Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-05-29
AncIent Ruias in A, izona.

A letter to the St Louis Republican
gives the following interesting account
Of some ruins recently discovered In
| Arizona: " $50
"a careful examination Of some ex-
tensive rains, found some miles east of
Florence, on the ella river, has been
made. Lieutenant Ward was the first
explorer who came upon the desolate re
mains of once-imposing architectural
pile. 1t has been deserted perhaps for
more than a thousand years, and has
been crumbling away in the wilderness.
The Apache even never pitched his tent
upon the spot so thickly strewn with
fragments of the work of persisted
face. The principal ruin is parallelo-
gram forti6cation, six hundred feet in
width by sixteen hundred feet in length.
The walls, which were built of stone,
have long been overthrown and are over
grown by trees and vines. In many
places a mere ridge indicates the line of
the wall, the stones having disappeared
beneath the surface. Within the inclos-
ed area are the remains of greater
structure 200 by 26O feet, constructed
of roughly hewn stones. In some places
the walls remain almost perfect to a
height of some twelve feet above the
surface. On the east side Of the grandd
casa there are two openings of an oval
shape which doubtless served the pur-
pose of windows. On the inner sides of
the wall of the palace, for such it doubt
less was, there are yet perfectly distinct
tracings of the image of the sun. There
are two towers, at the southeast and
southwest corners of the great enclo-
sures, still standing, one OF which Is
twenty.six and the other thirty one feet
high. These have evidently been much
higher, as the bronze tops and the
amount of debris near their base indl'
cate. A few copper implements, some
small golden ornaments-..one being an
image of the sun with perforation in the
middle-and some stone utensils, and
two rudely-carved stone vases, much like
those foand at Zupetaro and Copan, IN
Central America, are all the works OF
art yet discovered. No excavations have
been made as yet to determine fully the
extent and character of these ruins.
THE ruins are situated in a small
plain, elevated nearly two hundred feet
above the bed of the ella. just west OF
the walls of the fertilization there Is a
beautiful stream of water, having its
source in the mountain, which crosses
the plain, and by a series of cataracts
falls into the ella about two miles below.
The fragments of pottery and polished
stone reveal condition of civilization
among the builders of these ruins analo-
gous to that of the ancient Peruvian,
Central American and Mexican nations.
The country in the vicinity of this buried
palace is particularly wild and unusually
desolate. No clue to the builders OF this
great fortified palace. with its towers and
noat. has been, or is likely ever to be
discovered. One thing, however, is ap
parent, that this whole country was once
peopled by race havinga higher grade
OF civilization than is found among any
of the native tribes of the later ages.
But whether this race we're the ancestors
of the Pimos, or some extinct people, is
not, and cannot certainly be known. The
ruins on the ella are another uncovered |
Palenaue, another CopaD, an Allan ex |
posed al last to bewilder and confound.
II is understood that these extensive
ruins will be thoroughly explored within
the present year.