Show footprints OF A LOST LOSTRO PEOPLE archaeological archeological Arche researches in arizona 0 jC CURIOUS URIOUS antiquities FOUND people hunted driven and slaughtered A glimpse at t the palace of the boost kins kings TUB the article on the antiquities of lutah utah from the pen of I Wat Darins fus interested me very much as I 1 it recalls personal experience through which I 1 passed beare ago in la arizona and mexico among the rains ruins that are scattered ever those countries in the sierra made madva range in mexico there are some very interesting remains tomeo come 0 which I 1 have visited I 1 bare have found all of them wonderful even in decay are usually situated in desolate 11 tap dangerous and for bidding forbidding localities I 1 last such places as s mm man without foes would never nover choose fora for home few of these places however are well prax served AH of choie I 1 visited rI visited sited in me mexico c 0 showed 1 that they had been stormed by an enemy the occupants asiar dered the adored and then the pe perishable rish parts of the structures destroyed b by I 1 fire A it astin arizona bowe however that 1 found the mast most extensive remains ren sAina of this old race there is not a single valler valley in all of arizona bat does not cibit ruins rains of its industry for more thin two years I 1 examined and studied the of rl this dead and it is with pleasure that I 1 ravert revert to the time when I 1 wandered through their cities on the gila river up and down salt river on the santa oroz cruz river hundreds of square miles show old walls wallo canals irrigating ditches res and pyramids NOT are these eulais rains confined to the river valleys they extend far out on the desolate plains to which the canals bad had been car ried from the distant rivers in thoss days of my sojourn in arizona there were no railroads there and where what is now known as the casa grande stood afar a far on the desolate plains of the gila this structure ore was built of concrete its walla walls were five eve feet thick and through its walla walls large wo wooden 0 don beams at one time supported the fl fleors ore and partitions that divide divided the building into compartment compartments there was not one fragment of cd wend re ma mainline main taing lne the land around Is level and i the obscured lines of the canal ran a away way across the plain toward the gila until antil lost in the horizon gama grass cactus arte artemesia mesta twigs and stunted mesquite mee quite were all that met the eye as it swept the plain broleen pottery and other objects of ancient handiwork lay scattered in every direction but on everything the hand of destruction had bad done its work the pyramids ids of egypt dabow no greater marks ot lot than does this old lain ruin th that at stands in its desolate majesty on nn the broad plains of the gila what interesting erestine int tales these old windswept wind swept walls could tell were the gift of given them I 1 I 1 eat sat for hours gazing on the rifted drifted of masonry the hard cedar wood had centuries ago disappeared the sun sao the winds and the rain had each in tarn forages for ages worked to level the mighty fabric but bat enough yet remained to arouse the wonder and sympathy of the ba holder and coshow to show him that a great people once dwelt there before having visited the caad grando grande I 1 bad had een seen the valley of 0 the silt salt river and made examinations of the extensive ruins of villages and cities that exist for fifty miles up and down that broad re gion everywhere everywhere rained wall brash grown pyramid partially filled reservoir and half hall destroyed canal bore testimony to the industry ind ostry an and d civilization of those who in old ti times m es made that region A land laud of wealth and beat beauty ity the soil of the valley Is a rich brown loam and over all its extent where the Ame american farmer turned up the sod for agriculture stone axes earthen pots lance beads stone idols bone implements clements ts and an occasional article of beaten gold turned up before the plow chare phare the same signs and objects I 1 found along the gila river also in baull valley in big and little chino valleys Newa cargo valley santa cruz valley on the plains of the hassa hass yampa on the hieb high mesas lease and at every pass throughout alizna Ar izina izna what grest greet workers in stone the men of got this lost nation were I 1 their axes and idols were cot cut from the hardest green py syenite enite and some of them made ir from ora green groan and yellow jasper beautifully pol polo jobed gsAnger rings beads brace lela jela and and osbar ornaments made from green ajaj turquoise baa mica and sul clay have been en taken from the ruina ruins of the great valley 0 salt raw the richest of which unfortunately word CA car ried away or cast aside aa as worthless objects by those who found them while in mexico I 1 had frequent cn conversations with spaniards who visited arizona in quest of mineral wealth and I 1 always found those men much interested in the ancient ruins rains they had met with during their wanderings in in quest ol 01 cold gold or silver through the wilds of that country having been overtaken one stormy night at a fayelda or nr inn about a half days journey from migda lena lens in the state of banora I 1 found myself in company with two very intelligent gentlemen e a clemen who were also travelers and fi like k myself overtaken by the storm one of them was a catholic priest named father backard by birth birt a walloon dutchman of magnificent physical and makeup make up a grand head on broad shoulders he lie had been a missionary for some time over arizona and waa was now on bin his way to Mazit Maz atlan lan where be he would embark for central america the other traveler was a man of aboud about fifty years of age a native of old spain named pedro Ando naza ue ile bad had been miner and trader during many years in arizona and northern mexico was well educated a close observer of 0 the re gions through which be he bad had traveled and I 1 found both him and father beckard backard juat just euch such man aa as I 1 like to meet anywhere the evening was an extremely wild and stormy one and aa as the hours d deepened ad into night I 1 was glad that I 1 bod fal fallen in with each such rood good company oar landlord adlord la domingo ayala and his wife did all the they could to make OB us comfortable our r males bad 1 been well cared lor for we had a rood good supper of stowed stewed mutt n potatoes chile colorado mexican bread and very good coffae to add to IAB tao comfort ot of the evening lue lii landlord laaU ord bad had a goat gat skin billed with very verv good five year old wine and well pea pleasnt sod with hia his guests he tapped the goat akin the night was wet and cold without and we gathered around a good fire of maite wood hatiye clarc and arack quite frequently irum from the cut cju fanta ats of the goat akin skin oar landlord hd been a so soldier liter under juarez during the wars of maximilian bad had seen hard service sai vico and loved to relate his deeds of heroism one subject followed another until war politics religion learning learn inz inse travel mining marriage murder highway rob robbery berr and the art of moneymaking money making bad had each in turn been touched upon and at length the conversation turned upon the strange remains of sonora and aud arizona up to this time I 1 had seen been much of these ruina ruins myself but bat I 1 now was in the company of men whom I 1 M found ad to be much better posted on american antiquities than ilan I 1 waa was whose study in many lands and among various races entitled them to much respect in their opinions father ackard told of bow how he bad had a explored the verde valley to its bead head and of the wonderful ro remains miltis found there of the vast number of bouses houses still standing on the cliffs that skirt the eastern side of the valley and of all the aqueducts and reservoirs that inset meet the eye at every tarn the spanish ish gentleman had been to the verde valley aleo also and bore bare testimony to the wonderful ruins that covered the district Ando naza told of how father niza in ia the year 1539 visited the gila river and of his discovery of the casa granda grande then an old weather beaten ruins rains as today to day and of how this same father niza in bis his missionary wanderings discovered the ruins rains on salt river and oa on the verde F father ther beckard related of how the lieutenants of cortez in visiting southern arezina fo found and it a land of ruins rains and of how father Le Led alamao in the year 1760 wandered over arizona and took drawings 1 I go of most of the ruins rains and wrote a long dissertation on them this record with the drawings still lie unpublished amongst the royal archives of the ea es celal corralin cori alin in madrid both father beckard and senor antonaz told of a wonderful ruin that existed in the wooded foot hills of the blo mogollon gollon munt mountains ains some eight miles east of 0 verde valley few white men bad had ever reached it father beckard seemed to think that it bad had never been visited by a white m in as it was situated in a mighty cliff far up in the mountains and deep chasms keep back the intruder who would fain invade the ancient buildings the spaniards of early daya days learned of its existence from tha th apaches and it became known as I 1 IE el I 1 palacio antigua de log los keys roy per perd idoa didos I 1 I 1 or the ancient palace of the alst kings father beckard backard elated stated that one bright bummer summer evening in the highlands southwest of camp verde be he stood gazing on the sunlit mountains to the eastward and through the rift of a it mighty gorge he saw a white building baU dinc far far up in the wooded cliffa cliffs of the mogollon Moo Mogo lloa llou range the light fell full apon upon it there bauge a stood oad a high tower flanking it on the vest west and the main building seemed to stand within the area of a tremendous cavern in the limestone cliffs and from the face of these clita pine and cedar trees were growing I 1 had a paw pw erfal glass he said and for hilf half an hour I 1 gaad the walla wallet that stood as a vision against the dark faoa of the mi 31 bolion in stepping but a few feet in cither either direction the walls 0 of tha the distant gorge shot it out from view and as tha the ean sun want went down shadows obscured the entire scene leaving ma me to my reflections fig on the people who once inhabited these wilds of arizona As the night grew old we retired retire dand and on the morrow we parted fo revar revor I 1 taking northward north ward into arizona and they going their res respective roads yet my mind was wits fi filled with the statements which they gave of central cantral arizona and so much impressed wag was I 1 that in three weeks from that time I 1 found myself in the valley of the verde river engaged in the exploration of the ruins rains and ready to search for the palace of the lost kings at that time there was a garrison of the united states troops at camp verde and lad from a captain burns barns stationer stat stationed ionea there I 1 learned that captain crawford awford Or since killed while on a chase after I 1 indians in mexico bad had some years before visited the palace of the lost kings he lie reported rented it a wonderful structure in perfect e preservation and this captain burna burns informed me of the extensive ruins rains farther up the valley vall As I 1 had to remain hero here some time because emuse I 1 had some accounts to settle with the government and the paymaster would not be along for a few daye days I 1 put in that time la in exploring the valley I 1 will be brief with ahlo as detail would take up tip too much space in your columns I 1 found far forty miles up the verde valley tho the most extensive and ina best preserved ruins rains seen at any placa place in arizona the bouses houses stood on high elevations along the valley the walla are bill still well preserved preFer ved built ol 01 atone stone very thick and usually two or three stories in bight the doors and windows small where ones once the joists foists of timber rested in the walls large openings like the gun holes in ina a fort give a strange look tn t those structures large court yarda enclosed by high stone walla walls ti anally eur surround round these old ruins rains and the interior of the buildings are filled with debris and grass or brush grown in some cases trees of considerable size grow there choosing a favorable looking cluster of old ruins rains about ten mile i north of camp verde verdo I 1 employed three men to assist me in excavating cava ting the interior fine oak braes and denso dense chap parral filled the desolate spaces and when these wera removed we threw throw down from the cliff quantities of black soil which seemed to have accumulated there since the dost destruction str st of its inhabitants there was three feet in depth of this soil then we reached stones stories and charred timbers it seemed that no moisture bad evar ever penetrated through this depth as when we moved the black soil clay and charred timbers tim bera we came upon three F skeletons or bodies ot of fall grown men tny lay near to each other and one of them lay on his face on oni arm extence ex tendel I 1 the other at bia his bida side the skull had been broken and black musses masses of 0 what I 1 took to be coagulated blod bloid lav lay on thi ma mma as of black hair and nd around the face tha other two mummies lay in disordered position the faces upturned and the skull of one of mhd M i WAS open and the atone stone axe still where tw death blow had been riven given tae coa coain ua on them bodies consisted of a conrad cloth something like burlap trousers tro asera reached nearly to the knie and a sleeveless shirt wrapped the trunk of 0 the body this upper garment opened oa on the and arid was lAst fastened ened with pieces of bone about an inch loae long serving as a buttons around the neck ot of one bad had been suspended the figure of a bird cut from jade andon another rested a figure representing a terrapin stone axes and other articles lay on the floor near these bodies oa on attempting to remove the remains remaina each mummy fell to pieces but we lifted them all carefully and placed them out ida side the booth south wall in the courtyard and proceeded with our work anesa adles b idles were found in the south west corner of the building and continuing oar our laberee lab labor erwe we soon came upon more burned wood and the remains of two more men mon these had been badly burned but the charred SKull the fine heads reaching the southeast corner cornar of this same apartment we came upon an earth en ea pot which was sitting on what bad had been an old hearthstone beart betone it was filled with clay and partly broken by our pick but in the bottom of this pot we found the bones of a rabbit the skull and some othe of the other bones of A child of per haps three months old and the tho bulls of what bad had baan bean grains of corn the bones hopes of the childs head were almont as thin as paper and went to pieces some hours after exposure to the air we found the remains of a woman women quite well preserved but the condition of which we will not speak of here we did not know what to think of the human found in the pot could these men man have hive been cannibals cannibal 0 or were they besieged and forced to eat their domestic pats pate and their own infant children I 1 it BO go why not have cooked the the rabbit and corn first and the child later on 7 the remains of that child that rabbit and the corn in that pot brought up queer ideas and thoughts though ta in our minds and added to the grim ghastliness of the scene which our excavations brought to light the burned |