Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-04-20
A HOME IN THE CLIFF. VERY
SCANT FRONT YARDS.
WHERE PREHISTORIC MAN LIVED
Remains of These Dwellings Found
in Colorado Tourists Meet an Ugly
Cliff dweller.
AND DIED.

| Concerning the region of Mancos and
! Weber canons, little can be said with
out repeating what has already been
told by many writers, but fifty miles
northwest of that locality, in southwest
| Colorado, is found a type Of clif-houses
that stands peculiarly alone unique;
Il little canon, scarce Il hundred feet
deep by two hundred wide, where huge,
grotesque powders pile upon powders
more huge and grOteSQue; Il fringe Of
sturdy young desert oaks; q strip of
grayish sand, and, fifty feet lower,
purling brook. The rim-rock Of a vel
| low formation, Streaked with red and
! white, forms q background. The rock
! OverhangS three great powders, stacked
up in q manner to form a roof and two
walls, and this natural beginning is
supplemented by two walls Of masonry
one in front, containing a door, and
one in the rear or toward the solid wall
of the canon, where a crude fireplace,
begrlmed with smoke, stands. The COM
partment is about six feet in width by
twice that length, irregular in form, and
probably nine feet high. he place is
SO chOked with rubbish that it is impOS-
sible to ascertain the depth to the floor
without removing the deposit, when the
wall would certainly crumble.
The fireplace contained, at the time of
its discovery, a broken earthen pot of
parched corn, but now only the frag-
mentS Of pottery and broken arrow
points remain. One arrow point that
found buried in the deposit was of a
peculiar form not seen before, a very
different kind being found at the same
time lying n the portfolio, which seems
to have served the purpose Of a shelf
as well as a lookout, the stones being
worn quite smooth. Human finger
prints are plainly visible in the clay
mortar lining this curious window.
The entrance to this tiny cliff hOuse
is now screened by fringe Of desert
oaks, and twelve inches of leaf mold
Indicate that many centuries have elaps-
ed since the place was inhabitated.
Pottery nd fints are found beneath
| the loan.
About 400 yards north Of the place
described is mother clubhouse or rather
caVe-hOuse Of strange design. Here the
rim-rock projects about Is feet and
OVerhanSS q stone structure, forming
q roof. This building is in the form of
an egg with two shoulders at the apex.
Between the shoulders is a door, neatly
caSed with stone slabs.
In this instance the fireplace is simply
an aperture in the wall facing the rim
rock The fire was built outside and
cooking utensils were, doubtless, placed
in the square easement from the inside
The ashes contain chaTed bones of
many large animals, and also, | ant
quite certain, some humn bones. Were
they lsO cannibalS?
:. Besides the houses proper there are
several small caves that have been
used S dwelling places. In these ashes,
charcoal, bones and pottery mingle
Unfortunately
In one of the caves is a stone chair
formed partly by erosion and partly
by human skill. A followed bench pro-
jects from the wall and the back is
formed by the solid rock being chisled
or ground out at the angle and shaped
to be wonderfully comfortable The
nicely of the Ting is enhanced by the
addition of a stone footStoOl, and this,
with the balance of the piece, is ground
and polished by long continued use.
Another cavern has evidently been uti-
lied as a granary. Two stone bins re-
main intact and the outlines of others
may be traced by shattered walls of
masonry.
These bins contain several inches in
depth of a fine, almost impalpablc,
brOwnish dust What strikes one most
is the presence everywhere Of human
finger prints in the clay mortar. One
feels like the dead generations were
very near, and the thought produces
an uncanny sensation.
On a far grander scale is the plan and
affect Of wonderful clubhouse in
picturesque Canon Caiou Cbox canon }
about seventy-five miles from the place
already described. The wall of the
canon is 400 feet in height, and a fourth
of it is perpendicular, or overhangs a
little, if anything. A seam in the rock
widens at half way to form a roomy
cavern. Secure two good hOrsehair
lassoes and let yourself down about
sixty feet and you find yourself on a
narrow ledge. Look down forty feet,
as the plummet falls, and then 800 feet
of glstening rock wall, too steep, by
far, to be scaled, and see if you're not
Il bit dizzy.
The ledge is formed of a block of
stone which pans the crevices, fitting
in wedge-fashion, and constitutes the
front yard, promenade, and public
square Of unfastidious prehistoric man.
| But you're anxious to enter, so hump
your back and squeeze through q door
% inches high and 20 inches wide There
Now you walk over the yielding dust
that has been accommodating for a thou
SIND years, and peep through little
door into the rom beyond. A chicken
roost. you eXclaim. Hardly; the cedar
sticks that run across from wall to wall
are the bars and framework of a blank
ct loom. the extract counterpart of
which the Zuni Indians use to this day;
so chip off a piece with your knife for a
: keepsake and hasten out, for the at
!; mosphere is bad and you don't know
how many tartanulas and scorpions
may be hiding in the crack just over
your head.
The Mancos Canon district, before
mentioned, was once the scene of a
thrilling adventure with a mountain
lion. A party of tourists from Minnea-
polls were doing the place in tenderfOOt