Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-01-20
ARlzONA'S BURIED CITY.
Lieut.. Cushing Describes the Relics Of the
Past Unearthed at Los Muertos.

meeting of the Academy of Science, II
will detail, first, the circumstances which
led up to my discovery of ancient Los
Muertos, or the City of the Dead, in the
Salt River valley OF Arizona, and then
show the relations of the characteristics
of this city to those of the modern Zuni,
and vice versa.
cat an early age I contracted the habit
of wandering about the woods of western
New York and discovering fossils, GU
rious stones, etc., and from their resem-
blance to living forms had seen tried
to formulate some theory as to their
origin. These theories, / subsequently
found, harmonized very wonderfully with
those entertained by whole people as a
religious belief. refer to the Zunis. 1
began to ponder whether there was any
system observed by these people in this
matter, and was led to observe charac-
teristics of soil and topography which ac-
companied the occurrence of camp site
among the Indians"
After infinitely describing his course of
training in this respect. and showing
how, even in plowed fields, traces of
former human occupation had been dis
covered. Professor Gushing referred to
the five or six years he had lived with
the Zunis, and said that the narration of
his experiences and discoveries had SO in
terested New England lady named Mrs.
Hemingway that she organized the Hem
ingway Southwestern chronological ex-
petition to carry out the line of his ex-
plorations, and this led to the discovery
of Los Muretos.
ne 10 1c ~
tinued the speaker, "happened to meet
my gaze, and hidden away under the
mesquite forest l saw unmistakable signs
of an ancient Indian village Art re.
mains-fragments of pottery and other
peculiarities precisely similar to those
found in Zuni-were discovered. After
several feet of excavation had been made
the walls of a veritable city more than
three miles in length were laid bare.
From deductions made from all the sur.
roundings l concluded that the newly
discovered city was about twenty times
the size of the moderu Zuni. The archi.
lecture may be characterized as com.
posed of terra Gotta.
Thirty three blocks of houses have
already been excavated. The population
Muertos may be estimated at that about
eleven centuries ago, when it was aban.
doned. The most interesting character
istic which proved that the city had been
overwhelmed by succession of earth
quakes was that the walls opened up, as
it were, as though they were on hinges
at the bottom Similar peculiarities have
been observed during the recent earth
quakes in Mexico.
"On account of the suddenness Of tn
catastrophe the inhabitants had no tinle
to remove a single article, and, there.
fore, all that could withstand the effec,
of time are scattered about as in the day.
of their use, such as ancient jars, mills
and axes. The latter lunches, with theil
handles burned off, lie on the ground as
they fell.
"a most interesting discovery was
made" said the lecturer, respecting the
pottery in this ancient village. The
water jars contained an apparently arti
titicial break in the continuity of an or
namental band on the exterior and the
food jars on the interior precisely similar
to those of the Zunis, so that l am led to
believe from this and other peculiaritie:
that the inhabitants of Los Muertos were
the ancestors of the Zunis These bands
l found, while living with the latter
people, were not caused accidently, anC
possessed deep meaning.
81 endeavored to learn the unmanly
art of making pottery, for the womer
always make it, and while sitting among
them molding some clay, l commenced
to whistle softly. The women rose il
horror and exclaimed: Child! child
l was amazed, but an old woman led mi
aside and said: You must never whistle
or sing or make any sound that would
awake an echo in the canyon while max
ing pottery, for if you do the voice vii
go out while it is burning All the pot
terry will crack
"All savages, I found, believed tina
everything that has motion. heat or soun'
of itself must have life. The Zunis hav
observed that whenever a vessel break
or becomes useless, in other words whel
it dies, it gives a loud twang, especial
during the burning process, and the,
think vessel is initiative like the echo
Furthermore, they think when vessel
put on the fire that it sings, and they be
lieve that the vague existence they give I
the vessels has something to do with tn
good qualities of the food taken fror
them.
They would not let me whistle be
cause they believe the sound of my voic
would enter the clay and break it when
was subjected to heat. These ideas Civ
more rational aspect to the superstition
feeling the savages bear towards thei
fetiches and idols.
Il supposed there were no Zuni ruin
west of the center of Arizona, but here
much further in that direction than
could ever have imagined, found thi
marvellous city of the dead. The Zuni
consider their households as entities, an
by a natural course of reasoning the
have been led to believe that their house
hold articles should take their plac
among their gods. The Zunis' conceI
ton of the soul is very curious. 1t
, supposed that the priests of heredity hay
also by heredity power over their ow
souls. which enables them on great OK
casions to separate their souls from thei
bodies, and at death they do not requir