DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this one, and I'm just the voice that carries it down the road. Now, out here in Ochiltree County, the land has a way of keeping secrets. The wind sweeps across the Panhandle like it owns the place, and for centuries upon centuries, it kept one particular secret buried real quiet beneath the surface.
Then came 1907. That's when Dr. T.
L. Eyerly, Floyd V. Studer, and a company of archaeologists went poking around in the right patch of ground — and what they found, they called The Buried City.
A city. Buried. Right here.
These weren't simple dugouts or rough camps. The Panhandle Pueblo Indians built stone houses — well-built stone houses — and they weren't just passin' through. These were agriculturists.
Farmers. People who put down roots in the most literal sense, who made pottery, wove baskets, and stacked stone upon stone into something that deserved the word city. Now here's the part that ought to stop you cold for a moment.
Some archaeologists and historians believe those very stone houses were already in ruins when Coronado came through and explored this region in 1541. Already in ruins. Which means whatever brought The Buried City low, it happened before Spanish boots ever touched this ground.
The site sat mostly undisturbed until Dr. Warren K. Moorehead arrived to partially excavate the ruin in 1919 and 1920.
Partially. Even then, the earth wasn't giving up everything. The State of Texas erected this marker in 1936 — because some stories are too big to leave buried twice.
What the marker says
In 1907, Dr. T. L. Eyerly, Floyd V. Studer and other archaeologists discovered here "The Buried City." These pueblo ruins were built by the Panhandle Pueblo Indians who were agriculturists, stone house builders, pottery and basket makers. Dr. Warren K. Moorehead partially excavated this ruin in 1919-1920. Some archaeologists and historians agree that the well-built stone houses were in ruins when Coronado explored this region in 1541. Erected by the State of Texas 1936