The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1881-09-02
NEW MENlCO.

that speak i'll unnistakablc language
Of Il people that lived and tlourishcd so
long ago that no history or legend tells
who they wcrc, whence they came, or
whittier they went. No one can tell
their nan,c, or by What wonderful law
Of Providence they have been COM
pletcly wiped from the face OF tho
earth. 1t is conjecturctl by some anti
qlaarian, says aSante Fc correspondent,
that, even before ancient Thcbcs exist
cd, there dwclt upon tho plains of New
Mexico u people whose power and
splendor wero unrivalcd among tho
nations of the earth. That there were
cities here, and large ones, too, is
well-scttlcd fact; but it will only be
when the earth gives up its dead that
their history will bc revealed. About
100 miles southeast of Albuquerque is
Gran Quivcra, 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
surface of tho country shows no signs
OF vegetable growth whatever. The
whole region is deserted, Whilc in the
midst of 1t stand the ruins OF an ancient
and large city. For centuries tho forces
of nature have been at work upon its
crumbling walls, and tho winds have
brought showers of sand until the walls
are covered, SO that nothing can be
seen but tho tops of the highest
walls. The streets arc filled up
with debris and sand until they
are leveled up with tho roofs OF the
houses. There is ono building that
towers above tho rest, and that can DC
seen for fifty miles in approaching the
city. Its walls arc four feet thick and
eighty feet high. The building was
l6O feet long, and from eighty to 100
feet wide, and had u basement tho
entire Icngth of the structure. The first
floor WAS evidently y council chamber,
whero sat tho Solons of tho long ago.
tfnbers, that still stretch across from
wall to wall, and are we'll preserved.
The ceiling is not less than fifty fcot
high, and tho timbcrs that support il
still remain, with brackct-supportcrs
out from the sides of tho
walls. These timbcrs arc larger than
any growth of timber now to be found
anywhere in this region of country.
The carving and moldings on these
old brackets speak OF tho workmanship
of that people, and show that they were
skilled in art and i'll architecture. The
art displayed exhibits taste, culture
and the skillful use of tools, and dcu-
onstrates that they had tools of good
quality, if not machinery.
Not far from this Wonderiul site are
tho ruins OF an aqucduct that cNucnts
from tho city to the mountain. This
is built of masonry, the stone laid il,
cement. The wall in many places
stands firm and strong to-day, yet it
must have been bnilt many ages ago.
I'm. hi
masonry, and in Workmanship is not
inferior to much that is called the
best.
The people who built these walls
lived here, and have departed, leaving
nothing but tho workmanship of their
hands behind thcm-havc loft neither
legend nor tradition to tell who they
were. The inhabitants of tho country
arc as ignorant of them as tho traycicr
who, for tho first time, looks upon these
ruins.
There are other ruins, quite rs inter
csting in the Canyon dc Chaco, in Rio
Arriba county; but these, like those of
Gran 2uivcra, are dusty with age, and
without any legend or history to tell
US who dwclt there.
The next wonderful things to be seen
are tho homes of the "clifT-tlwclIcrs. ;"
IhcSe homes arc doubtless built for
protection from dangerous enemies.
They excite great surprise from their
In Mancos dc Chellc
there is a wall 200 feet high, and, at
n point 200 feet pcrpcndicuIarIy from
the top, n pigcon-hoIc, and, at other
points about the sa,no distance apart,
other pigcon-hoIcs Qargc opcnings) on
Il horizontal Iinc-fOur cIif1-houscs, one
in each opening. How these people
entered these houses, and how they
came out, is to us of this day u matter
Of surprise and conjecture. Some say
that they used q long ladder, and, aftcr
they entered their homes, took the
ladder in; but either the ladder must
have been OF very high and peculiar
material, or the tciif-dwciicrs" must
have been giants.
1t is evident from these old cities and
towns that New Mexico had u popufa-
ton in the ages of the past far in OK
cess of the present population. These
ruins are not i'll localities, but all over
New Mexico. In the mountains arc
found mining shafts, ruins OF rude
smeiters with large piles of Stag, and
other indications that show they were
acquainted with the precious metals,
and were generally an active and
industrious people. When the Spani-
ards first came to this country 600
years ago., that the PHcbl0S were older