Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-09-13
A BURIED CITY IN TEXAS.
THE GREAT SOUTHWEST a LAND
OF MAEVELS.
IL Dazzling White Inkc Suddenly
Formed in New Mexico - The
Chalccdony Park of Arizona.


western Texas have many surprises in
store Tor sightseeing travellers. Ruins
Of lost cities, cave dwellings, cliff houses,
and other abodes of extinct man aro now
being uncovered to tho light of dny,
lhowing that II great and industrious
people once Inhabited the land, who
understood something of the arts and
sciences, and who cultivated tho
iclds, and plowcd the ground Mt somo
Instant epoch of time much the same ns
nc do to-day.
a few months ago at Cochitc, on tho
American side of the Rio Grnnlc, saws a
Fort Davis (reXas) letter to the New
York Times, Amanda Chavez discovered
'llc ruins "i IN extensive city, the cxis, :
.ncc of which had never been suspected
before. The place where this hidden
MY lies las hitherto hnd the general ap-
Dcarancc of II huge swell or rise in the
prairie, perfect desert in outward np
3carancc, for il contained no herb, NO
DOT, no plant, no vcrdurc of any kind,
iothinE save II waste OF sand nlkali
md dirt, across which living creatures
lesitatcd to travel unless forced to do so.
Scncath this pile of desoation lay tho
mins of I'M ancient city, probably Toltcc
II origin.
1t is not hard to imagine how the old
'ity became buried. Mr.. Chavez tells MS
low hc Glanced to stumble across it soon
'ftcr wuterspout and II gale of wind un-
covered the ruins to view. Here in the
hr Southwest, where rains are fow and
tronE winds frequent, tho surface of tho
country, which by ages of drought and
lisintegralinE processes has become
'rumblcd and loose, is picked up and car
1cd about from place To place by almost
my wind that blows. Very often these
vhirligiS storms develop into miniature
cyclones, and sometimes they grow so
arSc and on such II grand scale that their
power and dcs,ruciivcncss are almost be-
fond belief. Sweeping across the conn
ry with not SO much velocity rs II genuine
cyclone, they pick up and carry niong
'ocks, dirt, stone, trees, sand, and whnt
lot, smashing everything they encounter
md spreading ruin in their path. They
lnvc n habit when reaching II soft, Weld
ng surface of boring down and sucking
AZ or scoopin. out the sand, leaving the
hollow spot barren and clean MS far down
Is bed rock, and this hollow or hole looks
Tor all the world ns if some gigantic n,i.er
had been employed in doing the work.
!lcncc they are called ''sand nngers." So
dcnsc is tho mass of sand gathered up by
his curious phenomenon of nature that the
column, whirling about with frightful
:apidity, actually reaches the clouds, and
Joins with the hitter in forming II funnel
from the earth To the sky.
The first indication of II sand n,lrcr
would be the fornnton here and there of
little whirligigs of dusty wind, picking
up little bits Of straw, leaves and other
'ubbislI, and wnltzing about heller
'keltcr with them from place to place.
In this valley, from where am writing,
one can see almost any day dozen or
more of the little tunnels, looking like
tall, slender pipes Of smoke, dancing
over the prairie in every direction. One
Or two of them sometimes meet and Join
forces, but when n dozen or twenty come
together and happen Mt the same time To
strike Il heavy, low hanying cloud full of
wind and v;tpor, then the clinnccs are
that Il genuine sand a,iyur Of the first
magnitude will bc generated. Although
(ormcd or created by IL succession of
small whrwinds, sand nlgurs break up
very quickly, collalsing 80 suddenly That
the heavens fora time are IL mass of flying,
falling sand. Anything below is simply
swanpcd out of existence.
Such, no doubt, was the fate of the
city recently uncarthed by Mr. Chnvcz.
sand augur possibly nndc the first de
Il al
lations Of windshndcs and the like piled
up the sand and other dctritus untilthc
whole was converted into an extensive
mound. The unc0vcring Of the ruins
WIS accomplished by severe rninstorn,
which proved to DC genuine cloud
burst This, sweeping down upon the
sandy mound with terrific force, washed
Gway one angle of the mound, discios-
Ing some heavy stone walls which made
the discovery possible. Mr.. Chavez OBJ
taincd number of interesting relies.
One skeleton had three strands of beads
around its neck, of turquois, jet, and
bone respectively, also earrings of Jet
and turIuois. The mummy's hair was
brown, and some pieces of bright, ornn-
mcntcd pottery were near it. Arrow
heads, broken pottery, etc, were scat
tered about. The skeleton was in u
chamber Of solid masonry, the stones
firmly ccmcntcd, and it may have been
his tomb, within which he was sealed ut
the time Of his death.
One large building, with massive stone
walls and II tower at each corner, was cx-
posed by the cloud burst This has the
appearance of citadel, the masonry
being strong and secure, and in the
centre is probably Il water reservoir with
aqucducts Of stone stretching away in
many directions, giving the idea that the
building WAS erected for the purpose of
standing II siege. Some Pueblo Indians,
questioned regarding tho old city, say
that its name was Guato, and that il
iicurished long before Cortez came to
MGXico. OF course this is mere tradition
and cannot be relied upon, yet if it is of
Toltcc origin, the probabilities are that
il was built ages ago, and possibly ante
dates the building of the first Egyptian
pyramid.
l.. A.. D..... xr.IIa..