The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-01
FLOW UNEA.RTHS CITY
ARIZONA FARMER MAKES RE- VARIABLE FIND IN
 HIS FIELD. z
Remains of Prehistoric Town Buried Beneath the surface-Pottery of
 Wonderful WorkmanshiH ssi
 Brought to Lighta s.

j D. %S ~-s .s Phoenix, Ari., Special. y+..sEf ks
 The most astonished man in the United States was probably Calum- bus Gray, an old Arizona settler. known, all over the territory as "cap sLlm Gray, when, while blowing up an un- cultivated mound on his farm near this city, he. unearthed section of al VII -F lage of a prehistoric people. This event, so important to scientific res search, occurred when the industrious farmer was preparing his new ground for a late crop. 4..l..r ....
 According to the natural laws of irrigation. ground cannot be flooded when elevated above the level of the ditch. The arid land of Arizona has. with fe wexceptions perfectly level surface. These exceptions usually prove to be aboriginal mounds. 1nde- pendent scientists, scientific societies, universities and even the students of antiquity employed by Uncle Sam have made numerous expeditions in the southwest in search of traces of the ancient Inhabitants of North America. Volumes have been written of the clfn dwellers of Arizona and the mound builders of other territories and Etates oL the SOhtAWCSl,t put hctiC hoc 1NSh said of the latter race in Arizona. In fact, no trace of them was found until within the last few years, when the progress of agriculture accidentally dis covered these buried habitations of former people.
 When the rfist rumor of traces reached the ear of science the bureau of thenology hurried its greatest ex- perts to the scene. but before precau- tions could be taken by, the depart ment, which cannot act without the authority of Congress individual scientists had to a large extent claimed or bought up much of these lands. Great expense is necessitated in un-- earthing and preserving these hidden villages of, a long forgotten people. hence little has been done to enlighten the world as to their extent and real character.
 The Land. Not, Productive -,
 ,"Cap Lum" Gray. whose early days were spent in fighting off 2he hostile Indians and whose education embraced knowledge of digging Eorg potatoes rather than for undersround' cittes, seoffed at the eastern scholars who told strangez ia isy@tale s@to ths$ effect. that beneath theSlifeless desert and fertile Salt River valley existed won- derful cities which had been built be- fore the discovery of America. MT. Gray believed that the red men should be turned loose ad libitum to scalp the heads which contained such inn possible ghost stories.
 But Cap Grays contempt for the strange theories of the wise men nfrom the east''s thargsd into wonder that verged onto terror when. in breaking 1A.1 1,Ak Aka knNH dnA Nrn.t- ] gating with a pump well. he turned up I the unmistaka ble signs of prehistoric !! mound. It was impossible ito culti- vate the ground. for the adobe-like covering was as hard as sandstone. [ disgusted with his dis coyery, which deprived him of turning ] this plot of elevated ground into an alfalfa patch. the old farmer threw down his blow and went into town 'tn I tell of what5hs believed to be his ''hard l1,ck.T .efor," he asked" @Wliat can you' raise on ground as hard as sandstone?' He described 1t as an "old dump and complained. bitterly of "al that ruooisn strewn over his place"
 Then. as hwas been the case in so many of these important discoveries stray scientists, curio collectors tourists and agents swarmed to the scene and carried away every relic which could be found near the surface. The earth being stonelika in its com position, 1t is almost impossible for other than experts tof excavate these speciemns. without breakage or injury of some sort. Not realizing the true value of his possession, cap Gray willingly told the crowd to "help them salves." However. several days later when he learned that several pieces or of the potetry which one of the curio collectors hac uhearthed had been sold for the price of several alfalfa crops he, put an abrupt stop to the deVasta- ton which had been going on at lively rate. -...
 Kept Virgil by Night. C.
 Then. finding that some collectors who were determined to obtain speci- mems would wait until night and then bv the brilliant light of a tropic moon deepen the hole where the first relics were found and labor late into the night until their efforts were fruitful the farmer built little hut near his mound, or mine" as he insisted upon calling it. Since then 1t has de- veIoped that the mound is an extension of some Of the prehistoric villages which have been unearthed during the last four or five years and which are now under the control and protection of the University of Arizona and several other scientific societies. while a few of them have come under the care of the bureau of ethnology.
 Although several scientific societies have made overtures to Gap" Gray. he has refused all offers to sell or lease his mine" resolving to study the question for himself and learn the real value of his property. No price will tempt him to part with single speci- men or relic taken from his mound.