--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Hickman, Joseph collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 28 number: 6 published: 1925-04 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Joseph Hickman, “Still Voices,” *Improvement Era 28, no. 6 (April 1925)*: 520–534." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2806unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2806unse start_page: 520 end_page: 534 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1925-04) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2806unse publication_year: 1925 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1925, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Still Voices STILL VOICES By Joseph Hickman There is something in untarnished nature which awakens the best instincts in man. Possibly it is the unmistakable hand-prints of the great Maker. Possibly it is a holy atmosphere that abides only where man has not defiled the work of God. But whatever it is, I have found no one yet who will deny the inspirational effect of his close contact with Nature. If there is one such, he has had denied him one of the most sublime influences for good to be found in the world; and, as some have to cultivate a taste for the best of music, he should cultivate an understanding of the voice of the Creator in the stillness of the great outdoors. It would seem that there could be little doubt that the world is growing better, as more interest is developed in the beauties and wonders of nature. As Utah is becoming known throughout the world for her abundance of rare natural attractions, it is not far fetched to say that, aside from the financial gain to the state, there is a moral good to be gained by encouraging more attention in this direction. Sociologists tell us that primitive man was naturally religious. He lived and acted quite free from many of the conventionalities of modern civilization. He lived near to God and God's work, and it is but logical to expect, therefore, that he would have greater respect for God than do men who live within the works of modern civilized industrial conditions, — all of which have been developed by man and far from the handprints of the Creator. Could this not explain why we always find, near natural won- ders, evidences of the prehistoric man of America? For example, near each of our large natural bridges are found ruins of cliff-dwellers and the hieroglyphics of a later group of the primitive red-men. Evi- dently these masterpieces were looked upon with great reverence by the Indians, as it is easy even yet to find imong the descendants of those people many stories of idealistic beauty in which the bridges are predominant features. The Wonderland of Southern Utah Wayne's wonderland always affects me strongly. Bryce, with its sudden, stunning bewilderment, seen for the first time at sunrise, is a close second. But the ever-recurring newness in the scenery near Fruita, in Wayne county, Utah, is different. Once you see Bryce at sunrise you have an impression that is lasting — that is worth the trip, no matter how long it has been. But the impression remains the same, and the next time you visit the canyon you wish you had not, for the second impression is not so stunning. The imprint of the first shock remains the stronger. 5 22 IMPROVEMENT ERA The vastness of Wayne is that of the Grand Canyon; the variety of coloration, that of Zion, but the voice of stillness is a feature all its own, and is never the same today that it was yesterday. It is this — the ever mystifying feeling which this voice throws over one — that brings him near to God. The effect on one can be but to make him think of his own weakness, yet of the possibilities that his Maker has given him. In short it is inspirational. Yonder towering above the roaring river is a castle of the age when men were brave and women were pure. No one can sit here in the stillness but what the distant roar of the river will whisper again the ideals of chivalry. Not only will he hear but he will feel and with the feeling will come the desire to act. In what house of worship can the lessons of courteous, manly bravery, and of womanly purity, be so well taught? Here is a bridge. A problem for the geologist, but an inspiration to everyone. How it will inspire you, I can not tell; but that it will inspire is certain. From the times unknown when the cliff-dwellers, pos- sibly seeking the protection of the Great Spirit as they fled from their enemies, built here a burying ground, with aH awe and sacredness, down to the present time, this work of nature has given inspiration. And upon every repeated visit it holds for one a new impetus to do good. The first impression is not so strong, but each repeated visit seems to add to the impression first obtained. This seems to be a quality of all of our bridges. I sat beneath the huge Caroline, in San Juan county, in company with a man of national importance and acquaintance. He looked up at its huge span and said, "This is a great thing to come a hundred miles on horseback to see!" The inflection he gave to the word "great" gave me this meaning. We visited the Agusta, strikingly like the Fruita bridge. We slept two nights beneath the Caroline. When we arose the third day he stretched himself, drew in a long breath of the early morning air, looked up at the magnificent span and said, "It is grand, it does have an effect upon me that I can't quite explain, — it grows." I recently talked to an old Navajo who had made many trading trips into Wayne years ago. With the help of an interpreter we drew from him a story that is typical of many of the Indian stories which it has been suggested are associated with the natural bridges in Utah. The story shows also how the unusual in nature excited the emotions of the primitive man. In just such a sense, although perhaps more cultivated, they no doubt affect us. The Indian Story Here is his story: Some time, maybe no time, but that does not matter, the Indians camped on the river. It was a hunting party, all classes made up the group. The usual pilgrimage was made to the bridge, two miles from the camp. The sacred meal was scattered STILL VOICES 523 Photo by the Author. "Yonder towering castle of the ag: when men were brave and women pure." Note the horseman riding toward the tower. Scene in Wayne County, Utah. to the moon, and prayers were chanted for the success of the hunt. Then the party moved down the hillside toward the camp. But behind lingered the necessary two to make up the story. The Indian girl, known about the camp as the Thoughtless One, because of the lightness with which she heeded the words of the medicine men. Beckoning, she attracted the attention of the young chief, who had won the name of the Honored One, because of the many titles the medicine men had given him in return for the successful way in which he had conducted the affairs of the tribe since his election to the office of chief. "I have been thoughtless," she told the chief, "but tonight the bridge spoke to me and I understood." He looked at her and wondered, for he had known of the careless manner in which she had treated many of the tribal customs. Even then he doubted her. But he looked into her eyes, and afar the monotonous tumble, rumble, tumble, of the river spoke to him. He listened. The river said: "She is no longer the Thoughtless One, she is the Heart of Love. She can help you." "I have been thoughtless," she repeated, "but the bridge spoke to me tonight of you, and I am no longer thoughtless. I must help you. You are great and mighty in the eyes of the medicine men, but the Great Spirit is not pleased with you. You give the praise 524 IMPROVEMENT ERA for your deeds to the medicine men. You should praise the Great Spirit." Because the river had told him to do so, the young chief, be- lieved her. But he was wrong, for it was the evil spirits talking to him. The evil spirits, be it understood, according to the Navajo belief are the ones to be feared. They are more powerful than the good, and it is to them that the prayers are offered, petitioning them to cease doing evil to the Indian. The good spirits take care of them- selves, and since they are good, need not be prayed to, for they will do what is good in any case. So he trusted the maiden. He listened to her. He believed in her, because the river and the bridge had told him to do so. They spoke to him in the language he could understand. He was im- r ^(BPMi^^^ ^^BJI ^^ Photo by A. E. Dcmary. Washington, D. C. The fantastically eroded' Brycc Canyon a sight of which at sunrise has no parallel in Nature. pressed, we would say, with the sacredness of the situation and be- lieved because of the emotions that he felt at that time. So the young chief gave praise to the Good Spirit, and in that way raised the ire of the evil. He listened to the maiden, and when he at last turned his footsteps toward the camp it was very late. Arriving there he found the medicine men in council. He was called in and inquiry made as to his absence from camp upon so important an occasion. He replied haughtily: "The bridge has told me, and the river has told me, that I should not praise you so much. The Great Spirit does good." The medicine men laughed. "He is bewitched by the Thought- less One," they said. STILL VOICES 525 This made the young chief angry. "She is not the 'Thought- less One'," he retorted, "she is my guiding spirit." The medicine men made disrespectful remarks with reference to her. A fight followed, the young chief in his anger striking and injurying the old, feeble men. Soon the whole camp was alive and Two Navajos, and Buck Lowery, trader at the Gap Trading Post, Arizona. Old Gray Hat Charley, supposed to be sixty years of age, is responsible for the story of the Fruita Bridge. before the trouble had ended, the "Honored One" was no longer such. He was shorn of all his titles and thrust without the camp. Then he remembered the maiden and the bridge where he left her. Panting and hot he soon stood in the awful presence of this wonder. The girl was not to be seen. "O Bridge," he prayed, "help me." He listened. No answer came. Then from afar came the rumble, tumble, rumble, of the river. It spoke. It laughed. "You are the 'Thoughtless One'," it said. He could hardly believe its 526 IMPROVEMENT ERA words. Then a voice spoke above him. It was that of the Indian maiden. She was on the bridge. "Come on up," she called. "I will not desert you." He climbed the bridge and sat by her side and she told him how she had played the trick on him in order to have him all for her own. He forgave her and listened, in his sorrow; but told her he would follow her, for he knew now that the spirits loved her for they had answered her prayer. Then she laughed, looked at him, ran lightly up the bridge, daring him to follow. Blindly he rushed on, slipped, rolled to the bottom of the ledge, and lay helpless. She sat disdainfully above him and watched him suffer. "Only you can help me," he cried to her. "Won't you please come? Only help me to my feet, then I can get on alone." She turned her head in the other direction, said not a word, but left him and walked on to her own tribe. * * * To us, of course, aside from the lesson conveyed, this story has significance only to illustrate the point that the huge natural bridge in its awe-inspiring surroundings did affect the primitive Indian so that he placed it in his traditions as a central figure of worship and fear. To us, in our civilized state, it may be studied in the coldness of the science of geology, yet the manner in which it will appeal to the most of us will be not unlike the manner in which it was accepted by the Navajoes. We will feel our own weakness, and the suggestion of the greatness of an all Powerful Being, will place us under the influence of a feeling of reverence impossible to be had ex- cept near such great finger prints of the Creator. After having vis- ited such places one is sure to carry with him a feeling of having been nearer to his Maker than it is possible to get elsewhere. In short, the visitor will be more religious than before he made the visit. Three Phases in a Life Once I sang a maiden's praises, In unnumbered pretty phrases: Decked her hair with bright fresh daisies. Once I watched a woman sewing, Eager hands that seemed so knowing — Radiant face with love a-glowing. Once in life I bow to thee, In reverence and simplicity, Thou holy name — Maternity. Belleisle, N. B. ALAN C. R.EIDPATH. PICTURE SHOWS An Asset or a Liability — for Me and Mine? By W. H. Boyle, Assistant Professor of Education, and Principal Secondary Training School It is estimated that one person out of five in the United States attends some form of commercialized recreation every day. It is esti- mated, also, that at least 20,000,000 people attend the movies daily, and that the bulk of this audience is made up of people from fifteen to twenty-five years of age. If every picture show taught by its story a worthy lesson of life, we would need have no fear of the mental reactions of tht people who throng those places, but if they do not, then a choice must be made. We must select if we expect the right mental reactions. How particular is the mother who demands of the grocer that what she buys shall be fresh and sweet and healthful? She knows to have healthy bodies good healthful food is imperative. She passes upon the quality of all food before buying, and if perchance it is sent and not good it is returned and good demanded in its place. What is true of carrots and cheese, sauerkraut and sausage, is just as true of mental and spiritual food. Healthy bodies? Yes! What about healthy minds, healthy mental reaction? Is healthy mental reaction as important as healthy chemical reaction? We prate about good company, fuss about the Sunday's funny paper, worry about the kinds of books we read; but how many par- ents are woefully passive and wickedly indifferent as to the class of picture shows that they and their families attend? Sould we not be as particular about the class of stories we pay to see as we are of the sausage we pay to eat? Should the major part of this responsibility be shifted to the shoulders of the man who produces picture shows, or on the man who exhibits them; or should the responsibility be placed in the home? If the home is the chief agency for proper socialization of the young then is it not at least an important agency for the production of crime? The home is the factory, the school, the church. It is the basic in- stitution of all our lives, civil, political and religious. "When the people want better pictures, they will get them," says one producer. "Good pictures are not money-makers," says another. Can it be truly said among our people that vice and not virtue pays on the screen? If this is answered in the affirmative, what an indictment of our homes! It is our problem, not the problem of the enormous picture show interests. Is it possible that a beautiful, legiti mate, romantic love story, with all its social by-products, is unat- tractive; and that we enjoy seeing in the most realistic way, vice and 528 IMPROVEMENT ERA lasciviousness glorified? Can it be that the sex appeal with lust emphasized is the only thing that will bring the cash? Is it true that the picture show producers and exhibitors are giving the people what they want? If this is true, how many of these 20,000,000 people are moral perverts? Recently in our own home town one of the owners of the pic- ture show houses exhibited "Abraham Lincoln." In order to adver- tise that show so that he would not lose, he gave a free entertain- ment to teachers, preachers, influential men, and many parents. This seems to be unnecessary for much of the suggestive "slush" put before the average picture show goer. What would happen to the producers and the going public if all pictures were censored by such representa- tive citizens? Who is to blame, the man who makes the picture, or the man who pays to see it? Can it be that we prefer the vicious and the lewd story to the clean and wholesome one? Do we prefer the "hog wash" of many of the vaudevilles to the uplifting higher type story or clever, subtle jokes that could be had? The writer asked an exhibitor why he put on a certain picture, and challenged him by saying that if there was one redeeming feature in the picture he would acknowledge defeat. The exhibitor smiled and said, "It brings the cash." What is your diagnosis, reader of this excellent little magazine? Is it lack of interest in leisure hours, and that we for the sake of convenience rely on commercialized recreation whose sole objective is money, instead of socialized recreation whose sole objective is en- tertainment plus moral uplifting? Is it easier to pay the other fellow than to get it up ourselves — and yet we pay and pay dearly. Picture shows — an Asset or a Liability — for me and mine? Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. My Ambition I strive to be like worth-while folk around me Who gather rosebuds from each wayside thorn, And count not beauty by the height of power, But by the heart of every mortal born. I strive to be unlike the folk around me, Whose polished ways may hide a wicked heart, That beats for gain in tune with evil passions, And care not that their tongues conceal a dart. I strive to be like worth-while folk around me, Whose hearts are brightened by the smiles of men, Whom help has gotten from their high desire To lend a helping hand, and call them Friend. A. HENDERSON. WHO WERE THE BUILDERS OF THE LOST CITY OF NEVADA? By George C. Sutherland Discovery in the Moapa Valley of southern Nevada of the ruins of an ancient city which is believed to have flourished about the beginning of the Christian era is attracting the attention of archaeolo- gists and ethnologists in all parts of America. For evidences un- earthed to date indicate that the inhabitants of that city possessed a degree of culture and refinement which had lifted them far above a state of savagery. Sections of old canals in the valley of the Rio Virgen, a few miles east of the ruins, show that the prehistoric in- habitants of that locality were acquainted with the science of irriga- tion. Five miles west of the old city are numerous hieroglyphs carved on imposing columns of red sandstone. Those are believed to form part of the recorded history of the ancient residents of the valley. Let us take a brief survey of the old town and the discoveries made there to date, and then try to determine who its inhabitants were and whether their culture was near its crude beginning, as the archaeologists declare, or close to the end of a long period of decline, as the writer believes is possible. It is the opinion of such eminent authorities as M. Raymond Harrington, investigating archaeologist in charge of the excavating, and F. W. Hodge, prominent ethnologist, both of The Museum of The American Indian, Heye foundation, New York, that this recently discovered city was at the zenith of its glory about 1,500 or 2,000 years ago. This belief is based upon a comparison of the evidences of culture found here with that culture known to have existed among other ancients of the southwest at a date which is thought to have been established quite definitely. After careful consideration of every- thing brought to light so far, the archaeologists have decided that this prehistoric city was one of the places where the culture of the Pueblo Indians originated. The ruins, which have been named "Pueblo Grande de Nevada," by archaeologists excavating in their midst, start at a point two miles north of St. Thomas and extend up the east side of the valley of the Muddy river for about six miles. Other ruins have been found north of this point, but these do not seem to have belonged to the main pueblo as there is a vast difference in the evidences of culture unearthed in the two places. The northern limit of the large town seems to have been about two miles east of Overton. The ruins uncovered at pres- ent lie principally on top of a low range of clay hills between the Muddy river and the foot of "Mormon" mesa. Five or six houses and a kiva — a circular ceremonial chamber— 530 IMPROVEMENT ERA have been unearthed to date. The houses are shaped like horseshoes, some of them containing ten or more rooms. The majority of these rooms are about 8x10 feet in size and rectangular in shape, exception to this rule being found in the end rooms which are oval or circular. Three types of houses have been found in this city. The single room, pit type; the communal house with rooms of the pit ty^e, and the houses with rooms built from the surface of the earth up and no pit dug at all. In fact, some of the houses contain each of the types of rooms. Archaeologists say the single-room, pit type house is one of the most primitive constructed dwellings of mankind. As the houses found at the old ruins north of the main city are of the latter type entirely, scientists believe they were occupied prior to the build- ing of the large pueblo and at a time when enlightenment was just be- ginning to lift the minds of the ancient Nevadans to a higher plane of life and living. The houses in the Pueblo Grande de Nevada were built of adobe bricks shaped like loaves of bread. These bricks were set in adobe mortar and the entire structure plastered with the same material. The floors were made of adobe and many of them remain in excel- ent condition still. While most of the walls of the old buildings have crumbled into decay, sections eighteen inches or two feet high have been found in some instances, giving the investigators a good idea of the appearance of the whole. The finding of several floors beneath some of the rooms has led to the conclusion that parts of the city were built up four or five different times at periods quite remote from each other. In each of the rooms small bowl-shaped fireplaces have been found. Some of these are in the centers of the rooms and others in the corners. It is not the opinion of archaeologists, however, that these fireplaces were used for cooking purposes, as much larger ones have been discovered in the court of each of the houses. The weather here is very mild in the winter and the small fireplaces are thought to have been used only to take the chill out of the rooms on unusually cold nights. Charcoal and ashes have been found in each of the fire- places, and in several, half-burned corn cobs have been discovered. The presence of these is believed to furnish conclusive evidence of the cul- tivation of the soil and the production of this grain by the residents of the prehistoric town. Close to each group of houses a large flat rock with deep cir- cular holes in it has been found. This was the mill at which the grain was ground. The grinding was accomplished by placing the grain in the holes and crushing it with rock plungers known as metates. Several of the latter have been found in the houses and graves of the former residents of this city, for not only the kiva and houses have been unearthed, but numerous graves have been uncovered. Skeletons have been found in all of the graves. Some of the burials have been found outside, a short distance BUILDERS OF THE LOST CITY 531 from the houses, but the majority of them have been discovered be- neath the floors of the rooms. The condition of the skeletons is excellent, some of them being almost in a perfect state of preservation. The extreme aridity of the climate is said to account for that con- dition. While one skeleton measuring about five feet eight inches in height has been uncovered, the rest of those found have been only about five feet in stature. Their bones are not large and in many in- stances they appear to have had almost perfectly even features. Their foreheads were high and well developed. The facial bones of many suggest faces that were slender and of some refinement. The teeth of some are small and even, indicating that they were not great meat eaters. This is considered another argument in support of the theory that they were primarily an agricultural people. The inhabitants of this ancient city believed in a conscious existence after death, in which existence they should live much the same as in the flesh and should require the same things needed here. This is indicated by the fact that all of the deceased's personal be- longings were interred with him. Squash seeds, beans and other seeds found in the graves of some point to the expectation that those seeds would be needed in the spirit world, while the ancient dice of a gambler found in one grave would lead one to think that the departed was expected to ply his profession there as here. Beautiful pieces of pottery have been found buried with each of the skeletons. Many of these dishes were not even cracked and were removed intact. These consist of bowls, water jugs and bottles. The majority of these are decorated with artistic black and white patterns of attractive design, although some have patterns of black on a rich red background. Three layers of clay were used in the construction of the latter, the inner layer of white and the two outer layers of red clay. The surface of the pottery is as smooth as any on the market today. Beads and pendants of shell and turquoise have been found in some of the graves, and in others small black beads of unknown mate- rial. Mr. Harrington says he recalls no beads so small having been discovered in any of the ruins of ancient America with the exception of some small gold beads found in Ecuador. In one grave, that of a woman, the skeletons of two babies, evidently twins, were found. In other graves skeletons of dogs have been unearthed lying by the side of the person who was probably master or mistress of the animal in life. Bones of deer, mountain sheep and rabbits found in some of the graves indicate that while these ancient Nevadans may have been farmers they were not strictly vegetarians. Arrow heads and knives of flint taken from the graves show how those animals were killed and prepared for use. Shreds of blankets apparently of fine texture have been found in some of the graves, showing that the art of weaving was not un- known to these early residents of the Moapa Valley. Remnants of 532 IMPROVEMENT ERA woven sandals have been discovered also. Both of these were in a bad state of decomposition and were covered immediately with par- affin wax to preserve them as much as possible. The majority of the skeletons unearthed so far have been buried again, this time at the foot of those hills on which they once resided. Several have been sent to the museum in New York, and still others have been left in their graves for the benefit of tourists, many of whom call at the lost city each day en route east or west. Indians living in the Moapa Valley today exhibit great interest in the work of excavating. Although some of these have traditions, handed down to them by their parents and grand-parents, of things which occurred two or three centuries ago, not even the eldest of them had heard of the presence of the city now being brought to light until the work of excavating began. This is believed to furnish corrobora- tive evidence of the great antiquity of the ruins. Numerous conjectures as to why the city was deserted have been advanced but the ones most commonly accepted are these: The people were primarily an agricultural race who had to depend upon water from the Muddy river with which to irrigate their crops. As the river shrunk in size each year, and as the population of the old town probably numbered several thousand souls, it became more and more difficult to raise the grain necessary to provide them with food. So they probably left this valley for more fertile fields, possibly in the valley of the Rio Virgen. The other theory is that the inhabitants were conquered by a stronger though less advanced people, extermin- ated or taken into captivity. The former is the theory which finds greatest favor with those now excavating among the ruins. From an archaeological standpoint, the discovery of these ruins is considered of great importance. Up to the time they were found practically nothing was known regarding the prehistoric inhabitants of Nevada and the knowledge concerning the origin of Pueblo culture was not considered extensive. Articles brought to light in this city, how- ever, have added much to that knowledge and it is expected that much more will be learned as the exacavating progresses. The work is to continue for another six months, at least, for it was so voted by the board of trustees of The Museum of The American Indian at a meet- ing held in New York February 3. What will be done after that depends, to a great extent, upon what the intervening time brings forth. Now, who were the builders of this ancient city? Was this one of the places where the Pueblo culture originated? Are the indications of the civilization which existed here conclusive proof that that civ- ilization was near its crude beginning, or might the same evidence be used in support of the argument that these people gradually were sinking from a higher plane of civilization to the depths of degraded savagery as they wandered farther and farther from the centers of cul- ture to the south and east and from the gospel of Jesus Christ? BUILDERS OF THE LOST CITY 533 The statement of scientists that here is one of the places where the culture of the ancient Pueblos began; that the people who occupied these adobe dwellings were just starting to grope from the abysmal darkness of the past towards indistinct rays of light ahead, is based on the fact that as one travels farther south one finds places in which the civilization was much farther advanced than it was here. Here only one-family dwellings are found; in Arizona and New Mexico are the ruins of great apartment houses. Here everything is in the rough, while there is found evidence of the polish and refinement of a most enlightened age. This, it is argued, is evidence that the culture and civilization originated in those places where the indications are most crude, and that those places are probably of a more remote antiquity than those where enlightenment was far advanced. But is that argument invulnerable? We know that the farther south one goes the more abundant are the evidences of a great civiliza- tion until in Central and South America are found ruins of cities, which, as one writer on American antiquities expressed it, "would have rivaled Nineveh, Tyre and Sidon in their day." But does this prove that the civilization of those early inhabitants of Arizona and New Mexico, and perhaps of Central and South America, originated in the north and became more advanced as it spread southward until it culminated in the great cities of Copan, Uxmal and Palenque, and others in the south? Absolutely not! The same ruins, the same indications of vary- ing degrees of civilization, the same crudities found farther north, may be used with equal assurance to prove the theory that the civilization declined and waned as it spread north from the more populous centers, and the people sank into darkness and disbelief. Furthermore, the re- vealed Word of God will go far to support the argument of those who advance the latter theory. In the Book of Mormon we read of the great centers of advanced civilization which flourished in the Americas in both the Jaredite and Nephite periods. Some of those have been identified as having been located in Central and South America. Of course the two civiliza- tions flourished at widely different times, but each was destroyed in the end by similar causes. Contentions among the Jaredites occurred at various times in their history as the people forgot God and his kind- ness. These continued, and bloody wars were fought by the factionists until the chief nations were practically exterminated. So with the descendants of Lehi. Hardly had they begun to prosper in the promised land until they began to quarrel. Everyone familiar with Book of Mormon history knows the final outcome of those contentions. The important point for this argument is the fact that continually there were factions breaking off from the congrega- tion of the Lord, both in the time of the Jaredites and the Nephites. These factions would withdraw into the wilderness and refuse to 534 IMPROVEMENT ERA have anything to do with those who were living according to the light and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Is it not perfectly reasonable to suppose that when those dis- senters first broke away from the commandments of God and decided to walk in the ways of iniquity, they took with them much of the culture in which they had been reared? Is it not logical also to suppose that, as succeeding generations were born and grew to man- hood, as the bands wandered farther and farther from the fold with their backs to the light, their minds became more darkened and their manners and customs more primitive? If that is a logical con- clusion, one must expect to find the evidences of culture left by those people to be more and more crude as they became farther and farther removed from the source of all truth. If that is the case, then the evidences of culture found at the Pueblo Grande de Nevada could just as well prove that here was the demise of a great civilization as that here was one of the places where that civilization originated. Therefore, if the archaeologists are correct in assuming that the lost city was built 1,500 or 2,000 years ago, it is not unreason- able to believe that the evidences of culture found there point to a civilization which was declining rapidly and about to become extinct. And if they have been too conservative in estimating the age of those ruins, it may be that those walls of adobe were erected by certain branches of the Jaredites who had dwindled into darkness and dis- belief. Kaolin, Nevada. Opportunity Inviting one to enter in Who has the will to work and win, Abundant ways and means renew The opportunity for you. Seek inspiration by your thought, As little comes to one unsought, And whatsoever one requires Is granted through intense desires. In thoughts omniscient, let your mind Soar into regions unconfined — A vision see of things unknown That through invention is your own. Then in the fervor of its sway Bring forth the plan you need today — For opportunity controls A thousand gates, a thousand goals. Payson, Utah. JOSEPH LONGKING TOWNSEND.