The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-03-26


height of from three to seven stories, ON basement
about ten feet high Of solid masonry 10 which there
vas no entrance below. They assembled TO the dit
| ferent stories by wooden ladders, which could be
drawn up The necessity for these Notifications or
towns, built on solid masses, and obtaining space
by elevation, instead of surface, the hostility oil
the nomadic tribes, especially the Teyas, (Texas
probably,) perhaps the general name for the Apa-
.ches Canmnches, sc. Notwithstanding these
admirable arrangements for defence, their enemies
| sometimes succeeded in their attacks; one Of the
largest towns having been in partial state OF
ruin, thus effected within recent period. fertile
valley was usually selected, which was cultivated
by articialirrigation; they cultivated maize, beans
squashes, little cotton for their domestic fabrics
and probably other articles. Their government
republican, consisting of council of the elders
IL is greatly to be regretted that, instead of atgu
ing narratives relating TO their affairs, the
plorers had not given more minute accounts of
these interesting people At the risk Of being some
what proix, will make an extract from one Of the
letters of Coronado, for purpose which will pres
emily explain. ! will mention in this place, that
another expedition sent about the same time up
the gulf of California, under Fernando de Alarcon,
who ascended the Colorado some distance and then
returned The account Of it also contains matter
Of considerable interest. would commend these
several works to the attention of the Smithsonian
Institute.
The following is the extract from the relation of
Castaneda:
terrace roofs Preceding above the other all OF
the same height, and on which one may make the
circuit of the village, without any street to bar the
passage. (These were sheltered by roof or awning
from the story above, and supported by posts the
| outer edge of the terrace.) There is on the two
first stories (above the basement, which was soid)
corridor in the form Of balcony, ON which one
may walk round the village and stand under shell
ter. The houses have no doors in the lower story,
but they ascend to the balcony within the village
| by means of ladders, which can be raised up. The
doors all open these balconies, which serve as
Streets and it is through these doors that the houses
| are entered. Those which face the country have
their backs placed against those that open into the
| yard, which is very Important in time of war. The
| village is also surrounded by low stone wall.
! There is also fountain, which might be cut of.
This nation prcends that no other has been able to
i conquer it, although possessing only five hundred
| warriors They are of the same race with all the
others living ia similar towns"
| Although the above account is more minute than
might be expected, it is still extremely imperfect
In the relation of Espejo there is alusion to AGO.
| ma, built upon rock like some of the castles of
the Rhine, and Coronado describes similar castle,
(perhaps the same,) under the name of Acuco.
With the exception of the lower part of stone, the
whole constructed of perishable materials,
| earth, adobes, and the pine of the neghboring
mountains. They all had stoves in the basement
story, for the purpose of warming the whole build
ing, the cold being sometimes severe in this noun
tain region We discover here very strong re-
semblance of these buildings to those of Yucatan
and Guatemala, as described by Stevens and Del
Rio; and although constructed by apeope less adj
vanced in the and civilization, yet evidently of
the origin. Being long convinced that the
Japanese until within the last three hundred years
| the great navigators of the western ocean, were
formerly in the habit of visiting the shores of the
Pacific, from at least latitude 500 to the coast of
Chill, carefully examined the voyage of Kaemp-
fer to any resemblance between these structures
and those of Cibola. / found many striking resem-
blances, especially in the fifth book, plate &C. where
there is three-story building, rising plank
basement, and each story retiring to form a CORR
dor in front. II Cibola a colony of Japan, they
could not have come from the Pacific on
account of the Sierra Nevada and the great desert;
but they might have entered the Gulf of Califor-
MIA, and assembled the Colorado, and then the ella.
The possession of the cotton plant is remarkable
fact, it is Asiatic, and not indigenous to Ameri
ca at least in so high latitude. But an objection
presents itself which seems difficult to The
Japanese had the of letters which, il is natural
to suppose would have been retained by these colo
mics. Here is certainly room for much curious
disquisition.
will now give the reader another extract. II is
description of the very same buildings in a state
of ruin, two hundred years after the expedition Of
Coronado. IL is from a letter of Father Pedro
Fonte, in l775, and is most curious proof Of how
short-lived all traditionary remembrances, and
even Of contemporary written narrative. We find,
among all nations, few simple Evolutionary facts,
which seem ii were Incorporated with their very
existence; but tradition has tendency to shorten
both time and space. Events thus preserved may
relate TO period thousand years ago, and yet
appear to be only century, while the existence Of
sen or a city, at vast distance, when transmit.
ted from savage to another, may be thought
by the last to be only beyond neighboring noun
tain. The good father sought information from
I the neighboring Indians, who could tell him no
thing but childrcn's stories," and he makes no
allusion to the description Of Coronado, Of which
he probably ignorant. His opinions are
founded the more recent work Of Clavigero
who records the Mexican story Of the migrations
Of the Toultees, Olmuks and Astecs, from the
northwest; and he at adopts the idea that
these we're the rcsting-plsces Of the Astecs, five
hundred years before, and Who after residing here
for a time, had abandoned their abodes TO go fur
ther south. / had come TO the same conclusion
with Mr. Stevens, that the ruins Of Yucatan were
cities occupied by people at the time of the con-
quest; and no one who reads Las Casas can doubt
the fact. have expressed the same opinion as 10
the antiquities Of the Ohio, with the exception of
the mounds; and have referred for its support, 10
the pictorial representations in De Bre's Voyages.
and Of Father La Fitcau. Mr.. squiers does not
appear to have been aware of the existence of these
d works. take this opportunity TO express my
thanks for the flattcring manner in which, in the
beautiful work published by the Smithsonian Insti
tutc, he has spoken Of me the first TO give a
philosophic view Of American antiquities. But, to
the extract which have promised. ] think the
reader will at once discover, In the ruins described
by Fonte, the same buildings which perfect in
the time of Coronado. The dilapdstion between
the year l774 and the account by that hi Rhy
mcritorous officer, Lieutenant Emory, Is even
greater than between that year and the first visit
by the spaniard. feel regret that tho complete
exploration Of the unknown region between the
ella and the Colorado had not been undertaken
by Colonel Fremont, whose name is identified in