Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-05-29
BURIED CITY.
Lieut.. Cushing Describes the Relies Of the
Past Inearthed at Los MueTtos.


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.
''At an early age | contracted the habit
of wandering about the woods Of western
New York and discovering fossils, Gu
rious stones. ETC., and from their resent
blance IL living forms ! had seen | tried
to formulate some theory rs 10 their
origin. These theories, | subsequently
found. ~harunonized very wonderfully with
those entertained by a whole people rs a
religious belief. | refer 10 the Zunis. l
began TO ponder whether there was any
system observed by these people in this
matter, and | was led to observe charac-
t~eristics Of soil and topography which ac-
companied the occurrence Of a camp site
among the Indians"
After minuJely describing his course of
training in this respect. and showing
how, even in plowed fields, traces of
! former human occupation had been dis
1 covered. Professor Cushing referred to
the five or six years he had lived with
the Zunis, and said that the narration of
his experiences and discovcries had 50 in
terested a New England lady named Mrs.
Hemingway that she organized the HEM
ingway Southwestern Ethnological ex-
...1sViAn q. stnrrt. $50 v1. Ea,. If L.. -
plorauons, and this led TO the discovery
Of Los Muretos.
"a number Of like mounds" con.
tinued the speaker, happened to meet
my gaze, and hidden AVA under the
mesquite forest l saw unmistakable signs
Of an ancient Indian village. Art re.
acknowledgements of pottery and other
peculiaritigS precisely similar to those
found in Zuni-were discovered. After
several feet Of excavation had been made
the walls Of 4 veritable city more than
three miles in length were laid bare.
From deductions made from all the sur.
roundinSS | concluded that the newly
discovered city was about twenty times
the size Of the modern Zuni. Tie archi.
lecture . may be characterized as com.
posed OF terra Gotta.
''Thirty-three blocks OF houses have
already been excavated. The population
Of Zuni being LOGO souls, that Of Los
Muertos may be estimated at that about
eleven centuries ago, when il was ADAM
doned. The most interesting character
i5tic. which proved that the city had been
overwhelmed by n succession Of earth
quukes 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 suddenrcss Of thl
catastrophe the inhabitants had no time
to remove a single article, and, there
fore, all that could Withstand the elir,t
Of time are scattered about ms in the days
Of their use, such as ancient jars, mills
and axes. The latter lunches, with their
handles burned of, lie On the ground as
they fell.
"A most interesting discovery was
made said the lecturer, Prospecting the
pottery in this ancient village. The
water jars contained an apparently arti-
tiiicial break in the continuity of an Or
namenial band on the exterior and the
food jars on the interior precisely similar
10 those Of the Zunis, so that | am led to
believe from this and other peculiaritics
that the inhabitants of Los Mucrtos were
the ancestors Of the Zuuis. These bands,
! found, while living with the latter
people, were not caused accilently, and
possessed a deep meaning.
Il ~endeavorcl 10 learn the ~unrnanly
art Of making pottery. for thc women
always make il, and while sitting among
them moliing some clay, | commenced
10 whistle softly. The women rose in
horror and exclaimed: Child cbildn
] was amazed, but an old woman led me
aside and said. You must never whistle
or sing OF make any sound that would
awake IN echo in thu canyon while maxi
ing pottery. for If you 10 the voice will
&c out while it is burning All TIC pot
terry will crack
"AIl sayagcs. I found, believed that
everything that has motion. heat or sound
VI ll@sh Hll@A luFt me- lut SNlll6 nave
observed that whenever a 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 a vessel is
put on the fire that it sings, and they be-
licve tint the vague existence they give to
the vessels has something to do with the
good qualities Of the food taken from
them.
'They would not let me whistle be.
cause they believe the sound Of nv voice
would enter the clay and break il when il
was subjected u heat. These ideas give
a more rational aspect TO the supersuluus
feeling the s0yages bear towards their
fetiches and Idols.
II supposed there were no 2uni ruins
west of the center of Arizona. but here,
much further in that direction than |
could ever have imagined, ! found this
marvellous city Of the dead. The Zunis
consider their households as entities, aud
by a natural course Of reasoning they
have been led 10 believe that their house.
hold articles should take their place
among their gods. The Zunis concep-
ton Of the soul is very curious. Il is
supposed that the priests Of heredity have
also by heredity power over their own
soulp. which enables them on prcat no