Middletown transcript., 1881-08-12
NEW MEXICO.
A LAND THAT ABOUNDs WITH
CURIOUS RELICS.

a writer says In New Mexico art
to be found the ruins of cities, of cath
edrals and palaces, that speak in unmis
taxable language of people that lived
and flourished so long ago that no his.
tory or legend tells who they were
whence they came, or whittier they
went. No one can tell their name. II
is conjectured by some antiquarian,
says a Sante Fe correspondent, that,
even before ancient Thebes existed,
there dwelt upon the plains of New
Mexico a people whose power and
splendor were unrivaled among the
nations of the earth. That there were
cities here, and large ones, too, is a
well-settled fact; but it will only be
when the earth gives up the dead that
their history will be revealed. About
one hundred miles southeast of AIbu-
querque is Gran Quivera, one of these
interesting relics of the past. 1t is in
the midst of country as barren as the
desert. No streams of water flow near
it, and the whole region is deserted,
while in the midst of it stand the ruins
of an ancient and large city. For cen
turies the winds have brought showers
of sand until the walls are covered, so
that nothing can be seen but the tops
of the highest walls. The streets are
filled up with debris and sand until they
are level up with the roofs of the
houses. There is one building that
towers above the rest, and that can be
seen for fifty miles in approaching the
city. It's walls are four feet thick and
eighty feet high. The building was
160 feet long, and from eighty to 100
feet wide, and had a basement the en-
tire length of the structure. The first |
floor was evidently a council-chamber,
where sat the Solons of the long ago.
This floor was supported by very large
timbers, that still stretch across from
wall to wall, and are well preserved.
The ceiling is not less than fifty feet
high, and the timbers that support it
still remain, with bracket-supporters
out from the sides of the
walls. The carving and holdings on
these old brackets speak of the work
of the people, and show that
they were skilled in art and in archi-
lecture. The art displayed exhibits
-aste, culture, and the skillful use of
.oOls, and demonstrates that they had
,oOls of good quality, if not machinery.
Not far from this wonderful site are
he ruins of an aqueduct that extends
rom the city to the mountain. In
it surpasses our best ma
'onry, and in workmanship is not in
erior to much that is called the best.
The people who built these walls
ived here, and have departed, leaving
lothing but the workmanship of their
lands behind them-have left neither
egend nor tradition to tell who they
we're. The inhabitants of the country
re as ignorant of them as the traveller
vhO, for the first time, looks upon
hese wonderful ruins.
1t is evident from these old cities and
owns that New Mexico had a popula- !
ion in the ages of the past far in ex- ]
ess of the present population. These :
uins are not in localities, but all over
Jew Mexico. In the mountains are s
ound mining shafts, ruins of rude I
melters with large piles of Stag, and !
ther indications that show they were t
cquainted with the precious metals, :
nd were generally an active and in |
ustrious people. When the Spaniards S
rst came. to this country 900 years 4
go), that the Pueblos were older than
wen generations is stated by the Span a
h historians, who preserved the record e
their discoveries and the curious S
lings they saw. I