Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-09-10

hug all The entrances must nave bcrn
situated near the bottom n the wall
ani hey wore all, doubtless, very
email. Liniels are formed ~ long
we're used 90 ascend and descend from
one story to another. as there are no
signs ut permanent stairs
Some W the MONS were plastered in
side with Kind Of terra Gotta. ana
portions ~ this smooth surface have
I been painted In rcd. yellow. or black
| Tho most Characteristic painting repre-
aenif, quite akIllfuily. three pyrn mids
/ % level plain. very closely retrm-
/ bling our pictures ~ the pyramids OF
| Egypt Just above this d. q perfect
| rccilnFle. trlycrscd with zigzlE lines.
/ 10 lH Impossible at present 10 ten what
| ih' latter figure represents. Both OF
| those painting are In bright "a.
] Apparently tho dead were buried In n
large chamber In the extreme rear %
/ the building. Here have been found the
Perfectly dried and preserved mummies
I Of persons ~ both sexes. one woman
I having red half Large pieces or pot
3 terry. sklllfuily moulded and burned.
stone axes and grinding mills, ana other
/ rude utensils. have also been found
I Unfortunately. relic hunters FOR rev.
cnue only" have been at the ruins. dig
I ginH Tor mummlos and pottery and de-
/ Htruying more uf the walls 10 q frW
Ttroycd ln aH many centuries. Nor has
any study been made N tho relative p1-
I ftl0ng " the relies found. In order 90
discover the historical icrunu such tee
I latiOnthirs would teach.
The position occupied by this atfuC-
/ iurc. Do apparently Improbable o. any
l force. no matter how large. This ls due
/ 90 the fact that no more than one man
/ can approach the building at time. and
l he only BY dlnt OF climbing with both
hands and both feet Approaching in
/ such way. a whole army could be
| vanquishrd by a few men. From this
/ fact Il will be seen how great was the
/ labor required 10 collect the large mass
/ ~ building material used IN the con.
structpin ~ the palace" I could see
no sandstone % the kind IN the I'm.
/ mediate Vicinity, although ., " posi-.
bic that IL was found In tho bottom ~
/ the gorge. hut nearly all the rock In
| the vicinity j. partly lEneous. having
/ been In such heat AZ 90 melt the almost
pure iron out W. n an me rock was
/ carried NJ that diflcult trail and there
hcwn into shape ami laid In mud. the
water Tor which was doubtless carried
a long distance, the task must have
been hefculcan. To judge of ~ mag
/ nltude. one needs only 10 think Of a
building 100 feet long. 100 feet wide. and
| 700 fsct hlEh, divided hy stone partitions
| Into rooms. some of them scarcely eight
feet square. Even the broken debris
| almost forms a mountain " Itself
! Research Ia this ruin has not been
thorough ur syatcmatic I am quite
sure that II syHtcmatlc eNcavutinr were
l carried on under the direction OF 4 com.
] petcnt leader, much would be- found In
the way of mummloH. pottery, various
| ~ shaped rooms. and. possibly. records
| which would be Of vast Interest TO thu
| archeuluFlst. Another advantage would
be- found In the keeping ~ the outer aud
/ partition walls. anu the rooms. en-.
frances windows, etc. in aa nearly a.
possible their present state Of prcaer-
! walton.
All the other clin dwellings In the
canyon sink Into inHlEulnCance when
compared with this. while they are
more difficult o. access. they are much
smaller and less characteristic nui
one fact u remarkable IN the case OF al
Of them. that the rock Of which thsy
are built 10 different In color and appar-
entity IN competition, from any IN the
immediate vicinity. For this reason
they can be readily distinguished al a
distance of from half TO threa-fourths
Of mile. The carrying n the rock ~
! great a distance can doubtless BE- Ac-
counted for by the difficulty OF quar-
rylng into the vast clifta of aqueous
and lgneus rock u which the noun
tainH are composed
This paper would appear incomplete
without statement % athrory 10 ac-
count Tor these gigantic buildings IN
such Inaccessible places. In the nrst
place, one point appears perfectly clear,
that those who occupied the buildings
must have been at deadly fcud with
some other party. Surely men could
! have no other reason Tor living In such
a barren. drsolate region. The lnaccea-
slhlr, impregnable nature Of their bull
dings and forilhcatlons would also point
10 the fact that cnmity with their
fellow men was. no doubt. their lmpell.
Ing motive In seeking such a habltA.
ton. II sens unlikely that any set
tied class Of people. following any line
u productive employment. would seek
such place. even when nrelnF from a
deadly foe. Therefore. the idoa that
they were one faction OF the ah1rgines
| OF our lana seeking temporary refuge
and protection from another. should la
my opinion be abandoned.
A. % my own thegD, I Will say that
Il has developed from my visit 20 the
place Before going there 1 had an
idea thlt the ruins were ln a place cas-
Ny accessible und In 0nf " the natural
hIghwnya " the country. In ihas cafs
Il would be the probable naturll stop
plug place. temporarily, u one - ople
iieelnF from another. But u - lncon-
cclvahls fhit under such conditions
men would establish themselves In a
place from which rgrcss would be %
dlnlcuh To- case nlFhi Should become
necessary. hut View N the region,
and Contemplation " the nature "
the buildings led me 60 The opinion
that sha place was Inhabited by a band
! ~ outlaws. VINO may have lived there
FOR generations, and prcyed on the IN
habiiants of the fertile valleys around.
| n would be practically Impossible. az
| already stated. Tor un army OF less
desperate men 60 sffect their capture
IN such stronghold. or course, Il
might be possible fgr a state Of Siege
20 be- malnglinrd, but outlawa thor
uuFhly aimlliar with the country they
occupy, are generally fertile N re-
| source, az witness our own cnicrpfls-
| Ing friends who occupied the "rohbcrs
| rlost." ~ would be- comparatively
cay matter Tor them 30 make occa-
/ aloual saillrs Into NE regions around.
ami supply themselves IN a Few hours
/ win enough Go support them for
weeks. In ihe winter. she snow would
furnish them an abundance o. water.
and no doubt In the spring and
autumn tht torrent bed was fun OF
water Cis,erus within the walls OF
their buildings could De provided and
flled wi,h water TO tide over the period
of scarcity.
Furthermore. robbers are always
/ fearful " attack, That this was che
case with the Inhabitants Of the "clln