The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1884-03-27
Cave Cities in Arizona.

Mr.. James Stevenson, of the geolog-
ical survey, has reported to Maj. Pow
ell, as one of the results of his field OPP
eratiOns last season, the discovery of
several more ruined cave and cliff cit
les, differing in some respects from any
he had before examined. The most re-
markable was a village of siXty-tive un-
derground dwellings,, situated near the
summit of one of the volcanic foothills
of the San Francisco mountains in the
San Juan region of Arizona. The sur
face stratum of the hill had by expos
ure become hardened, and formed the
common roof for the entire commune
ty. The dwellings were excavatedsaf-
ter a common pattern, and n descrip-
ton of one gives an idea OF the whole.
They had no intcrcommunication be-
meath the surface, and were only access
sible by means of square holes leading
from the surface by vertical shaft to
the f1Oor of the main room OF the dweft-
ing. Foot-rests-holes at convenient
distances along the sides of the shaft
served the purposes of a stairway.
Descending the shaft, the explorers
found themselves at the side of an oval
shaped and arched-roof room, about
twenty feet in its smallest diameter
At the ends and in the side opposite the
entrance low doorways connected the
main room with the smaller rooms, the
whole suite or dwelling consisting of
four apartments. One Of the smaller
rooms had its floor excavatcd to a
depth of two or three feet below those
of the other rooms, and is supposed to
have served the purpose of a store-room
nj coll ff,p. hn nj 10
other small rooms may have been bed
rooms. A groove eighteen inches deep
by fifteen in width, extending from the
floor of the main room up one side of
the shaft to the surface OF the hill-its
bottom filled with ashes and its sides
blackened with smoke-form the fire.
place and chimney of the establish
ment.
Around the mouth of the shaft a
stone wall was found, forming by its
inclosure kind of door-yard to the
dwelling below The wall doubtless
served the double purpose of guarding
against snow-slides, which might 9TH
erwise fill up the rooms and bury the
occupants, and against the accidental
fall of an inhabitant into his own or his
neighbours dwelling, upsctting the din
ner pot and possibly breaking his neck
in the operation. Considerable debris
was found in these ancient dwellings,
an examination of which led 10 the dis
covery of curios, illustrating some of
the social and domestic customs of the
extinct race. Stone mauls and axes,
implements used in excavating. the
dwellings; pottery bearing great va
riety of ornamentation, bone avis and
needles of delicate workmanship, the
metatc or family grinding stone for
grain, its well-worn surface indicating
| long use, she'll and obsidian ornaments,
and implements of wood, the uses of
which were undiscoverable, were
among the trophies of the exploration.
| Search was made for n water-course or
spring, but no appearance of the eXis-
tence of water in the neighborhood dur
ing recent centuries was discovered.
There were signs of intercommunica-
ton between this village and cliff city
some fifteen miles distant, also new
discovery, which indicated the cOntem-
poraneous inhabitancy of the two,
This city, or rather cluster of villages
occupied the sites OF canyon which
has recently been christcned Walnut
canyon. 1t is an immense fissure in
the earth, with nothing above the gen.
eral level of the country to Indicate its
existence TO the traveller until he stands
upon the side of its almost precipitous
brink The sides have been quilted by
storms and torrents, leaving shallow
cave-like places of great length at diff
ferent heights, along the bottoms of
which, wherever the ledge furnished
sufficient area, dwellings in groups or
singiy were built The season was
well advanced when the place was
reached, and only little time was spent
in i,s exploration. All the ancient
methods of approach had been long be-
fore worn away, and access to the
nearest of the groups of houses was
work of difficulty.
The group or village which was most
narrowly examined WAS about three
quarters of mile in length, and con-
sisted of single row of houses, the
common rear wall being tho living
rock, while the sides and fronts were
made of large and squared stones laid
in clay. A narrow street or pathway
extended along the entire front 9th
Ell and similar villages could be seen
along the canyon for distance of five
miles
Among the relics found here was
wooden spindle whirl similar to those
N use by the Pueblos of the present
time, but unlike them in the apparent
manner of its manufacture. Nothing
indicating the use Of metallic tools of
any description was discovered. The
surface of the wood of which the whirl
was formed had apparently been char
red and then ground down t9 the re-