The Red Cloud chief., 1880-01-08
THE CLIFF JEWELLERS.
A Race Lost tn Nemey c~saiarie. Age.

A Race Lost tn Nemery Centuries
PROM the Mes York kXtning fos.
Among the recen; additions TO the
American Museum II Natural History
are many casts 81 curious cave hoa-cs
or cliff dwellings, discovered hy the lay
den Geological Survey. These structures
are of such evident antiquity that \ pew
epoch il formed which carries the exist
enc II man in this country to 80 re
mote n period that the MOUND Builder.
Of whom we know comparatively moth
ing. appears comparatively MODERN.
Only these stony ruins remain tn tell the
story Of a once powerful and I'm
cultivated people. The first discoveries
Of these houses were made By Mr.. A.
ID. Wilson of the Hayden Survey. and
later 4 special survey were detailed I'M
der Mr.. ". II. Jackson, WHO returned
with the first authentic reports. Ac-
cording To- Mr.. Iugers'li mo oi the
ruins are found around the edge o. the
desert track formed by the triangula.ion
Of the rivers Rio Mancos, Ia Plata ard
Rio San Juan. The San Juan and La
Plata have a width Of bottom land
between their banks. but the Rio
Nance runs like a Drooklct along
it, narrow path. shut In by walls
thousands II feet high. On the terraces
of the open canyons are multitudes
Of picturesque uinS; ia the bottom
lands are the remain. of towns; in the
wilder canyons the houses are perched
upon the face If the chasm. Ia an M
campment one thousand feet above The
Valley Of the Rio Mancos are .;ngle
houses III groups of two and three mud
villages, according Ia the width Of the
shelf which they occupy. They are so
high that the naked eye can distinguish
them merely as specks. There j. no ac-
cess to them from above on rCoCn of
the rocks tina. project overhead, and no
present way OF reaching them from be-
low, although doubling paths and foot
holes in the rocks show where the way
was trodden Of Old oy human feet. II
the reader will imagine the Palisades
three times higher than they are, with
midway shelves between the top and
bottom eaten on, by the weather, on
which are erected stone huts, to and
from which the wner found their way
by paths scaraelv q foot wide, he will
have some idea Of these ancient abodes,
whose counterparts la miniature a
now be seen at the museum.
The cliffs in some part are limestone,
but most frequently sandstone, with al
ternatine strata of shales and clay. The
softer layers are followed out, leaving
caves, whose solid stone lodges serve as
the floors and ioois OF the cliff dwellings.
A few houses ave two stories, and one
shows four stories, but generally they
are not higher than a mans head. Di-
vision walls are Juilt from the rear of
the opening and running outward TO the
front OF the cave, which is SO neatly
walled by masonry Of the prevailing
stone that the artificial work is scarcely
noticeable by Il casual observer. Upon
the summi,s of the loftier battlements
are placed at irregular intervals round
stone towers. The curve of the aborig- !
inal masonry is perfect. As 10 the hab-
its of these jewellers we know almost
nothing. Near the ruin called Hoven-
weep Castle (the castle of the deserted
vallcy) 40 bones or signs of graves have
been lound; only heaps Of ashes are
left. mingled with charred wood, which
tell the story of cremation, and probably
of fire worship. 1t is Assumed that the
present Pueblo Indians are the descend
ants of these people. from the fact that
their huts to-day resemble the ancient
cave houses. The absence of nipple
of warfare. either completed or
gives rise To the opinion that
they were "A peaceful race. Near some
of the cities thousands of flint arrow
heads were found sticking in the cliff
all pointing toward the city-showing
that some s.rong invader had attacked
them.
According to Mr.. Jackson the most
remarkable remains are those found in
New Mexico, and some of the buildings
equal any in the United States, If we en-
the capitol. One of these (shown
in the cast by Hayden), the pueblo
del Arroya,'' has wings l30 feet in
and The western wall of the
court is 26S feet. Facing the center of
he court ale three stories in height.
Another, the Pueblo Chettro Kettle"
IS 40 feet long and go feet wide, and
presents the remains of four stories; the
ogs forming the second floor extend
the walls a distance of 6 feet,
md probably at M time supported a
on the shady side of the house.
Mr.. Jackson estimates that in the wal!
'unning around three sides of the build
NC, 925 in length and 40 feet in height,
here were more than 100000 pieces
) sto G for the outer surface OF the out
n well alone. This surface multiplied
~ the stones of the opposite surface,
md also By The stones of the interior
md transverse lines of masonry, would
i've a total of > 10000, 900 pieces N 49,
NO cubic feet o. wall. These millions
( pieces had to be quarried and put in
o position: the timbers were brought
a great distance, and considering
he vastneSs of the work and the amount
4 labor and time that nus have been /,
expended these buildings may well be /:
ompared with the most famous works
f what is so wrongly called the old {
Torld. I
Among the caves of the Rio de Chelley J
,ere found some o. the mos. beautifully |
arrow-heads ever discovered: al (
0, numbers of large earthen jars o Oval
In a large three-story house q
'cic iouuu iiiaiis iupieiichtS VI uo- Z
nestle use representing the stone age. @
.mong them were large grindstopes and @
The walls, says Mr.. Inger- 8
oil, were plastered with cement of '
like finish. That it was spread i
n the walls by human hands IS evident O
ON the marks of the pores OF the skin a
be founG on the surface. Occasionally v
lie whole imprint of the hand has been a
#; one woman's slender fingers are $
lus preserved for ,he people Of the b
ineteenth century. As 10 the date of g
lese erec;ions but little can be de- b
srmined as present. The Moqui towns b
Re now in precisely the same state of A
reservation as they were when de- a
by The invading Spaniards, near a
400 years ago. Assuming the MoquiS Il
be lineal descendants of the cliff-dwell- a
5, how vast a time the old canyon castles 81
ust have been deserted even when the Of
.oquis have no knowledge of the grand N
,mes of their ancestors! Regarding Fl
~ aero nf tho puablnS .boy x~oro Sa;S -