Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-10-13
ANCIENT MENTCo.
The Famous Ruins OF the ChacO
Canon

Canon
ICugre yoHdspce q ~. Rocky No,an'dia Mars. !
pol The elevated ;Aoie lands oI Northern
Mexico IN AID about midway between
Iuietha ard tie Jtn Nouuia MS, are the
ianOCs ruins nf the ChacO cg1O1, first
brought before the world by the rep0rs OF
Lieutenant simpson ia 80. As they arc far
OF nom all the common routes, in t1e IN ID st
OF an arid and f0rSidding country, they have
b' en- but seldom visited by any white people,
anu, IL mistake not, 20 critical examina-
ton has ever been made Of them since 1919.
started from Junez he eth OF May. with
ole po' r animal to carry all our supplies.
IakIig general rOrth western course over
tie country at ne close Of the third day we
arrived al the first OF the ruined puebos,
plainly seen while yet five or six miles
distant. a close inspection did not lessen
our first impression OF it's noble proper ions.
IL is not large building, by any means,
the rectangular part measuring but 2IT
xlli feet, but the solidly built walls in
places are still 81 10 10 feet In height, aud
It's Isolated prominence upon a slight emf
nence overlooking tie low rolling country
around give IL prominence denied other
larger ruins under the walls of the canon fur
iher down. There are ten others along the
canon OF the Chaos, two OF them upon the
bluffs outlooking the canon, and the others
III The valley, all of similar work auship,
and manifestly the work of one Ieople. They
are remarkable as being dissimilar aud i'm
measuraoly superior TO any of the ruins yet
discovered in America. The large ruin In
the Canon de Chelley is of the same class,
AID is probably contemporaneous with them.
The largest OF the ten is the sixth as we go
down the canon, called the Pueblo Bonits by
simpson which Is 54OX3l0 feet The smalle,t
is The ninth, which is regular parallelo
gram 1892 feet With but two exceptions all
are built around three sides Of rectangle
with an open court facing south, and e2-
closed by a semi-circular wall. One Of the
exceptions to this regular rec angular plan
was The last one down the canon, the Pueblo
Penasco Blanca, of perfect elliptlcal shape,
4HtX363 feet i'll diameter, and the other Pueblo
BoElts, already mentioned, was perfec.
oval, or OF an egg shape, divided along lis
gre Attest diameter.
perfect rooms, preserved from destruction by
the length OF the regas or raiters supporting
the floor above them. These we examined
VIII much care and interest, and regretted
that we had not the means OF digging into
others which Were intact beneath the debris
OF the iallen walls. Ia all the rooms there
was notable NJ stnCSS OF finish, particularly
of the ceiling, which in the case or Penasco
BlaLcO was covered with thin boaI,is Of pine,
soneT hat larger but OF the thick; 49, 20. a.
ordinary shin gle. All the lar.cI b. tea
10 fourteen inches through. N,-- eI- oil
square AID smooth. Some uf r.. rps:nS
were Eiastcred perfectly E8.e, r.1uably
with the same yeso the Pa jos rr,. Next
cans now use. There Were "a 'e-,'r igo doors
or windows in every apartnt-.t ., al aver
age size OF twenty SIX by 10 s. NO inches.
These we've plumb 10 square, Ok equal width
Top and bottom, and III forming them the
builders seem 10 have given their greatest
care and attention. A prominent feature ia
all theie ruins were the circular rooms or the
" Estufas," their council halls or secret
places for the practice of their ancient re
ueion. The number OF each pueblo varied
from single one up 20 as many as twenty
feet In diameter, the largest being a tribe
over sixty feet, and the smallest fifteen fee.
il diameter.
IN all the mined pueblos the most remark
able feature was the skill with which the
stone Walls were built, and which has en-
abltd them to Withstand for hundreds OF
years The ravases Of human hands
and the slower work of the elements. Be-
ginning at the foundation with a width of
thirty two incho s, each succeeding story was
built little less in thickness until the walls
OF the fourth floor was about eighteen inches
throughout, giving them pyramidal shape,
and of such sOlidity that in some cases,
although the floor has been crushed down
and The cross walls fallen, they yet remain
firm and plumb nearly forty feet in height.
They had their methods OF laying the stone
by regular sandstone blocks OF the size of
two bricks, cut and ground TO Uniformity,
by alternate layers of these blocks with very
small and thin pieces of sandstone, generally
three courses OF the thin TO one OF the thick,
and last by laying the entire wall of these
excessively small pieces Of thin sandstone.
As al example OF this last kind, measured
off square yard On the northern wall of the
Pueblo of Ghetto Kettle, and counted the
number OF stones forming the surface. There
were i50 each laid SO close together that a
knife blade could not be pushed between,
and not particle OF mortar OF any kind ap
was 400 feet long and originally fully forty
feet high and averaged twenty four inches
thick; Imagine the Industry and patience of
such builders. Every doorway and window
was framed with scrupulOus exactness, and
ii would appear AZ II the plumb and square
had been faithfully used in all their work.
There are many other things of which
would like to speak-of the stairways hewn
in the rock, of the great water pockets and
c1sterns, OF the human skull and bones found
buried fourteen feet beneath the level of the
valley and exposed only by the eucroaching
arroyo, as well as other subterr n an deyel-
opments made, but the limits OF this letter
forbid.