The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-25
ARiZONA'S DEAD CITY.
Prehistoric Ruins Discovered by Govern
ment Exploration.

I
of the buried city OF Los Muertos-the
| dead? Not very many in proportion to
| the thousands who have read Bulwer
| Lytton's Last Days of Pompeii.a And
| yet such a city exists in the heart of
Arizona and within half a dozen miles
| OF the capital city of the territory.
| Thousands of dollars have been spent
| by the United States government in
| making excavations with the commend
! able aim of throwing some light upon
| the people who inhabited these vast
| fertile valleys in pre-Columbian times.
| The work has been partially successful.
| The ancient city with the modern Span
| ish name of Los Muertos was located
| on an elevated mesa, or rather in an ex-
| tended valley. seven or eight miles
| from the junction of the two large
| rivers, Salt and ella, and about five
| miles from the present city of Phoenix.
| The location was undoubtedly chosen
| on account of the superior fertility of
| the soil aud the adapta bility of the
| land to irrigation. Water was taken
| from the Salt river, six miles distant,
| and conducted TO the ancient pueblo
through open and spacious bitches hav-
ing an average fall OF seven feet to the
| mile. Carefully compiled estimates
state that fully two hundred thousand
acres of land were thus brought under
cultivation in the immediate vicinity of
Los Muertos. The city itself is traced for
distance of three miles down the val
ley and is almost square in Size The
streets are narrow and frequently in
terrupted by rectangular squares or
plaZas On the four corners which face
these squares the buildings were much
larger, running to five stories in height
and a proportionate thickness of wall
Mr.. Cushing, who conducted these ex-
plorations on behalf of the govern
ment, suggests that these edifces were
in all proba bility Notifications and ar
ranged in the manner described to eff
fectively guard the main thoroughfares
from invaders.
The entire city was encircled BY a
substantial wall twelve feet thick and
probably twenty feet in height, and on
the walls We're erected small towers
from which coigne de vantage the alb
original sentinels might watch over the
sures We're cut in the walls six feet
from the ground, probably fer egress
and ingresS, as the weapons of defense
in those days were not adapta bic to
shooting through portfolios. The war
riOr of this period was armed with the
stone AK made of polished granite or a
species of meteorite, and formida BILE
weapons they made. Then there was a
kind of sling such as was used in the
historic duel between David and Coli
ath. The bow and arrow were later
invention, but long spears made of IRON
wood buckthorn, mesquite and other
native woods, and tipped with sharp
tintS. were a common weapon. Who
ever the people here We're they belonged
to the stone age. Not trace of metal
has ever been found. The little orna-
mentS and gewgawS that the Indian
mother loved to wear and bedeclS their
infants with were invariably bright
shells brought from the sea or polished
stones of varied coiors. Large quaint
ties are found. such as turquoise. ruby
and mother Of pearl in the shape of
neck amulets or wristlets. By the mod /
ern Indians they are looked upon as /
possessing supernatural powers-to I
heal the sick and protect the wearer in
battle or from the bites of venomous
reptiles
1t is not positively known that they !
ate meat all. The Coahuila Indians of /
this day are very careful about eating
flesh. They believe in the transnigra- /
Of l. mt no l. oh
them. 1t may be the residents of Los Z
MuertOs We're Observation-Disclosures. That /
would account for the scarcity of animal /
bonestdiscovered. No evidence has been +
found that they lived upon other food T
than cereals, oysters, fish and fruits.
All the evidence brought to light +
leaves no doubt that this prehistoric !
city was destroyed by earthquakes. In
deed there are surface evidences all 4
over this section of mighty seismic dis
turbances at no later date than one
thousand or fifteen hundred years ago
In making the excavations in the
canals many OF them were found filled
with lava. and within the city were
numerous signs of hastY exit. One
skeleton was found caught by falling
wall while the person in life was evil
IDENTITY in the act of running from the
danger. Cloths for wear still stood I'M
finished IN the loom and in Some in
stances the catastrophe had overtaken
these people a. their meals as cooking
utensils were found over the Goals long
since smoldered 1t does not appear
that everything was annihilated by the
first onslaught of the earthquake, but
after the warning those who were not
killed outright evidently departed with
proper haste. That haste was
shown Is evinced in the fact that
many articles of prehistoric wear,
gaudy ornaments Of dusky maidens,
weapons of war and pieces for playing
games. domestic utensils and hundred
little things which went TO make up
the lares and penates of the aboriginal
home were found cast about ia hurried
confusion.
The more interesting of the relics
taken from the ruins Of Los Muertos ,
are in the museum at Washington
Many Of them are of great value from i,
an archaeological standpoint The stone
axes are perhaps the most priced Of all
the collections, owing 70 their beauty
OF manufacture They are undoubtedly
OF the neolithic period. made usually
from green stone and polished like
glass AS the early mechanics had no.
metal appliances. Il necessarily required
many years 70 complete their wares
Reckoning time a TIE present prices Of
labor these axes would be worth up
ward Of one thousand dollars each.
Near by Los Muertos are the ruins Of