EXPLORATIONS IN THE GRAND CANYON Mysteries of Immense Rich Cavern Being Brought to Light JORDAN IS ENTHUSED
REMARKABLE FINDS INDICATE ANCIENT PEOPLE MIGRATED FROM ORIENT.
The latest news
of the progress of the explorations or what is now regarded
by Scientists as not only the oldest archaeological
discovery in the United States, but one
of the most valuable in the world, which was mentioned some time ago in
the Gazette, was brought to the city yesterday
by G.E. Kinkaid, the
explorer who found the great underground citadel of the Grand Canyon during a
trip from Green River, Wyoming, down the Colorado, in a wooden boat,
to Yuma, several months ago. According to he story related to the Gazette
by Mr. Kinkaid, the archaeologists of the Smithsonian Institute, which
is financing the expeditions, have made
discoveries which almost conclusively prove that the race which inhabited
this mysterious cavern, hewn in solid rock by human hands, was of oriental
origin, possibly from Egypt, tracing back to
Ramses. If their
theories are borne out by the translation of the tablets engraved with hieroglyphics,
the mystery of the prehistoric peoples of North America, their ancient
arts, who they were and whence they came will be solved. Egypt and
the Nile, and Arizona and the Colorado will be linked by a historical chain
running back to ages, which staggers the
wildest fancy of the
fictionist.
A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION.
Under the
direction of Professor. SA. Jordan, the Smithsonian
Institute is now prosecuting the most
thorough explorations, which will be continued until the last
link in the chain is forged. Nearly a mile underground, about 1480 feet
below the surface, the long main passage has
been delved into, to
find another mammoth chamber from which radiates scores of passageways, like
the spokes of a wheel. Several hundred rooms have been discovered,
reached by passageways running from the main passage, one of those having
been explored is 854 feet and another 634 feet. The recent finds
include articles, which have never been known as native to this country and
doubtless they had their origin in the orient.
War weapons,
copper instruments, sharp - edged and hard as steel, indicate the high state of civilization reached
by these strange people. So interested have the
scientists become that preparations are being made to equip the camp for
extensive studies, and the force will be increased to thirty or forty persons.
"Before going further into the cavern, better
facilities for
lighting will have to be installed, for the darkness
is dense and quite impenetrable for the average
flashlight. In order to avoid being lost, wires are
being strung from the entrance to all passageways leading directly
to large chambers. How far this cavern
extends no one can guess, but it is now the
belief of many that what has already been
explored is merely the
"barracks", to use an American term, for the soldiers, and that far into
the under-world will be found the main communal dwellings of the
families. The perfect ventilation of the cavern, the steady draught
that blows through, indicates that it has another outlet to the
surface.
MR. KINKAID'S REPORT.
Mr. Kinkaid was
the first white child born in Idaho and has been an explorer and hunter all his life, thirty years
having been in the service of the Smithsonian
Institute. Even briefly recounted, his history sounds fabulous, almost grotesque.
First, I would impress that the cavern is nearly inaccessible.
The entrance is 1,486 feet down the sheer canyon wall. It is located on
government land and no visitor will be allowed there under penalty of
trespass. The scientist's wish to work unmolested, without fear of the
archaeological discoveries being disturbed by curio or relic hunters. A
trip there would be fruitless, and the visitor would be sent on his way.
The story of how I found the cavern has been related, but in a paragraph: I was journeying down the
Colorado River in a boat, alone, looking for mineral. Some forty two
miles up the river from the El Tovar Crystal canyon, I saw on the east
wall, stains in the sedimentary formation about
2,000 feet above the
river bed. There was no trail to this point, but I finally reached it with
great difficulty. Above a shelf, which hid it from view from the river,
was the mouth of the cave. There are steps leading from this entrance
some thirty yards to what was, at the time the
cavern was inhabited,
the level of the river. When I saw the chisel marks on the wall inside the
entrance, I became interested, securing my gun and went in. During that trip, I went
back several hundred feet along the main passage till I came to the crypt in
which I discovered the mummies. One of these I stood up and photographed
by flashlight. I gathered a number of relics, which I carried down the
Colorado to Yuma, from whence I shipped them to Washington with details of
the discovery. Following this, the explorations were
undertaken.
THE PASSAGES
"The main
passageway is about 12 feet wide, narrowing to nine feet
toward the farther end. About 57
feet from the entrance, the first side-passages branch off to the right and
left, along which, on both sides, are a number of rooms about the
size of ordinary living rooms of today, though some are 30 by 40 feet
square. These are entered by oval-shaped doors and are ventilated by round
air spaces through the walls into the passages. The walls are
about three feet six inches in thickness. The passages are chiselled or
hewn as straight as could be laid out by an
engineer. The ceilings
of many of the rooms converge to a center. The side-passages near the
entrance run at a sharp angle from the main hall, but toward the rear,
they gradually reach a right angle in direction.
THE SHRINE.
Over a hundred
feet from the entrance is the cross-hall, several hundred feet long in which is found the idol, or image,
of the people's god, sitting cross-legged, with
lotus flower or lily in each hand. The cast of the face is oriental, the
carving shows a skillful hand, and the entire object is remarkably well
preserved, as is everything in this cavern. The idol almost resembles
Buddha, though the scientists are not certain as to what religious worship it
represents. Taking into consideration everything found thus far,
it is possible that this worship most resembles the ancient people
of Tibet. Surrounding this idol are smaller images, some very beautiful
in form; others crooked-necked and distorted shapes, symbolical probably,
of good and evil. There are two large cactus with protruding arms, one on
each side of the dais on which the god squats. All this is carved
out of hard rock resembling marble. In the opposite corner of this
cross-hall were found tools of all descriptions, made of copper. These
people undoubtedly knew the lost art of hardening this metal, which has been
sought by chemists for centuries without result. On a bench running
around the workroom was some charcoal and other material probably used
in the process. There is also slag and stuff similar to matte, showing that these ancients
smelted ores, but so far, no trace of where or how this was done has
been discovered, nor the origin of the ore.
"Among the other finds
are vases or urns and cups of copper and gold, made very artistic in
design. The pottery work includes enameled ware and glazed vessels. Another
passageway leads to granaries such as are found in the oriental temples.
They contain seeds of various kinds. One very large storehouse has not yet been entered, as it is
twelve feet high and can be reached only from above. Two copper hooks
extend on the edge, which indicates that some sort of ladder was attached.
These grannies are rounded, as the materials of which they are
constructed, I think is a very hard cement. A Gary metal is also found in
this cavern, which puzzles the scientists, for its identity has not been
established. It resembles platinum. Strewn promiscuously over the floor everywhere are what
people call 'cats eyes,' a yellow stone of no great value. Each one is
engraved with the head of the Malay type.
THE HIEROGLYPHICS.
"On all the urns,
or walls over doorways, and tablets of stone which were found by the image are the mysterious
hieroglyphics, the key to which the Smithsonian Institute hopes
yet to discover. The engraving on the tablets probably has something to do
with the religion of the
people. Similar
hieroglyphics have been found in southern Arizona. Among the pictorial writings, only
two animals are found. One is of prehistoric type.
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