American citizen., 1874-11-21

canon, and where we stand and off to the
right the surface is succession OF low
| domes of bare sandstone, worn into gull
| lies and chiseled into pot-holeS by an
cient rivers and modern rains, devoid of
| soil, supporting only few stunted
cedars rooted in the crannies, bleached
and ghastly and garish under the Sep
| tcmber sun. Brilliant cliffs, wierdly
| carved by Titans, ranged themselves be
| hind, and right in the fore ground, thrust
up through the very center of one of
| these sandstone domes, stood a ragged
| chriStone-a volcanic dikc-thin, shat
| tered and comb-likc. 1t was Il scene of
despair and desolation enhanced rather
than softened and humanized by the two
great stone towers that stood near by
and the fragments of heavy walls that
| once defended every approach to the
| habItations about the christone. Climb
ing carefully to the top of the dixie, map
| ping out the plan of the ancient fortiiica-
| tions, listening to the fearful conclusion
of II stone hurled from the top, feeling
| how absolutefv s:ffe q garrison would DC
| there so long as they could hold out
against hunger and thirst, it required
| but little faith to believe the tradition of
| this valley of death, whose broad slopes
of white sandstone were once crimsoned
and recrimsoned with human blood.
The story is this: Formerly the
aborigines Inhabited all this country we
had been over as far west as the head
waters of the San Juan, AS far north as
the Rio Dolores, went some distance into
Utah. and south and southwest through
out Arizona and on down into Mexico.
They had lived there from time i'm
meInorial-sincc the earth was Il small
| island which augmented as its inhabitants
l,,, ..l IL,
fashioned whatever utensils and tools
| they needed very neatly and handsomely
out of clay and wood and stone, not know
ing any of the useful metals, built their
homes and kept their fiocks and herds in
the fertile river-bottoms, and worshiped
the sun. They were an eminently peace
full and prosperous people, living by
agriculture rather than by the chase.
About Il thousand years ago, however,
they were visited by savage strangers
from the north, whom they treated
Hospitality. Soon these visits became
more frequent and annoying. Then their
troublesome e;ghbors-ancestors of the
present Utes-began to forage upon them,
and at last to massacre them and devas-
| tate their farms; so, to save their lives ut
least, they built houses high up on the
cliffs, where they could store food and
hide away until the raiders left. But
oilc tne lnNducTS uld uOt 90 Dack
to their mountains the people eX-
pected, but brought their families with
them and desired to settle down. So,
driven from their homes and lands, starv-
ing in their little inches on the high
cliffs, they could only steal away during
the night, and wander across the cheer
less uplands. To one who has travelled
these steppes such flight seems terri
BILE, and the mind hesitates to picture the
suffering of the sad fugitives.
At the christOne they halted and prob
ably found friends, for the rocks and the
caves are full of the nests of these human
wrens and swallows. Here they collect
ed, erected stone Notifications and
watch-towers, dug reservoirs in the rocks
to hold a supply of water, which, in all
cases, is preearious in this latitude, and
once more stood at bay. Their foes
came and for one long month fought and
were beaten back, and returned day
after day to the attack as merciless and
inevitable as the tide. Meanwhile the
families of the defenders were evacuat-
ing and moving south, and bravely did
their protectors shield them till they
were all safely a hundred miles away.
The besiegers were beaten back and
went away. But the narrative tells us
that the hollows of the rocks were filed
to the brim with the mingled blood of
CoH'lucfoTS anu COHqu ueTcu, anu Teu NclnS
of it ran down into the canon. 1t was
such a victory as they could not afford to
gain again, and they were glad when the
long fight was over to follow their wives
and little ones to the south. There in the
deserts of Arizona, on wellnigh unap-
proachable, isolated bluffs they built new
towns, and their few descendants-the
Moquis-live in them to this day, preserv-
ing more carefully and purely the history
and veneration of their forefathers than
their skill or wisdom. 1t was from one
of their old men that this traditional
sketch was obtained.
This is but picture here and there of
one fortnight among these prehistoric
ruins. Ten times as much might be said,
but limits forbid. Suffice it to say that
no item WIFI be forgotten or neglected
that can throw any light on this intense
ly interesting phase of the aboriginal
history of our country, and no opportu-
nifty let slip to elucidate further the ori-
gin and character of these antiquities.