The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1853-11-12
Di,coEer, Of Ruined C!i,c, within the
t:ruil unsln

-kirtmg The right bank u Inv RIO GraLJc Gn The
ouuIh t,y tia CHA and tie West toy the Sierra
Nevada il region sl.l almost unknoNn Trap.
ieTs and mOLntaII.u.is have passed all around
the inner s.s Ciit lIn, bot none have ever eros.
I sad It with the exception Of Ar. Dealu H hv ira.
rrrsrd ON hl- reccat mp It's Northern sIrpc; aud
Capt joe Walker, toe ilmuG. noun liEce, SLo
passed neatly through i's ccutic IN Tie winter OF
| 1880 But littc, Therefore. Is know regarding
il, bat that l,ttl- is exceedingly interesting, aud
I I'LL, the mind with eagerneas 10 know n!U;e
Fom Capt Walker We Lavo gathered many
particulafs regarding lis celebreted lrip and
/ the character Of the mysterious land WHICH have
never hctUIe been brudglt 10 light. 1Lere IS uo
lack Of streams within it the l!iu Colorado Chi
quito, or Little Red River, runs entirely across IT.
about 90 miles to the NnrIh Of the Gila and al.
most PARALLEL to H. aud eGip;ies into the Cu!o.a.
do. About 20 miles s,i!i further t;UrlL the
san Juan f"!lows exactly the same course as the
/ Littlv Red, and eIBpties luto Graud River, the
most luI uIp,I'aut brarch of he Culurai!o Grand
River itself purst.s II course u li,tlr South oi
West acro,s the northern part Of The B,.in, VIII le
The Ayousctee large river discovered by Dir.
Boi.-. Green River, and tho l;'o Eifsin U,s all
large streams, which dram the Northern noun.
tain rim and run III i Souihe,ly direction .utc lAe
Colorado.
The Great Basin between the Colorado snt!
the Rio Granuc san immense table land. broken
toward. the Gila and the Ro Giande ty j.
tucheI Serras. Almost all the streams run tho
deep canOGs. Tic country Is barren uni desc
l.e aud entirely uninhaLitrd even 10y the lowest
order Of Indians. But thou, now so blaca and
iorLi1duy. sirewn all around may be ssen the
evidences hit It Wa once pa"plud by a civilized
and thcLly settled population. They have long
since disappeared. bat their bandwurk still re.
mains to altest their former greatness. Cant
Walker assures Us that til. country from the CO.
dorado to the Rio GranIc between The Glla and
Sau Juan. is full of ruined habitaiuns and cities,
moss Of winch are on the table land Although
he had frequently met with crGmGlng masses % {
nosonty aud number.ess specimens of antique
pottery, such rs have been Iotc.d in the immi.
grant trail soLth Of the Gila it was not until his
lust tip across, tla. lie ever saw o structure
, standing On that occasion lie had penetrated
about midway from the Colorado into the vii.
d,rnes-, aud had encampeG near the Little Rcd
river with the Sierra Blanca looming up to IL.
south when lie noticed Ut little distance al oL.
lect that induced hm " examine further. Il.
he approached, he found II to De kind ri citadel
around which lay the rams Of n city more than
. nile IN length. Ii was located IN . gentle de-
. cliyiiy that slopsd towards Red iIy-r' aui the
lines Of the streets could be distinctly traced
running regularly at rlpht nngles with each
utieJ.
'phc houses had all been built of stone, but ull
had hr.u ,,Luc,I Ia ,uin, by the ociin,, If .,,,,,
pr,a, heat which had .yil,utly oas.,,l over ,b,
whole country, j was no ordinary CONF grafton,
but must have been some erce,turnace.likc Ll.sl
Of Grc, slu.lIar to that s-sIug from u volcano rs
thn .,on.. were all burnt SON, uf tbem nl,nos,
clndeed o;lris glazed as II melted. This ap.
r.aruur, wus visible in every ,uIl We n,t WI
| 4 .,o,m II, fir. seemed tn h,v. avon, oy.r rho
whol. face Of th, country. and The ,uL,litnnt.
mu.t b,y. fallen b,tlp H. In tie c.rt,, +, ,ho
rlty wrreIrrrd to- fose a atrup,'y II rock tw.n.
| ~ or tbir,, feet hluh. urnn the ibb az which
.t.o,i :, purtipn Of the walls cf sba, b,l u,,ce
| en- an immense building, The uu,l,u. of ,h.
! huilGuy WAS still dI.truct although only tle
u.rtEeiu angle, with wall, Is or ~ feet Ian,
| and 10 feet hyh, was standing These All,
werr Constructed Of stone well oulr,icJ md
well built Al tie south end Of H.. LuilJ,t,
.ccnel to have melted to cnder,. and to have
! sunk to mere pile Of iul b,h. Even N, ruck
un which it WAS bull, appeared TO haze been uaI
TALLY fused b, tie heat. Capt Walker traced
many ofthe streets and the outline, oftLc hons.
e.. int could find uo other wall .t,udipy--as nf
ten AS h. had seen rams Of this character by l., o.,
never until THIS occasion. {! scoye,el an, Of ,he
tmplrmcnt, nf III. ancient people. Her lie found
a number ufhauLmills, similar To tln.e still used
! by the Pucbos aul the M,Xcaus for grinding
tleir corn. They were made Of lrht po,ous
rcck. and consisted Of two pieces about two fec;
lon. ami ten inches WIDE. the one followed on,
and the other made convex Ike roller to NJ
the concayity They were tie only articles that
had resisted the beat.
No metals OF any GIlu were '"uhd streWn al
around might he seen hume'ous fragments Of
TocheIy, sometimes beautifully carved, at Others
painted. THIS however ~as npt peculiar Ia th,,
spot, a. he had seen antique pottery III cV,Gy
part oi The country, mon! 1he SAD Juan ~ The
/ CHA
Capt. WALKER continued his journey, ana 10
ilced seNrIal moe RUNS hile oil hls route nest
day, but lie could nat stop iorxu'r!re them. On
thi. side oi the G. dorado he las never sern hny
remains except "t the Present races. 1hv lh,p
ans have no traditions ielaii'c to the an,r at
people mat orc, lhicE'y settled 'hn region
IheN !o"H wllh wonder upon These Trma,ns, hu
Know nothing OF Their origin. Capt. walker who
we may remark, is most intelligent and close
observer Lar superior io the generality oi The Old
irapNef- ahd ~nh wonderfully re'chtIyu menI
"ry, ls soi opinion that tins BASIN nov So barren
was once acharmins country, sustaining mllon
~ people and that It's present desOla,ipn la
hedn wrought 10y tho action OF volcanic fires. -
he mi's discovered proves that the ancient race
once ta'med; the country as Itn"w appears, uev
: cr could be TILED hence It Is inferred It mus
,"'e oe'' "'"''e.' I" carry Gays ihey nus
nav """ s"'' '.o' wv '"e 'rP''sc"'a''on q
h'ustlW animal was IuLbI taINtS upon l!ECI