river to Riverton in Nebraska and still
have time left in which to explore as far
north as Lincoln in Nebraska.
The chronicler states that the villages
were along the streams , which had wide
valleys and but little water. The relief
of the country shows this condition to
exist from the Kansas river along the
Blue and its tributaries , clear to River-
ton ; and , also , north as far as Lincoln.
In the Kansas field , the relics left in the
villages indicate that three different
tribes of people inhabited them from
time to time ; two who seemed to leave
only stone implements , and one which
left pottery , shell ornaments and bone
implements. The stone workers differed
in the kind and shape of their imple
ments , and showed little indication of
agriculture ; while with the few
pottery shards found , implements of
agriculture were unmistakably identi
fied.
1 No Spaniard , however disappointed in
his search for gold and empires , could
fail to mfcfition the noble Platte river if
he had once beheld its broad and tran
quil bosom. The first view of that river
from the hill tops is one of awe , and
i would never be forgotten by those
Spaniards if they had ever seen it. So
we may conclude they never saw the
Platte. This conclusion is important in
its bearing upon what is to follow in
these papers , so please note it carefully.
They heard of a great river , however ,
farther on , but did not go to it as they
were told , so one writer states , that this
was the end of Quivera. Now may
they not have misunderstood or other
wise have been mistaken , or may not
Ooronado have influenced this state
ment and they have been only in the
outlaying villages of that great empire
after all ?
I You will remember that Quivera was
N the objective point in the Ooronado ex
pedition and if they were tired of the
search , or had strong influences draw
ing them homeward , ( as we have seen
they had ) would they not be desirous to
hear that : "This is the end of Quivera ? "
And , farther , would they not have been
likely to terminate their expedition with
"The end" whether they really heard it
or not ?
Quivera must have been a vast em
pire in some way ; its fame reached for
a thousand miles in both directions ; not
only did Ooronado hear of it , in what is
now New Mexico , but Marquette , when
he descended the Mississippi river in
1674 , heard of it and described it. He
designated it on his map , which may be
seen in Toronto , Canada , to this day
Now do you think that twenty or thirty
villages of barbarous people that
Coronado described would have enough
insignia to be called "a great empire , '
whose fame reached a thousand miles in
all directions with enough force to give
it a place on every map made in those
days ? The maps made long years before
Ooronado's expedition had Qnivera
marked on them ; some in one place and
some in another , but few , if any , exactly
correct. How did this come a-bout if
Oorouado saw and described all there
was of Quivera ? I think one of two
alternatives confronts us Ooronado
either deliberately lied and grossly mis
represented the conditions , or he saw
only a few of the outlying villages of
Quivera and spent most of his time ex
ploring villages of a nomadic people
who had little or no relation to Qnivera
proper , but only occupied their territory
for hunting and was , compared with
Quivera , low in the scale of civilization.
I am quite certain that the evidences
point to the latter alternative , as the
country adjacent to these Kansas
villages abounds in beds of flint and
other suitable materials from which to
make their stone implements ( arrows ,
knives , etc. ) and this class of people
would naturally seek such favorable
location. The remains left by these
people prove that Ooronado told the
truth in one instance at least he said
they had no earthenware vessels , but
used the intestines of the bison for
carrying water , etc. The entire absence
of pottery shards in two of the three
classes of villages mentioned by Mr.
Brewer , proves the truth of this state
ment. The warlike proclivities which
Ooronado mentioned ( and which he may
have interpreted as barbarity and if so
how barbarous were the Spaniards , and
even how barbarous is old England and
our beloved republic in these later days
of intense civilization ? ) are shown by
the many warlike implements left as
relics. Coronado stated that they raised
no corn ; still , stone mills were found in
one of the villages discovered by Mr.
Brewer ; this seems to support the theory
that they got corn somewhere , possibly
by theft or barter from their more
thrifty neighbors , the real people ot
the wonderful empire of Quivera.
This condition of things is more than
a mere theory. It is supported by
numerous evidences , and seems to me
as clearly defined as though it were
written history. Ooronado did not visit
Quivera proper , that is he did not visit
the capital or the center of the empire.
He only saw a wandering tribe or tribes
of people who had no relations with the
population of that empire , but lived by
the bison , which may have been
domesticated by the Quiverans. They
plundered and made war on these
Quiverans ( as we shall see later ) anc
lived thus in a low state of civilization
much as did the people of the Stone
Age. They called the country Quivera
because they knew themselves to be
only trespassers. "The Turk , " with
his last breath , told Ooronado that
Quivera was farther on. We might
cite many other points , but enough has
been said to prove , first , that Ooronado
truthfully described the conditions he
saw , in his way , and that he penetratec
iO the fortieth parallel of latitude needs
no proof or substantiation , as we ac
cepted that point at the beginning.
Second , that he never reached Qnivera
proper only a part of the territory of
that empire , inhabited by and given
over to these nomadic people. Third ,
that Qnivera must have been a vast
empire , more than he saw , or its fame
could never have been so great , nor
lave reached so far.
E. E. BLAOKMAN.
Roca , Nebraska.
FIVE OVERLOOKED SUBSIDY POINTS.
The Frye-Hanna plea for the ship sub
sidy scheme is incomplete. For in
stance , it omits these points :
First Does the bill compel more
American sailors at better wages ?
It does not. On the contrary , the
fihip-owner may pocket the subsidy and
hire foreign seamen at the lowest
wages.
Second Does the bill assure larger
American cargoes ?
It does not. On the contrary , it makes
it possible for shipowners to sail with
empty vessels and still get the subsidy.
Third Does the bill secure faster
ships ?
It does not. Oa the contrary , it makes
fast trips of no consequence.
Fourth Does the bill arrange for
more mails ?
It does not. On the contraryit leaves
it to the interest of the existing com
panies to combine , crush competition
and divide the subsidy among as few
ships and shipowners as possible.
What then does the bill promise ?
Large bonuses to be added to the
dividends of steamship companies which
are at present earning good profits with
out subsidies.
That in all. But in the name of Hanna
and MoKinley and the campaign chest ,
isn't that enough ? New York World.
HAS IT PAID.
The total vote of the 15 states west
of the Mississippi river was as follows in
1892 :
Cleveland 728,846
Harrison 793,031
Weaver ( populist ) 482,800
The Vote of the same states in 1896
was as follows :
Bryan 1,265,080
McKinley 1,114,701
The popular vote of these same states
in 1900 was as follows :
Bryan 1,120.851
McKinley 1,889,588
This is pointed to as evidence of the
decline of populism , as Bryan lost 145-
000 and McKinley gained 418,000 since
four years ago in the only states where
there has been a populist party. Mr.
Bryan got all his electoral votes in the
South , where there isn't any populist
party. Nat Snails , in Fremont Herald.
* *