The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-03-16
SKULL OF PLAIN DwELLER.

found in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico
and Arizona, but the most striking
were in the Grand gulch which ter
inmates in the grand canyon of the
colorado. The gulf is itself a grand
canyon and is located in San Juan
county, 9. T. 1t is about seventy
miles long, its depth varying from two
hundred to twenty-five hundred feet,
and averaging fifteen hundred. Tho
sides are very PERCEPTIONS, in many
places being incapable of descent. Mr..
Green says his party spent seven weeks
exploring every nook and crevice OF the
gulch in vain endeavor to find a ia
vorable point at which, either by ascent
or descent, the ruins could be reached.
The ruins of the cliff dwellings, be it
remembered, occupy the cave openings
and Lodges of. the precipitous cliffs, and
are accessible only by means Of steps
hewn from the rock and by scaling
ladders. Every cave opening and near
ly every ledge in these extensive can
yons has its ruin, the extent of which
depends on the space at command.
At one point Mr.. Green says his party
halted before wall that reared its
head many hundred feet above them.
They could see in the distance the open
ings that stood out in plain view. How
to scale the rocky wall and reach the
ruined house was the question. After
: long search the stairway of the cliff
dwellers was found but could not be
utilized, as the elements through un-
known ages had SO worn the edges away
that the foot of man could in no way
find Judgement. The explorers could
see that the smooth stairway once at
forded a ready means of ascent to the
dwellings, but after further attempt to
scale the wall the place was abandoned.
But better success attended them else
where, and after few hours of hard
labor a lofty ledge was reached and
The exploration of one Of the houses
begun. The. winds of many years had
driven through the chinks and open
doors and windows to such an extent
that the floors were buried to the depth
of one and two feet " it'll a fine silt-like
deposit that could owe its origin to no
other source than the chatting of the
elements against the grim and rocky
walls.
To all appearances the cliff jewellers
had left their homes a conquered ma
ton. Relics strewn about in confusion
prove this, as does the absence Of a
great number of human remains. The
latter are not found in quantities sufi-
Gent to indicate that the nation had
become extinct as a nation, there. 1t
is probable that they were driven ont.
Mr.. Green suggests they were perhaps
the nation who in the misty past drift
ed south and formed the basis of the
Aztec and Toltec people, and thus have
been the builders of the ruins of Mexi-
co. and Central and South America.
This view of the matter is not with
out it's supporters even among the In
dian tribes that now roam the arid
plains of the great southwest. Indeed,
the Moqui claim to be descended from
the cliff jewellers. They have tradi-
ton that years ago the Navajos, their
mortal enemies, fought and destroyed
the cliff jewellers as a nation. Only
two children escaped by finding safe re-
treat in the Businesses. The Great
Spirit, to show his displeasure, deter
mined to revive the fallen people, and