Newspaper Article from January 6, 1858 about massive buildings discovered already in

existence in America before colonization.

Raftsman's journal., January 06, 1858 (Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive)

ANTIQUITIES IN AMERICA.
by S.B. Row

Throughout the entire length and breadth of the country washed, as it is by the waters
of two mighty oceans, and abounding in natural resources enormous beyond what is impossible
to conceive we find much to admire in the aspect and beauty of nature and whether
we travel from the distant shores of Maine and New Brunswick to the golden sands of California,
and the shores of the great Pacific, or from the bright crystal lakes of Minnesota to
the orange groves of Florida, we behold throughout the immense extent, the features of nature,
grand and beautiful in every form and aspect.

The minerologist, the geologist, the naturalist, the botanist, and even the antiquarian,
all a rich field here.

Strange as It may appear, America abounds in antiquities, so extensive, so beautiful aud

majestic, as to rival those of Thebes or Nineveh.

Ruins of ancient cities, of immense extent; fortifications, mounds and pyramids;

temples with walls built of hewn stone showing a refined taste in architecture and adorned
with human figures, beautifully executed; large alters ornamented with hieroglyphics, probably
giving a record of those who reared them, but which no man has been able to decipher;
remains of ancient palaces, with beautiful specimens of sculpture and painting, with many
other marks of ancient greatness, prove to us that this is not a new world, but that a
powerful empire existed at a very remote period of time, teeming with a population
highly skilled in arts, and in a state of civilization far beyond anything we have been led to
conceive of the aborigines, previous to the discovery of the continent by
Europeans.
The antiquities of America extend from the eastern shores of Maine and Massachusetts to
the Pacific, and from the great lakes and British dominions, to Peru and La Plata in South
America ; in fact, throughout the extent of both continents. Immense forests grow over the ruins
of large cities, and the gigantic size of the trees, with indications that other generations of trees
sprung up and grew before them, proves that the ruins were in existence before the Christian era.

In every portion of the United States interesting ruins have been discovered. In the State of
New York have been found sculptured figures of one hundred animals of different species,
executed in a style far superior to anything exhibited by any of the existing tribes of Indians. The
State of Ohio abounds in ruins of towns and fortifications, with extensive mounds and
pyramids. At Marietta, and in Missouri, beautiful pottery, silver and copper ornaments, and
pearls of great beauty and lustre, have been dug from the earth. In the caves of Tennessee and
Kentucky, mummies have been found, in a high state of preservation, clothed with cloths and
skins of various texture, in-laid with feathers.
Like discoveries have been made at Carrolton, near Milwaukie, in the State of Wisconsin—
ruins of huge fortifications appear. Similar ruins appear in the State of Missouri. On the
south side of the Missouri river, in the western portion of the State, is an enclosure of
some five hundred acres, which includes the ruins of a building (no doubt ancient tower)
with walls over one hundred feet high, and eighty feet wide at the base, attached to which
are a redoubt and citadel, with work much resembling the structure of a tower in Europe. But
it is in the south of Mexico that magnificent and beautiful ruins present themselves in
abundance. Ruins of majestic cities and magnificent temples and altars, with beautiful works
of sculpture, tastefully wrought; palaces adorned with paintings— colors chiefly sky-blue
and light green which show by their richness and elegance, to be the work of highly
cultivated people.

These ruins, majestic and beautiful in appearance, but overgrown with thick forests of
mahogany and cedar of immense dimensions and great age, prove to the world that a great
empire existed here at a very remote period of time, and that this empire teemed with an
immense population, a people skilled in the mechanical arts, and in advanced state of
cultivation.

The most extensive ruins are to be found at Uxmial and Palenque, in the southeast
of Mexico. At Uxmal are immense pyramids, coated with stone, and quadrangular
stone edifices and terraces. The highest of these pyramids is 130 feet, and on the summit
it supports a temple; on one of the facades of the temple are four human figures, cut in stone,
with great exactness and elegance. The hands are crossed upon the breast, the head is covered
with something like a helmet, about the neck is a garment of the skin of an alligator, and over
each body is a figure of a death's head and bones.

At Palenque— a city of great extent— are immense ruins, with the remains of a royal palace.
One temple, that of Copan, 520 feet by 600, and supposed to have been as large as St.
Peter's at Rome. Another temple of great dimensions is here, having an entrance by a portico
one hundred leet long and ten feet broad ; it stands on an elevation of sixty feet. The pillars of the
portico are adorned with Hieroglyphics and other devices. Different objects of worship have
been found— representations of the gods — who were worshipped in this country.
These temples, with fourteen large buildings, and many other objects of curiosity, stand here as
monuments of ancient greatness, to remind us of the remote origin of a mighty
empire. The city has been described as the Thebes of America, and travellers have supposed that
it must have been sixty miles in circumference, and contained a population of
3,000,000 souls.

Centuries must have elapsed, and dynasties succeeded each other, before such orders of
architecture were introduced, and a great length of time must have passed before an
empire would become sufficiently powerful to erect such temples, and possess a city of such
vast extent. In looking back to the past we feel interested in the imagination that this
people once in the noonday of glory, enjoying all the fruits and luxuries of an advanced civ
ilization ; but when we behold these ruins, & melancholy reflection must at once seize our
minds. On the ground where once nations met in their strength and power, wild beasts
now roam, and venomous serpents wend their way ; and over these vast cities, where once
the busy hum of industry and the voice of merriment resounded, grows the vast cedar,
on whose branches the owl chatters discordant notes and the bat sleeps at meridian. In this
country is exhibited the largest pyramid in the world— that of Colula, near Puebla. It
covers 41 acres, and is 200 feet high, on its summit was a temple, and in the interior has
been discovered a vault, roofed with beams of wood, containing skeletons and idols; several
smaller pyramids surrounded this large one. It appears to have been formed by cutting a
hiil into an artificial shape. Its dimensions are immense, being nearly three miles in cir
cumference, and about 400 feet high-- . It is divided into terraces and slopes, covered with
platforms, stages and bastions, elevated, one above the other, and are formed with large
stones skillfully cut and jointed with cemcnt. In some respects the style of architecture
resembles the Gothic, being massive and durable, while in other respects it resembles
the Egyptian yet the general construction manner and style of architecture is different
from anything hitherto described in the world. In Egypt, hieroglyphics on stone denote
remarkable events, which no one has yet been able to decipher.

A dark shade rests on the antiquities of America, and a few rays of light enliven the gloom.
We have ancient history to inform us of the events of Egypt— how that empire
was founded and how it prospered and fell— we have the same record of Babylon, Ninevah,
Greece, Homeland Carthage; but not the least information have we relative to those
who erected these cities, what people and whence they came ; not a ray of light to dispel the
dark gloom which seems to rest on the earliest history of America.

Architecture, sculpture, painting, and all the arts that adorn civilized life, have flourished
in this country, at a period far remote. There is evidence sufficient to prove that these
cities were in ruins at least (1,600 or 1,800) sixteen or
eighteen hundred years ago. In Palenque are the remains of an altar, over which
grows an immense cedar, whose powerful roots enshrine it. The whole city is overgrown with
mahogany and cedar trees, of enormous size. The concentric circles of some of these trees— the
well known cycles for a year— have been counted, which showed they were more than 800
years old, and there were indications of another generation of trees having sprung up before
them. How few reflect on the fact that America is an old dominion the seat of an ancient,
mighty empire. These facts are opening themselves every day to the eyes of the astonished
world, and it is to be hoped that the spirit of inquiry, which seems at present to animate all
classes of learned men, may throw light on the early history of this remarkable region.

— Raftsman's journal., January 06, 1858