Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-09-13

| u ianinc should strike the land Ever
now the Zuni Indians keep stored ava,
u three years supply of grain, i'll order tC
countcracc any emergency Of drought ol
war.
Another remarkable curiosity to bt
seen III this vicinity is dazzling whit,
lake situated i'll the gypsum sands ol
Northwestern Texas. To be accurate tn,
lake is situated in Donna Ana County
New Mexico, and was formed early last
spring, from the copious rainfalls that
visited this section. The place is n val.
ley of pure white sand, about twenty.
five miles long by six orscvcn broad, sit.
lmtod i'll tho hollow of some low lying
hills or unluntions, into which drains all
tho rainfall of the ncighborhood. There
nro no springs, lakes, rivers or streams ol
amy kind near by. The lake covers about
$50 acres, is several feet deep, and al
though formed in the sand, yet the nc.
ton of tho wntor has converted tho Typ
sum bottom into snow white mass,
ccmcntcd SO substantially and coinpac,ly
That there is no way of the water cscnl-
ing except by tho slow process of cvnpo-
ration. Seen ut midday when the sun i,
ut its brightest, the human eye cannot
sustain for even II few seconds the brill
liant and binding glare from this won.
dcrful formation of nature. Even In
dead oI summer, when there is no moislnrt
whatever i'll the place, il is II terrible
thing for human creatures to attempt Il
passage through this gypsum valley. Th,
heat il intOlcrlhc and the rcfractiun 81
tnrrtili. ! ll,ut II j., ,r,I
gcrous To experience it. Possibly in con.
ncction with the heavy rnins of Inst soa-
son II cloud burst or water spout may have
played an important part i'll the forlnl.
ton of this lake.
Ages ago there lived in portions Of
Arizona and New Mexico II curious race
of people who evidently could not trust
their fellow men. Their houses wcr,
suspended in the mir, so to speak, built
against ellis and prccipiccs, or wcr,
carved out of soli,l nasonry in tho side OF
precipitous hills, and 50 high that it was
impossible to reach them cXccpt by
means of ladders. The people who lived
in these strange nbodcs kept locks and
herds, titled the ground, and pursued ng-
riciltnrc generally, yet so careful were
they of their own precious hides that the
general custom ut night was to climb IN
into their dwellings, and pull the ladders
up after them. There are about six
thousand square miles OF country covered
by these curious dwellings, aud though II
little of from railroads and out of ia,
way of travel, yet visit of inspection to
any one Of them would richly DAY thu
| .p,sl,,, al. rsrt L.. Al.
,urnncc to undertake tho tusk. Th,
average clilT house II of firm, neat mn.
s0nry, attached or ccmGntcd to the ellis
i'll most marvellous fashion, and evi
IDENTIFY cost II great outlay Of energy nn,l
ingenuity in its construction. In some
eases the rock and mortar of which they
are built have been brought hundreds Of
feet up the most PERCEPTIONS places, and
this without the MD, apparently, of me
chanicnl c0ntrivnnccs of any kind. Some
OF the houses were constructed of ndobc
bricks, for which IN everlasting cement
was used. In the Apache country of
ArlZonn, near the entrance Of II wild
rugged mounlnin gorge, are II series Of
remarkable cliff dwellings.
In reality they are not clilr but cave
dwellings; yet, us in the former case, the
only mode Of access is by means Of Ind
dcrs, for they undcrliG II tremendous
prccipicc. The doDrwnys are square holes
from four To six feet in diameter, and
crawling into one of these murky, damp
places one must be careful Of reptiles and
vcrnin, which seem to have taken nbso-
lutn possession since the rightful owners
have departed The ceilings ARE seven or
eight feet high, walls II square Of about
the same dinin1lcr, and tho whole in
terror in some c;lscs IL decorated with
slnrs, comets, and other astronomical lig
urcs. Who the cliH dwcllcrs were ~,
ono now can tell. They probably pre-
cclcd the Aziccs, who cmigrntcd from
the region, and, perhaps, they were con
temporary with the 1'oltccs, who are said
To have been extinct before the Aztccs
were Il people.
At the bilsc Of these cliffs is another re-
nmrlsable curiosity known as Montcz,i-
mas Well. 1t was built by the inhabit-
ants of that period, supplying them with
the necessary moisture to sustain life.
The wonder of all curiositics, however,
in the Southwest is the pctrIlied forest in
AImchc County, Arizona. Whnt mnkos
it more remarkable than il otherwise
would bo is the fact TINT the forest never
grew on the spot where it now lies, but
was transported bodily from some region
by IL force OF nature that we can little
Imagine. There ARE no stumps or trunks
of trees left in the ground-no roots,
small limbs, or anything to show that
vegetable matter could live and thrive in
the volcanic ashes of the section, and yet
mammoth tree trunks turned into hard
adanantinc stone lie here in the greatest
profusiOn, millions Of tons in sight, and
no definite answer is there to the puzzle.
In some cases the trees are of gigantic
size, having Il diameter of eighteen OF
twenty feet ut the base and height OF
more than so feet
The scene reminds one of Sindbad's
dream or Aladdin's cave. AS far as the
eye can reach pieces of ofchrysoprasc, carne-
lian, s;ri and chalccdony are scattered
bits of amethyst, jasper, calcitc, and agate
glitter in the sunlight, blazing with indie
Cs.-ii, lIf I,r IIi,n.V ca ti;.I-