In the first place it is a fact
that needs no proof that such a people do and have existed since the discovery
of America by Columbus in 1492. It is also evident that they are an ancient
people living long before the discovery of the American continent by Columbus
and as an evidence in favor of such an idea I will refer you to the history of
Mr. Stephens and Mr. Catherwood published in 1841, giving an account of their
travels in Central America. They give us an account of large cities which have
long since moldered into ruin, one in particular, the size of which is thirty-two
mils in length and twelve in breadth, more than three times the size of the
largest cities now in America. These ancient ruins are found in dense forests,
with trees of the largest size growing upon their moldering walls. Now, when we
take into consideration the length of time which it must take to build a city
of such vast dimensions and the time it would naturally take to grow a tree of
the largest size upon its ruins, it will at once be admitted by all reasonable
minds that America must have been inhabited as early at least as the beginning
of our Christian Era. We find that they are not only an ancient people but were
an enlightened and highly cultivated people, understanding the arts and sciences,
probably to as high as the people of the United States do at the present time. The
reasons why I draw such a conclusion is because I find an abundance of evidence
to favor and prove the position which I take—not only in Central America but
throughout the United States—evidences which could not have been produced from
any other than an enlightened and a civilized people. (Tract: “The Origin of
the American Indians and the Coming Forth of their History,” c. 8 March, 1851, in
The Journals of Jacob Gates, ed. KC Kern, 382)
