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the city from the surrounding hills.
The lumber used was mainly waliiufe ,
and as the many thousand of such
houses met the gaze of the army they
might well be astonished at the city's
magnitude and the number of its in
habitants.-
The Nebraska Rtvor.
The natives called the large river
which Penalosa had beea following the
' 'Nebraska ; " so , for the first time , white
men heard the name of our beloved
state.
The manuscript goes on to say that
nearly a hundred of the chiefs brought
presents of fruit , skins and fish across
the river and kindly welcomed Pena
losa. Two of the chiefs were detained
until nearly morning , when it was dis
covered that the Indian allies had forded
the river and set fire to the outlying
buildings , killing the defenseless people.
These people could not fight , as not a
single warlike weapon was to be seen ,
and , unlike the other Indians Penalosa
had met , they had no scalps which they
had taken. The allies were plundering
and burning the houses and driving the
people before them.
Penalosa at last succeeded in crossing
the river , and , after extinguishing the
fire and driving his former allies away ,
he began to pursue the flying natives.
But they had taken to the ridges and
not a live native could be found. The
next day he continued his march through
the city until stopped by another stream
which flowed into the Loup from the
north , as the manuscript says , "two or
three leagues from the mouth. " A
Spanish league is 3.42 miles , so this
stream must be from seven to ten miles
up the Loup. Those who live near this
point can best determine what stream
would prove an impediment to Fenalosa's
lumbering coach. Mrs. Alvira Q. Platt ,
who was matron of the Genoa Indian
school for many years and lived near
this point , thinks this stream was Cedar
creek ( known as the Beaver , now , I be
lieve ) but Judge James W. Savage , late
of Omaha , thought it more probable that
it was Looking glass creek or Lost
creek. Mr. Leavy , county snperinten
dent of schools in Platte county , informs
me that the banks of Looking-glass
creek are very steep in some places , and
he is inclined to the opinion that this
creek would form a barrier great enough
to cause a halt with the coach. How
ever , Penalosa sent a body of soldiers
farther on and upon their return they
reported no end to the city.
The soldiers admired the beauty of the
place. They found the soil black and
covered with long , rich grass. As the
manuscript says : ' 'It seemed a perfec
Eden. " Finding no gold or jewels the
commander concluded it was useless to
pursue the frightened natives farther
and on the llth of June he started on
his homeward journey. He encountered
bis former allies , however , and had
skirmish with favorable results to the
Spanish.
Spanish Relics.
While excavating in the city of Lin
coln some years ago , the workmen un
earthed a broken sword , which is now
in the museum of the State Historical
Society. The shield for the hand shows
t to be the work of a painstaking
craftsman and is Spanish in design.
The blade is broken , so the length can
not be determined , but it is doubtless
one of the weapons carried by a Spanish
cavalier , and may assist in proving that
this skirmish between the Spaniards and
Escauseques occurred near Lincoln ,
which is not improbable.
While referring to relics of the Spanish
exploring parties , I wish to mention a
carved piece of metal picked up near
Columbus some years ago and now in
possession of Mrs. Young of that city.
Those who have seen it pronounce it a
saddle ornament. It is decorated with
free hand chasing and was probably lost
by one of Penalosa's men.
There was found , some years ago , a
sword of much interest. It is said by
competent judges to be a Damascus
Blade ; at least it has upon it an insorip
tion or monogram which is worthy of
investigation. The sword is now in
Kansas Oity , but was loaned to the
historical society for a number of years.
There is in the University museum a
bridle bit , found in this state and owned
by Dr. Everett , of Lincoln. No one but
a cruel Spaniard could ever design such
a bit ; it is a complicated affair , and for
torture to a poor horse has not a peer.
It is made of iron and copper ; the work
manship is good. An antique stirrup
was found some years ago near River-
ton , in Franklin county. It is the same
design as the stirrup used by Moorish
horsemen for many centuries.
Near the little town of Burr , in Otoe
county , Mr. W. S. Holden informs me
that he dug out of a spring , and still has
in his possession , a pistol barrel with
many bores. It was found at a depth
of thirty feet. The revolving-barreled
pistol was a new weapon of Europe
about the time of Penalosa's expedition
or a little earlier , about 1619 , and it was
not a common weapon after 1700 , so it
seems quite probable that this is a relic
of that expedition. It could not have
belonged to the Ooronado expedition as
that was at least fifty years before the
first one was made and one hundred
years before they became popular.
Quivera Worthy of Study.
If all the evidences existing along the
routes of these expeditions could be col
lected , the track of each could be
quite accurately determined by a study
of the relics fashions changed then as
now.
A full suit of Spanish armor , together
with the bones of its unfortunate
wearer , was found in a cave in southern
Colorado not many years ago. Probably
he cavalier was lost from some of these
early expeditions.
I have , in these papers given enough
to prove to the mind of an unbiased
reader that Quivera was a vast empire
worthy of our study ; that it had its
capital in Platte county , Nebraska ; that
t was visited by Spanish explorers at an
early date in American exploration.
nough has been said to establish the
existence and location of this city and to
prove that Quivera is not a mere myth ,
but was once a grand reality , occupied
37 a civilized , docile , pastoral people ,
who , according to their traditions , came ,
at a very remote period , from the south ,
translate it "down stream "
( or as some ,
meaning down the waterway ) and lived
on these beautiful , pun-kissed plains by
the edge of the silvery waters. Here '
they grew their corn and herded their
buffalo , lived , loved and worshiped in
peace , plenty and contentment for ages ,
until their enemies , jealous of their
prosperity , and for the sake of plunder ,
made war upon them , even to exter
mination. What romance can our minds
picture as once being enacted where
now our fertile farms yield the self
same corn to another race of beings ?
What desires , what passions , what
aspirations once stirred the breasts of
those husbandmen as they gathered the
ripe golden ears from the self-same
fields ! What different accents had the
tones of the lover as he whispered his
impassioned words in the ear of his fair
goddess I Was not life as sweet' , was not
worship as sincere , aud was not love as
fervent in that quiet , warless , strifeless ,
happy age as it is today ?
E. E. BLAOKMAN.
Roca , Neb.
REORGANISATION.
Mr. Bryan's allusion to the proposed
reorganization of the democratic party
is not without unconscious humor. He
says that reorganization must be ap
plied internally , and that a person must
be inside of the party before he can par
ticipate in the party management. This
is obviously a rejoinder to the sound
money democrats who are urging that
the democracy shall purge itself of
populism and socialism , and return to a
creed that democrats may subscribe to
without mental reservation. The amus
ing feature of Mr. Bryan's statement is
that he denies to others what he has
always claimed for himself. In 1892 be
advocated the election of the populist ,
Weaver , to be president of the United
States. Four years later , in the succeed
ing democratic national convantion. Mr.
Bryan appeared as a contesting delegate ,
was awarded a seat , helped to revise the
platform in the interest of populismand
became the candidate of the Chicago
democracy. Surely the anti-Bryan
democrats have as much right to restore
the party to its old position as Mr.
Bryan had to divert it from its historic
course. Philadelphia Ledger.
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