The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-01-26
ARIZONA'S BURIED CCTY.
Lieut.. Cushing Describes the Relics of the
Past Unearthed at Los Muertoes.

| 1.-The topic 1 have chosen for to-
| nights lecture" said Lieut.. Frank
| Hamilton Cushing, at the special
meeting of the Academy of Science last
| evening, lis fitting sequel to my last
address. | will detail, first, the cir
cumstances which led mp to nv dis
covery of ancient Los Muertoes, 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.
AT an early age | contracted the
| habit of wandering about the woods
around Western New York and dis
| covering fossils, curious stones, ETC.,
and from their resemblance to living
| forms l had seen l tried to formulate
some theory as to their origin. These
| theories, 1 subsequently found har-
| monized very wonderfully with those
| entertained by whole people as re-
| ligious belief. / refer to the Zunis.
l began to ponder whether there was
| any system observed by these people
in this matter. and l was led to OBJ
serve characteristics of soil and top
HiSh dSSoiu PShiSb tuC w
currence of q camp site among the
Indians"
After infinitely describing his
course of training in this respect, and
showing how even in ploughed fields,
traces of former human occupation
had been discovered, Prof. Cushing re-
| ferred to the five or six years he had
lived with Zunis, and said that the
| narration of his experiences and dis
coveries had so Interested a New En-
gland lady named Mrs. Hemingway
| that she organized the Hemingway
Southwestern chronological Expedition
to carry out the line of his explora-
tons. and tais led to the discovery of
Los Muertoes.
"a number of like mounds" con-
tinued the speaker, happened to
meet my gaze. and hidden away under
the mesquite forest | saw unmistaka-
BILE signs of an ancient Indian village.
Art remains-fragments of pottery
and other peculiarities precisely
similar to those found in Zuni-were
| discovered. After several feet of ex-
cavation had been made the walls of
/ the veritable city more than three
miles in length were laid bare. From
deductions made from all the sur
roundings I concluded that this newly
discovered city was about twenty
times the size of the modern Zuni.
The architecture may be characterized
/ as composed of terra Gotta.
"Thirty-three blocks of houses have
already been excavated. The popula-
ton of Zuni being 1.60O souls. that of
| Los Muertos may be estimated at that
about eleven centuries ago, when it
was abandoned. The most interesting
characteristic which proved that the
city had been overwhelmed by a sue
| cession of earthquakes was that the
| walls open up, as it were, as though
| they were on hinges at the bottom.
| Similar peculiarities have been OBJ
| served during the recent earthquakes
in Mexico.
"On account of the suddenness of the
| catastrophe tue inhabitants had no
time to remove single article, and,
therefore. all that could withstand the
| effect of time are scattered about as in
| the days of their use, such as ancient
jars, mills and axes. The latter
punches, with their handles burned off,
lie on the ground as they fell"
The lecturer then referred to the
different modes of interment observed.
The priests and their descendants
were buried outside the houses and
the others inside. There were also
differences in the rank of the dead dis
played and observed. Cremated
human remains were found in broken
bowls in a cemetery.
"A most interesting discovery was
made" said the lecturer, prospecting
pottery in this ancient village. The
| water-jarS contained an apparent
artificial break in the continuity of an
ornamental band Oh the exterior and
the food jars on the interior precisely
similar to those of the Zunis, so that
am led to believe from this and other
| peculiarit!es that the inhabitants OF
Los Muertoes were the ancestors of
the Zunis. These bands l found,
while living with the latter people were
not caused accidentally, and possessed
a deep meaning.
81 endeaVored to learn the unmanly
art of making pottery, for the women
| always make &c, and while sitting
among them moulding some clay, /
commenced to whistle softly. TIE
| women rose in horror, and exclaimed:
Child! childr l was amazed but an
old woman led me aside and said:
You must never whistle or sing or
make any sound that would awake an
&c o in the canyon while making
| pottery, for if you do the voice will go
out while it is burning and the pottery
will crack
"All savages l found believed that
everything that has motion, heat or
| sound of itself must have life The
| Zunis have observed that whenever
| vessel breaks or becomes useless, in
other words when it dies, it gives a
| loud twang, especially during the
burning process, and they think a
vessel is initiative like the echo.
Furthermore, they think when vessel
| is put on the fire that it sings, and
they believe that the vague existence
they give to the vessels has something
to do with the good qualities of the
| food taken from item.
They would not let me whistle be-
cause they belived the sound of my
voice would enter the clay and break
it when it was subjected to heat. These
| Ideas gave more rational aspect to
| VIC SUPER oIlIiOuS The Sdfdpes
| bear towards their fetiches and idols.
81 supposed there were no Zuni
ruins west of the centre of Arizona,
but here, much further in that direc-
ton than | could ever have imagined.
l found this marvellous City of the
| Dead. The Zunis consider their
households as entities, and by natural
course of reasoning they have been led
to believe that their household articles
should take their place among their
gods. The Zunis' conception of the
soul is very curious. 1t is supposed
that the priests of heredity have also
by heredIty power over their own
souls, which enables them on great
occasions to separate the souls from
their bodies, and at death they do not
require any ceremonial or sacrifice,
like ordinary mortals."