St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-18
MYSTERY OF AN ANCIENT
RACE WHO INHABITED THE
ROCKIES.
RUINS OF CLIFF DWELLINGS
THEY WELL REPAY THE TOUR
IST FOR a JOURNEY TO
THEM.
a CLIMB OVER THE FOUNTAINS.
Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree
House the Finest of Existing
Ruins.

DURANGO, Col, NOV. 17.-In view
of the multitude of persons, with
out special scientific bent or educa-
ton, who are deeply interested in
reading about the cliff-dWellings OF
the Southwest, it is wonderful how
few have ever visited them. 1t has
become a sort of popular fad to spend
ones vacation somewhere off. the
beaten track; and small incomes do
not deter many, in these days OF
cheap and comfortable travel, from
gratifying a taste for novelty once
a wear. There is good ground for
believing that the reason why some
of the best and most accessible OF
our wonderful American ruins have
been visited by so few curiousity-
seekers from the Eastern states is
that not many know where to go,
how to get there. or how much time
and money such an expedition would
consume. Ii is in answer to large
number of inquiries that 1 jot down
here a few suggestions drawn from
personal experience:
The most convenient point Of depart
ure for the Colorado cliff dwellings is
within four ami one-half days ride Of
New York. All roads lead to Denver
or Colorado Springs-a three days jour
ney. in round numbers. from New
York. There it is necessary to wait
till evening for a train on the Denver
&. Rio Grande to Durango, which is
A ran STCD
the passenger has an hour or two in
which to dine at his ease and look about
the town. an overgrown mining camp;
and thence a train over another branch
of the same system to Mancos ends
the railway journey. The cost of the
whole trip from New York to Mancos,
including meals and sleeping-car
berths. need not exceed $95.
There are many persons in this res
ion who can guide a stranger to placen
where he can see two or three cliff
dwellings; but so much time, labor and
discomfort are saved by going with an
expert in the business that those to
whom such considerations usually ap-
peal usually try to secure convoy with
the Wetheriu boys at Alamo ranch,
near Mancos. The Wetherills are COW
boys-or perhaps they may be said to
have been graduated into cattlenlen;
and it was in hunting for missing stock
for one of their round-upS that they ac-
cfdentally discovered some Of the most
wonderful of the ruins. 1t was with
them that Baron Nordenskjold lived
and conducted the researches which he
has described in his notable work.
They are rugged fellows, used to the
rugged life OF the wild Rocky noun
tain country, thoroughly kind and ge-
nial and tireiesSly interested in the an
tiquities they. have brought to light.
Their prowess as explorers is atteSted
by their collections exhibited in the
METROPOLITAN museum in New York, in
various repositories in Boston, Chicago
and other cities in this country, and i'll
some of the larger museums in Europe.
There is a comfortable farm house on
the ranch, where the visitors can be
entertained for the night; and after an
early breakfast the next morning the
horses will be brought out and caval-
cade formed for ride to the Spruce
Tree. House and the Cliff Palace, the
finest ruins in this part OF the country,
and those made most famous by the
Swedish archaeologist
1t is a rough trip. I have been over
much bad country, and this is as bad
as the worst l should not advise any
one with a giddy head, weak nerves,
or Indifferent powers of endurance to
undertake it. Yet women, here and
there, are among those who start, and
as rule they go through. A woman
who makes the venture must be con-
tent to don a bloomer costume of over
alls, and bestride q mans saddle man
fashion, for there are places where the
animals are so nicely balanced that a
difference Of a few pounds of weight
on one side or another of a horse may
mean the difference between safe con-
duet across a narrow ledge or slip
and a fatal fall. The underground of
brush, too, presents a serious menace
to the safety, as we'll as a positive
drawback to the comfort of the mex
peIienced rider of either sex.
The horse on which the tourist is
mounted when he sets out from the
ranch house carries him only part of
the way. The first stage of the trip
consists in getting fairly into that
eccentricity of the earths crust named
on the map the Mesa Verde. This in
wolves a deal of climbing up narrow.
steep and often treacherous trail. The
top of the ridge reached, and it's crest
followed for some distance. a descent
is made into a beautiful green canyon.
d pen built by nature for keeping stock
without herder. Here a halt is made
at what is known as the first camp.
There is good water near by, and the
warmth and dust of the preliminary
struggle make draught very grateful.
1Ien it is sport to stretch ones self
on the grass and watch the operations
OF the cowboys in capturing fresh
horses for the party from a herd of in
definite number which spend the whole
year in this shut-up place, free to
browse and bresd and die without hu-
man interference save for the meeting
of passing necessities. The animals are
of all sizes, from the wiry little Indian
pony, or broncho, up to the "Amer-
lean" horse of full conventional stat
ure. Although the Wetherills know
some of their horses, and aim to select
for the stranger those with desirable
traits of temper and endurance, the fact
that they can themselves mount and
ride at sight any kind of beast, makes
their selections for others appear out
wardly a good deal like a lottery. 1t
is a beautiful sight, however, to see the