This vast swat of land is located in eastern California in the northern Mohave desert bordering the Great Basin desert. Death Valley is the hottest place on earth and the driest place in North America. The highest temperature ever measured occurred on July 10, 1913 when a section known as Furnace Creek hit a scorching 134 degrees F (56.7 degrees C). Summer temperatures often come in near 120 degrees F (49 degrees C). The desert is located near the border of California and Nevada, in the Great Badin, east of the Sierra Mountains, and comprises much of Death Valley National Park. The valley is the main attraction of the Mojave and Colorado Resorts Biosphere Reserve. Death Valley is mainly in Inyo, California and has an area an area of about 3,000 square miles (7,800 km).
Besides such extremely long hot summers, there are short, mild winters, and little rainfall. Death Valley got its name in 1849 during the California gold rush by prospectors and others who tried to cross the valley on their way to the gold fields after 13 pioneers perished from one early expedition of wagon trains.
Despite having such a very extreme hostile desert climate, Death Valley CA has been home to various Native American Indians. Records indicate one tribe in particular lived there 9,000 years ago when the temperatures were much more favorable. The area contained a lot more fresh water from lakes. Today, only one tribe of Native American Indians still lives in the harsh climate, who number about 125, and occupy the valley section of “Furnace Creek”. These remaining Indians are the Timbisha, who were formerly known as the Panamint Shoshone.
According to numerous Native American Indian legends, that go back thousands of years, the people living in what is now Death Valley, had an underground city connected by passageways (tunnels) to various caves. The last American Indian tribe to confess the secret, of an underground city are the Paiutes, who were in the area 1,000 to about 900 years ago. The surroundings leading to the tunnels and caves underground; were cleverly covered over and well disguised.
Now, within the past few centuries up to about the 1920’s, according to legends of white society, there were a few white men who accidentally encountered these underground passage ways. The men were in various cases involving working on deep mines in the area. But, the white men discoverers were not able to remember where the very remote, highly scattered, very small number of cave’s where hidden. In one story, two white explorers vanished forever many, many years ago after trying to re-find; rediscover those caves.
According to the claims of alleged explorers the caves were used for storage and a few Indians were there acting as custodians and protectors. The caves held Indian artifacts that were made primarily of gold, and some made of silver. There were many beautiful gemstones. Blocks of gold were located here. The catacombs also housed fossilized skeletons of dinosaurs, giant ground sloths, mammoths, and saber toothed tigers. And there were caves with the mummified remains of great chiefs and warriors, some of these men measured up to 9 feet long. The deceased reputedly had their weapons buried with them. Various other skeletons were reported within the chambers.
There are highly controversial stories regarding the encounters of white explorers and the treasures they saw. A few historians, however have been very skeptical. Some of these adventurers of the long ago past are Howard E. Hill, Doctor F. Bruce Russell and Daniel S. Buree. Bourke Lee, an alleged explorer, wrote a book on the subject, entitled: “Death Valley Men“, published in 1932.
A number of seemingly legitimate stories describe underground caves yet other fictitious stories cloud the truth. With the accounts reported; there appears to be a common standard. Ancient people lived in Death Valley, California; hid their valuable and historical possessions in tunnels and caves. The saga supports the notion the native Americans here used a system of elaborate, highly clever entrances and exits disguised as natural landscape to protect their “prized possessions”.
