Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1903-01-08
e@RV@@03@@AHN@3N4@NA@&@@I
; st. Pierre in
! ! his Country.


The destruction of st. Pierre ha
solved a mystery for the cowboys of TIN
Rio San Francisco valley, in New Mex
leo. Ever since the capture of Geron
limo permitted the cattlemen to occupl
me extreme western part of this Terri
tory the cowboys have been digging fol
pottery in the homes of an extinct ract
OF Indians that once lived along til,
Rio San Francisco
These homes were dugouts-ccllarS-
with stone walls built into the seconi
bank or bench of the river valley. Tn,
pottery differs from that of the elf
jewellers and it is very beautiful.
But when digging the dirt from Ia,
old dwellings the cowboys immediately
noticed that it was not like that II
which the dwellings were dug The sol
or the bench, where many of the dwell
ings are found, is a brOllcn-down gran
lite, while that used in filling the--olt
homes was Il soft black loan fit for {,
market garden. one had to travel fal
down the valley to find such soil a
that
Then, as they cleaned out the old dug
outs, the cowboys began to find skele
tons in queer positions. An old mar
had been buried apparently while h,
sat leaning against house wall with (,
pipe in his mouth. Near him a papoosq
wrapped and tied on a piece of bark il
Indian fashion, had been standins
against the wGll.
Elsewhere n woman had been burict
as she knelt behind Il metate, or corn
grinding stone. One hand was on thu
stone and the other in Il bowl of corn
and the corn, though blackcncd, wa
recognizable. Plainly this man with thu
papoOse and the woman had died sud
denly and unexpectedly. Other skclc
tons were found showing that dealt
came so swiftly that no move could b,I
made, while some were piled up as i
there had been rush for the house en-
trance when death entered.
Seeing the lava on the hilltopS an(
mesas round about the stream, it wal,
lucy W AAiAtNSlIA Ailbl an vulllpN VI SUI
locating gases from some volcano hat
killed the Indians, even though hun
dred square miles Of territory show Ger
tain proofs of this remarkable slaugh
ter, but the unSOlyaDle mystery was TIT
fact that these old cellar-lillc hOmel
were filed with Il kind of earth no !
found near at hand If every one il |
the pueblos was killed-and that wa,
plainly the case-who filled in th,I
homes?
If Indians had come from other part,
Of the Territory to fill them they would
have prepared the dead for burial in thu
usual fashion. Moreover, no man coult
have shOveled dirt into the rooms ant ,
filled them without disturbing the pos |
o. many of the dead, who, beyond ques |
ton, had been buried as they fell.
But now everybody can understand
the thing, says the New York Times
AS ut st. Pierre, blast of gases STRUCK
dead every soul in the valley of the Rio
San Francisco. A tremendous flow O,
mud came next, and it flooded thest
homes, and very likely filed the valley
full. When all that was over the rain,
began washing out the valley, and IL
the course of the years and centurie'
since the mud has been cleaned from
the old arid granite sand, but it re
mains, of course, in the cellarlike home.
where prehistoric race lived and
made beautiful things for everyday
use, and were destroyed in a breath a:
they followed their usual course of life
as were the people of ST. Pierre.