Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1874 — Pre-Historic People of America. [ARTICLE]

Pre-Historic People of America.

Every now and then we learn how imperfect our knowledge of this western part of the continent still is, and how' many wonders yet remain to be revealed to antiquarian research. Among the most recent and important discov■eries are the ruins of a number of an ci ent ci ti es in Sou t h ern Ar izon a, the news es-which appears to have excited a lively interest in scientific circles. These remarkable vestiges of an earlier civilization were discovered by the superintendent of a canal company in Arizona, which carries on its operations in the Pueblo Viejo Valley. While prosecuting his labors this gentleman suddenly came across a whole chain of cities in ruins, the sites of which were about a mile apart. The walls of these® ruins were composed of rough stone, laid in mortar, andexcavations within their limits showed that_aLL the cities had been destroyed by tire. Among the debris was found pottery* household utensils, and human bones, but no warlike implements of any kind. On the other hand, there were" unearthed axes, hammers and sledges, made of stone, and much heavier and harder than any we have thus far any knowledge of. It was with one of these ponderous stone axes that the superintendent of the company cut in two a rod of iron without making a perceptible impression upon the instrument. There were also brought to light many pieces of ancient pottery and some rare stones, all of which betrayed an unusual degree of artistic skill and appreciation, while the general character of the buildings evidently intended for purposes of state or worship, indicated that this region must once have been inhabited by a people surprisingly advanced in culture and familiar With many of the modern arts of life. The question who this earlier race which lived in Arizona before the days of Columbus could have been, whence they had come, and what lias been their fate, is a problem that our Dryasdusts.will vainly seek to solve. —lnter Ocean.. It is said that the Grange numbers one million voters in the United States. -