The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-10-23

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these people were. when they existed,
and what finally became OF them.
Long Before Christian Era.
Those archseolOgists who have
worked only in Egypt, Babylonia and
Palestine do mol hesitate, from their
classical experiences, TO give such
mounds as the Pajaritan groups an age
OF al least three thousand years. Men
sehooled in. American archaeology are
more conservative, even hesitating in
placing the antiquity Of these people
beyond one-third OF One-half that given
by the scientists trained along the
banks Of the Mediterranean. However,
be this as il may, if we attach to Pa
Tartan culture so conservative an age
as one thousand years, and then. BY
comparison with the present condition
or the earlier ruins and the effect of
the elements upon them. we must GER
tainly reach the conclusion that the
pre- PajaTitan" pueblOs were aban-
doned between five hundred and one
thousand years before the Christian era
was born.
There is really nothing left by which
We can become acquainted with this
long-Iorgotten people. Scientists or
International reputation have made OBJ
OJo Caliente, but the earlier occupa-
1ons escaped this notice entirely. 1t
would no doubt surprise all OF them 10
learn that two of the largest of these
PaJaritan groups, POsege and Houiri,
had been built upon the ruins OF this
older civilization. That these ruins
have been overlooked by trained men
only shows how little there is left for
the student TO work upon, and strong
~ supports the suppOsitiOn as 10 the
great age they represent.
Massive Towers Erected.
The accompanying word sketch gives
fairly accurate idea of what one
can see today on a pre-Pajaritan town
site. The central citadel or elevated
kiVa, whatever il may have been. is by
no means part of every group. The
circular plot surrounding il is found
IN nearly every ruin, but Oftentimes
nothing or very little remains TO indi-
cate that a great mass of prehistoric
architecture once lowered above. These
round mounds. from their location in
respect to the rest of the town, tend TO
snow that they must have served the
same purpose as the estufa in the Pa
Tartan or pFesent-day pueblOs.
The life germ OF the community must
have originated within these walls, for
the buildings Were without doubt, eX-
tended out from IL as a center. Two or
more principal streets lead TO the CEN
others connect with these. giving the
village a well defined system OF ave-
nues and alleyWays.
The individual rooms vary in size.
Some or them were 100 feet long; 9TH
ers appear to have been only a few feet
square. The walls, where they are
visible, are nothing more than a row
OF large rocks. half buried in the sand.
inside these walls are other connected
or completely isolated boulders. whose
- 81 nm L. rk~T-
enclosed space Is paved with a layer
OF cobblestones, which appear TO have
been gathered from the open plots in
the village and from the lake-washed
canyon rims
There IS nothing holding them to-
gether, but undoubtedly they We're once
covered with an adobe floor which, like
the mud walls, has long ago been COM
pietely dissolved by dashing rains and
winter SHOWS.
Towns strikIagly similar.
The number and general similarity
OF these pre-Pajaritan towns is remark
a bic. The Anticipated remains were
found 10 exist in every district investi-
gated for a stretch OF ten miles in Ojo
Callente, throughout the length of
Chama canyon and along the Pho
Grande between Chamita and La Joya
The three weeks at the disposal of the
expedition did not permit OF further
observations, but II Is certain that the
same indications will be noticed in ali
of the canyons in this locality, il not
throughout the whole length OF the
Rio Grande.
In Ojo Caliente, where the greater
part or the allotted time was spent.
and where the discovery was made, the
old cities were traced on all of the
three lake levels that form the can
yon walls. Without eXaggeration. these
old towns were built within a stones
hFnVV ~ af nd . h.
tire bench. from the precipiee 10 the
foot OF the next receding bluff
These pre-PaJaritan peoples, like those
that followed them. were agricultural.
Ihey titled the wide mesa tops and the
slopes leading up 10 them. The hill
sides were teFraced like those of Chi
ma, India and Peru. The size OF these
Is. of course. unknown, and
always viii be, but they must have
been extensive 10 support the enormous
population dependent upon them The
dwellings were no doubt rude one-story
but the space they covered
and the total number Of them could
shelter thousands Of persons.
What became of Thems
logical question is. What became
OF this old people? There is no an
swer. for there has been. in the few
weeks We have known them, no clue
discovered that can lead to a correct
Of the difficulty.
We know that the Pajaritan pueblos
were abandoned because OF failure OF
natural resources. a gradual lessening
Of the annual water supply, until the
clans gathered about the
springs before Separating
entirely Tor more fertile, far-removed
valleys.
This much earlier people could not
have suffered similar discomfitures for
they occupied the same sites as the
Paiaritans, a people who a thousand
years later enjoyed an Overa hundanca
3f rainfall. We know simply that they
existed. that they disappeared, and that
they left no key 10 their Individuality
II may be that they. like the Paiarf-
ANS. gradually separated along elan
distinctions and wandered to different
,arfs Of the continent Soo,a r,fe~i+