Hutchinson gazette., 1900-10-11
TO LEARN OF PREHISTORIC FOLKS
A Utah Professor nnd several Of Ills
Mundane 90 NKnl0rh MeXIco.

Az hbhhN VI hlilllpiOlbiS lOhhp
A Utah Professor nnd several Of Ills
Students to IXpiore Mexico,
Professor BENJAMIN Glulr OF Provo
college, the leading institution Of
learning In Utah, is now in Cludad
Juurel, MeSico, making arrangements
for a scientific expedition mo Mexico
and Central and South Amerlcn. Pro-
fessor Cluif will lead party Of 20
students and three professors all OF
Provo college The professors nre
specialists IN bctnny, zoology and arch
Neology, They will spend two years
In Mexico and Central and South Amer
lea and win leave the border just as
soon as their outfits are arranged,
which viii require few dnys more.
They will first entcr the Sierra Madre
mountains southeast OF Cndnd JunreS
and work for several months in that
section, says the Chicago Record,
The Sierra Mndres contain great
many uneNplored Indian caves and
ruins. There are more than dozen
Aztec ruins In the valley Of the Casas
Grnndes river, Up In the mountains,
especially In Gunynopn canyon, there
nre ruins Of cliff dwellers, At one
place particularly these ruins are on a
perpendicular bluff rising about 1000
feet from the bottom Of the canyon.
The houses me simply excavations In
he side OF the great cliif and contain
many devious and uneXplored pass
ages. They nre almost inaccessible,
and 1t win require the use OF long
'opes and ladders to get into them.
Professor Cluif'sl party will endenvor
o mike a thorough examination Of
hese ruins, Just within II cave near
his clilf there is nn oyn. or water jar,
hat stands about six feet high and 10
bout six feet in diameter, The en-
'ance to the cave Is too small for the
va to have been admitted through II,
and since there Ia none Of the clay OF
which Is II made nCn" the place there
Is considerable mystery Ns to how II
was got into the cavern, There are
nuny other caves, cliif dwellers' ruins
and evidences OF an ancient people
through the Sierra Mudres.
In canyon called El Pulpito there
IS a small round cave with II rounded
'ome. A horse can be ridden in at the
entrance. On the walls OF this place
are many curious drawings, There
are images Ct men, n,scrpents, s,centipedes,
wild animals and n curious figure that
partially resembles the picture of the
popular idea OF the devil. 1t has hu-
man face and short, sharp horns and
shaggy hair. The drawings are simply
q white kind OF cement plnstcrcd on
the rock. II can be removed only with
4 chisel or other instrument, The ex-
plorers will explore this cavern among
others.
After spending several months in the
Sierra Madres studying the ruins, the
b"tanN geology ana zoology Of that
SO 'tion Of Mexico Cmlf and his party
will follow down the Nuqui valley un-
Ill they arrive among the N0Qui In
dians. , He expects to make arrange
ments with the McXican govern
mcnt Il possible for permission to en-
ter the NHqul country. The Gnquls
are now in state of rebellion against
Mexico, and ID has hecil ,lle policy OF
General Torres, commanding the
troops, to keep Anolicous aud others
out of the YaQui district until the In
dans could be pocifed. r. is the in
tcntion Of Prof CluG II he gains the
necessary permission to spend several
months studying The habits and Gus
toms Of those indians and especially
their folklore, He will leave two stu
dents among the Indians, who will re.
main for two years, in order to learn
the language and gain all the knowl'
edge they can of laqui myths and
legends.
From the Nnqui country the party
will follow abe mQurtain ranges south
to Mexico City, Then they will go to
Yucutan and among the Maya Indians.
The same attention viii be given to
the Mayas as will I've given TO the
Yaq,&s. The party will spend some
time in Yucntnn in archaeological stu
dies and will then pursue their labora
in S'uptemali, They win collect and
preserve botanical and geological spec
linens whenever they go and will gain
all thli knowledge possible concerning
tile history OF the Indian tribes and
the pref Columbian peoples.