Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-07-28
MILLIONS SURELY
LIVED THERE ONCE
sadeoces Of Dense Population in
HE Sierra MadreI Mexico
EXTENSIVE CULTIVATION
yl.Ible Indications that the country
va. once II vcr,table Garden
An Old Fort

soaraI Correspondence.
I'm camp. Sierra Madre Mountains
,r.y.so July Is, 1904 California
..wp,ny Messrs Smith, Davis ana
hermann recently purchased OF
s,,or Garcia Of the city Of Mexico a
,,,et OF timber land amounting to
s.o6 hectares, nearly equal to bOO-
nm acres This tract embraces all the
land living contiguous 10 and south Oh
N. CoraIes purchase owned by the
,,f5rmon' colony, and in which Pacne-
..is situated. The recent purchase
Sy smith. Davis and Hartmann entie-
NJ surrgunds our two settlements OF
Gsr..l and Chuichupa, ., A..
yogr correspondent Is surveying lhe
t.,,rI1rIgs OF this land, the lines run
-. over some OF the toughest ana
. n5 5IgIcult country / have ever seen
~ ia a great pity our own people
MD rot have obtained possession OF
,g's ii,nb. IA tract Of almost SOj square
,,@Gss-Iylng as It does at our very
I 80 and being a most vital necessity
40 any community.
What strikes an observer most loICl-
bIy ore the many evidences seen es-
.ryvbere In these mountains OF lhe
former dense population OF thls coun-
nv now without a single lnhabilah'
sysspt the small colonies OF Pacheco'
Garcia and Chinchupa- me Mhole
~ thls mountain country Of the sierra
Nadre has been cultivated, not only
IN level parts, but every little raVlhe
mining down between two rocky
rS.Tts has been utilized by being ter
go with stone walls every TWO or
,bres rods apart. 80 as TO make Level
sa,ts between them And this, too, on
,lonptaln slopes 80 rocky that only 1T
ia matches Of ground. say ten or NJ
Ten feet wide. can be cultivated
Nat only are these mountain tops s.
ga m 1000 feet high, thus cultivated,
Inn the lowlands In the open valleys
helow Little mounds are found all
over Inc country. which, when eX-
rlorad prove to have once been dwell
irgs and from which many interesting
articles Of household use have been ob-
tanned ,u,
the recent purchase, latitude 80 de-
prses we spent a whole day triagulat-
ing and getting across the tremendous
gorge OF the Rio de Gavilanes trlver
al Hawksi. about a quarter Of mile
wide from brink to brink and nearly J.
800 feet deep It's sides are very din-
cult 20 descend OF ascend. About halr
a mile above our line stands MIL M
the bottom of the gorge. and upon us
summit Is an old fertilization built or
stone. rs walls are still ten or twelve
feet IN height and access Is possible
90 one point only. and that by a way
possible for one man only az a time
II Is very ancient. and for those times
was place OF great strength, being en-
tirely beyond the reach OF arrows from
any beseglng force. Could those gray
moss covered stones speak what an In
teresting story they could tell
a thousand evidences prove that long
ago an this country was inhabited by
millions of people and that they Guilt
waited their lands by the rains alone IN
most localities; and this shows that In
ancient times there was much more
rain than now. From this time on.
rains win be more frequent and copious
here than they are now. Just as they
have increased In Utah since its set
tlament' and millions OF acres. now
dry and sere. viii become the home
Of another dense population,
Although q Is a time 81 general war
and des0'atl0n over the whole earth, II
q also a time Of restitution which has
begun and win continue until springs
OF water win break forth IN the desert
and the wilderness blossom as the
rose"
J. H. MARTINEAU