Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-04-02

In which stand the wallis Of The "great
house" AS the sand IL dug ont, the
mystery of its meaning gradually
cIearS 1t can hardly be n massive
tefnp1e Ut sun w0rshipers AZ a fOrtil-
er traveller surmlsed but IL more prob
ably a place Of refuge. a stronghold ln
which shere may have resided a power
ful chlcftAln OF bygone days who eN-
acted homage from his yassuls. The
| group Is slightly over four hundred
| feet long by two hundred feet wide,
| surrounded by u solid wall OF pressed
earth yard or more thick and now
! from eight to fifteen feet high ON
| two corners have already been unoarth-
! cd an piEht-toom basttpn ana Il tWo-
room lookout The great house lise II
resss above the center Of the enclosure,
thanked by pla gas and groups OF small
or houses arranged IN an ordered plan
On one side is large opening prob
ably the entrance, and about the whole,
outside the wall, run traces Of q ditch
which connects at one corner with an
adjacent depression In the ground.
Beyond the wallis are mounds of all
sizes and shHpes--rnounds which prod
ding has proved to he of many origins.
There are mounds formed OF ashes and
debris, The larger ones are burial
nlounds--treasure houses for the arch.
eoipgist--rlph In mOrtuary offerings and
human remains There ere mounds OF
earth left from clearing out springs.
There Is o fourth class of many re-
mains Of "utra-urban single houses
which may hold the solution to the
whole makeup Of the city.
ANCESTORS OF INDIANS.
What sort OF people were these first
Americans who have left only silent
evidence of their pro- Column btan life?
II Is established that they We're ances-
tors Of the Indl0ns--that they bore lit
I've resemblance either 10 AsiaticS or 10
Africans. Wherever they came from
originally. they must have been Alneri-
Cans for a large total of generations
Closely allied TO the Pima trioe OF the
present day conservative estimates
would place their number Well up into
thousands in each city
1t has been pet theory OF ethnolo-
gists 10 account for these vast western
ruins by a series OF many occupations
OF The same site. marking each return
by the construction OF a temple or
gathering place or a compound" as
Or. Fewskes has termed these large
blocks OF buildings. One relic at least
speaks OF a vast population in words
thar are cear--the network of irriga-
ton bitches cons ructed from the ella
and the Salt rivers. DUG, as they must
have been, with crude stone tmple-
mentS, the dirt was then labofiously
carried away III baskets strung across
the. backs OF the women Imagination
win conjure up the number of work.
eTs niece ssaTy to complete in this man
ner a ditch found by Mr., CuChing trace
able NJ least calculation for IS miles
ALONG SCIENTIFIC LINES.
All the Arizona Investigations of the
Smithsonian Institute are being con-
Quoted with scientific caution. Much
of the labor is performed by Indians
who are perhaps the descendants OF the
very men whose homes they are un-
earthIng- Such relics as have been dis
covered Wall be carefully shipped to tho
National Museum 10 be compared by
experts with other specimens of Indian
work. DR. Fewkes has reserved his
own conclusions until the completion of
the excavations when whatever definite
theories he may have established will
be embodied In a complete report on
the Casa Grande and its vicinity.
One OF his most recent letters 60 the
Smithsonian says
II believe the excavation and prptec-
ton OF the rufus on the Casa Graude
reservation may be made the most Inn
portant archaeological work She Smith
sOntan has ever undertaken and If COM
pleted as begun Will be a valuable con-
fribntlOn 10 the advancement OF
knowledge among men,. Allow lne to
emphasize one feature OF the archeolo-
glcal work of the Smithsonian at Casa
Grande this winter. So far as / know
up to the present year no museum In
stitution or private worker has ever
done anything to protect aud preserve
walls of buildings In southwestern
ruins, brought To- light by eXcslvations,
but have left them to be destroyed by
the clemens.
by protecting the walls as well as
spe clmens found IN archaeological exca-
vatlons the institute has InAugurated |
new epoch In Southwestern field work."