The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-11-01
ANCIENT CLIFF DWELLERS.

The Last in the Series of Lectures on "The
 Prehistoric Southwest" Delivered Las
 Eycning-Interesting Facts Concerning
 the House Dwelling Aborigines,
 The last of the series of lectures on 'oThe Prehistoric Southwest was deliv- cred at United church chapel last eve ming by Mrs. Gilbert McClurg, The lecture was one of the best of the course and that the indictment weather kept so many away who would other wise have attended was very unfortu- nate. Mrs. McClurg spoke in her usual distinct and comprehensive manner, and illustrated all her details and customs of the cliff dwellers and Pueblo In dians with stereoptican pictures. The special subject of the lecture was "The People of the Pueblos." Mrs. McClurg said that traces of these tribes are found over tract covering 6,O0O square miles, while the ancient centre of popu- lation seems to have been at a point where the modern Colorado, New MeXi- co, Utah, and Arizona meet. The an- cient Pueblo people were citizens of the soil agese before the United States were formed, and their degenerate and dimin- ished descendants are legal voters of the republic to-day, made so by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. These people are not Indians in the old fashioned idea of a beinfi wild, redskinned, nomadic, barbarian, Sark-locked, lith-limbed warning and being warred upon. In- stead of answering to this description, the cliff dwellers were living in five or six storied stone houses in America at a time when our Saxon ancestors made toilets of blue paint and shells and dwelt in tree trunks. They were industrious farmers, cultivating the soil and irrigating the desert corn, squashes, beans acorns, gourds, and cot ton being among their crops. They were, nevertheless fond of the chase and of the prairie dogs skins made clev- erly wrought pouches; furred rag bit skin twisted In strips made a curious textile fabric; bear skins and moun- tain lions hides furnished mats und mantles; from the glosy plumage of the wild turkey a characteristic cloth was made by winding split quills, bear ing the feathers, round and rounS a cold; from bones of various animals they fashioned needles, cotton was wov- en in the primitive looms but the chief industry was pottery making
 When the Spaniards came in 1640 they noted with surprise these house dwelling tribes, living in we'll ordered communities.
 After preliminary talk, of which the above contains some of the points, Mrs. McClurg gave an interesting ex- fibition of stereoptican pictures. Among them were pictures of various cliff dwell lings, all placed on rocky heights and presenting as picturesque a scene of ruin as do any of the old Rhine cas- ties. Pictures were also shown of inn plements of various sorts in use among the ancient people, some of the bodies found mummified in the dwellings and also scenes on the modern Pueblo dwell lings.
 Every point of the lecture was listen- ed to with close attention and every one present was highly entertained as we'll as instructed. The entire course has been one of rare interest, dealing as it did with subject of which We hear comparatively little. Mrs. McClurg goes to Hartford tomorrow.