The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-11-23
Ffuin the San rraneiscn Herald .
DISCOVERY OF RUINED CITIES
WITHIN THE GREAT BASIN

no"e nave eFe- crossed II with the exception {
, Mr. beale, who travers, on his recent trip i,
, Northern slope, and Capt Joe Walker, tn
famous mountaineer, who passed nearly throug
Its centre in the winter of IS5O-But httT
, Is isexceednEly interesting and fills the min
win eagerness 10 know more. From Can
walker we have gathered many particulars re
garding his celebrated trip, aud the characte
OF this Inysterious land, which have never be
, tore been brought to light There is no lack @
streams within il; the Rio Colorado Chuutc
or Little Red River, runs entirely across j,
ABOUT i0o miles to the North of the Gila an
almost PARALLEL to il, and emp les into the Co
dorado About l2O milea further North the Sal
Juan follows exactly the same course as III
Latte ked, and empties into the Grand River
the most important branch Of the Colorado
Grand River itself pnrsues course a li.l
South Of West across the Northern part of th
BASIN, while the Avonkeree, large river dis
covered by MIR. Beale, Green Rierr, and the Ri,
Sirgen, arc all large streams, which drain til,
Northern mountain rim and run in Southeri,
direction into the Colorado
| The Great Basin between the Colorado m,
and the Rio Grande is an immense table land
broken towards the ella and the Rio Grapde h,
detached Sierraa. Almost all the streams ruy
| through deep canons The country is barre,
and desola'e, and entirely uninhabited even bx
| the lowest order Of Indians But thouob noy
so bleak and forbidding, strewn al! around NAV
be seer the evidences that it was once ppopled
io,y civilized and thickly settled population. =
lhey have long since disappeared, but thei,
handlwork still remains to attest their former
greatness. Capt Walker assures US that the
country from the Colorado to the Rio Grande.
between the G'la and San Juan, is full of ruin.
ed hahltatons and cities, most Of which are ON
the table land. Although he had freonentlv
met with crumbing masses of masonry and
numbeiless specimens of antiqne pottery. such
as have been noticed in the immigrant trail south
OF the Gila, 1t was not until his last trip across
mat ne ever saw structure standing On that
occasion he had penetrated about midway from
the Colorado into the wilderness, and had on
camped near the Little Red river. with the 81
ezra Blanca looming up to the south, when he
noticed at little distance an object tha, induced
him to examine further As he approached he
found It to be kind of citadel, around which
iay the RUNS OF city more than a mile in
length. 1t was located on gentle decliyltv
that sloped towards Red River, and the lines of
Tue streets couia De distinctly traced, running
regularly at right angles with each other.
The houses had all been built of stone. b,,
all had been reduced to ruins by the action. Of
so"'c great neat, which lad evidently passed
conflagraton, but must have been some force
furnace like blast Of fire, similar to that ;ssnino
from volcano, as the stones were all bu,ni
some OF them almost cindered, others glazed as
II me'ted-This appearance was visible in ev-
cry ruin he met with. storm of fire seemed
To have swept over the whole face of the conn.
try, and the inhabitants must have fallen beEre
IT. In the center OF the city we refer to. rose
abruptly rock twenty or thirty feet high. upon
the top OF which stood portion Of the wall Of
what had been an immense building. The ont.
hne OF the building was still distinct, although
only the northern angle, with walls Is or Is
ieet long, and l0 feet high was standing. These
wa,is were constructed of stone, we'll quarried
and well built. All the south end Of ,he hn;,d-
ing seemed to have melted to cinders. and In
have sank to mere pile Of rubbish. Even the
rock on which it was tuiIt appeared to have
been partially fused by the heat. Capt. Walker
spent some time examining this interesting spot
he traced many of the streets and the ontlne
OF the houses, but could find no other wall
standing-as often he had seen ruins of th;s
character, he had never, until this occasion
discovered any of the implements Of the anc;ent
people. Here he found some handmilIs similar
to those still used by the Pueblos and the Mexi.
cans Tor grinding their corn They wer made
.. hsh' porous rock, ond consisted of two
the one followed out, and the other mad. con
vex like roller to fit the concayity. They
were the only article that had resisted the heat
No metals Of any kind were found strswn
all around might be seen numerous fragment.
of crockery, sometimes beautifully carved. at
others painted. This however, was not necn
liar to this spot, as he had seen antique potterv
IN every part OF the country, from the San Juan
to the Gia
capt. walker continued his journey, and no.
uced several more ruins little off his route
next day, but he could not stop 10 examine
them. On this side of the Colorado, he has
never seen any remains except of the presen,
races The Indians have no traditions relative
to the ancient people that once thckly settled
this region They look with wonder on these
remains, but know nothing Of their origin.
Capt. Walker, who We may remark, is most
intelligent and observer, far superior to the gen.
eraiity OF the old t'appers, and with wonder
tu' retentlve memory, is of opinion that this
BASIN, now SO barren, was once charmnc
country, sustaining millions of people. and thai
its present desoaton has been wrought by the
action OF volcanic fires.-The mill discovered
proves that the ancient race once farmed: the
country as 1t now appears, never could be titled.
hence 1t Is inferred it must have been diff,rena
IN early days They must have had sheen. too.
tor the representation of that useful animal was
found carved on piece of pottery
Lieut. Beale states that, On his first trim
across the continent, he discovered in the mids,
OF The wilderness north Of Gla, wha, appea-ed
to be strong fort, the walls of great thickness
built of stone. He traversed il. and f,nnd 4,
contained forty-two rooms. In the vicinity
were met with numerous balls of hard CLAW
from the size OF a bullet to that of a grape shot
What was singular about them was the fact
that frequently Ten or twenty were stuck toge
ther' like number of bullets run out of half a
dozen connecting mnulds, or like whole hal,
ing of rolls 1t is difficult to saw what these
were intended fof. They were SO hard, how
ever, that the smaller ones could be dsc',,r,ed
from gun. And now it remains for the anti.
quarian to explore this most Interesting region in
| the very heart OF our country, aud to say who
| were the people that inhabited it, They NAV
have been the ancestors of the Az,ecs. whom
Cortes found in Mexico, for they were known
to have come from the north Tradition relates
that they sailed out from their northern homes
directed by their prophets not TO cease their
march TIL they came across an eayle sitting up.
| on cactus with serpent in its claws This
they tound where the city of Mexico now
stands, and here they established their dorni-
Mon.
\ q S'iit PSeSelstu III tne OeVlCe
upon the Mexican dollar. Some remnants o.
the Aztecs still remained within few wear.
past, at the ruined city of Gran Quivers, o
Pecos, in the wilderness OF New Mexico Here
in the deep caverrs, they kept aliye, with rev
erenlial care the Sacred FIRE, which was alway.
to burn until the return If the Mont, yuma, |
only went out about ten years ago, when III,
last indian OF the tribe expi ed 1t may be TIA
the>P mos south of the Gila are an oif-shoot u
the great Aztec nation, left behind in thei
march to the South. The Pimos. it's known
are far superior to the Indians Of Mexico Tbr,
raise :ne cotton, aud from it manufacture al
their clothing
Would that some Stephens or I.ayard woul
arse to explore the wonders that lie concealr,
within this Great Basin, and tn bring to Iiuh
the history of the strange people that once in
habted it,
EXECUTION IN NoRTH CARoL1sA.-Samm
I Ferry, convicted Of the murder of his wifi,
. was executed near Raleigh, ~ c., on the 81,
ut. He confessed the murder, stating tha
while his wife was stoopns over the we
10 ms yard, for the purpose of lifting
1tAH