San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-02-02
Aztec and Pueblo Ruins.

The REQ Electric Light, III speak
ING of The recently discovered ancient
rnins in Southern Colorado. only a
few miles from Durango, says:
Too many of our readers are familiar
with the section of the country IN
which are found these ruined dwellings
of the now almost extinct people who
once inhabited them, to allow us to
write IN article of interest, for the trnth
will not be very glowing. Perhaps the
strangest feature OF these fallen abodes
is that it is not known where the stone
used was brought from, us none like
them are found in this section of coun-
try. The walls were well built, taking
into consideration the rude hammers
of stone that were used. Their dwell
ipgs often cover several acres of ground
and are usually, divided into small
rooms, not exceeding ten feet square,
aud often as small as six by eight feet.
Rooms have been found entirely empty
with no possible entrance, with walls
of stone two feet thick, laid in clay.
The ground story usually contains
more rooms than the one above, and so
on, until three to five stories are built, !
gradually tapering to the top, where
the only entrance to their houses are
made. ,fi,,, ua .'.,r 1905 |
The ruins on the Animas and San
Juan are ruins indeed, there being but
little to Judge OF what they once were.
The builders were mo doubt as indus
trious as the ground ants, but it is our
opinion they were not as ingenious.
Every one has his own theory as to who
they were, and at what time they lived.
Some argue they became extinct
through starvation; others think they
were destroyed by other tribes, which
seems most probable, as no relics of any
value are to be found among the ruins.
That they were agriculturally inclined
there can be no reasonable doubt, as
irrigating bitches can in many instances
be plainly tracked, and at the time His
Highness was taken from the tomb,
corn was found at his side. 1t resem-
bles the grain now raised by the Navajo
Indians.
An instance of the ungodliness of the
people that inhabit this section of the
country is manifest in their disposition
to not allow the ancient noblemen to
rest in peace. One Snyder, bold, bad
man, sought to increase his earthly
goods by tearing down and hauling
away the stone, which were laid one
upon the other, that formed the cham
Der which proved to contain one OF
these corpses. 1t was solid pyramid
of masonry, about nine feet square,
that he was tearing down, when all OF a
sudden an odor, a smell, a very bad,
frightful smell, burst out upon him and
made his blood run cold and his legs
run away. He returned with several OF
his neighbors and cleared away the
stone ard dirt, and found the skeleton
of medium sized being, in sitting
posture, robed in covering made OF
swamp grass and rushes. His feet
were placed on a mat Around his body
were several yards of coarsely woven
cloth. There were no weapons in the
tomb. ,..,.....
Strange to say, after laying there two
or three hundred years, the skin was IN
a fair state of preservation. The dis
covery was made in the ruins on the
San Juan, three and half miles below
Bloomfield. The Indians, by tradition,
claim to be acquainted with this section
of country, through the lives and recol-
lections of seven successive old men,
and they possess no knowledge of the
tribes that occupied these ruins, and of
the times that they lived.
1t is the general belief that the old
Aztec Indians, now almost extinct, built
and occupied these now ancient quar-
tiers. Others claim that they belonged
to the old Pueblos. The Aztecs, how
ever, occupy at the present time build
ings of a similar construction in the
southern portion of New Mexico, and
keep constantly burning small fire,
waiting the coming of Montezuma.
They climb from story to story on the
outside, on portable ladders, and at
night take them inside for safeguard.
This class of ruins can be found in
the southeast and southwest of New
Mexico and Arizona. The conquest Of
Cortez, or an invasion of Mexican sol
diers. WAS probably the cause of their
downfall. na