While the article below about the rocking stone in Truckee, California was originally published in 1895, the rocking stone is still around and can be visited.
Rocking Stones
California has Several Worthy of Serious Investigation
On the summit of a low, rounded hill near the town of Truckee, California, stands a rock thirty feet high and twenty-two feet in circumference, with a perfectly level top. On the center of this level surface rests another rock, a facsimile of the other on a smaller scale. To give an idea of the size of the stones, the owner of the ground has built an observatory, two stories in height and circular in form, which stands upon the larger of the two stones and encloses the other. There is ample room inside of this building for several persons to stand, and on the rock, outside, a promenade extends around the observatory. Several peculiarities of these strange stones are worthy of note. Both are heart shaped; they are identical in position; the apex of each points directly north, and every line and feature of the larger stone is perfectly reproduced in the smaller.
Nor is this the strangest part of the matter. The smaller rock weighs sixteen tones, and is apparently as firm as the everlasting hills. The strongest man may push and tug in a vain attempt to move it, unless he touches a certain spot; but if a child puts his little finger on this spot, with a gentle, pushing motion, the huge mass of granite begins to rock. The movement is regular and almost noiseless, and investigation proves that the great rock rests on three almost imperceptible pivots, and thus swings clear of its base.
Another interesting rocking stone may be seen near Pala, in San Diego county, where it is regarded with great veneration by the Indians. It is an immense boulder, circular in form, but flat on the upper surface. It rests on three distinct pinnacles, and can be moved only by peculiar, swaying steps on its top.
When set in motion, it will continue to rock long after the effort to move it has ceased, and the grinding, rumbling noise it produces can be heard a mile away, resembling the sound of distant thunder. This strange stone may be made to move in two different directions, according to the movements of the person who starts it. It may be made to swing around on its pivots in a circular manner, or it may be moved backward and forward, like the rocking of a chair.
So far as is known, these are the only rocking stones in California. Scientists declare that they were caused by water erosions, but some superstitious people believe that they were held sacred by the Indians, while still others aver that they were the altars of a people who passed from the earth ages ago.
Source: The climax. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.), 03 July 1895.
