The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1895-04-19

THE CLIFF JEWELLERS.
Interesting Theory to Account for
Their Lofty Homes.
Protected Against EIoods-Warned by the
Destruction of Their People. the
Survivors May Have Chosen
the Cliffs Safety.

the Cliffs for safety
Important explorations, which are all
the time going on in Colorado. Arizona
and New Mexico, in connection with
the remarkable structures known as
cliff dwellings" have not yet resulted
in any discoveries concerning the rei-
son why they were built and inha abitcd.
These cliff dwellings. says the New
York Herald. are found i'll very large
numbers in the rock bluffs that wall
III the principal canyons of the territory
where the Colorado. Mauco~ and other
rivers make their way toward the sea.
The most important of these situations
II the Mesa Verde. a plateau extending
through southwestern Colorado and
New Mexico. and rising to Il height OF
from one thousand To two thousand
feet from its base. which iS, again. s,.v-
cn thousand Ia eight thousand feet
above the sea level. 1t was very we'll
described four or five years ago by DIR.
". l.. BirdsaH in a scientific, public;,-
tion. The area investigated for cliff
dwellings Is about three hundred square
miles.
This mesa. or tableland. is covered
with scrub oak and ccdars. and broken
by perpendicular canyons. So that it
looks a. though the ground had been
split into imnumer.lblc assures. In
certain spots the ovrrhanging rock.
which seems To run in layers has made
galleries. varying between a few feet
in extent and as much a. a thousand
feet in length and fifty in width. On
these narrow lodges tine cliff dvcIlcrs.
like swallows. fastened their stone
houses. and the question i often asked:
why did they build - high?"
The only answer that science vouch-
safes Is the simple one that they built
where they found cavcrns in which to
build" That this answer is insufficient
j. shown 10y the fact that the base of
these canyons has. from time To time.
afforded cave accommodations for diff
fcrent races. while more than q thou
sand square miles. no. far from this
very locality. but on the lower lands.
show SIGNS "f occupancy at some time
by hundreds of cities and towns. pre-
historic and forgotten The answer
given *. therefore. not sufficient to
satisfy the mind.
And certainly it must have taken
some powerful motive to induce the
prehistoric races to climb SO high for a
dwelling place. when this could have
been obtained at the expense of 50
much less trouble and danger. 10y
planting them simply where tens and
hundreds of thousands did at som,.
time, two or three thousand feet lower
down. Evidently the reason for their
not doing 50 was that they lived and
huilded at a period far anterior To- that
Of ccs autreN. and when the existing
conditions must have been widely diff
fcrcnt. At present these localities are
unfit for the use Of man or beast on
account of the complete absence of
fresh water-eXcept whatever rain and
melted snow may be caught in hollows
worn in the rocks.
Winding around the bluff or sheer
wall 10y narrow lodges, tine explorer at
length comes upon "A great cliff. tower
ing upward. beneath which, on the
lodges below. rise the ruin, Of cliff
town. Then it iS seen that the dwell
ings present an appearance of infinite
variety. There are little corners of the
rock which evidently formed the houses
of the lower classes; others there are.
complete structures of stone taken from
the cliffs above and around. and fash
ioncd into substantial buildings made
to adapt themselves to the shape of the
caves and to the limitations of space.
In some instances the ruins of these
buildings Indicate towers, or communal
houses. of large extent. They are all
built Of blocks of sandstone broken or
cut into regular forms. Laid in an adobe
cement. and the crcvices between filled
in with stone chips. Where curves in
the gallery existed the walls were also
curved. or angled. to utilize the space.
Anyone who Will take the trouble to
read and cOllate the existing writings
concerning the traditions of the cN-
treme western and Pacific coast In
dianS. will find that the tribes all
agree in the possession of traditions con
cerning a great dclugc which. at some
long past period, covered all their terri
tory, and from which but few escaped.
Such traditions extend from Oregon to
hcxicu. OF course. in such "A ease.
those only would escape who reached
the highest lands. The idea that those
who are responsible for the construc-
tion of the cliff dwellings were the ones
who escaped from the great American
flood is certainly not without probable
reason on its side. though writer's on
the subject generally give it q wide
berth, being unwilling to accept the
conclusion which must necessarily fol-
low the adoption of 81 startling an
event as an actual fact of prehistoric
dayS