The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-02-04
Strange Inhabitants of the Great Basin.

Strange Inhabitants Of the Great Basin.
The recent discoveries in wha, is called
IL. Treat Basin" a tract Of table land, ly-
.n,lriwccn the Rocky and the Pacific Chain
.f mountains. are exciting much interest and
avakrning inquiry and ,peculations again as
8, the origin Of the people who evidently. in
.rormcr period, inhabited these now ,lesoiatc
=, mons.
Capt Walker. the mountainccr. passed
through the centre of this basin in 1850, and
ave some interesting revelations Of what hr
NV These statements have been called il
.Gy,uon on account of their supposed improl-
u, Tut the recent trip Of Lieut.. Bcale
-,c>a degree of confirmation to the facts.
n'ih viii make the crcditiitv of the STATE
.aer';. 70 be more readily admitted
~, hoe country. from the Colorado q
n'o t'ran,ic, between the ella and San
.I..n. : t'il Of ruined habitations ana tics.
n,,'o- which are on this table land. Capt,
Nlhcr states that in travcrsiny this desert
be- had frequently met with crumblny masses
masonry and numherlcss specimens Of an
lnc pottery. In his last trip across he saw
he ruins OF city more than a mile in ex-
INT. the streets of which ran at right angles
The houses had all been built Of stone, but all
iai been reduced to ruin by the action OF
lite srea, heat. which had evidently passed
iyrr the whole country. In the centre of
'aecity rose abruptly rock 20 or 80 feet
ii. upon the top OF which stool 4 portion
1.-THE walls of what lad once been an i'm
mrnse tuilliny. The outline oftlc building
''t> sill distinct, although only tie northern
','c. Hiiil walls Is or ls feet long and 10
'rrt high. was standing. These walls were
n,iractcl Of stone well quarricd and well
u.
Lieut.. Heaie. on his first trip across the
ointment. discovered. in the midst of the
wilderness of ella. what appeared to be a
strong fort, the walls of great thickness, built
oi ''0nc. lie travcrscd and found it con-
'liucd ~ rooms
\ correspondent of the P!accrville Herald
-Ivcs an account, more wonderful still, of a
stone bridge. which had also been discovered.
the foundations of which were Of stone and
nearly 600 feet from one of the outer alut
ments to the other, while between the two
re TO less than seven distinct piers. This
nldge has the appearance of river once
lowing between Its piers, though Their, is
rot now the slightest indication of such a riv-
tr in that vicinity.
NcXt we have an account of str,noo r,co
O. people. neither whites nor Indians. called
Nopus. lighter in color than the Indians Of
'"'''orna The women are tolcraLIv fair
no' boinr 50 much exposed to the sun. A.
--0nr them Capt Walker saw three perfect
'"'.te, with white hair and light eyes.
Here they raise all kinds of grain. melons
AMI Vegetables. They have also num|c,
Of orchards filled with many kinds OF. iru;,
wees lhc peaches they raise are particular.
y i'n". They have large Nocks Of shccn
nj Soat>. but very few beasts of burden or
''e. They are a harmless. inoilcnsivc
f''' kInd and ho>pitable to strangers. and
''"c int very little resistance when attack
"~ ih' warIike Navaios. who dwell in the
.'"'''"> I" The northeast Of them. are in
'"' ''a' IT OF sweeping down upon them every
'"' Ut ''ree years. and driving off their
"' ~ ,Hch times they gather up all that
''o''"'e from their farms, and fly for ref
- 10 their mountain stronghold. Here
~, u enrn'lcs dare not follow them
zen stranger approaches they appear on
" 'l' OF 'he rocks ard houses. and watch
a. movements.
'Ay Of their villages, at which Captwalk-
'''' ior several day. is over 500 var,s
Ihe houses are mostly built of stone
''' mortar; some ofalobe. They are yerv
'rd comfortable, and many are two and
,.''c' stories high. The inhabitants are
.'Fa''y advanced in some of the art.
.'''''acturc excellent woollen c]otb;,o
,.'.> '>F''' leather, basket work and pottery
'''NV most OF the Indian tribes in this conn.
Tie women work within doors. the mc,
.'''''ng all the farm and cut door l,bor
"eSe people, according to the accounts
NV. w. never had any intercourse with the
'''e race The question as to the existence
= l'o;''. and the .,i1.,r,s OF, ..,,