The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1881-01-05

VIEW MExI00'S ANCIENT fE0fh1 (
vruARKABLE DISCOVERIES BY MlN MIMIC {
NxphoRERs OF PREHISTORIC i
CIVILIZATION. $
81 r.oui. Republican, November A.
n Patterson and Dir. ). u }
,fact,ev are in the city from New mex.
;co bringing with them some curious 'ss
relics aud specimens from some = - -
anoi4,t mines and cities OF that couns
- indubitRble evidence Of oehs
-. .n~ ssrTsains Of a people long anteeeden'
si1 historic age. There is evidence
~ ~ neopls existed in New Mexico
Tho built dwellings and temples y
ha~r stone even before the advance
- ,vh..e remarkable structures are
a,iII sv,snt in Peru and Central amer
Sun TIC is.evidenee of vast volcanic
er,ptions in.tbe parts OF Ne" pI ,
,,isi,ad- nv the aBove-hamed gen'le'ho1
Itch over-wbelmed large chles anu
S,,riad the inhabitants with het asneS
- 80 the same as Befell the more
sao.nt cities on Pompcii and Herculan-
epm. According to Mr., Fattet.s SOU va
,rinciDaI ruins are found at hOo' ."
ciert city ia the Manzana m0un'al"''
rS.s. mountains,are in Yalencia.coun-
=. sitnated about eighteen hundFed
niles from thu Atchison, Iopeka ana
Santa Fe railroad, 125 miles sou'p"SS'
81. ys~as. and, say, twenty miles
--agt Of tina RE Grande river 1hele
ne inhabitants in the vicinity Du'
a,,or,wl,are there are evidences OF tue
farmer existence Of dense popuia'lon'
There are seen the ruins Of a large
church or temple, covering one acre o.
ground. Mr.. Patterson paced II OH anu
fonnd it to be seventy PAGES square
The walls that remain are sixty Ieet
high. The thickness OF the Wail
Of the base is about ten feet MT
Patterson brought away piece OF one
Of the timbefs that protruded from me
walls. 1t is of what is called III 'nat
country the opinion Tree, a species Of
nine. acd is as sound as when taken
from the tree. There is. on one sue
ssme rude figures, ane OF the AlI-0eeins
Eye.~FepresentiBg probably the sun
Other figures are deeply indented III ths
wood as if made by anything III"
sbarDe-dged tool. Mr.. Patterson Say'
that he found stone hammers, but notn
ing in the shape of sharp edged or stee
tools. There are small burrows seen II
the woed, as if pleughed out by ston
gouge. Mr.. Patterson inclines to In
ovinion that the locality was the site
enc of the seven cities mentioned Dy III
Gnapish chroniclers, the author of whlc
traversed the country after the cor
ouests of Mexico, among which wer
the cities of Camelone, Grand CaYra
Santa Cruz, Puerto de Abe, the AD
and the old Pecos and another situate
a few miles west of Abe in the law
beds. Mr.. Patterson asserts that the oil
city.in question was never until quit
recently explored by white men
About five miles from the 40
Springs they haYe discovered some an
Gent silver diggings. Right below tn
old mines they found twenty-five Oh
srncIters, and there were acres coVcre
with the Stag, some specimens OF whic
Mr. Patterson brings with him. III
smeIters were built of adobe or sun
dried bricks and were elevated som
twenty or thirty feet above the surTac
of the ground. In digging down the.
found the remains of charcoal, whicI
was used for fuel by the old smelters
There were alss seen the remains OF a.
auueduct, in which water was conveys
from a spring, ~three-fourths OF NH
distant, to dam which diverted til
water into the smelling works From
the cid furnaces trail was found, afte
considerable exploration leading direct
ly from the smelling works to the min
in the mountains, which here rise i
peaks to a height of 10000 feet. Tn
ancient trail pursues zig-zag course
having a length of some five miles
while, in an air line, the distance is no
much exceeding one mile. Eyerythin
was transported in these old mimi
days on men's shoulders to and fror
the mountains. The party werke
nearly two weeks in clearing out th
mine, removing the timber, stagnan
water and old leaves. They found til
mine seventy feet deep, with severa
horizontal drifts from the main shaft
The rock is found to be very rich, a
appears from the specimens brough
here.
Mr.. Patterson has here also lot o
pottery consisting eff drinking vessel
used by these old inhabitants of tn
country. The vessels are of various de
signs, representing several species 0
birds and an antelope. Some of th'
specimens are striped and spotted will
a black celonng. An old miner named
Baxter found in digging down a cham
Der about ten feet square, having or
one side a fireplace, across which hung
q crane having clay hook and at the
end of the hook was a bone. On the
opposite side of the fireplace was found
the skeletan of man in sitting posi-
ton who was evidently watching the
bone roasting for his meal, when heand
his habitati0n were overwhelmed in
ruin by sudden discharge of lava from
the mountain. There are lava beds
near there extending about fifty miles
andsAIr. Patterson is Of the belief that
the entire population in some former
period must have been suddenly extir-
pated by great volcanic eruption. He
thinks at one time the crater of these
mountafns was sixty miles long and
frem fifteen to twenty miles across, an
eruption from Ehichs wsuld destroy ev-
cry living thing within a hundred miles
NJ pa.s,.r.r,y, fal,.a ar, f,y=i5fs.,