America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D.Bowen, Benjamin Franklin
History
America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D.
Bowen, Benjamin Franklin
America -- Discovery and exploration -- Welsh
The view has been entertained by some who have given this subject
attention that it was at this point in the progress of the migrations
that Madoc and his followers finally became amalgamated with the Aztecs.
Within the past few years, several visits have been made by the members
of Wheeler's Surveying Expedition--Samuel Woodworth Cozzens and a few
others--to the seven wonderful cities of the Moquis, situated near the
Colorado Chiquito, in Arizona.
Dr. Oscar Leow, chemist to Wheeler's Surveying Expedition, has
contributed a brief but intensely interesting article to the "Popular
Science Monthly" for July, 1874, on "The Moquis Indians of Arizona." By
reference to the Indian reports, it appears that this nation has never
been brought in contact with the Indian Bureau, nor with the Arizona
agency, although within its jurisdiction. Small appropriations have
recently been made for them; and it is likely that much more will soon
be learned about them,--their habits, industries, language, and strange
history.
Their seven cities stand upon very high, precipitous cliffs of
sandstone, which, when seen in the distance, present such bold fronts
that it appears out of the question for any one to think of climbing
them. As the traveller approaches, however, he discovers narrow and
circuitous paths, which must be passed over single file, up and up, till
the summit is reached. On this giddy height is the home of the Moquis.
Dr. Leow terms it the "Gibraltar of the West," which the Navajos and
Apaches have never been able to conquer. The Moquis number about two
thousand five hundred. The cities rest on four sandstone
_mesas_,--tables,--which are about eight miles apart. On the first table
are three of the cities, named Tehua, Tsitsumo-vi, and Obiki; on the
second are Mushangene-vi and Shebaula-vi; the third is Shongoba-vi; and
on the fourth is Orai-vi.
The houses are built in rows of two, three, and four stories in height,
and constructed in terrace style, with the upper stories removed a few
feet back from the lower ones. The sides fronting the bluffs are quite
near, with only a narrow ledge along which to walk, and where the
children were seen by the doctor, playing, unconscious of danger, while
the mothers were within the houses performing their duties, though an
awful gulf hundreds of feet in depth yawned beneath. Here the
habitations are not built of adobe, like Indian and Mexican huts, but of
stones firmly held in place by a cement of clay and sand. The stories
are about seven feet high, divided into rooms, and each provided with a
fire-place. Windows are cut into the walls about a foot square.
The architecture of these stone houses bears a marked conformity with
that of the ruder ages among the Welsh.
The physical appearance of the Moquis is a nearer approach to that of
the Caucasian than to that of the Mongolian race. The complexion is a
light red-brown, and the countenance unusually intelligent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account