The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1913-03-05
WORLD MYSTERY
Early Civilization of the Twi.
Continents OF America.
THE SECRET OF THE PACIFIC.

A Riddle Still UnsoIved Is the oriei,
Of the Ancient ToItecs. Aztecs, Maya.
and Ineas-The Enigma That Lurk.
In Their Ruined Monuments.
1.-THE Secret Of the Pacific is the
title Of a book which deals with one
of the great mysteries of the world
the origin of the aborigines Of the Amer.
icas. The author-C. Reginald Enock
F. r. G. S.-answers his own ques.
ton. What do we mean by the secret
Of the Pacitic?" thus:
"Set between the worlds mightiest
oceans. the Pacific and the Atlantic,
lies that greatest of all islands, the
twin continents Of America. A great
mystery still shrouds these twin con.
tnents. a riddle still unread. for whose
solution the world may be said to have
waited 400 years. What is this mys.
terry?
History will have us believe that
until the end of the fifteenth century
these great seas had roared defiant. TN.
crossed by man. with the exception.
grudgingly admitted. of some shadowy
mortimer from Europe. and that these
great continents have been uuvisi:ed
ever since the world began. Yet scat
tered for thousands of miles through
out the forests and deserts of these
twin continents are the remains of civ
ilized empires which once t1ourishea
there-the ruined temples. palaces.
pyramids and habitations Of peoples
and nations who rose. fell and rose
again ages before the caravels of the
vikings and the conquistadores turned
their prows toward the setting sun.
"What l have ventured to term the
secret of the Pacific is the mystery sur
rounding the ancient civilization of the
Americas. the homes Of the Toltecs.
the Aztecs. the Mayas. the 1ncas and
their predecessors. What was their
origin? What was their connection
with each other? Had they any link
with the old world? Did they In old
en- times draw inspiration and knowl-
edge from Asia, Egypt, Babylon? II
not. and they sprang unaided from
their own soil and created their own
culture, what are or were the condi-
tons Of their independent develop |
ment?
1T has been my lot to traverse. at
least in part. those great regions Of
North and South America forming the |
western world which we have erro-
neously termed 'new'-the ancient !
world Of America before Columbus.
My travels have taken me upon the
trails of Cortes and Pizarro. trails
which in some cases are almost as re-
mote and difficult today as they were
when first traversed by the white man
from Europe and the horse first ascend |
ed the Andes.
But to these j~ourneyings we must
add other incursions through space |
and time. both real and %conjectural.
which will take us from Mexico to
Egypt. from Peru to Babylon. from the |
shores to the strange islands |
of Polynesia. From those broad re-
gions where the Toltec. the Aztec and |
the Inca 1ourished we must seek to |
up those threads which some
have ~conjectured lead to Asia.
What are the monuments left by
these ancient peoples. and what are
the evidences of their civilizations? |
For 1900 miles or more they lie upon
the western American lttoral and Cor
dilleras and seem to extend in isolated |
patches across the Pacific ocean In a
path to Asia. like vast STEP
ping stones between the old world and
the new. In the rock ravines and
scorching mesas Of Arizona and Call
wildernesses whose trails were
drst mapped out by the bones of hardy
explorers, are the abandoned habita-
lions Of the cliff dwellers.
ION the high slopes and tablelands
Of Mexico are strange pyramids and
mysterious courts and quadrangles. |
with carved stone halls about them, a
puzzle to the beholder. In the dense |
tropic forests of Yucatan are the sculp-
tured facades of palaces and pyramid
temples Of exceeding beauty and in
genuity. ruined and abandoned or sur
rounded here and there by the waffle
huts Of half savage Indians.
I'm Central America sculptured
stelae of great beauty and popularity |
protrude strangely from the jungle. |
while far away below the equator. |
along the scorching coast line Of Peru
and amid the bleak tablelands and
snow crowned ranges Of the Andes. |
Are cunningly wrought temples and i'm
pregnable fortresses. which could only
have been fashioned under the man.
dates Of ruthless new world pharaohs
Or devout American Solomons.
I'm the Mexican desserts and by the
Of the mysterious Lake Utica
"a Of the lncas the sun god and the
moon god held sway. and centuries ago
ancient worshipers raised
great temples to the unknown God
"Deepening the mystery still. there
arise strange and grim upon solitary
sea girt Pacific islands in the track If