The petroglyphs were made by a people other than the makers of the petrographs. The two prehistoric systems of record should, therefore, be treated as separate studies.
     "Stone carvings along the Columbia and its tributaries lead us to believe that the natives practiced at least four other forms of worship - phallic worship, fire worship, image worship and the worship of Talapus, the prairie wolf or coyote, in whom was incarnated the Great Spirit. They also paid obeisance to the lizard, representing the evil spirit, in order to appease his wrath.
     "Some of the petroglyphs chart battles, some successful hunting parties, some visiting tribes in council. Some are as yet shrouded in mystery, but it is believed that their meaning will be revealed as indicating considerable intelligence in those who carved them. It is also admitted that others are of comparatively recent origin and possibly of little significance.
     "When the whites came, no native knew the origin or meaning of these mysterious characters. Wrecks centuries ago along the Pacific coast left stranded those who later perished ashore or were amalgamated with the natives. Possibly they were Phoenicians, who may have traversed the Pacific ocean long before it was recorded on the maps of modern geographers. For a time at least these and many other symbols of the Columbia must remain shrouded in history.

Discoveries Awaken Awe

     "When one studies a strange petroglyph of great age on some boulder or cliff of the Columbia, he feels conscious that the oldest human accounts of the Pacific northwest as far as known are the rude inscriptions made on stone by some prehistoric race, and he wonders whether the meaning of all these archaic inscriptions will never be known.
     "He then recalls that the same kind of inquiry was once made of the petroglyphs on the walls, pyramids and obelisks of Egypt, many of which have since proved to be the records of wars and other events of international interest described in the Bible.
     "Although many of the Oregon stone records are at present meaningless and mysterious to us, it is possible that some Rosetta stone may be discovered from which a key will be found to decipher these inscriptions and cast light upon the history of a race whose intelligence surpasses the conception of the most credulous now living. Hence the stone inscriptions along the Columbia are worthy of careful study."

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©  Jeffrey L. Elmer