Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-12-01
AZTEC RUINS.

Mr.. III. j. Patterson and Mr.. J. III.
Mackley are in the city from New Mexi-
co, bringing with them some curious relics
aud specimens from some of the ancient
mines and cities of that country that
show indubitable evidence of being the
remains of a people long antecedent to
the historic age. Several of the relics
show an existence probably coeval with
the Mound-builders of the Mississippi
valley, before the age of the adobe and
pueblo structures which abound in that
country, and long ages before the Pill
grim fathers landed on our shores and
Cortez made his triumphal march to the
city of the Montezumas, after burning
his ship There is evidence that peo-
pie existed in New Mexico, who built
dwellings and temples of hewn stone
even before the advanced people whose
remarkable structures are still extant in
Peru and Central America. There is
evidence of vast volcanic eruptions in
the parts of New Mexico visited by the
above-named gentlemen, which over
whelmed large cities and buried the in
habitants with hot ashes and lava, the
same as befell the more recent cities of
Pompeii and Herculaneum. According
to Mr.. Patterson, the principal ruins are
found at AbO, an ancient city in the
Manzana Mountains. These mountains
are in Valencia county, situated about
eighteen miles from the Atchison, Tope-
ka ana Santa Fe Railroad, 125 miles
southwest of Las Vegas, and say twenty
miles west of the Rio Grande river.
Manzana Mountains mean Apple
Mountains. There is noble spring of
water called the Aho spring, which is
shaded by two immense cottonwood trees
on each side. There are no inhabitants
in the vicinity, but everywhere there are
evidences.of the former existence of
dense population. There arc seen the
ruins OF a large church or temple, cover
ing one acre Of ground. Mr. Patterson
paced it off. and found it to be seventy
PAGES square. The walls that remain are
sixty feet high. The root has long since
cav9d in and the interior of the inclosure
is filled with debris. The thickness of
the wall at the base is about ten feet.
Mr.. Patterson brought away a piece OF
one OF the tlmbers that protruded from
the walls. 1t is OF what is called in that
country the ''pinon' tree, a species of
pine, and Is as sound as when taken from
the tree. There are on one side OF the
piece of timber some rude figures, one Of
the All7Seeing Eye, representing proba-
bly, the sun. Other. figures are deeply in
tented in the wood, as ii made by any
thing but sharp-edged tool. Mr.. Patter-
son says that he found some hammers,
but nothing in the shape of sharp-edged
or steel tools. There are small burrows
seen in the wood, as if ploughed out with
with stone gouge. The building evil
IDENTIFY belonged to style of architecture
anterior to the adobe and dried-brick
period, Mr.. Patterson inclines to the
opinion that the locality was the site of
one OF the seven cities mentioned by the
Spanish chroniclers, the author of which
traversed the country after the conquest
of Mexico, among which were the cities
OF Camelone, Grand Cavra, Santa Cruz,
Puerto de Abo, the Abo and the old Pc
Co.'S, and anothers situated few miles
west OF Abo in the lava beds. Mr.. Pat
terson asserts that the old city in question
was never until quite recently explored
by white men.-St. LOUIS Republican.