"That they were all of the same origin, branches of the same race and possessed of similar customs and institutions.
"That they were populous and occupied a great extent of territory.
"That they had arrived at a considerable degree of civilization, were associated in large communities and lived in extensive cities.
"That they possessed the use of many of the metals, such as lead, copper, gold, and silver, and probably the art of working in them.
"That they sculptured in stone and sometimes used that material in the construction of their edifices.
"That they had the knowledge of the arch of receding steps; of the art of pottery, producing urns and utensils formed with taste and constructed upon the principles of chemical composition; and the art of brick-making.
"That they worked the salt springs, and manufactured salt.
"That they were an agricultural people, living under the influence and protection of regular forms of governments.
"That they possessed a decided system of religion, and a mythology connected with astronomy, which, with its sister science, geometry, was in the hands of the priesthood.
"That they were skilled in the art of fortification.
"That the epoch of their original settlement in the United States is of great antiquity; and
"That the only indications of their origin to be gathered from the locality of their ruined monuments, point toward Mexico." —Baldwin's Ancient America.
RUINS IN YUCATAN.
"Yucatan is the grave of a great nation that has mysteriously passed away and left behind no history. Every forest embosoms the majestic remains of vast temples, sculptured over with symbols of a lost creed, and noble cities, whose stately palaces and causeways attest in their mournful abandonment the colossal grandeur of their builder. They are the gigantic tombs of an illustrious race, but they bear neither name nor epitaph. The conscience-stricken awe with which the Indian avoids them as he relates a confused tradition of a whole people extinguished in blood and fire by his forefathers—a ferocious and cannibal race delighting in human sacrifices—are all that even conjecture can say of the manner in which the ancient occupants of Yucatan were blotted, en masse, from the page of existence. The barbarous exterminators remained the masters of the country, and built them rude huts under the shadow of those immense edifices which are still the marvel and the mystery of Yucatan. On many of these singular edifices is stamped the blood-red impress of a human hand—a fit symbol of the rule of blood to which it has so constantly been the victim. This 'bloody hand' was imprinted with evident purpose on the still yielding stucco of the new-built walls, and presents every line and curve in life-like distinctness; but the explanation of the symbol is unknown."—New York Sun, June 8, 1848.
ANCIENT GLASS JAR.
"In the shaft of J. L. Duncan and Co., on the ridge between the Middle and South Yubas, in this county, at the distance of 176 feet below the surface of the ground, was found, on the 26th December, a curiously-fashioned glass bottle or jar, which was dug up in hard cement. After removing the reddish coating, an eight of an inch thick, which attached to the outside, and thoroughly washing it, it was found to be of a light color and perfectly transparent. It somewhat resembled a small-sized pickle-jar, but has a longer neck and a flat bottom. It must have been lying in the silent spot where it was found for many hundred years."—Nevada Journal.
A RUINED CITY.
"I must not, however, forget to mention that there has lately been discovered, in the province of Vera Paz, 150 miles north-east of Guatemala, buried in a dense forest, and far from any settlements, a ruined city, surpassing Copan or Palenque in extent and magnificence, and displaying a degree of art to which none of the structures of Yucatan can lay claim."—From a letter by Mr. E. G. Squier, read before the American Ethnological Society, October 17, 1849.
ANCIENT COINS AND IMPLEMENTS.
"While some hands were digging out a cellar in Botetourt County, Va., they came upon a quantity of coin, consisting of some eight pieces, in an iron box about 14 inches square. The coin was larger than a dollar, and the inscription in a language wholly unknown to any person in the vicinity. Upon digging down some 16 inches lower, they came to a quantity of iron implements of singular and heretofore unseen shape. Several scientific gentlemen have examined into the matter, and have come to the conclusion that the coins, together with the other curiosities, must have been placed there at an extremely early date, and before the settlement of the country." —New York Despatch.
The Book of Mormon states that at the time of the Savior's crucifixion a great and terrible destruction took place upon the continent of America. It also contains a record of the Savior's appearance and ministry on that continent after His resurrection. (See III Nephi).