Pre-historic Ruins

chunk 859 · paragraph 986

settlements, everything goes to prove, as all along the river for a distance of thirty-five or forty miles, evidence of former occupation are plainly visible. On the lower portion of the river, opposite the ranch of W. H. Taylor, the ruins of an extensive pueblo are seen. At a depth of seven feet from the surface, foundations of large building have been disr- covered, whilst all through the valley as well as for miles along the mesa and hill sides sur- rounding, pottery in every conceivable form is found. At one time, beyond the possibility of a doubt, what is now the fruitful Mimbres val- ley, was a deep gorge, which by reason of washings from the surrounding mountains for countless ages, has become filled with layers of silt for hundreds of feet. In a number of places where holes have been dug and excava- tions made, portions of human skeletons have been unearthed. The pre-historic residents allied as they doubtless were, to the cliff- dwellers, built their habitations upon the hill- sides, and as the gorge became gradually filled up, moved down into the valley and cultivated the soil. Far back on the mesas, evidences of crude ditches exist, cut into the rock and cement, all trending in a general way, towards the level mesas and valley below.