Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1903-04-14
HUNTER FINDS MUMMY.
Interesting Discovery Made on the
San Augustine Plains.
REMAINS OF A GIANT.

ElO" NV INV
more or less importance are made by
hunters crossing the canyons. but their
finds proved of little value to either
the scientist or the layman.
Not more than a month ago, how
ever. a remarkable mummy was found
by a New Mexican hunter named
John Tex. and this mummy promises
to change materially some of the n.y.
pothesis formed by a~rchaeologists,
while a careful investigation of its
characteristics and the peculiarities
of its century old resting place sug-
gest startling theories concerning the
problem of this vanished race.
The was discovered be-
meath three separate layers of cement
flooring which fact vouches for the
extreme antiquity of the well preserv-
ed body.
John Tex saws that the mummy Is
tall. that it's head is normal. that its
skin is white and its hair thick and
of a reddish brown color.
These points of difference and the
peculiar place in which the mummy
was found lead to strange supposi-
tons.
John Tex has lived among the de-
scendants of the Pueblo tribes, that
nation of eli ffdwelling builders, since
before the eighties.
zone day in the last of January, l
was riding slowly along through the
sage brush which covers the plains
of San Augustine, in Socorro county,
n. NJ, my eye fell upon what looked
like the opening of a cave in a wall
of one of the lateral canyons of the
Rio Gran1e del Norte," says Tex. ut
seemed TO he about 200 feet above the
bed of the canyon and some fifty feet
up in the perpendicular face of the
sandstone cliff.
Upon climbing up to the cave |
found that it had been inhabited, and
while erosia had thrown down the
outer walls of the dwelling and filled
the interior with quantities of broken
sandstone. | was able to push my way
into the aperture.
Finding no relics of the past oc-
cupants of this curious abode lying
about, it occurred to me that | might
discover something of value by dig
ging through the heap of dust and re-
fuse.
Starting at a distance Of about
fifty feet from the cav opening, my
shovel went quickly through severa
inches OF sand fallen from the root
of the cave; then with more difficulty
/ dug through six or more feet of re
fuse, when my shovel came in con
tact with a hard substance, which
took to be the cave floor.
"After e%xcavating | found this fool
to be perfectly smooth, and made OF
the clay cement common in the com
munal houses in the valleys with
which l am familiar.
knowing that it was the custom
with this prehistoric race to bury
their dead under their dwelling floors
l determined to try digging still deep
er.
after cracking the cement ant
pushing the broken fragments aside
| was surprised to come upon ashes
corncobs, pot shards, arrow points
and a p~rofusion of animal bones. Thi
rubbish filled a stratum about eighteen
inches thick, below which l suddenl,
struck a second floor.
"Under this stratum Of cement
found almost the same quantity @
rubbish as was brought to ligh
above, but what was my consterns
t3on at discovering that there wa
Still a third floor in this oddly con
structed abode.
with the greatest excitement
swung my shovel and dislodged the
debris which separated me from that
which / felt sure of finding now.
There was soon a good sized hole
gaping In the third covering of ce-
ment, and as my implement finally
penetrated the opening 1t plunged
through into a soft substance ant
crashed into a huge decorated pot
which fell apart, disclosing the hea'
of a mummy over which 1t had bee
placed.
"On examining the mummy, whic
was that of a man." continues Nj
Tex. II found that 1t was wrappe
In three karosses, or blankets, eac
about -four by five feet in size.
"The outer one was decayed wit
age. the next one somewhat bett'
preserved, and the inner one quite pc
feet. The warp OF these karosses VIZ
of vegetable fiber string and the wo'
was made of twisted strips OF II
skin, which had the fur left on, ar
had acquired, through the process
twisting, a likeness to soft wool.
"The head of the mummy shove
that the man had probably died fro
a blow on the skull, for there w
a large indentation directly over 4
base.
The features were partly those
an Indian, for the cheek bones we
high and rather prominent, but I
skull was large, with a somewh