Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1900-07-13
Lived IN the Cliffs oooo Years
Ago.

4 iWellers may he among the Oldest
in the world, dating back thous.
ands Of years before tho Chrletlnn
era, has been shown by the re.
searoles of . party OF Denver
scieuiieta, heated by tho ley
Camden Nj Coboln, who have lust
retained from q tour of five weeks
among the ruins Of Nav Mckee.
The party drove southweetcrly
from Durango, Col, through the
mountainous desert district 22O
miles, to Gallup, n, Mex, and every
where found tracea Of the mighty
population thnt ouce Inhabited the
now deHolate waste. Great wide
roads were traced running over
hills a. elralght IA modern engi.
neers could survey them. Foun-
da,ions Of oneovaat buildings weFe
found to contain immense blocks
OF stone as large as any cut in this
nga. OF tho discoveries at one Of
tha anelent ruins exeayated Or
Cohotn saws.
"rhe work aud design was just
the same "a in an odd city ot Pal
ostino, | 400 yeara before Chlh,
winch helped to dug up Be
nenth this house, which war i large
one 100 or 500 roone, wedug down
twenty seven feet, aud All the way
there were sigma of human habita
ton. But Professor Cutler de.
clnred that all these layers, first
Of cha4coNl and then Of gravel, had
been lnid ia order hy water, show
ing u period Of occupancy iar
preatcf ihQn that shown by the
similar accunuIGusifa-llss- Egypt
which arc not nearly 10 thick.
"Oh, ! nm entirely converted
from tho theory | held that the
cliff dwolere dated bnck only
500 years o. 80 Tho datc moy
have been anything beyond 1000
years back am prepared to re-
cognize any rev sion OF thesn ceti
mates back to 5,oc0 years before
the ChlisIinncrn.
"ln Chaco canyon we found some
very fine specimens OF nrchiteo
tute large stones, dressed nnd
aid exactly, with rounded cornore
to ndd 70 the beauty OF the bnlld-
ing and projecting eecarpmonls,
pxactly ns il tho caatlc Of medic.
val times, so TINT the defenders
could shoot down upon the at-
tacking panty.
For one hundred miles after
leaving Chaco canyon We never
snw soul except once, distant
Iudinn, yet all over this country,
where geological conditions
showed there Ind once been
water, there were ruins, most OF
them absolutely untouched,
when we were nt Aztec, n, NJ,
10 tLnt part Of The country filled
with ruins which had been most
visited, we discovered one indica
ton Of the great ago OF the RUNS,
Which had hitherto been over
looked II waa road running as
etra,eht as any modern engineer
could have run IT, from the great
elifT palaca to the stone qnarries,
miles away This path was about
fifty feet wide, and ~ clearly %.
ere qa lDenver street from
it's snrfacc every obstruction, eyery
stone as large as n walnut, bad
been cleared away thrown to one
side. Tue road leads across tho
VALLEY, straight mp the side
III tho mesa, and across it..
The roal deseenls The othar eile
to tho qnarrles, whore were stones
fresh cut, ready to be taken over
TO the bulldogs, hnt il has been 50
long since chat road was used that
on the side OF the mesa the river
has changed its course and the
valley haa been worn away so that
for space the road is lost, reap
pearing considerable distance be-
ysnd the point at winch IL van