The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1853-06-09
Ruins i'm New Mexico.

States Army, was read and excited very
deep and lively interest among the men,
bers present. The material portion of
the letter is as follows:
Lieutenant Albert, of the Topographic
cal Engineers, is the only officer of the
army that ever had the opportunity of
visiting Gran Quivira. He went to de-
serted village called Abo, in lat. "a deg.
% M, lon. LOG west, and says he was
within fourteen miles of it, and its direc-
ton was east. This may be correct but
my information would lead me to infer
that it lies further south and east from
Abo. Since l wrote the article in the Ar
kansas paper, 1 have accidently become
acquainted with an old man, named Camp
bell, who is represented as respectable
and truthful man, who has visited Quivira
on two occaSionS-the first time in 1889,
when he was run off by the Indians; the
next visit in l642, with larger party,
and staid there week, exploring or dig
ging here and there fer treasure. will,
as far as my memory permits, give you
his description in his own words:
He found the site of the Gran Quivira
on mesa or table land, situated on the
northwest point of the Sacramento noun
tains, having the appearance of large
and populous city, regularly laid out in
wide streets at right angles. He supposes
the city in length to be at least three miles,
running northeast to southwest, and half
a mile or more in breadth; some of the
houses, in part, still standing, and built of
he1o1s stone. There are clear indications
of the size of the houses, and many of
them are of very large size; or at least
cover much ground. One he thought he
recognised as the palace another as the
temple or place of worship; and, here he
thought it most probable he would find
the treasure.
He sounded about and discovered
hollow place; cleaned away the dirt, and
reached floor; dug through it, thinking
he was getting into cellar, but found
room entirely empty, about sixteento eigh-
teen feet square, with polished walls, and
with paintings, or colored figures all over
it, and ascertained, for the first time, that
! he acaS t1en on the IeveI acith the street,
which is now ten or fifteen feet below the
present surface. He and party used this
room as dwelling while at the place.
He dug at another place, which be sup
posed to be at the alter, and came to
fat rock; on clearing away the rub
bish, be discovered where it had been
excavated, and nicely covered by close
fitting, hewn, fat rock. He was sure of
prize, raised the rock, and found in
carved out hole in the solid rock the skel-
eton of a human body, Indian in appear
ance, the whole perfect, but which, in
few moments, by exposure to the air dis
solved; not leaving particle of evidence
of human corpse but fine dust. On dig
ging further at that place, he found four
such vaults and human skeletons.
He abandoned the town and went back
to the hills, and found cave, but on O.
pening the mouth discovered it to be the
shaft of a mine. This he followed for
nearly quarter of q mile, seeing through
out evidences of a shining mineral on all
sides. At the end of the shaft was
small chamber, where he found crow
bar Of some metal, but not of iron, quite
black; chisel and hammer, or kind of
axe also black and curious kind cf
esrthen vessel. He left these things where
he found them, and returned to the town.
In rambling round to the western part,
he found what was the reservoir, in the
form of an ellipse; its axis must be $50
yards in length its breadth at least so,
and its depth about so feet, paved bottom
and sides with hewn stone. At the south
ernmost end of the reservoir was very
large house, of cut stone, several stories
high, which seems to have been place Of
arms, and intended as guard house, to
defend this pond of water, as, at regular
intervals, there were long Sits, and a
kind of port hole left in the wall.
The walls are four feet thick one cor
ner, perhaps half, of this house is still
standing. There is no water or wood
near Gran Quivira. The whole country
around for many miles is desolate plain
of sand. At the northern end of the res
ervoir the aqueduct comes in; this be fol-
lowed to the White Mountains, forty miles
in northwest direction. 1t is throughout
It's length faced with small cut stone, mot