The times., 1899-03-06
Traces Discovered of a Pre-
historic People.
Signs of High Degree of Civiliza-
ton in Past Ages.
A Building with Carved Ornaments
and IA Buried aaueduct Found
by PrOSpectors.

IL
rneager description given proves to be Cor
rect.
The ruins have not yet been examined
by men competent to determine their true
character The discoverers were miners at
work prospecting in the desert. Their in
terests lay in an entirely different direc-
tion, and their investigation of the ruins
was purely casual. Yet they examined the
huge blocks of stone with enough care to
give a good idea of the external features
and brought back pieces of pottery dug
from the base OF the ruins, which may
prove of value.
The party consisted of six men, two of
them being in search of mining claims,
and the others being laborers and team
sters. After crossing the mountains from
San Diego. they Travelled down into the
desert, climbing one little granite range
after another, for distance of twenty
five miles. Between the ranges they found
patches of the desert as it is generally
pictured. level, sitting waste of sand,
seemingly almost incandescent under the
white sun. totally destitute of water and
vegetation. Through this level great dikes
of granite are thrust, sometimes rising 10
the dignity of small mountains. In other
places sand dunes, formed by the winds,
rise to a height of from $50 to 80 feet.
These men took the country as it came,
not following the beaten track. In order
to find water they moved from the head of
one water course TO another. thus cutting
across the trend of the mineral forma-
ton, which follows the direction of the
streams running from the mountains into
the desert In was in crossing from the
headwaters of one stream to another that
the stone ruins were found.
The ruins are at the head OF a small val
ley, lying about seven miles west or north
west of Signal Mountain. prominent land
mark on the desert known by all travellers
The valley narrogs into precipitous and
rocky canyon, in which great powders lie
scattered about in such manner as almost
TO block the progress of the little stream
that trickles down 800 yards and then sinks
into the sand. On the slope of the hills
surrounding the valley, directly south of
the canyon mouth. are the ruins. Looking
down into the valley. the accumulation of
sand and the profusiou of powders render
it difficult to make out the artiflcially cut
stone, but one standing in the valley and
looking upward sees at once the pillars and
frieze, with PROSTATE columns near by.
notable part of the landscape is
clump of date palms. about twenty-five in
number, growing over the edge of the little
stream about 200 yards from the ruins.
These palms are not indigenous, nor are
any of their kind TO be found nearer than
Lower California; 200 miles distant. The
prospectors believe they must have been
planted by man. They are not TO be con-
founded with the so-called date palm OF the
desert. which fourishes in various parts
of the desert. There is a small grove of
these native palms quarter of mile up
the canyon. The difference between them
and the date palms near the stone house
is easily seen.
Though having no tools except pick
and an ak. the party spent two or three
hours examining the ruins of the house,
for such they perceived it to be when they
drew closer. The place is covered with
sand. with huge powders from the hill
above lying both above and below the
stones. The two pillars supporting the
frieze are in place, the stone connecting
them being about eight feet six inches in
length. Lying near the pillar on the left
is huge carved column. broken. while
scattered about were found pieces of stone
bearing unmistakable evidence of having
been cut by human hands.
Brshing the sand away from the door
way, the men passed through. working
their way in slowly, and being successful
in finding the rude. half-obliterated out
lines of a house. The dimensions could
not easily be taken. owing to the amount
OF sand that had been washed down the
hill. With almost every stroke of the pick
pieces of pottery were unearthed. Most
of the pieces were mere fragments, but oc-
casionally the greater part of a bowl was
/ recovered intact. The pottery seemed 10
the discoveries 10 resemble that made by
Southwestern Indians at the present day.
Closer examination later showed it to be
quite different. Though there are the
forms of birds and serpents to be traced.
there are also odd geometricdl figures and
designs quite beyond the work now done
by California or Arizona Indians. On a
few pieces, too. We're found carvings. in
whole or part, of heads of birds with ser
pents' bodies and rude human faces.
A CuriousIy Carved Column.
remarkable discovery which indicates
more than any other single feature con-
nection with the work of the Toltscs. was
column lying apart from the ruins of
/ the house, cut in the shape of a serpent
| The head was missing, but the body, form
| ing a twisted column, was almost perfect.
| The tail, to the surprise OF the miners
was that of d rattlesnake. carved with
/ fidelity TO nature, every rattle showing
! as clearly in the stone as if carved yes
terday. From the shape of the stone at
| this end the discoverers were of the opin-
| ion that the column stood with the head
as the base and the tail as the capita
Other pieces of stone with carvings were
| found but nothing that was inte,ligibe to
/ the men gazing upon them.
| AS the men turned TO leave. greatly re-
! GREETING that they had no shovels with
which to continue their investigation, they
noticed the line of an aqueduct stretching
away along the hillside on level with the
ground they stood upon They found that
! in places this aqueduct was quite well pre-
! served. showing U-shaped ditch or nume
| coated with Screaming the sand
away with their feet. the men easily fol-
| lowed the line of the aqueduct from one
! side to the other. They could follow it
| with the eye for about a quarter of IA mile
| though in this distance il had been broken
many times by powders and earth wash
ing down the hill. 0Thc party looked at
a dozen different places closely to make
| assurance doubly sure that the mysterious
workings of nature were not responsible
| for what they saw. After this inspection
every one of the six men is positive in the
statement that they found an aqueduct
made by human hands, cemented on the
inside. and so constructed as to carry wa
| Ter at very slight pitch toward the build
ing. The aqueduct followed the winding
of the hill and was about 100 feet distant
| from the floor of the valley and about
eighty feet above it.
There is considerable stretch Of
| ground about the ruined building. with fer
tile soil not partaking of the character of
the desert except as to dryness. With wa
| ter the ground would doubtless prove as
| fertile any. The valley below. too
| though dry and destitute OF vegetation.
| has good soil and in the opinion OF the
| discoverers was at some ancient day irri-
gated from the great ditch they found.
| This ditch was about four and half feet
in depth and six or seven feet IN width.