The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-07-25
BY A. f. BoNNEY.

|
death: not only in mining. of which
they did all, but in agriculture as well,
whereby they produced all required
for their own sustenance and what was
needed by their masters as we'll. So
the silver cost the Spaniards nothing.
Surely it was rich. wonderful
country they traversed 5000 miles of
land and sea to find
From time to time for q hundred
years stories had reached civilization
of magnificent cities to be seen in the
deserts of Arizona and New Mexico
hundreds of miles from water. Ac-
cording to the tales they rivaled the
splendors of Cathay and we're still
magnificent, even in their iesolation
see these stories still, occasionally
IN newspapers, alongside tales of a
newly invented process for hardening
copper, new perpetual motion ma
chine or the discovery of a petrfed
man, but, alas! Upon investigation l
found only pile of sun burned brick,
Or at most, q stone watch tower on the
mountain top or ruined house in the
valley.
Then stories had come to US by the
way of Spain whose priests cast long
ing eyes on that far land and wished
to found missions and save the souls OF
the natives This they did, and
L
throughout the Southwest may still be
seen the ruins of great numbers of
those old missions which were at once
forts and places of worship as well;
while in New Mexico, Arizona, Colo
RADIO and California are still standing
and in use several Catholic churches
that were erected during the mission
building period, 1860 to 1870
But while those stories of wonderful
cities were not true the hardy pros.
pector travelling alone, and often on
foot, found strange things in the desert
Here. in some favored spot, evidence
OF long continued occupation by large
number of people. Ruins OF buildings
were scattered over the country, and
by them ir:'igating bitches. At an
other place the face of the mountain
cliff was covered with strange picture
writing, and near by, upon the top of
the mountain so high that from it
could be seen a vast extent of country
was watch tower, and at the foot of
the mountain the remains of q fort
with earthworks, and finally, about
fifteen years ago. set in the face of the
mountain cliffs, cunningly concealed
by wallis of stone and only to be APP
preached by steps, narrow paths cut in
the face of the solid rock, we began
finding the deserted homes of the cliff
dwellers
1t is the story of that people would
tell you, for l have slept in those
houses, with them SO long dead, and
in the black silence of the night have
fancied I could hear the dead whisper
ing to the dead: and | have fallen to
sleep and dreamed they were talking
to me- | have followed their foot steps
in the desert where the arrows point
TO water. | have found where a chief
died and was laid away awaiting re-
moval to his cavern home--on,y to be
forgotten forever. Their story is SO
Ike that of other primitive people it
must be true. 1t only differs in the
telling.
There are numerous caves in the
mountains of the Southwest, and some
Iof them have interesting modern
stories. Over little, dripping spring,
away out in the deserts of New Mexico
| found shallow cave. and digging in
the accumulated dirt upon its fl jor,
where | always look for evidence OF
former human occupation l found a
handful of empty cartridge shells and
one unexploded cartridge. bullet that
had been torn and battered upon the
rocks, and two stone arrow heads, one
broken.
81 20 be continued)