City of Bakersfield
Bedrock Mortar Sites
(Kern County)

The City of Bakersfield has several large granite boulders containing mortar holes that Kern County some years ago removed from their original sites, and relocated to places around town. We know of such boulders on display outside along the front wall of the Kern County Museum, at Ming Lake, which is on the northeast side of the city, and at River Lakes Park, which is on the southwest side. Today this wanton desecration of archaelogical sites is illegal, and the county would no doubt vilify and fine anyone caught doing this. The one redeeming aspect of this government vandalism is that the boulders are now located in places where the public can easily view and enjoy them. It is not known where the Ming Lake and River Lakes Park boulders were originally located, but presumably they came from along the the Kern River somewhere between Ming Lake and the mouth of the Kern River Canyon. As such they were probably made by Yokuts Indians. A plaque on the Kern Museum Boulder (see below) identifies where it came from, and identifies its makes as the Kawaiisu.