Lost Civilizations

Death Valley’s Lost City

By David Johanek

Is there a lost city concealed in the cavernous depths of the Panamint Mountains of California’s Death Valley? Or is it merely a tale told by lonely miners dreaming of striking the mother lode? Or perhaps only a con man’s plan to fill his pockets with investor’s funds? A few, claiming to have found the city, became as lost as the ancient place they sought.

Bourke Lee, Death Valley historian and author of the book Death Valley Men, first described the city in 1932. One night Fred White, his wife, and their partner Thomason stumbled into the cabin of miners Jack and Bill. The visitors complained of car trouble. Thomason ventured to Los Angeles for parts leaving White and his wife with the miners. Jack and Bill noted that Thomason returned with a rather large roll of cash. After some debate, the three decided to tell the miners exactly what they were doing in Death Valley.

Some years earlier, White, while prospecting in an abandoned shaft near Wingate Pass, fell through the shaft’s floor. He found himself in a long natural cavern.

“It leads all through a great underground city; through the treasure vaults, the royal palace, and the council chambers; and it connects to a series of beautiful galleries with stone arches in the east slope of the Panamint mountains. Those arches are like big windows in the side of the mountain and they look down on Death Valley.”

Jack and Bill looked into White’s eyes. White stared back with a look of madness. White’s look wasn’t the incoherent glare of a lunatic. He believed in what he claimed to have found. White’s madness was the glee of someone striking it rich.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Jack asked.

Fred White rose in the cavern, dusted himself off and peered into the inky blackness. Looking around his small circle of light, he saw climbing out was impossible. Having only one choice, White crept into the unknown.

Inch by inch he made his way down a natural cavern. At certain places he felt the unmistakable impressions of tool marks. Had he stumbled into another mine?

After hours of clambering, White’s hand slipped off the cavern wall. He fell forward. The wall came to an end but luckily the floor remained. This was no longer a cavern floor, it was smooth, almost polished.

Reaching into his pack, White pulled out a candle. Having only a few he hadn’t dared light one, but now a combination of curiosity and necessity forced him to strike a match.

White’s jaw dropped when the candle-light illuminated a table. Inlaid jewels glittered in the dim light. He brushed away the dust of unknown years revealing a table of polished stone, smooth as glass and reflective as a mirror. Running his fingers along the line of encrusted jewels on the table’s edge, White bumped into something blocking his path. Looking up, White saw he was not alone.

White screamed, dropping the lit candle. Rolling down the table, the candle illuminated a grim gathering. Around the table they sat, dried flesh stretched tight over ancient bones. White staggered backwards and lost control. His arms searched the darkness to find the cavern from which he came. His fingers found arms, legs, faces. He composed himself, realizing these bodies were dead. They couldn’t hurt him.

Stumbling over a strange lever in the floor, White lit another candle. Turning the lever, a sudden burst of flame singed his eyebrows. Other bursts surrounded the circumference of the room. The illumination of gas-lights for the first time revealed the full extent of his discovery.

White counted at least one hundred mummified corpses. some sat at the long table. Others stood like guards around the chamber, propped up by golden spears and shields. Most laid in heaps upon the floor. They wore leather clothing. Some wore jewel adorned leather aprons and gold armbands.

Something even more astounding drew his attention. Above him towered the image of a man, or perhaps a god, eighty-nine feet tall and made of solid gold.

Fred White would make two more trips to the lost city, joined by his partner, Thomason, and once with his wife. They found stone doors “balanced so you can move them with your little finger, if you find the right place.” They ascended passages reaching high into the mountains, leading to large “windows” overlooking Death Valley. The party developed an astounding theory.

“They’re high above the valley now, but we believe that those entrances in the mountain side were used by the ancient people that built the city. They used to land their boats there.”

The explorers hoped to attract scientific interest to their find. White claimed the Smithsonian Institute offered him a million and a half dollars for their discovery. Another “government man” expressed interest but wanted proof.

What proof White had was lost when a “friend” with whom they left several artifacts, as well as gold and jewels, disavowed any knowledge of these artifacts. Swindled out of their proof, the treasure hunters retrieved more relics, this time burying them near the cavern entrance.

Returning to Death Valley on what was to be their fourth trip to the lost city, the explorers found a drastically changed area. A storm destroyed several landmarks used to locate the cavern. White’s party decided their only hope to locate the city was to climb to the “windows” overlooking Death Valley.

The treasure hunters were last seen patching a tire near their destination. Jack, Bill, and other miners searched. No trace of White, his wife, Thomason, or their car was ever found.

The lost city was forgotten until one day in 1946, when Dr. F. Bruce Russell approached Howard E. Hill with a story and a deal too good to be true.

Telling a tale eerily or suspiciously similar to White’s account, Russell, like White, fell through the bottom of a mine shaft into a cavern. After following the tunnel, Russell’s story begins to differ from White’s.

Russell told of carvings similar to ancient Egyptian motifs, and a ritual hall with symbols commonly seen in Masonic lodges. The bones of extinct animals, including mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, and dinosaurs were stacked along the walls. Gas-lights were missing from Russell’s story, replaced by torches dipped in a tar-like substance. He also found mummies, eight feet tall, laid out side by side.

Amazed by Russell’s story, Howard Hill eagerly answered the retired physician’s call for investors. He and several other potential investors met in a Beverly Hills hotel. There, in an expensive suite, Russell told them his story and unveiled a set of artifacts from the caverns. With the claim of thirty-two caves found in a 180 square mile area stretching from Death Valley into southwestern Nevada, the investors were only too happy to donate funds. At this meeting Russell proposed the founding of “Amazing Explorations.” Anyone investing in his corporation would be partners and share the wealth.

A week later Russell took the investors on an exclusive tour of the caverns. Hill and others claimed to have seen the animal bones as well as the “Masonic” temple. After viewing the site the group decided it was time to tell the world about their amazing discovery.

Joined by Dr. Daniel S. Bovee, Hill called for a press conference on August 4, 1947. It was believed Bovee would lend credibility to the group’s claims because of his work in opening New Mexico’s cliff dwellings. Dr. Bovee estimated the date of relics he examined to be 80,000 years old. Hill claimed several mummies had been removed for scientific examination and went on to describe them.

“These giants are clothed in garments consisting of a medium length jacket and trouser extending slightly below the knees. The texture of the material is said to resemble gray dried sheepskin, but obviously it was taken from an animal unknown today.”

The press conference went mostly ignored by the media. Only a handful of newspapers carried the story, most notably the San Diego Union.

Not to be deterred by the lack of publicity, Russell made one more trip to the caverns. He said farewell to his investors and promised to open an account at a Barstow bank.

Weeks later, Russell’s car was found in Death Valley with a burst radiator. Inside was his suitcase, but no artifacts and no money. No Barstow bank had opened an account. Russell and the funds were never seen again.

The other members of “Amazing Explorations” tried in vain to find the tunnels. Nobody remembered landmarks, and the ever-changing desert landscape didn’t help either.

Tom Wilson, Death Valley guide and miner as well as full-blooded Paiute, searched for the tunnels in the 1920’s. Finding a shaft “where no shaft had a right to be,” Wilson explored to the bottom but found nothing. He did have a good reason for looking though. Many years earlier his grandfather found the tunnel. His grandfather's story is one of the strangest of all.

One day while exploring, Tom’s grandfather stumbled across a strange cavern in the Panamints. The elder Wilson became lost in a series of caves. Reaching the end of a long tunnel he met a strange people. They wore clothing made of leather, spoke an unknown language, and ate strange foods the Indian had never tasted. The people had a wealth of gold and rode horses. Despite their differences they welcomed the Indian, inviting him to stay. After three years he left his new friends and made his way home through the tunnels.

The Wilson’s would have known the legends from their Paiute lore. The Paiute’s believed the gateway to their afterlife could be reached through an underground passage leading to Na-gun-to-wip, the home of the spirits, ruled by the God Shin-au-av and his beautiful virgin daughters.

According to legend, only one man dared venture to Na-gun-to-wip in his earthly body. Mourning the loss of his beloved wife, a great chief descended into the passage. Inching his way through the seemingly endless tunnel the brave warrior was beset by the trials of the underworld. Fighting through hordes of demons, evil spirits, and savage beasts, the chief approached his final challenge.

A narrow bridge of rock stretched over a bottomless chasm. Across the abyss the beautiful maidens of Shin-au-av beckoned and encouraged him to cross. At his back snarled the underworld creatures. Bravely, the chieftain crossed, entering the fabulous land of Na-gun-tu-wip.

The most beautiful of Shin-au-av’s daughters approached, offering to spend eternity with the chieftain. The chief’s love for his wife was unwavering and he demanded to be taken to her. Impressed by the chief's bravery and touched by by his devotion, the maiden took his hand and led him deeper into the spirit world.

Around a huge fire the spirits of thousands danced to happy music. Bottomless vessels of cactus wine and baskets of fine food were enjoyed by all. The chief searched the endless faces for his love.

“There are far too many, how will I ever find my wife.”

“You must wait here until you see her, when you do, you must take her at once. If you return her successfully to your world she will be returned to the flesh, if you fail she shall remain. Be warned, great chief, see that she does not falter from your grasp. If she looks back, even one passing glance, she will stay.” With that grim warning the maiden rejoined the dancers.

After three days the chief saw his wife in the crowd. Rushing to her side, he grabbed her and fled. Reaching the narrow bridge, they hesitated. The snarling creatures across the chasm frightened his wife who looked back towards the peaceful afterlife. Realizing the fateful mistake too late, the chief reached for his wife. At his touch she vanished. The sorrowful chief returned to the upperworld alone.

The tale told by Navaho chief Oga-make is by far the weirdest of all. He spoke of a people known as the Hav-musuvs, who settled in Death Valley long ago when it was still a sea.

A sea-faring people, the Hav-musuvs came in “huge rowing ships.” Discovering a huge cavern deep under the Panamints, they built a great underground city.

In time, the desert sands replaced the sea. When ships were no longer usable the Hav-musuvs took to the air in “flying canoes” described as “silvery ships with wings.” When not using aircraft the Hav-musuvs rode strange “snowy white animals” unknown to the Indians.

The Hav-musuvs were a “beautiful people” with “golden tinted skin” and “long dark hair.” They wore toga-like garments and sandals.

Hav-musuvs had advanced weapons. A small non-lethal tube “which stuns one with a prickly feeling like a rain of cactus needles.” The other, a long silver tube, “when this is pointed at you, death follows immediately.”

A Paiute chieftain lived with the Hav-musuvs. He described the underground city as “an ancient city of marble beauty.” The city was lit by “white lights which burn night and day and never go out or need any fuel.”

Since 1947 when Dr. Russell and his “Amazing explorations” made their claims of a lost city under Death Valley, nobody else has claimed to have made any discoveries. No artifacts brought out by White or Russell have ever surfaced. What happened to the mummies Hill claimed were removed? Whatever happened to Dr. Bovee who claimed to inspect and date the mummies and relics? Perhaps someday some of the lost artifacts will surface, until then the claims of giant mummified human remains seem to be the most verifiable of the discoveries.

In 1889, Ed Earl Repp, working with brothers H. Flagler Cowden and Charles C. Cowden, recovered the fossilized remains of a seven and one-half foot tall woman in Death Valley.

In July, 1895, near Bridlevale Falls, California, miners led by G.F. Martindale found the remains of a woman almost seven feet tall still holding a mummified child.

The most documented and verifiable account of giant remains comes from Lovelock Cave in Nevada. In 1911, James H. Hart and David Pugh discovered the remains of several red-haired giants as well as numerous cultural artifacts. In 1912 professional excavations under the direction of Llewellen L. Loud began. In all, almost sixty bodies were recovered. Two skulls recovered from Lovelock Cave can still be seen in museums in Lovelock and Winnemucca, Nevada.

While not proving the existence of a lost city, other accounts of giant human remains found in the American Southwest lends credence to Russell’s claims of Death Valley giants.

Could Fred White have heard the old Indian legends and made up his story just to impress miners Jack and Bill? He didn’t solicit for funds, in fact just the opposite happened. White offered them a share of the treasure as thanks for their hospitality.

Bourke Lee seemed to take the position that no lost city existed but yet he admitted having looked for it, as did Jack, Bill, and Tom Wilson based, on his grandfather’s account.

Could Dr. Russell have read Bourke Lee’s book and based his story on that? Why would a retired physician living in Beverly Hills have risked his life in one of the harshest environments on Earth? He would have to have made or purchased artifacts and planted them in a remote Death Valley cavern, not to mention carving symbols and hieroglyphs into the walls. If all he wanted to do was con investor’s couldn’t he have found an easier and less risky way.

Howard Hill, Dr. Bovee and other investors inspected the artifacts, mummies, and location. Bovee, a professional archaeologist, wouldn’t have been fooled by stage props or home-made artifacts. Hill and Bovee would have to have been in on the con, but they never tried to skip town and Hill lost money in the deal.

If they did make it up, they may have paid for it with their lives. White's party and Dr. Russell were never seen or heard from again. Perhaps, someday hikers will stumble across their remains and the mystery will be solved.

Or perhaps, like Tom Wilson’s grandfather, they too found a strange people living beyond a long tunnel in the Panamint Mountains. Only they decided to stay in the lost city of the Hav-musuvs.

sources

Lee, Bourke, Death Valley Men, New York, NY: Macmillan Co.,1932

Lee, Bourke, Death Valley, New York, NY: Macmillan Co.,1930

Branton, The Secrets Of The Mojave, http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/mojave1.html

Burlington UFO and Paranormal Research and Education, Alien Races. Names And Descriptions, http://www.burlingtonnews.net/suvians.html

Childress, David Hatcher, Lost Cities Of North And Central America, Stelle, IL: Adventures Unlimited Press, 1992. 586 pages

O’Neal, Leo H.,”The Legend Of The Death Valley Mummies.” Far Out, vol.1, no.2, winter 1992, pp45-47.

Quayle, Steve, Mysterious 1947 News Report Of Giant Desert Mummies Surfaces, http://www.stevequayle.comGiants/N.Am/Death.Valley.html

Steiger, Brad, Overlords Of Atlantis And The Great Pyramid, New Brunswick, NJ: Inner Light Publications, 1989. 204 pages.