The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1884-02-07
ABORIGINAL RELICS.
Some Specimens of the Pottery OF
an Extinct Race Found in
New Mexico.

an Extinct Race Found in
New Mexico.
A reporter of The Enquirer made the
acquaintance of Mr.. S. w. Hutchcraft,
of Socorro county, New Mexico. About
, year ago he went from his home in
Paris, Ky, to New Mexico to engage
in cattle-raising. He did not go, he
said, as a fortune-hunter, expecting to
dig from the ground a nugget OF gold
that would make him wealthy at once.
He took no interest in mining whatever,
though there were plenty of mines sur
rounding his location. His ranch was
situated in the Tulerosa valley at the
/ head-waters of the Gila river. When
he went there, year ago, he found
very few cattle. There were ten thou
sand head more there now than year
ago.
To the people residing in the east
but little is known of that far western
country, especially New Mexico. Mr..
Hutchcraft said that they had rain but
two months in the year-in July and
August This rain produced the grass
upon which the cattle fed. There
were two kinds of grass, both of which
were nutritious. One was called the
'white grammar, the other the
mountain bunch" The last named
retained it's freshness the year round,
much as the evergreen tree. Because
of the little rain there could be no crops
raised except the land is irrigated.
| When this was done potatoes, onions,
turnips, and such vegetables grew in
abundance. "The finest I ever saw;
I'll except none," said Mr.. Hutch
craft.
1.-The mountains are covered with
timber-pine, cedar, etc." he con-
tinued. The grass grows principally
on these mountains, and there the cattle
Craze. But the mountains are not what
! the residents there really consider
mountains. They would be called such
here, but we look upon it as rolling
land. The climate is mild. We never
have more than two inches of ice at
any time. Ice begins to form in the
nights of September, and will continue
to do so into May. Yet all this time
we can 90 without coats during the
day. The nights are cool the year
round, the days never either very warm
or very cold.
"The nearest town to us from which
we can get supplies is Socorro, $50
miles distant. There is Mexican
settlement about twelve miles from us,
but we can not get supplies from it.
such as we want. Our meat is almost
entirely wild. Deer and bear abound
in the mountains, also birds of all
sorts. A man can 90 out there and in
a few hours kill enough game to furnish
him meat for week or more. For
example, not long ago some young
friends were visiting us, and | told a
colored man who works for me to 90
out and see if he could not kill deer.
He started about o'clock in the after
noon and returned for supper, having
killed four deer of the black-tailed
species"
Mr. Hutchcraft had with him several
specimens of deer antlers that were
very handsome. Among them was d
pair firmly locked together. These he
took from the carcasses of two deer
he found dead in the mountains. They
had evidently engaged in q fight, and
their horns becoming locked they had
starved to death, unable to free them
selves. They were locked firmly, and
could not be pulled apart without
breaking.
He had with him all sorts of relies
for his people in Paris, Ky. The most
noticeable among them were some
specimens of pottery made by Il former
race of people that inhabited that
country. Discoveries, it is well known,
have been made that lead TO the con-
clusion that that country was at some
remote period inhabited by race of
people to some degree versed in the
| .t,.4., Il Ann fIn.l1 ma afa1 ri
ais discovered was pottery of artistic
design, workmanship, and Ornamental
ton. The specimens Mr.. Hutchcraft
had were two vessels that might have
been used for fluids. They were made
of white clay. AMI painted with black
stripes in various designs. Also two
cups without handles, about three or
four inches in diameter across the top.
They were made of Il brown clay. One
of them was painted black inside, and
all glazed over the paint much after
the style of the underglaze work of the
present day. They were all polished
fairly on the outside, and the one
painted on the inside was highly
polished. He also had a cup with a
handle about four inches long. 1t was
also fancifully decorated with black
stripes woven together in neat design,
and on the handle was a nodded
serpent. All these specimens he said,
were taken from the ground ten feet
below the surface. In contrast with
these he had a specimen of the pottery
made by the Pueblo Indians. 1t was
much of the same design in shape, but
the ornamentation was crude and in
artistic. The clay, too, was of a
yellow color, and was not glazed like
the other. In fact, he said, clay such as
the ancient specimens of pottery were
made of could not be found in that
country now. The houses built by
these aborigines. be said, were models
of masonry. They were true in their
lines, splendidly built in every partic-
ular. They were much better than
many houses built by the Mexicans
at this day. The latter, he said, could
not put up post for porch and have
it plumb. They seemed to have no eye
for the perpendicular, or in fact q
straight line of any sort.
While digging for specimens Mr..
Hutchcraft unearthed skeleton.
When it was found it was in sitting
position, with the head thrown back.
Around the neck and on the breast
bone were coils of beads, which, OF
course, being touched scattered from
their regularly laid position. There
were hundreds of the beads. Whatever
they had been strung on was of course
decayed. He gathered Il handful OF
them and strung them on a thread
The beads were made of some harC
gray substance, and were about the
size of No. birdshot, but instead o
being in spherical form appeared like
slices from "a cylindrical piece OF clay
-CinclpnaG Enquirer.
: Their Ages