Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-01-28


Upon further Investigation. II was
found that these silent remains OF an
extinct race existed in the desolate
Wilderness AZ the time when the first
Spanish explorers. under Coronado and
cubcza de Naca visited the regions In
which 50 many OF them exist In New
Mexico and Arizonn. q period OF over
three hundred years ago The ruins
and remains Of the vanished nations
were then old and ms full NJ mystery
ana Interest as now. The Hpnninrds
found In the province Of Tusuyan,
which " supposed to have included
large part " what u now New Mexico
Arizona. Colorado and Utah. few OF
the Inhabitants dwelling In villages, OF
pucblos. built In the most inaccessible
and naturally fortified places. where
they would be the best able 20 resist
the attacks ~ their more savage cnc-
mics. the Anachca ana Navaoca. The
small nations thus dwelling In strongly
built rock villages were what now con-
Htitutc the Iuni. Modui. ..ccoma and
oriaba communities Of men, who have
chanved very little In their way OF llv-
Ing for three hundred years.
~ the years went on and the civlliza'
tion Of the white race Hprcn.. over the
country west of the Rocky Mountains,
the Wild tribes were gradually nubducd
ana the white man. engaged clthcr az
miner. hcrdcr, or tillcr NJ the soil,
was plvcn better opportunity To study
the prehistoric remains existing In the
vast area above described. The nrst
traces of departed races 60 attract the
eye ~ the white man were the pctro-
Elypha. or rock wrltlngs.that exist from
the snake river Ola the north TO the
ella and Yaqul rivers on the south and
from Central New Mexico on the east
Ia the Pacific Ocean on the west.
The nature % these writings was SINH
lar over all that broad area aud con-
sisted " circles. parallel limos, stars.
SUNS. moons, figures or ruch animals
na are found In the region also birds.
figures N mon In various attitudes. and
lines representing mountain ranges,
rolling hills. broad valleys stream
and rivers. nrc found portrayed With
the peculiar features expressed In these
writings Such picture writings arr
found Inscribed on rocky lodges and
wherever n broad rock surface IN pre-
Ncntcd. The nmyRdnioldal rocks that
rise near springs far out In the desert.
or by some mountain river. were usu-
ally the choice Of this bygono race aa
the places upon which 10 cut their In
Hcriptlonn. Such surfaces are usually
coated with black manganese oxide
and the instrument used seems 10 have
been sharp flint. with which the
lines were deeply picked into the stone
and, ~ time went on. the lines oNidixcd
and the lntagiio remains distinct 60 our
own times.
That these writings 10 inclscd con-
tain human ideas and contain records
of events In the history of the lost
races there can be no doubt They are
life histories. nH much 20 ~ are IN" In
fcriptionr we Ind In the deserts ~
Syria. amid the ruins Of Babylon, Car
thnEe. Memphis, Athens or Rome. or
ON the tombstoncs In our own country
churchynrdH
About these writings the native In.
a Los or L..
blandly tells you that they were al
ways there. and II may be- here re-
marked that there n little difference IN
these writings. the characters are the
same from the banks OF Snake River
ON the north. 20 the Rio Grandc on the
southeast. "a distance % hundreds ~
miles.
The next effects 10 attract attention
arr the mounds We md scattered
along the wnter courses over the same
region and usually situated In the open
valleys. Upon examination II II found
that these mounds are what once con-
sisted Of clusters II human habiintlonr.
which were constructed of gabro. or
tough clay and gravel The walls
were usually from one to three feet In
thickness and the height Of the
structure varied ,,. from ten To-
ny each building varied according TO
It's height and, IN constructing the diff
fcrcnt stories. the iioorr were made of
nr or cedar timbcrH. varying In size.
These were placed close To each othct.
twlgH laid upon them and over this
was spread n coating of tough clay
three or four inches In thickness. ~
this dried, II gave "a smooth. hard sur
face for "a floor and seems 10 have
stood tho test ~ time exceedingly well.
The jolstn ana tlmbcra used IN the
structures We're cot and dressed with
"A Aa.
a charrcd conditions Ia the ruins show
where they were dressed by means OF
the blunt edges of stone axes.
In almost every valley OF Utah. from
Cache valley ON the north 10 the Nir-
gin river ON the south, We ma the
ruins of such towns ana villages. These
ruins usually appear ~ M many cir.
culnr mounds or sometimes ~ square
sent pyramids. but. upon examination,
they invariably show that they were
square or oblonR buildings. divided
and subdividcd into many compart-
ments.
Opening one ~ the iargcst OF such
n group OF ruins at paragoonn, In Iron
county. Utah. the writer found the walls
almost four feet In thickness, consist
INK NJ cospos, built mn-slvcly. and
the structure occupying an area OF one
hundred and nifty feet square. and
showing by the drift and amount OF
accumulated matter within AMI with
out tho walls that II could not have
been lcfH than sevcnty-tlve feet high.
The building contained large cen
trail court. scvcn,y-iive by seyenty'fivc
feet In extent,
ulon cutting through the south wall
OF this great structure, the interior was
found filled with earth and burned tim-
beers. which had formed the upper
parts OF the structure, and, upon reach
ms the floor. we found II Htrcwn with
broken pottery. burned tinbcra. chnrrcd
corn, beans. corn huHka. bones OF ami
mails also tho charrcd remains OF gar
mcnta which seemed To have been wo-
ven from cotton. A few stone lance
aud arrow heads ana two stone axes
were also found ana IN the northeast
corner Of this large hail was found the
skeleton NJ a female. In crouching
position, face downward. Many nrticlca
~ an ornamental nature, made 81 bone
slate and Hloatite were found In this
part ~ the ruin aud such objects
usually showed that they had been
painted with pigment containing iron.
breaking through the north wall. the
central court was reached and here was
found pile OF human skeletons.
thrown together lndlEcriminnirly and
covered with about eight feet ~ earth.
These skeletons were those ~ men,
women and children. They died by
violence. so.,e OF the limbs were brok-
en-, some burned and many ~ the skulls
were clnyen nH N with axes, or other
splitting weapons. II appeared ~
though tho Mace had been attacked