The Osceola times., 1879-11-29
THE CLIFF JEWELLERS.
America the Old world--A Civilization of
which Even the Memory Was Lost
Centuries Ago.
New York Post.


Centuries Ago.
New York Post
Among the recent additions to the
American Museum of Natural History
are many casts Of curious "caye houses"
or cliff dwellings, discovered by the
Hayden Geological Survey. These
structures are OF such evident antiquity
that a new epoch is formed, which car
ries the existence of man to so remote u
period that the mound builder" of
whom we know comparatively nothing,
appears almost modern. Only these
stony ruins remain to tell the story of a
once powerful and semi-cultivated people.
The first discoveries of these houses
were made by Mr.. A. ID. Wilson, of the
HAYDEN survey, and later special sur
yey was detailed under Mr. W. III. Jack
son, who returned with the first authen.
tic reports According TO MIR. Ingersoll
most of the ruins are found around the
edge of the desert track formed by the
triangulation of the Rivers Rio Mancas,
La Plata and Rio San Juan. The San
Juan and La Plata have width of
bottom land between their banks, but
the Rio Mances runs like q brooklet
along its narrow part, shut in by walls
thousands of feet high. On tie terraces
Of the more open canyons are multitudes
Of picturesque ruins; in the bottom lands
are the remains of towns; in the wilder
canyons the houses are percned upon
the face of the chasm. In an encamp-
ment 1000 feet above the valley of the
Rio Mancos are single houses, in groups
Of two and three, and villages, according
to the width of the shelf which they
occupy. They are SO high that the
naked eye can distinguish them merely
az specks. There is no access to them
from above on account of the rocks that
project overhead. and no present way of
reaching them from below, although
doubling paths and footholes in the
rocks show where the way was trodden
Of old by human feet. Ifthc reader will
imagine the palisades three times higher
than they are, with midway shelves
between the top and bottom eaten out by
the weather, on which are erected stone
huts, to and from which the owners found
their way by paths scarcely foot wide,
he will have some idea of these ancient
abodes, whose counterparts in miniature
can now be seen at the museum.
The cliffs in some part are limestone,
but most frequently sandstone, with
alternating strata of shales and clay.
The softer layers are followed ont, leav-
ing caves. whose solid stone lodges serve
as the floors and roofs of the cliff dwell
ings. 4 few houses have two stories,
and one shows four stories, but generally
they are not higher than mans head.
Division walls are built from the rear
Of the opening and running outward to
the front of the cave, which il so neatly
walled by masonry of the prevailing
stone that the artificial work is scarcely
noticeable by casual observer. Upon
the submits OF the loftier battlements
are placed at regular intervals round
the stone towers. The curve Of the
aboriginal masonry is perfect As to
the habits of these dwcllcrs We know
almost nothing Near the ruin called
Hovenweep Castle the castle Of the
deserted valley no bones or signs of
groves have been found. only heaps Of
ashes are left, mingled with charred
wood, which tell the story of cremation,
and probably of fire worship, Ii is
assumed that the present Pueblo Indians
are the descendants of these people from
the fact that their huts to-day resemble
the ancient cayc-houses. The absence
of implements of warfare. either com.
pletcd or unfinished, gives rise TO the
opinion that they We're peaceful race
Near some of the cities thousands Of
flint arrowheads were found sticking in
the cliff--all pointing toward the city
showing that some strong invader had
attacked them.
AooarJ,p, ., Ar Tn,laan tho moot
remarkable remains are those found in
New Mexico, and some of the buildings
equal any We have in the United States,
five except the capitol. One Of these
tshown in the east by Hayden, the
Pueblo del Arroyo" has wings 1870 feet
in length, and the western wall Of the
court is 269 feet. Facing the centre of
the court are three stories in height.
Another, the "Pucblo Chettro Kettle"
is 440 feet long and 2j0 feet wide, and
presents the remains of four stories; the
logs forming the second floor extend
through the walls a distance of six feet,
and probably at one time supported
balcony on the shady side of the house.
Mr.. Jackson estimates that in the wall
running around three sides of the build
ing, 925 feet in length and 40 in height,
there were more than 2,000,0c pieces OF
stone for the outer surface of the outer
wall alone. This surface, multiplied by
the stones of the opposite surface, and
also by the stones of the interior and
transverse lines of masonry, would give
a total of 30,000,000 pieces in 3l5,0OO
cubic feet of wall. These millions of
pieces had 10 be quarried and put into
position the timbers were brought from
a great distance, and considering the
vastness of the work and the amount of
labor and time that must have been
expended, these buildings may well be
compared with the most famous works
of what is 50 wrongly called the cold
World"
Among the caves of the Rio de Chelley
were found some of the most beautifully
tinted arrowheads ever discovered; also,
large carthen jars of oval design. In
large three-story house were found many
implements Of domestic nse. representing
the stone age. Among them were large
and hammers. The walls,
says Mr.. Ingersoll, were plastered with
of stucco-like finish. That it
Was spread on the walls by human hands
is evident from the marks of the pores
of The akin to he found upon the surface.
0connonally the whole imprint Of the
honl has been LEFT; one wonan's slender
- ~ thus preserved for the people
55 ~ ~f.~A~amfh raufsarv AZ n the