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Show The Magna TimeaWest Valley News, Special Copper Days Edition, Thursday, August 1, 1996 19 Dead Mans Cave recalled Garfield, a small community west of Magna disbanded in the late 1950s, is remembered mostly for being a former home of many Magna residents. But its more the community also than that has historical significance. The oldest landmark in the vicinity of Garfield is Dead Mans Cave, so called because a man committed suicide in it about 70 years ago. But history dates back much farther, back to the time when the Indians lived there. The earliest recognizable Indian culture in any of the stratographic layers of earth that make up the cave floor is' that of the Pueblos. These ancient Americans tilled Utah soil about 1100 A.D., as far north as Brigham City and left remnants of their civilization buried in dirt caves all over the :V: state. The Pueblo layer in Dead Mans Cave extends from about 18 inches to more than four feet below the present level of the floor. i 2 The entrance to Dead Mans Cave Arrowheads, handstones, bone awls, and pottery remain as stark evidence of these people and their primitive life. Deep in the cave floor lies the mystery of a dead civilization older than any of the recognizable cultures. Dead man points, carefully Jonathon Toronto (left), Rosa Armstrong, and Albert Toronto stand at the mouth of Dead Mans Cave, which is in the vicinity of now abandoned Garfield. The cave is so called because a man committed suicide in lfabout 70 """ years ago. chipped flint arrowheads, differ from anything ever found in the study of Indian civilization in the West, a new problem for the archeologist. A running spring that bubbles up out of the rocks behind Dead Mans Cave is one of the principle reasons the cave has been a select home for cave dwellers through the centuries and a stopping spot for modern-da- y pioneers. Pioneers lived here until better housing could be provided. Until the last several years, the highway ran parallel to the opening of the cave and was an ideal place for picnics, arrow hunts, or just exploring. Today, however, has detoured traffic until the cave is U-2- only a spot pointed out to the younger generation. Dead Mans Caves mystery and excitement have disappeared as did the early inhabitants who once dwelt within its walls. ' (This article was printed by permission from Mrs. Theodore (Irene Hulse) Mitchell, who authored the Riches. to book Rags informain 1964. The written Copy tion is found on page 71.) v |