Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-10-25
THE CLIFF JEWELLERS OF ARIZONA.
A visit TO the Abandoned Dwellings o'
the san Francisco Gorges.

A visit TO the Abandoned Dwellings oil
the san Francisco Gorges.
II 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-
lished through this section in the spring
1882 was repeatedly robbed by masked
h phwaymen. and was soon aiterward
discontinued. Near the now thriving
town of Flagstaff, then a mere camp,
fourteen highway robberies were CON-
mitted in as many consecutive days.
The widest disorder and lawlessness
prevailed The cemetery, on the gentle
slope Of a pine-clad hin just wes' of the
town, contains more than dozen graves
of outlaws and desperadoes who met a
violent death in the palmy 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 driv-
ing off the focks and herds in Tonic
Basin, beautifulvalley south of the At
-lantic and Pacific. Railway. Mr.. John
w. Young, son of The late prophet and
leader of Mormonism, who Yves then a
- prominent contractor, constructed fort
fo- the protection of his wo-kmen and
= property, The fort was named after one
OF the patron saints of Mormonism. 1t
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 a.
900 feet above the sea, has delightful
= temperature, abeunds in all kinds of
, wild game, and is strewn with the ruins
and relics Of prehistoric races. In scenic
beauty it has few equals.
Three hundred and forty miles west Of
albuquerque, on the Atlantic and Pacific
Railway, is Flagstaff, now a prosperous
/. and xrpwine town, centrally located
among the most attractive, features oil
this section. The pride end boast of the
town is the ancient city of Cliff Dwell
n ings, In q mountain gorge some eigh
miles east of the village. 1t is pleasant
drive, affording much time for loiterin,
and leisure by the wayslde, where tht
winding road leads through alternat'
stretches offorests and prairie glades
Antelope, black-tailed deer, and wilC
turkey are here in great numbers, AM
the visitor to the Cliff Dwellings Is FIRE
quently rewarded with saddle of veni
son or a brace of birds. The visitor ha
no warning OF his proximity to the an
cient pueblo until he stands on the yer,
brink OF the canon and gazee down int
gorge, deep, dark, aud foreboding. o.
descending he feels an oppressed sensa
ton stealing over him, caused by tn
7. sudden shutting out of the broad world
.i' bat Re soon loses this in the conten
plation of his surroundings. 1t is as
. he were transferred for the hour int
: some country and CLINE remote, abound
, ing in forms and sights grotesque. Tn
" trees and shrubs are Of a variety who'll
different from those just left on tn
heights above him, the birds of gave
d song and more brilliant plumage, wit
- here the skeleton of some monster beas
and. there massive horns. Continuin
: the descent to the bottom. he finds gres
~ RATS OF logs piled high by the floods I
former years. One of these great drift
fired by an Indian or some adventure
lies black and desolate mass. Far u
the frowning cliff walls have. crumhle
q, and mingled with the heaps of ashes an
blackened half buried trunks of trees!
Niched in the walls ofthese cliffs, in
broader and more cheerful part of u
"a tortuous gorge, are the ruins of the eli
ae dwellers. Some freak Of nature has lie
great caverns in the stratifed rocks, ia
fording only floor and root, leaving Il
T" the cliff dweller the simple task of d
viding this space by walls according
fancy or necessity. The walls are In
of mud and stone, and bear evidence
some skill in construction and rare i
genuity in location. Every foot of spa
slueo covered is enclosed. even though 4
outer walls stand upon the very brink
Z the yawning depths below No enligl
SuSU HlOlHCI, PCIudpS, Has tNtT WISH
- this spot without asking how those p,
pie could rear children In such pla
;, The dwellings extend mile along {
rugged, jutting sides of the canon,
q 4f down its walls, and yet are hundreds
feet from the bottom. They are G.
; structed in tiers one above the 9th
and occupy each side of the gorge tn,
A''' are six tiers IN all. Va u $3.50 .
This ancient city is accessible from,
ly one or two points, and for only t
. % persons at time. 1t is the largest pu
"a 10 known. Although it has been visi
by tourists and travellers from ev,
~ quarter of the civilized world in the D
-. season, many of its dark caverns are 1
amystery and have never been entel
bya white man. Having once gair
access to one row or tier, it is necess;
f'fI TO travel to the end of it before gain
access to the one above or below it. 4
While it is an accepted theory Il
these ruins are the former hopes o
s's dwelling place of some race now extir
su7 it seems more reasonable to suppose 81
2 s they were the ret reat of some vanqui
'o5 ed people, who mere sought refuge fir
81 the fierce nomadic tribes that roam
81 these wilds at time so remote that }
tory bears no record Oftheir wars. Tn
DESCENDANTS may yet be found in I
rPusblos or Moquis. Cor. N : Y. sun.
f--s ~