Free Republic

No, this isn’t about the Star-Spangled Banner, neither the flag nor the anthem. It’s about dawn itself. The promise of a new beginning. Civilization began, thousands of years before recorded history, when men discovered how to cultivate crops. That meant communities and social organization. It also meant the beginnings of astronomy, studying the movement of the sun. Early evidence of this includes the “solar observatories” built by the Incas in South America, by the Anasazi in North America, and most famously, by Druids and others at Stonehenge in Britain. All these identified the solar equinoxes, especially in the spring. Coupled...

You may be surprised to know how far back chocolate goes -- perhaps 1,000 years in what's now the United States. Evidence of chocolate has been found in northwestern New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, at Pueblo Bonito. The discovery indicates trade was under way between the Chaco Canyon and cacao growers in Central America -- more than 1,000 miles away. Crown says importing the material would have been a major undertaking.

The wood in the monumental "great houses" built in Chaco Canyon by ancient Puebloans came from two different mountain ranges... The UA scientists are the first to report that before 1020, most of the wood came from the Zuni Mountains about 50 miles (75 km) to the south. The species of tree used in the buildings did not grow nearby, so the trees must have been transported from distant mountain ranges. About 240,000 trees were used to build massive structures, some five stories high and with hundreds of rooms, in New Mexico's arid, rocky Chaco Canyon during the time period...

Is there, within the Grand Canyon, an enigmatic system of tunnels that is evidence of an ancient Egyptian voyage to America? Is it all bogus? Or is the truth most likely somewhere in between? On April 5, 1909, a front page story in the Arizona Gazette reported on an archaeological expedition in the heart of the Grand Canyon funded by the Smithsonian Institute, which had resulted in the discovery of Egyptian artefacts. April 5 is close to April 1 – but then not quite… so perhaps the story could be true? Nothing since has been heard of this discovery. Today,...

WSU Researchers Study Fate of an Ancient American Southwest Civilization Salem-News.com Evidence suggests that the Anasazi fled the region and joined related groups to the south and east. While the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde are easily the best known of these settlements, the region is dotted with some 4,000 known archaeological sites, including communities which supported as many as several hundred families. (PULLMAN, Wash.) - Using computer simulations to synthesize both new and earlier research, a team of scientists led by a Washington State University anthropology professor has given new perspective to the long-standing question of what happened more...

Ancient Culture Prompts Worry for Arid Southwest by Richard Harris Jane Greenhalgh An overview of what remains standing at Chaco Canyon. NPR Eve Goldman A view into the ruins at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon. Peek into the Cole-Overpeck family camping trip under the towering Ponderosa pines in the highlands of eastern Arizona, where climate change is both a personal and professional concern. All Things Considered, July 9, 2007 · Chaco Canyon is a stark and breathtaking ruin, nestled under soaring, red sandstone cliffs. It resembles the condition of the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. For climate...

COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado State Police have confiscated an improvised explosive device, or IED, from a man seen walking along the Highway 50 bypass Monday afternoon. A stretch of Hwy 50 from I-25 to Bonforte in Pueblo is now open after being closed as police investigated. Police say the device was in his hand and a Trooper immediately took the item from the suspect. The bomb squad was called in to remove the threat. It happened around 3 p.m. Monday afternoon.

New work on the skeletal remains of scarlet macaws found in an ancient Pueblo settlement indicates that social and political hierarchies may have emerged in the American Southwest earlier than previously thought. Researchers determined that the macaws, whose brilliant red and blue feathers are highly prized in Pueblo culture, were persistently traded hundreds of miles north from Mesoamerica starting in the early 10th century, at least 150 years before the origin of hierarchy is usually attributed. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that the acquisition and control of macaws, along with other valued...

The market for Mexican marijuana has dried to a whiff and “everybody and his mother” is growing their own product, says a Puebloan who has been selling pot here for more than 20 years. - The current legal recreational market is fueled by people from out of state, Tracy said. Colorado users, weary of the high taxation on the product, have taken to growing, getting their “red card” for medicinal marijuana or even using Craigslist to score pot. - See more at: http://www.chieftain.com/news/3292183-120/marijuana-tracy-market-dealer#sthash.D9Z5fiLF.dpuf

Pueblo City Councilwoman Ami Nawrocki submitted her resignation letter to City Manager Sam Azad Tuesday (1/13/15). Nawrocki said she's calling it quits after 2 1/2 years on City Council because the recall election is hurting her family. ... Nawrocki became the target of a recall last year after she was accused of breaking state law by keeping the public out of the loop when she discussed public business over email. Former council members Sandy Daff and Chris Kaufman resigned after facing the same accusations. ... City Clerk Gina Dutcher estimates the recall will cost city taxpayers between $35,000-$50,000. That expense...

Who Really Discovered America? Did ancient Hebrews reach the shores of the North and South American continents thousands of years before Christopher Columbus? What evidence is there for Hebrew and Israelite occupation of the Western Hemisphere even a thousand years before Christ? Was trans-Atlantic commerce and travel fairly routine in the days of king Solomon of Israel? Read here the intriguing, fascinating saga of the TRUE DISCOVERERS OF AMERICA! William F. Dankenbring A stone in a dry creek bed in New Mexico, discovered by early settlers in the region, is one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries in the Western...

As the dispute between the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder and the Pueblo canvassing board over whether to certify the 2014 election results enters its third week, the Pueblo County commissioners Monday assured the lone Republican who won his election that, if it comes to it, they will appoint him to his office. Meanwhile, a representative for the Colorado Secretary of State’s office is scheduled to meet with the canvassing board Wednesday morning. And District Attorney Jeff Chostner told the commissioners that his office has begun to monitor the situation to be sure that political gamesmanship isn’t interfering with the...

Denver Police say Paul Kitterman, 53, is safe after being located more than 110 miles away in Pueblo, Colorado They are directing all questions about his disappearance to family Kitterman was last seen by his stepson at a game at Mile High stadium in Denver on Thursday Stepson Jarod Tonneson, 21, went to the bathroom during halftime, but after returning to his seat his father never rejoined him Denver Police have found the local dad who went missing five days ago, after leaving his adult stepson alone to use the bathroom at halftime. On Tuesday evening, around 10:50pm ET, the...

In what may come as a surprise to residents of Colorado Springs and Pueblo, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t think those cities have roads. Bloomberg told Rolling Stone that he was “sorry” about the recalls of two state senators last year over the Democratic state legislature’s gun-control laws, but added that their districts were so “rural” that, “I don’t think there’s roads.” “In Colorado, we got a law passed. The NRA went after two or three state senators in a part of Colorado where I don’t think there’s roads,” said Bloomberg in the interview published online Wednesday....

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg scoffed at rural Colorado’s reaction to gun control during an interview with Rolling Stone in this month’s magazine, suggesting that only the parts of the country without even the most basic components of civilization would be opposed to more gun control. Bloomberg was asked about the successful recall races of Democratic State Senators in response to the strict gun control legislation passed in the state. “The NRA went after two or three state Senators in a part of Colorado where I don't think there's roads. It's as far rural as you can get,” he said. ......

Nearly 300 years ago, two great alliances collided on the Great Plains in a battle that changed the course of American history. But until now, no physical evidence of the storied conflict had ever been found. In the summer of 1720, where the Platte River meets the Loup in eastern Nebraska, Spanish soldiers, New Mexican settlers and their Pueblo and Apache allies clashed with warriors from the Pawnee and Oto nations of the Plains. In a daybreak raid, the Pawnee and the Oto — possibly with the support of French traders — routed the Spanish, killing their commander, Don Pedro...

PUEBLO, Colo. - Supporters of Democratic Pueblo state Sen. Angela Giron are knocking on doors and calling those who signed a petition to recall her. Members of Pueblo United for Angela say they want to make sure people know what they signed. Daniel Bravo signed the petition. On Wednesday afternoon, he received two calls from different people. He said the callers asked if he wanted to remove his name from the petition. He said no. Both times he asked who he was speaking to but said each time the caller hung up on him. "I felt like I was being...

Romney/Ryan Pueblo, Colorado Rally Cancelled

After an arsonist caused $450 million in damage to the USS Miami on March 2012, the U.S. Navy considered scrapping the submarine. The eventual decision to repair the Miami and return it to service in 2015 means that the Navy will not have to add to a rather short but fateful list - ships lost since WWII. Between December 1941 and September 1945, over 350 U.S. Navy warships and patrol craft were sunk or damaged beyond repair. In the nearly seven decades since, fewer than 30 ships have been lost directly due to enemy action or accidents. These are a...

Can you believe there was a time when we caved to the communists of North Korea and let them capture, beat and torture some of our sailors? This weekend marks the 42nd anniversary of one of the most shameful episodes in recent United States history. And I doubt if the mainstream media will contain a single word about it. Several years ago, my youngest son and I were watching a program on the History Channel when the program’s narrator mentioned the capture of a U.S. Naval vessel by Communist North Korea back in 1968. “That didn’t really happen, did it,...