The Osceola times., 1884-11-01
THE CLIFF JEWELLERS OF ARIZONA
Visit TO the Abandoned DWELLING. n,
the san Francisco Gorges,

n
Visit TO the Abandoned Dwellings O,
the san Francisco Gorges,
1t is over two years since FIRST visit.
ed the great plateau lying west of the
Little Colorado or Flax River in north.
ern Arizona. At that time mail service
extended only to Government forts and
mining centres. Aside from the mail
coach, the only mode of travel was ON
horseback over narrow, winding trails.
The first United States mail line estab.
iished through this section in the spring
1882 was repeatedly robbed by masked
h ghwaymen, and was soon afterwarJ
discontinued. Near the now thriyinr
town of Flagstaff, then mere CHM.
fourteen highway robberies were com.
mitted in as many consecutive days.
The widest disorder and lawlessness
prevailed The cemetery, on the gentle
slope cfa pine-clad hill just ives of the
town, contains more than dozen graves
OF outlaws and de-peradoes who met a
violent death in the palny days of rail.
way construction.
The Apaches on the south were a
standing menace to the contractor and
settler, and even penetrated this section,
killing the settlers, scattering and driy-
ing off the flo ks and herds in Tonto
Basin, bea tiful valley south ofthe At
lantic and Pacific Railway. Mr.. John
w. Young son of the late prophet and
leader of Mormonism, who WIS then a
prominent contractor, constructed fort
TO- the protection of his wo-kmen and
property. The fort was named after one
OF the patron saints of Mormonism. II
is now the headquarters for an extensive
cattle range. The entire section ofcoun.
try Is dotted with towns and villages of
substantial character, containing
schools. churches, and printing offices.
The country ranges from 5000 to H..
600 feet above the sea, has a delightful
temperature, abounds in all kinds of
wild game, and is strewn with the ruins
and relics of prehistoric races. In scenic
DtGutN III mas rev equals.
Three hundred and forty miles west of
Albuquerque. on the Atlantic and Pacific
Railway, is Flagstaff, now prosperous
and growing town, centrally located
among the most attractive features of
this section. The pride end boast of the
town is the ancient city of Cliff Dwell
Ings, in mountain gorge some eight
miles east of the village. 1t is pleasant
drive, afiording much time for lettering
and leisure by the wayslde, where the
winding road leads through alternate
stretches Of forests and prairie glades
Antelope, black-tailed deer, and wild
turkey are here in great numbers. and
the visitor to the Cliff Dwellings is fre-
quently rewarded with saddle of yeni-
son or a brace of birds. The visitor has
NJ warning OF his proximity to the an.
cient paeblo until he stands on the very
brink OF the canon and gazes down into
gorge, deep, dark, and foreboding On
descending he feels an oppressed sensa
tion stealing over him, caused bv the
sudden shutting out of the broad world.
but he soon loses this in the contem-
plation of his surroundings. 1t is as if
he were transferred for the hour into
some country and cline remote, abound.
ing in forms and sights grotesque. The
trees and shrubs are of a variety wholly
different from those Just lett on the
heights above him. the birds of gayer
song and more brilliant plumage, with
here the skelet IN of some monster beast.
and there massive horns. Containing
the descent to the bottom. he finds great
rafls OF logs pill d hilh by the floods OF
former years. One of these great drifts,
fired by an Indian or soIne adventurer
lies black aud d, soate mass. Far up
the frownin2 cliff walls have crumLled
and mi. grd wish the heaps of ashes and
blackened hall bJlied trunks oftrccs.
Niche, in the walls of these cliffs, IN Il
broader and more chcerful part OF the
toltuous gorge, are tn" ruins OF the elf
dwelers. Some freak of nature has left
great caverns in the stratificd rocks, af-
iording only floor and roof, leaving Tor
the cliff dweller the simple task of di-
viding this space by walls according to
fancy or n, cessity. The walls are .uilt
of mud and stone, and bear evidence of
some skill in construction and rare in.
genuity in location. Every foot of spare
so covered is enclosed. even though the
outer walls stand upon the very brink of
the yawning depths below No enlieht-
ened mother, perhaps, has ever visited
this spot without asking how those peo-
pie could rear children IN such place.
The dwellings extend mile along the
rugged jutting sides of the canon, far
down It's walls, and yet are hundreds OF
feet from the bottom. They are con
structed in tiers one above the other
and occupy each side ofthe gorge. There
are six tiers in all.
This ancient city is accessible from on
ly one or two points, AMI for only two
persons at time. 1t is the largest pneb-
10 known. Although it has been visited
by tourists and travellers from every
quarter of the civilized world in the past
season, many of its dark caverns are YET
mystery and have never been entered
by white man. Having once gained
access to one row or tier il is necessary
to travel to the end of it before gaining
access TO the one above or below it.
While it is an accepted theory that
these ruins are the former homes and
dwelling place of some race now extinct
il seems more reasonable to suppose tha
they were the ret reat of some vanquish
ed people, who mere sought refuge IRON
the fierce nomadic tribes that roamec
these wilds at time so remote that ms
tory bears no record of their wars. Theii
descendants may yet be found in thu
Pueblos or Moauis. Cor. n. Y. sun.
Wanted to stop . Dog right.
ais Judge McCotkle's residence in thi