The record-union., 1899-05-02
PREHISTORIC AMERICANS.
BURIED DWELLINGS BEING
LAID BARE.
BEING
Dr. Fewkes, Guided by Hopi Sages
Finds Ruins Of Ancient
Cities in Arizona. =


west won for himself the title of 'the
Schliemann of the New World is going
to excavate another mass of buried
treasure which he believes to lie beneath
the parched sands of Arizona. The re-
gion into which he will shortly pene-
trate lies in the weird valleys and
among the treacherous cliffs Of the
numerous parallel mountain ranges
running diagonally across Northwest
ern Arizona into New Mexico.
DR.. Fewkes has lived among the Zuni
at the lower end of the trails and with
the weird Hopi people above. He has
| been admitted to their sacred priest
hoods, and is known to them under an
aboriginal name. They have confided to
him the traditions handed down through
the centuries by ancestors.
The most probable theory as to the
origin of those people is that they re-
suited from an overflow of the ancient
Mexican peoples-the same frontier Gull
| ture which included the Aztecs.
! They once reached a remarkable stage
of civilization. Their cities were built
of stone. They We're short and broad
! headed resembling the Chinese or Jap
anese more than any other race. They
wore their hair long and straight. Both
men and women clothed themselves in
kits and sandals woven from the fiber
of the century plant. They were Ian
agricultural people, who probably de-
| serted the valley because of the rising
of alkali to the top of their soil as re-
suit of their mastery of irrigation or
they may have been driven out by wan
dering tribes from the north. One clan
of the Hopi people seems to have de-
| scended from them. Excavations near
the Zuni country show similarities in
the latter.
| The largest ruins are buried along the
watercourses of the rivers. The migra-
ton of the ancient people seems to have
/ followed these courses The country is
wild and mountainous, a jumbled mass
of parched soil and rock formation. To
cross many of the cliffs is impossible.
Two years ago DR.. Fewkes, with his as
lsociate, DR.. Hough, acting upon the ira
dition of the Hopi sage, who had de-
clared that a mound of buried treasure
j lay near the point where the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fee Railroad bridge
crosses the Little Colorado, resorted to
this spot, and after a month of digging
excavated more than they had antici-
pated. They uncovered what had been
large settlement of many houses,
built like cells of mammoth beehive
one upon another, towering up into a
truncated pyramid of four stories. The
entrances We're in the tops.
| There were no relics which might in
dicate that the occupants had ever seen
the whites or learned any Of their arts
The entire populace appeared to have
deserted rather than to have suffered
violent determination by enemies or the
elements. No skeletons haunted the liv-
ing-rooms to tell of massacre or starva-
ton. Several of the dead had been
buried beneath the floors of the houses
Excavations continued near by brought
to light the cemetery of the settlement,
where hundreds of skeletons were found
reposing beneath fiat slabs of stone, up
on which had been painted pictures of
rain clouds. A round hole was invari-
ably drilled in the center Of each slab
probably to admit the soul to the spirit
world. At either side of the neck Of
a skeleton was usually found a NOR
tuary bowl containing grass seed. corn
or rolled waters of meal Upon the
wrists, necks and breasts of the skele-
r.
quoise and shell.
There is also a tradition, confided to
Dr. FeWkes by two Hopi priests, that
lar to the south there was a stream
known as 1.-THE Blue Water where a.
race OF people lived many years ago.
| and where the Hopi always went for
molly water TO be used by the priests
in their rituals The exploring party
lr4yor 4
| tlement similar to the first, except that
the main dwelling structure had been
built upon the plan of a hollow rec
| tangle, the space within having evident
ly been used as a ceremonial court or
dance plaza. Near by was a cemetery
similar to that found alongside the
| former ruin.
A third tradition led the party south
over what was said to be the trail
| through which the lost race Travelled
during it's retreat toward the north.
Here upon a hill of lava, was found
third city, built in two sections, crown
| ing the opposite edges of the hill and
bearing indications of having once been
connected by street. The usual GEM
etery was close by. Here the graves
were covered with logs, piece of lava
| A year ago DR.. Fewkes and DR..
Hough began their excavations mid
way in the trail Joining Zuni and Tu-
sayan and unearthed a still larger hon
eycomb structure representing a popu-
lation quite as large as that of ancient
Troy The cells or houses, built i'm tiers
formed the city walls, the whole resem-
bling a double amphitheater. To the
east was a cemetery filled with skele-
tons of the dead. The pottery resembled
| that of the modern Zlni more than that
of the Hopi Surrounding the CITY were
shrines of worship containing carved
fetiches. Tracing another tradition of
| the Hops, the explorers went thirty
five miles south, where another collec-
ton of houses and another cemetery
were found. The prehistoric inhabitants
had evidently numbered about 500.
These excavated ruins are but SAM
pies of many more waiting beneath the
soil of this region for the archaeolo-
gist's pick and spade to bring them once
more to light. Near by Dr. Fewkes has
located tons of buried treasure. doubt
less eclipsing any archaeological find
ever made Within the boundaries of the
United States. The bulk of this lies in
| what might be named "the valley of
DEATH located south of the White
| Mountains of Arizona, between, Mount
Graham and the Bonita Mountains. on
the upper ella River. Centuries AGO
this valley was densely populated. An
ancient people not only inhabited its
level portions, but cultivated it's fertile
| mount ain sides. Remains of tbeir Mo