Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-02-04
THE CLIFF JEWELLERS.
Something Should be Done 10 Preserve the Marks of A ncient Civilization.
 (Sew York Sum-

CSe~ York Sum-
 The American Association for the Ad- vsncement of Science st its last meeting adopted 6 resolution recommending to Congress that some steps be taken for the preservation of the remarkable arch eslogiosl curiosities of the west Professor Powell and his associates of the seologIcal snrvey have been giving the subject considerable attention. The plan most ID favor contemplstes the pas sage of SD act reseryiug certain desig- mated spots, where these pueblos and other curiosities exist, from appropriR- ] ton and settlement under the land laws, thus stamping them As government prop ] erty and leaving more elaborate and e1- pensive undertakings to the future.
 Some of the Pueblo tribes are rapidly dying out and others are chang ng from the qusInt people they were few yesrs ago to very comuonplBce ssvages. The pueblo of Sills, fifty miles west of Sants Fe, which few years ago gave shelter to ], 900 souls, now contains but little more than one-tenth that humber. Acoms. a much better kooun pueblo, is already deserted. T1e Nj qui towns Of A -izona, built upon the tops Of hieb, barren rocks, are beginning to undergo a change, and 1t is probable that ter years hence will be deserted.
 Of the ancient or deserted publos, those of Choco C. n1n, New Mexico, are the most remark oie yet discovered. or the inhabitants nothing is known. but there IS reason to believe that the ZuDls gre their generate d. scendants, TbeI' relics prove that thay were mentally su- psriOr to any Indisns of the present day, yet they fsll far short of cIviliZatloo. There are found ID Choco csiion the re mains of thirteen immense store castles, whose masonry IS ua,qne and dur .ble | and whose outlines prove their builders tO have been capable ot devising elsbOr
 ate architectural plane in advance and working industriously to 6 given end The walls of some of these structures are still standing io the height of three oI four stories.
 More curious still are the ruined vil- lages of the cliff-d sellsrs, and for theiT preservation Major Po~elrs goes a httle further. The metropolis of the cl f. Eeliers appears to have been in tbt Csnons De Chelly and Debut Muerto- which are practically one-in North eastern New Mexico. These csnOns united are fifty miles long, sId in the cave and vestherings along the way are found more than l50 sroupe of dwellings,. many of which are ss we'll preserved ss on the dsy they were finished. sop t ' tiny caves 5eld no. more than two or three famil,es, while come nsmm7th opening contsined v.llsges-slmc st cities with public structures which may have served as places of worship and castles of defense. Some are easily &C., cessiole to vigorous climbers. while Oth- CTS are beyond Tesch-500 or 600 fee' above the bottom Of the canon, with
 blank stretches Of vertical rock later veping. Major Powell suggests tha' these csnons be set apart as s national park, after the plan of the YellOustone reservation. The nearest railroad poin; is seventy miles distant, and the inter venIng country, unlike most of the ard region, is both practicable for so1d
 wagon or railroad and interesting to ih- tourist, The cRnons are now the sUm-
 mer home of about twenty five Navajo families, vhcse united lsbOrs ss tiliers | of the so is about as much ss would be expected of oue industrious white one.
 For a hotel. IL IS suggested that one of the V-shaped pr isctions of rock be hol- lowed into rooms. corridors, hAll-, and
 bed rooms, with windows ssd balconies looking up aud down ihe canon, wiih elevators and modern conve1isnces. about which Navajo guides, with bur
 ros and ponies. would want ID readiness 1 to escort the tourist 70 distant points of | interest.