🏛️ “Pueblo Grande: Nevada’s Giant Lost City Unearthed” 🏛️

In the early 20th century, excavations at Pueblo Grande in Nevada's Muddy and Virgin River valleys revealed what may be the largest prehistoric ruin in the Western Hemisphere. Directed by M.R. Harrington of the Museum of the American Indian and the Heye Foundation expedition, the digs uncovered a vanished civilization of apparent giant stature that once dominated the American West centuries ago. Near St. Thomas, Nevada, teams worked for months, gradually restoring this "long lost city" spanning eight miles wide and 35 miles intermittently along the river valleys.

Archaeologists unearthed massive, sturdy round adobe buildings, some with up to 20 rooms and hard-glazed floors, centered around circular courtyards. Beneath these structures lay graves of the ancient inhabitants, with skeletons averaging over seven feet tall—evidence of a physically imposing race. One striking burial featured a woman wrapped in a feathered blanket, accompanied by newborn twins, suggesting complex rituals tied to a central sacrificial altar or ceremonial fireplace from which radiating walkways extended.

The finds painted a picture of a sophisticated society. Beautiful shell jewelry, artistically carved beads, and fancifully decorated pottery emerged alongside crude hunting tools and primitive implements. Clay urns held perfectly formed dice—some with rounded corners—hinting at a cultural love for gambling. Layered strata of colored pottery and artifacts showed progression over time, with the crudest tools buried deepest.

Social hierarchies appeared evident, as some giant skeletons were surrounded by far more artistic treasures than average burials, pointing to class distinctions. Variations in tool construction fueled theories of multiple overlapping cities or cultural influences. Later traces of Pueblo and Piute tribes suggested continuity into more recent times.

Harrington vowed to continue until the full riddle of Pueblo Grande was solved, promising revelations about this mysterious prehistoric metropolis and its towering inhabitants.

Author’s Note: This account is adapted from a historical newspaper article by International News Service, dated March 5 (likely early 1920s), reporting on the ongoing excavations at Pueblo Grande, Nevada.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026749/1925-03-05/ed-1/?sp=22&q=Vanished+race&r=0.581,0.398,0.225,0.146,0