Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 June 1881 — NEW MEXICO. [ARTICLE]

NEW MEXICO.

Curl ohm Helle* of l*re-Historic Rare* —Ruin, of Building* and Aqueducts. In New Mexico are to be found the ruins of cities, of cathedrals and palaces, that speak in unmistakable language of a people that lived and flourished so long ago that no history or legend tells who they were, whence they came, or whither they went. No one can tell their name, or by what wonderful law of Providence they have been completely wiped from the face of the earth. It is conjectureci by some antiquarian, says a Saute Fe correspondent, that, even before ancient Thebes existed, there dwelt upon the plains of New Mexico a people whose power and splendor were unrivaled among the nations of the earth. That there were cities here, and large ones, too, is a well-settled fact; but it will only be when the earth gives up its dead I hat their history will be revealed. Abxit 100 miles southeast of Albuquerque is Gran Quivera, one of these interesting relics of the past. It is in the midst of a country as barren as the desert. No streams of water flow near it, and the surface of the country shows no signs of vegetable growth whatever. The whole region is deserted, while in the midst of it stand the ruins of an ancient and large city. For centuries the forces of nature have been at work upon its crumbling walls, and the winds have brought showers of sand until the walls are covered, so that nothing can be seen but the tops of the highest walls. The streets are filled up with debris and sand until they are leveled up with the roofs of the houses. There is one building that tow - ers above the rest, and that can be seen for fifty miles in approaching the city. Its walls are four feet thick and eighty feet high. The building was 160 feet long, and from eighty to 100 feet wide, and had a basement the entire length of the structure. The first floor was evidently a counoil-chaml'er, where sat the Solons of the long ago. This floor was supported by very large timbers, that still stretch across from wall to wall, and are well preserved. The ceiling is not less than fifty feet high, and the timbers that support it still remain, with bracketsupporters extending out from the sides of the walls. These timbers are larger than any growth of timber now to be found anywhere in this region of country. The carving and moldings on these old brackets speak of the workmanship of that people, and show that they were skilled in art and in architecture. The art displayed exhibits taste, culture and the skillful use of tools, and demonstrates that they had tools of good quality, if not machinery. Not far from this wonderful site aie the ruins of an aqueduct that extends from the city to the mountain. This is built of masonry, the stone laid in cement. The w.all in many places stands firm and strong to-day, yet it must have been built many ages ago. In durability it surpasses our best masonry, and in workmanship is not inferior to much that is called the best. The people who built these walls lived here, and have departed, leaving nothing but the workmanship of their hands behind them—have left neither legend nor tradition to tell who they were. The inhabitants of the country are as ignorant of them as the traveler who, for the first time, looks upon these wonderful ruin*.

There are other ruins quite as interesting in the Canyon de Cliaco, in llio Arriba county ; but those, like those of Gran Quivera, are dusty with age, and without any legend or history to tell us who dwelt there. The next wonderful things to bo seen are the homes of the “cliff-dwellers.” These homes are doubtless built for protection from dangerous enemies. They excite great surprise from their inaccessibility. In Mancos de Chelle there is a wall 1,200 feet high, and, at a point 200 feet perpendicularly from the top, a pigeon-hole, and, at otner points about the same distance apart, other pigeonholes (large openings) on a horizontal line—four cliff-housds, one in each opening. How these people entered these houses, and how they came <ffit, is to us of this day a matter of surprise and conjecture. Some say that they used a long ladder, and, after they entered their homes, took the ladder in; but either the ladder must have been of very high and peculiar material, or the “ cliff-dwellers ” must have been giants.

It is evident from these old cities and towns that New Mexico had a population in the ages of the past far in excess of the present population. These ruins are not in localities, but all over New Mexico. In the mountains are found mining shafts, ruins of rude smelters with large piles of slag, and other indications that show they were acquainted with the precious metals, and were generally an active and industrious people. When the Spaniards first came to this country (800 years ago), that the Pueblos were older than seven generations is stated by the Spanish historians who preserved the record of their discoveries and the curious things they saw.