The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-12-07
4 STRANGE PEOPLE.
Ann WHAT WE'RE THE CLIFF
""O JEWELLERS or CoLoRADol

-, ~ Dead Bodles-had sh'i' Iq"i
o.. NJ the Egyptians-The Family
,,o Capitol Building NJ Denver.
Fow people in Colorado perhaps are
re" the fact that within this state are
aware " o. .omains of a prehistoric race,
iouhu hv n system of embalming !
presvI ,yhilc somewhat different from
wni.nif tho ancient Egyptians, has proved |
lhaV ~ offoctiye i'm combating the rayages !
equa ',r Many know that southwestern |
oi ~ was hundreds of years ago, pop |
'o slS h,, race Of cliff jewellers. and the |
uia.. 80 their homes on the Rio san Juan, |
ul. Ntancos. are annually visited by thou |
io" 90 inouisitive tourists. IL Is not |
SAN" known, however, that these peo-
a ottoined to such degree OF perfection
49, art of preserving the remains OF
Mir dead that even now, centuries aiter
. n', core nlaced i'm the tomb, the only in
s,o.tion of the lapse of time Is In the
su,,hered and dried up appearance OF tho
skin. CO. r.,...,., 90
o,otv ot the capitol building, are four OF
,hose mummies, the most interesting
snocmons yot discovered Those who have
r1ad with interest the results or the Ia
hors If psychologists In Egypt, whose
svary discovery of this character Is discuss
"A an the journals and magazines through
Int the world, will be repaid visit to the
conitol building Were tho history OF this
strange people known and their records
rroseryed the four mummies in the rooms
~ the Historical society might prove to
Ina the remains of family equally royal
and renowned in their own country with
Rameses or Cleopatra In Egypt. That
|tbey form q family group Is evident.
There are the father and mother and two
children. probably to years of age. Not
all the dead of this race were thus preserv-
ed In an adjoining cave arc hundreds OF
human bones representing the remains
Of those who did not rank high enough in
the cliff dwelers' world to be thus care
[fully protected from the effacing fingers
kof time. 1t is therefore not improbable
that this family was of the royal blood.
The extraordinary fineness of the en-
balming wrappings is further evidence
of this fact. Unlike the ancient Egyp-
|tians, this wrapping consists not of many
folds, but single garment carefully
sewed TO shut out the air. The embalm-
ling robe in which the remains are shroud-
ed Is composed of groundwork of cord
made of the fiber of the yucca plant and
|closely woven. In this are interviewer
Ifeathers, or, rather, the finest down from
some species of bird. Each feather is care
fully woven in an upright position, and so
closely are they placed that neither air
nor water can penetrate the cloth To
make one of these robes with the crude
methods employed, all being done by hand,
must have been labor of years, and it is
probable they were of almost priceless
value Tens of thousands of feathers
would be required for each robe.
This feather cloth Is evidently indie
structibe, showing no signs of decay 1t
Is of light brown color, with occasional
streaks of white.
OF the mummies, those of the mother
and children are the best preserved. The
woman's long black hair hangs down over
her shoulders, and teeth and skin are in
Iperfect state of preservation. But the
most remarkable specimen Is that of one
of the children, which appears to have
been about years of age Were it not for
the peculiar parchmentlike appearance of
skin it would seem that the child had been
dead but few days. Even the lips have
not decayed, and the fact that the eyes are
i'isoih5 10 INV uOtiNttbiSi III 'hN NiC'N'
lids are still intact. Hair and eyebrows
are preserved seemingly as in life. The
frontal development OF tho head of this
child is most remarkable, bullying out
over the eyebrows, n quite unusual case
with this people. The head displays every
Indication of more than ordinary intelli-
| goncc.
Another remarkable specimen is that of
| n pvrb ;,fa yhich m
ping has been entirely removed, and in
which there is not the slightest trace of
| decay
They were u diminutive race, the re-
mains of the two adults measuring not
more than feet In length.
These remains were discovered in n
tomb cut In the solid rock and carefully
sealed at the mouth As in the tonlbs Of
the royal Egyptians were placed jewels
and articles of gold and silver, SO i'm this
were buried evidences of the belief that
the dead would require in the future state
some of tho things to which they had been
accustomed In life. The cliff jewellers did
not work In the metals, but with these
dead were inferred articles of pottery and
basket work and war implements of bone
and flint, to aid them in their journey to
the unknown.
About the burial places stone slabs are
set In the ground and arranged in circles
or parallelograms, and on these are In
scriptions chiseled or painted in the pic
ture language. These appear also upon
the walls of the tomb mentioned Here is
an opportunity for the savants to unrayel
the secrets of the dead, and he who dcci-
piers these inscriptions may give TO the
world as startling and interesting story
as was ever unearthed by the most ardent
Archaeological who has labored in Egypt.
Who were these strange peopley The
question has never been satisfactorily an
swered. Some hold that they were of the
Aztec race, others that there was once q
great Pueblo empire in the southwest, oil
which they were part, while still Others
assert that the cliff jewellers were sepa'
rate and distinct people of whom no pos
terity now survives. -Denver Post.