Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1901-02-07
A GREWSOME FIND.
Four Hundred Skeletons Discovered
in Arizona Cavern.
Remains of Cliff DweIIers Unearthed
by Sergeant Price of the seventh
Cavalry In the White
Mountains.


A strange story of the suffocation o.
an entire village of cliff dwellers abou'
1000 years ago is told by Sergt. George
E. Price, of the recruiting station, al
Denver. to the Evening Post, of tina
city.
In picturesque Arizona, among th'
White mountains, not far from For
Apache, the peculiar race of little
climbers once reigned supreme. Among
the almost inaccessible cliffs of rec
sandstone they lived like fugitives, il
natural fortresses. The caverns they
once inhabited are to-day as they wert
centuries ago, and in many cases have
apparently never been trodden by hu
man foot since the death of their an
cient inhabitants. The petrified re
mains of 400 prehistoric little people
were found by Sergt. Price in vas
cave. The Apache Indians, who nov
inhabit that district, regard the cav
ern with superstitious dread, and can
not be induced to enter its gloomy por
tails. No white man had ever set foo
there before Sergt. Price and he tount
its contents undisturbed.
During the spring Of 1899, when he
was with troop G., Seventh cavalry
and stationed at Fort Apache, in his
researches about the country the
young soldier discovered the great
cave village, with its strange legend
A few miles east of the fort, on the
White river, rise some immense cliffs
of red sandstone. From the glistenins
stream the cliffs rise almost perpendic
ularly to a sheer height of 300 feet
Crevices and little edges of rock form
the only footholds for daring climbers
While fishing for trout one day, Sergt
Price noticed high up on the cliff s
black hole.
Believing it to be a cave, he at once
determined to scale the cliff, and sew
eral soldiers volunteered to accompany
him. The ascent was exceedingly haz
ardous and difficult, but after long
climb they reached the hole. Juttine
out from the face Of the cliff was nat
ural shelf about eight feet wide ano
twice as long.
Just back Of the ledge was the en-
trance to the ancient cave. Under the
sergeant'S leadership the party en-
tered the cave with torches and Ian
terms. They explored over four and
a half miles of passages and corridors
Many people had once inhabited the
winding passages Of the cave village
The soldiers penetrated into the fur
thermost recesses and found a big
council chamber far back in the in.
terror Of the cliff. AS the Pickering
light of the torches pierced the gloom
of the large room the grewsome scene
was revealed.
Huddled together on the cold damp
floor of stone as if for mutual sym
pathy and protection, lay the CHASTITY
skeletons of over 400 little cliff dwell.
ers, petrifed by their exposure during
ages past. A short distance apart from
the others lay the frame of the chief.
tain, leaning against the wall opposite
the entrance to the room. His skull
was resting upon his breastbone, just
as he had died. 1t seemed to the dis.
coverers that he. perhaps. had died
last of them all. and before his spirit
fed had taken final look at his peo-
Pile Then his chin sank upon his
breast, and the people of White River
cliff we're no more. Scientific observa'
tions have shown that these people
lived about 1000 years ago.
Sergt. Price began a systematic
questioning of old Indians, and at
length adroitly secured the legend OF
the cavern. Many, many hundred
years ago, he was told by the red
skinned sages-and to express their
idea of the number they tossed up
handfuls of sand into the air - the
small men lived in the cliffs. They were
at war with other small men who lived
at some distance. Battles were fire.
quent, and the tribe which occupied
the White River cliffs was worsted.
Many of their best warriors were
slain by the clubs and arrows of the
enemy. Retreat finally became neces-
sary. and the defeated men hastily
scaled the beetling cliff to their home
near the summit. Once within the
great cave they felt themselves secure
from further attacks. They carried
xx-ifh than, c,,,.o1;as
they could quickly gather, and they
hoped that in case of siege their corn
would last until the siege was raised.
Swarming up over the ledge to the
entrance to the cave came their enc
mics. Several they killed, but were
soon driven back from the entrance.
Wonderingly, they crouched within its
portals. The assailants brought up
quantities of wood and piled it high up
about the hole in the cliff Then they
kindled huge fire and never suffered
it to abate in fury
Days passed on and the flames still
cleaned brightly on the side of the
vast rock. For a fortnight the vigil
lance never slackened. At length the
revengeful army retired, leaving a
great pile of ashes on the ledge. No
one dared to enter the cavern, and, hav-
ing accomplished their grim mission,
they departed from the section. What
agonies the cliff dwellers must have
suffered as the pangs of starvation
grew keener and keener and always
at the only exit they saw the blaz-
Ing pile!