The Portland daily press., 1897-12-04
a STRANGE PEOPLE.
who and What Were the Cliff pwe,,ers Of
Colorado.

Few people in Colorado perhaps are
aware OF the fact that within this sta4a or.
found the remains OF a prehistoric race
preserved Dy system of embaIminr
which, while somewhat different from
that of the ancient Egyptians, has nroved
equally effective in combating the ravaoes
of decay Many know that southwestern
Colorado was, hundreds of Years aoo non
ulated by race of cliff dweIlers. and tho
ruins of their homes on the Rio San IMAM
near Mancos, are annually visited by tbon.
sands of inquisitive tourists 1t is not
generally known, however, that these peo-
nIe attained to such degree of Perfection
in the art of preserving the remains of
their dead that even now, centuries after
they were placed in the tomb, the only in
dication of the lapse of time is in the
withered and dried up appearance of the
skin.
In the rooms of the State Historical go
ciety, at the capitol building, are four of
these mummies, the most interesting
specimens yet discovered. Those who have
read with interest the results of the la
bors of psychologists in Egypt, whose
every discovery of this character Is discuss
ed in the journals and magazines through
out the world, will be repaid a visit to the
capitol building. We're the history of this
strange people known and their records
preserved the four muTnmies in the rooms
of the Historical society might prove to
be the remains of family equally royal
and renowned in their own country with
Rameses or Cleopatra in Egypt. That
they form 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 are hundreds of
human bones, representing the remains
of those who did not rank high enough in
the cliff dwellers world to be thus care
| fully protected from the effaeing fingers
of time. tits therefore not improbable
that this family was of the royal blood
The extraordinary fineness of the en-
| balming wrappings is a 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-
| ing 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
| feathers, 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
| structibfe, 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 a
| perfect state of preservation. But the
| most remarkable specimen is that of one
of the children, which appears to have
been about years of age. We're 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
missing is not noticeable, for the closed
lids are still intact. Hair and eyebrows
are preserved seemingly as in life. The
| frontal development of the head of this
child is most remarkable, bullying out
over the eyebrows, quite unusual case
with this people. The head displays every
indication of more than ordinary intelli-
gence.
! Another remarkable specimen is that of
a newborn infant, from which the wrap
| ping has been entirely removed, and in
which there is not the slightest trace of
decay
They were a diminutive race the re-
| mains of the two adults measuring not
more than feet in length
| These remains were discovered in q
tomb cut in the solid rock and carefully
sealed at the mouth. AS in the tombs of
the royal Egyptians were placed jewels
and articles Of gold and silver, SO in this
! were buried evidences of the belief that
the dead would require in the future state
some of the 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 unravel
the secrets of the dead, and he who deci-
piers these inscriptions may give to the
world as startling and interesting a story
| as was ever unearthed by the most ardent
Archaeological who has labored in Egypt.
Who were these strange people? The
question has never been satisfactorily an
swered. Some hold that they were of the
Aztec race, others that there was once a
great Pueblo empire in the southwest, of
which they were part, while still others
assert that the cliff jewellers were a sepa-
rate and distinct people of whom no pos
terity now surviyes.-Denyer Post.