It’s intriguing to imagine that a hidden, ancient underground city could lie beneath Death Valley, California, dating back 5,000 years.
Visitors to these subterranean tunnels claim that an unknown race once lived in this marvelous underground city.
Today, thousands of years later, the city stands abandoned, yet visitors have reported seeing strange mummies and curious ancient artifacts.
Could such a mysterious underground world truly exist beneath Death Valley? Where exactly is it located? Who were these mysterious inhabitants? Could they have been the Serpent People?
Legends of the Paiute Indians
Before delving into the mysteries of this subterranean world, we must first consider the legends of the Paiute Indians, who speak of an underground realm that few have heard of.
According to Jim Brandon’s fascinating book Weird America, several thousand years ago, the great Paiute chief lost his wife. Overcome with sorrow, he decided that life was no longer worth living and entered the spirit world.
His journey through the land of the dead was arduous, involving an endless underground passage following the trail of brave Indian spirits.
He encountered fierce beasts, evil spirits, and supernatural demons.
However, the brave chieftain fought his way through the ghoulish caverns.
He eventually emerged into the sunlight and crossed a narrow rock arch spanning a bottomless chasm.
On the other side, he stepped into the green meadows of the land of the dead, a vast kingdom ruled by Shin-au-av.
Shin-au-av’s daughter took the chief by the hand and led him to a vast natural amphitheater, where thousands of joyful Paiutes danced in a huge circle. The chief wished to see his wife, and the daughter instructed him to seize her and leave the valley quickly without looking back. He promised to do so. After days and nights of waiting, he found his wife, and they fled across the valley to the rock arch.
However, the chief forgot his promise and looked back, causing his wife to vanish instantly. He found himself standing alone and rejoined his tribe, spending the rest of his days recounting the beauties of Shin-au-av’s land. This story became well-known among the Paiutes.
This legend describes the underground world of Shin-au-av. Now, let’s explore what modern discoveries have revealed.
Modern Discoveries of the Underground Kingdom
Little is known about the ancient secret underground kingdom of the Shin-au-av people. In Weird America, Jim Brandon mentions a Paiute legend of an underground city beneath Death Valley, referred to as Shin-au-av. In the 1920s, an Indian guide named Tom Wilson claimed that his grandfather had discovered catacombs in the area.
Wilson’s grandfather had wandered into a miles-long labyrinth of bizarre caves beneath the valley floor and discovered an underground city where people spoke an unknown language and wore leather-like clothing.
In Death Valley Men, author Bourke Lee recounts his meeting with two men, Jack and Bill, who shared their conversation with two other men, White and Thomason, about an ‘underground city’ they claimed to have discovered. White and Thomason allegedly found the catacombs after one of them fell through an old mine shaft near Wingate Pass, in the southwest corner of Death Valley. Wingate Pass was a route used by mule teams to haul borax out of Death Valley in the 1800s.
White and Thomason claimed to have found a natural underground cavern extending about 20 miles north into the Panamint Mountains. They discovered an ancient, abandoned underground city filled with well-preserved mummies dressed in fine leather, wearing thick gold armbands, and holding gold spears.
The city appeared to have been abandoned for ages, except for the mummies. The entire underground system seemed ancient, with a lighting system powered by subterranean gases.
They reported seeing a large, polished round table, possibly part of an ancient council chamber, giant solid gold statues, stone vaults and drawers full of gold bars and gemstones, heavy stone wheelbarrows, huge stone doors balanced by counterweights, and other incredible sights.
They attempted to bring some treasures out of the caverns and sought help from scientists, including those at the Smithsonian Institution, to explore and publicize the city as a ‘wonder of the world.’
However, their efforts ended in disappointment when a ‘friend’ stole the treasure, which was also their evidence. When they took scientists to the mine entrance, they could not find it, as a recent cloudburst had altered the landscape.
The Unsolved Mystery
This story remains a fascinating and unsolved ancient mystery. Does the underground city of Shin-au-av truly exist? Will it ever be found?
Once again, we are left with many questions and few answers…
