The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-21
LIGHT ON CLIFF JEWELLERS.
DISCOVERIES IN ANCIENT ChNONS
OF ARIZONI.

Homes of nm Unknown Race Built High
Up on cliffs Perhaps 1000 Years Ago
Traces of Their CustoinS-MysteriouS
Probiems-A Field for Archaeological.
FLAGSTAFF. Art. May 49, most thorough
exploration that has been made OF the ruined
homes Of the cliff dwcllers In Arizona In the
last ten or twelve years. or. perhaps, since the
Governmentexploring expedition under charge
az Major J. W. Powell in 1874, Is now being
carried on by several archTologists and eth
n~ologists from Chicago and New York. a party
OF eleven men havo been busy among the cliff
dwellings in northern Arizona for ten months
They have several great boxes OF relics OF pre-
historic days. and have now more than SOOpho-
tographic views of the interior and exterior OF
ollff dwellings. aboriginal citadcls and ancient
tombs. When winter came on they moved over
to the south in Yavapai county, and there con-
Quoted explorations among the cliff dwellings,
in the Verde River cahons.
Some remarkable discoveries have been
made. and the relics they have gathered and
the photographs they have made shed new
light upon the m ysteriouS cliff dwellers. DoZ-
ems OF different weapons of the chase and OF
warfare have been unearthod. Shells never
before discovered In any cliff dwelling have
been taken from aboriginal tombs among
the cliffs by this party. Many bits OF pottery.
carefully decorated with colored pictures. have
been brought to light. 1t Ia believed these pic
lures may tell the story OF the religious belief
OF the ancient race. while half n dozen barrels
OF stone household implements aud aGrlcul-
tural tools have been found in cliff dwellings
where no white man ever looked before. Sew
oral chests Of pieces OF fabrics. carved wood.
jewelry, fcatherod ornaments. grass sandals,
baby playthings and extraordinary pipes and
arrows have been collected and oil OF these
things make the foundation for new knowledge
concerning the habits. mode OF life, and even
the hopes and aspirations OF the aborigines of
the Arizona cafloiIs.
The explorers have found cliff dwellings In
localities where they were never known be-
fore to exist. and they have entered many
dwellings whore human feet had probably not
trodden for 1000 years. They have found a
dozen prehistoric homes Just MS they were left
apparently ages ago by their occupants. and
several houses were found so we'll preserved
that the indications Of a hasty departure were
evident. The charred embers OF the last family
fire were still there. although buried beneath
several inches Of fine dust that had been set
ting for centuries.
Prof. Edward Fulmer OF Chicago. who is at
the head OF the expedition, said to THE Sun
reporter: "There's no other field in all Amer
ica-indeed. possibly not in the world-so rich
for archaeological and chronological investiga-
ton as northeastern Arizona. We had planned
to be In this region only eight or nine months.
but we may be here a year or two longer. The
study Of the cliff jewellers is the most fascinat-
ing l can conceive In tho realm Of prehistoric
investigation. 1t Is wonderful how little 10
known O" the homes and lives Of this prehis-
torio race. There are great opportunities in
this region for young archaeological and ethnol-
ogical scientists to make fame for themselves.
Then. too. the climatei is admirable throughten
months In the year for exploration. and the
nr,, Ia nran Nd In r,not 1pnalitina apl aphlirna
In a few. The field Of prehistoric investigation
in Arizona is as yet but family scratched. The
mystery that envelopes the people who built
their homes on prccipices. away up 1000 and
5000 feet above the beds Of canon streams. is
Intensely interesting to any one with even a
smattering OF prehistoric science. The eX-
traordinary lives which generations Of tens of
thousands OF cliff dwellors lived on the dizzy
precipices. at what age these cliff dwellings
were occupied. whence came the builders and
occupants. and how. when and whittier the
mysterious race disappeared are problems
that have so far bafled scientists. Our little
party Is now trying to help settle some Of the
speculations concerning tho cliff and cave
dwellers."
The region OF the cliff and cave dwellings OF
Arizona is in Coconino. Navajo. Apache and
Yavapai counties. The Atchison. Topeka and
Santa F6 Railroad runs straight through locali-
ties where cliff dwellings most abound. and
near Flagstaff the cliff dwellings In Granite
Canon are SO close to the railroad track that
passengers on the cars can get good views OF
eyrie-like homes OF prehistoric people about
the upper edge OF treacherous canon walls.
The most populous c~lif-dwelling spot Of all is
that where Utah. Colorado. Arizona and New
Mexico meet. The cliff dwellings are gener-
ally alike throughout this region. In this dry.
mild climate nothing has changed during con-
turtles. except where white men have built rail-
roads. planted farms. mined gold and silver
and herded cattle. Here. where intermittent
streams OF water wind between precipitous
walls rising sheer from the narrow beds OF
canons. the ancient cliff dwellers' homes hang
like swallows nests on narrow shelves ofsand-
stone. In places the accHmulations Of talus
from overhanging bluffs and sand shifted by
wind and wAter have made access easily posi-
BILE. Sometimes approach to these cliff dwellings
is gained from below by aid Of pixies and ropes
Two or three clusters OF cliff dwellings yet re.
main inaccessible to exploration. Sevorallivcs
have been lost among explorers in this region
by accidental falls hundreds Of feet down
precipices to the river bed below. Above the
ledge where the cliff dwellings hang as II glued
to the rock the top OF the clifl bulges out as il il
would topple and fall at any moment. Here
and there q stunted cedar clings to tho rocks
and occasionally amid the growth Of cedar and
chaparral one may find a narrow passnGcway
to the cliff dwelling carved up the rocky walls
with infinite toll ages ago.
The present exploratory party has had Its
best finds Of relics in a narrow canon among
the Bronco Mountains. about thirty-twc
miles south OF Holbrook. on tho Atchison. To.
peka and Santa Fa Railroad. The cahor
was nameless until the explorers went there
last August and named It Darwin, in honor o
the author OF the Darwinian theory. No white
man. except an occasional cowboy. had gon,
there in years, The canon was an idea
locality In which to take refuge. The ahorig
ines might there withstand indonn Itely Mt,
tack from savage tribes. The twenty-five
stone houses OF the cliff dwcllcrs were perchct
upon a ledge about thirty feet wide and more
than 900 feet above the bod OF the tiny strcan
that trickled between the granite cahor
walls. 1t was two days before tho explorer
devised a way to gain access TO tho cliff dwell
ings Then they hired vacIuoros to let then
down one at a time by ropes thirty feet from
the overhanginG rock above. when n footholt