The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1875-09-02

/ CoOu goNernOr oil almost every state mas
designated some citizen, who has devoted
i himself to the study of American archaol-
ogy, to make these collections of ancient
art, that he may give proper descriptive
lists, and, classifying, to convey them to
Philadelphia. There they will be properly
arranged, and on each specimen Will appear
the name of the owner or discoverer, with
history OF the vase or implement of war
/ or OF industrial art. The Governor of Ar
kansas, distinguished for his requirements
In letters, will furnish, through an ap-
| pointed agent, an unexampled collection
OF curious remains of mound d-builders'
toll and taste, and Alabama is rich in re-
sources of this wonderful character.
Not many days ago there was discovered in
northwestern county of Texas a stone cof-
| fin. Its tenant had become an impalpable
| powder, and not far away farmer dig ging
a well unearthed an old copper kettle and
of war such as were never used by Indian
tribes of our time. Not far northwest, and
beyond the Texan boundary, an abandoned
city of immense stone structures has been
recently visited. A correspondent, telling
of what he saw, says that the hillsides along
the Mancos river abound in wonderful
ruins. Everywhere fragments of pottery,
for great distance along the path of the
travellers, were heaped up as if the whole
country had once been peopled by race of
| dealers in earthenware. Flakes of flint,
clipped off IN making hatchets for the
then governing races of America, and
clippings from jasper and agate, and bro
ken arrowheads, gittered in the sunlight.
There were wide extended graveyards and
broken grayestones, cracked, moss-covered,
jagged, worn away by winds and tempests
of nameless centuries everywhere along the
winding roadway. Here and there beside
this desolate path there were slight eleva-
tions, as if the hillock had been upheaved
where some old home of the primitive race
had stood through ages, and at last, crumb-
ling beneath the weight of countless years,
it was dissolved in dust, and became the
heap of earth in which were found frag-
ments of broken pottery and implements of
stone The runs of building at Aztec
Springs cover an area of 600 by 800 feet.
! The foundations of hundreds of edifices can
be traced in the debris and ridges left by
crumbling stone. Great mural structures
still stand from five to eleven feet above the
streets, filled with fragments of fallen
buildings. Hard by, and just below, is the
Aztec Spring, bright and clear as the cloud
less skies, reflected in the peerless foun-
tain's sparkling depths. A strong stone
wall, worn away by the lapse of ages, in
closes the spot and vague memories which
have made men fancy that they themselves
lived in the life of those that died when the
world was young, Invest the spot with
strange attractIveness. They who gather
memorials of extinct races would re-
people this ancient city and ascertain
its age, the modes of life of its inhabitants
and, learning whence they came, learn
whether, as mans original abiding place,
America or Asia were the older continent.
On McElmo creek there is a tower fifty feet
in diameter, its circular wall yet rising
twelve feet above the great stone ON which
il stands The inhabitants of this region,
when Spaniards first penetrated the coun-
try, were sun-worshippers, as were the
Natchez Indians. The traditions of the
Natchez and of these Aztecs, as to their
origin, were the same, each alleging that
their great king was a heaven-descended
white man. La Sale recites the very facts
in reference to the Natchez and their modes
of worship and superstitIons that dIstin-
guish the living Moquis, degenerate de-
scendants of the Aztecs Not very far south
of the ruins of which we were telling, if
we may give credence to Western adven-
turers who have traversed this district, are
the ruins of great city in deep valley.
Remains of magnificence are on every hand.
The tradition is that the inhabitants had
gathered enormous riches from the mines,
that they incurred the enmity of the
Indians, the place was invested, sup
plies were cut off, and finally the people,
superior to the savages, cut their way oui
with the purpose of reaching the nearest
city of their own race. All the lncalcula
BILE wealth of the place was deposited in g
, single great reservoir or cistern that wa
!. then filed and covered with stones and
earth. At intervals, for an age, adventu
rers have sought to discover the spot where
; all this gold lies buried, and there is re
, doubled fascination in archaeological re
search when gold glitters as the background
of pictures painted by dreams of anti
+ auarians Even here we may listen, at oul
very doorways, to queer old stories of bu
ried treasures abandoned when savage rec
: men expelled Spanish priests and soldiers
from the old stronghold at San Saba. Bowie
t murdered in bed in the Alamo, was prepar
ing, when he entered the fatal stronghold
5 to renew the search for rich mines which
he believed bad been concealed by the Span
E iards not far from San Saba, nearly on,
2 hundred years before The Statement
: that DeSOto, after crossing the Mississippi
entered Texas three hundred and thirty
, three years ago and penetrated the countr,
: rs far west perhaps as Fort Worth Is deemed
J probable by those who have studied mos
the story of his wanderings in America
There are lofty mounds along Red Rive
> and traces of an OLD canal, dug by soma
primeval race, and said to connect Rec
River with streams entering the Gulf on th
coast of Texas. La Sale himself lost hi
life in Texas at the hands Of his revoltes
followers. Is there nothing to designat
the spot where be fell, and no trace of tn
route be pursued when he sought 20 returl
TO Canada overland without once dreamin;
of Central or International railways. Wha
an idiot. Skulls and bones OFFS giganti
race have been unearthed in Southwestern
: COMMITTEES and vet With al flesa facts 10 sr