Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-02-20
YO

Y MINNESOTA, THU
AClTY or THE PLAINS.
The Talca nm Arizona Ira vcicr Toll.
Ruins "f'h" Once P"p"io,,s city.
From the Denver Cody News.
Col. w. T. Roberts, who went down
to Arizona with the Mike GRAY pnrtv
hunting diamonds and thins4. ho1
some wonderful stories to deta;l mon
ms arrival home, concerning the land
through which he passed, the people
he saw, the hardships endured by the
party. and discoveries made. The
party started for Arizona from Denver.
ontfitting at Puebla. Beyond the San
Juan River, to the southwark and west
ward, they came into a misunderstanding.
uninhabited region, seldom trod 6v
foot of civilized man and Stunned by
the lndiaps. It consists of a success.
sion of elevated plateaus, covered with
sand and cut up by deep and impassa-
BILE gorges washed out in the sandstone
by the heavy rains which prevail there.
On the top of many of these mesas
is a scanty growth of nut pine and
scrub'cedar, while others are covered
with bunch-grass upon whici; The wild
sheep, which abound in great numbers,
fattened. There is no water in all this
region except the deep holes washed
out in the sandstone at the bottom of
the cannons, and gorges, washed out
by the winter torrents, where the wa
ter stands and grows stagnant under
the scorching summer sun. For miles
on miles further than the eye can reach,
these barren wastes stretch away in o
continuous succession of desert table
lands and yawning chasms.
The party were repeatedly lost on
the trip, none of them knowing the
trail, and keeping, as was wrong, on
the tops of the mesas instead of in the
valleys. At one time they wandered
fourteen days without the least idea as
to where they were going, and suffer-
ing greatly for water. At one period
of their wanderings they were thirty
six hours without water, and nearly
persisted of thirst. They travelled un-
til many of their mules gave out, and
several of their men declared they
could go no further. Capt. Gray, Col.
Roberts, and Ben. Harpendlng, ne.
phew of A. Harpending, rode on short
distance, and fortunately found pool
of water which proved the salvation of
the entire party. They travelled on day
after day, resolutely struggling against
despair, and finally, by good fortune,
found way out of the desert.
Roberts tells a strange story of q
strange city-or the remnants of one
away down there in that desolate
land. 1t was while attempting to find
his way out of the gorges into which
the party had stumbled, that Roberts
came out upon mesa, and was aston
ished to find before him the ruins of
what was evidently once populous
city. It covered an area of about
three square miles, and was lnclosed
by a wall of sandstone, neatly quar-
ried and dressed, ten or twelve feet
thick, and which, judging by the de-
ba'is, was fifteen or twenty feet high
before its fall. In most places it had
crumbled away and fallen, and was
covered with sand, but in many places
It was still standing six or eight feet
above the sand banks which had drift
ed around it. The entire area inside
of this had at one time been covered
with houses, built of solid sandstone,
which showed excellent masonry in
their construction. This ancient city
is situated in Arizona, about ninety
miles from the boundary line between
Utah and Arizona, and the same dis
the western Colorado line.
It has the appearance of being an old
Aztec city that has been deserted for
hundreds of years and fallen to ruins.
It is entirely of stone, and not stick
of worked timber is to be seen among
the ruins. Nothing but the walls are
and none of them are now
left more than eight or ten feet above
the sand, which is eight or tcn feet
deep. The walls still bear the traces
of many hieroglyph1cs, cut deep in
them, showing varions Indian customs
and superstitions. There are also the
ruins of stately monuments, built Of
square blocks of sandstone, we'll qual.
ried, and showing masonry, which are
worked with notches and crosses cut
into them at regular intervals.
The city is covered with sand, which,
it is thought, has blown there from the
desert. The sand has become solid
and packed by the rains. Under the
sand is layer of blue clay six or eight
feet deep. No bones, implements or
relics of any kind we're found, with the
exception of some pieces of pottery of
dark color. These we're embellished
with paintings of flowers and orna
mental figures in blue colors. The
co]oring matter is of blue mineral
substance of some kind. It is per-
fectly indelible, and pieces of the pot
terry which have been exposed to storms
which have worn away the solid ma
sonry of the walls of the city, show
their colors fresh and bright to all ap-
pearances as when new. The pottery
itself has been found to be perfectly
fire-proof upon trial in crucibles and
furnaces.
After the discovery of the city, which,
by the way, Robert was the only one
to see, the party moved on. Afterward
one of the explorers was lost and wan
dercd without food several days. He
finally made his way to Defiance, and
then found his companions.