Byron Cummings
Rutgers (1889) | |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
---|---|
1897 | Utah |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 1–5 |
Byron G. Cummings (September 20, 1860 – May 21, 1954) was an American archaeologist and university president. He is known as the dean of Southwestern archaeology. Cummings was the founding head of University of Arizona's Department of Archaeology (1915–1937), the school's ninth president (1927–1928), the Arizona State Museum's first director (1915–1938), and the founder of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society, which was established in 1916.
Cummings was also a
Cummings was a believer in 'mythical giants' which were commonly reported from archaeological sites in the early 1900s in North America. Despite numerous reports of giant skeletons being found, no documented evidence of their existence has been produced. In 1930, Cummings, then Dean of the University of Arizona Archaeological Department, led an expedition "160 miles south of the [Mexican] border" where Cummings expected to find giant skeletons after having apparently previously found one male and two female skeletons each over 8 feet tall with heads over 1 foot long in a "burial ground to the 'cyclops'".[4]
Southwestern archaeology
Professor Cummings did pioneering archaeological fieldwork in the early 1900s in southern Utah's
Cummings was the first to discover Pleistocene man in southern Arizona and his discoveries led to the eventual recognition of the Cochise culture that has been dated to before 6,000 B.C. He authored numerous articles, pamphlets and books about Southwestern cultures based on the sites and ruins he explored. One of his dreams was realized when in 1936 the doors of a new Arizona State Museum building were opened to the public. He retired from the department of archaeology in 1937 and from the museum in 1938, but remained Director Emeritus until his death in Tucson in 1954 at the age of 93.
Discovery of Rainbow Bridge, 1909
Cummings was co-head of the US party attempting to be the first Americans to visit this landmark, along with William B. Douglass, Examiner of Surveys for the United States General Land Office. John Wetherill organized the Cummings expedition. There had been apparent friction between Cummings and Douglass over who would be the first to visit Rainbow Bridge. On August 14, 1909, the party reached the Bridge. Cummings and Douglass both spurred their horses in an attempt to be the first Americans to ride under the bridge. Wetherill saw what was happening and, being closer to the bridge, went on ahead and rode first under the span.[5]
Head coaching record
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Utah Utes (Independent) (1897) | |||||||||
1897 | Utah
|
1–5 | |||||||
Utah: | 1–5 | ||||||||
Total: | 1–5 |
References
- ^ "Byron Cummings". Utah History. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- JSTOR 30247958.
- .
- ^ "Nogales International 09 Dec 1930, page 1". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
- ^ Judging Byron and Isabelle Cummings by the Content of Their Character, by David R. Wilcox, Arizona State Museum, Dec. 2016.