The daily gazette., 1877-05-12
A PREHISTORIC CITY.
The Remarkable Ruins Dtscovored In
the Valley OF the Anfmas, in Cole

The Remarkable Ruins Discovered IN
the Valley, OF the Animas, in Cole
RADIO. .. t.strt. ngps.t Poe
LAKE CITY Col, May 5.-Prof. Hay
den has given southwestern Colorado q
new interest by discovering and describ-
ing the ancient ruins in that section, and
in southeastern Utah. The stories told
about these ruins are very interesting
The fertile valley of the Animas was
densely inhabited and highly cultivated
by an enlightened race of people centu-
ries ago. The ruins of the houses, cor
rails. towns, Notifications, bitches, pot
terry ware, drawings, non-interpretable
writings, &C., show that many arts were
cultivated by these prehistoric people
which are now entirely lost, Their
houses were built of most every kind of
stone, from small boulders to the finest
sandstone.
The finest of these ruins, and the near
est perfect, are situated about thirty i've
miles below Animas City, in large val
Icy fifteen miles long by seven wide, ON
the west side of the river. This valley
has been covered with buildings of every
size, the two largest being 800 by 5000
feet, and about 800 feet apart. They are
built of small blocks of sandstone, laid
in adobe mud, the outside wall being four
feet, and the inside walls from foot and
a half to three feet thick. In the lower
story are found port holes foot square.
There are rooms now left and walls for
about four stories high still standing
About the second story, on the west side,
there was once a balcony along the
length of the building. No signs OF a
door are visible in the outer walls, and
the ingress must have been from the top,
in the side there being passages from
room to room. Most of them are small,
from by ten to IL by IA feet. the doors
being 2 by A feet. The arches over the
doors and portfolios are made of small
cedar poles two inches wide, placed
across, on which the masonry is placed
The sleepers supporting the floors are of
cedar, about eight inches thick, and
from 20 to fifty feet long, and about three
feet apart. A layer of small round poles
was then placed across the sleepers, then
a layer of thinly-split cedar sticks, then
about three inches of earth, then layer
of cedar bark, then another layer of dirt.
then carpet of some kind of coarse
grass. The rooms that have been pro-
tected from exposure are whitewashed
and the walls are ornamented with draw
lngs and writings. In one of these rooms
the impression of a hand dipped in white
wash on joist is as plain as if it had
been done only yesterday. In another
room there are drawings of tarantulas,
centipedes, horses, and men.
In some of the rooms have been found
human bones, bones of sheep, corn cobs
goods. raw hides, and all colors and va
rieties of pottary ware. These two large
buildings are exactly the same in every
respect Portions of the buildings plain
ly show that they were destroyed by fire,
the timbers being burned off and the
roofs caved in, leaving the lower rooms
entirely protected. The rock that these
buildings were built of must have been
brought long way, as nothing to COM
pare with it can be found within a radius
of twenty miles. All the timber used is
cedar. and has been brought at least
twenty-five miles. Old bitches and
roads are to be seen in every direction,
The Navajo Indians spy, in regard to
these ruins, that their forefathers came
there five old mems ages ago 900 years),
and that these ruins were here; and the
same then as now, and there is no record
whatever of their origin.