Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1902-06-28
The CARNELlAN
OF.
GHOST VALLEY.
BY JoHN II. RsTTERy.

lis story of Coppingers fight with In
lians at the battle OF the Caverns, Pro-
fessor Beekman. whom We knew as an
experienced ethnologist and traveller.
showed no establishment at all over
the manner in which the savages had
burned their children al that famous
ambuscade.
Il believe ali our aborigines were
given To the same or similar practices.
though manifested in different ways
said he 1T is not yet thirty years
since found az many as seven skele-
tons Of Navajo children in the branches
of two trees in the Ghost Valley. one
of the lost gorges southwest of the
Mancos. Major futile who was liv-
ing at Hermosiilo when last saw
him. told me that the squaws OF an
ola Navajo chief who was slain by the
Uncompahgres away back in the SOS
had killed all their young as sort of
holocaust to the deity. Its very odd
story. and. come TO think of il. ! my
self finally turned W as the unccn-
scious agent of the Indian Manitou.
1T was AZ Durango. after myself and
q party of scientists had explored the
cliff-dwellings of Mancos. tina; Major
futile. who was agent at Red Noun
tain in those days. ted Us 6 lot of
queer stories about Ghost Valley. II
seems that the Uncompahsres re-en-
forced by nearly 200 Piutes. had cnce
surrounded and surprised Navajo vii
lage which then nestled in It's basin.
and that the Navajos had nai only los:
most of their WARRIOR bIi that an
idol of great age and experienced had
been captured and either carried a.!
or destroyed bv the viciors. Ma::cr
futile told lis that the sacrifice Of
children had followed. and tha TO the
present day the only surviving son OF
the beaten and slaughtered chief lived
an outcast and an object Of supersti-
tious horror. near the Navajo reseTva-
ton. This pariah of & once noble fam
lily had, according 10 Major Tuttla.
gouged out one of his own eyes in the
hope that this self-punishEent might
induce the gods 10 favor his search for
the lost idol of the tribe. whic, had it
seems. but one eye.
You may be sure that after hearing
Major Tuttle's story | was very anx-
ious 10 penetrate Ghost Valley. and
when We came TO Hermosillo which is
at the edge of the Navajo's reserva-
ton. set abou, finding guide among
the tribesmen who would lead our
party into the historic basin. Major
futile. however. had gone TO Denver.
and l had TO depend wholly upon my
own efforts. The settlers told me that
neither Indians nor whites ever went
into Ghost Valley. That il was known
10 be haunted. that its waters were
poisonous and whatsoever yentured
within its bowl-like depths returned no
more. tried to induce some OF the
Indians TO lead me into the valley. hut
they shrugged their shoulders at my
offers of money. till at last a fine look
ing young buck who spoke pretty good
English told me:
You get Jim Look Once. Him
go in Ghost Valley. Might never conc
back. too. All right BY which I'M
derstood that Jim Look Once was the
outcast son OF the dead chief. And so
IL proved. had no trouble in finding
him nor in securing his services. He
was an ill-farored. one-eyed Indian
about 30 years old. stcop-shouldered.
skulking and evidently bowed with the
misfortunes of his f0rbears A miner
named Schoolcraft. whom we hs pick
ed up az Silver City. AMI Dr. Hickman.
the geologist. made up our party and
at daybreak one June morning. with
Jim Look Once leading the pack mule.
we started for Ghost Valley On the
evening of the second day. Just as the
un was sinking behind the western
FOUNTAINS. VIC stood upon a high shelf
granite which looked sheer into the
ound bowl of the haunted valley. The
preston. more than 1000 feet III
9TH and perhaps seven miles in cir
inference. was SC beautiful in its mo-
silence that could hardly re-
sist the desire 10 plunge onward into
its mysteries. The yellow radiance Of
the evening sun seemed 10 sift even
10 its depths; no sound of bird or
breeze or waterfall broke the perfect
silence; there was no motion in the
tall trees or SPRAYING shrubs. nor in
the weeds and vines which covered its
PERCEPTIONS walls with luminous YER
dure.
"But we camped where We were for
the night. and often during the dark
hours ] woke and saw Jim Look Once
sitting at the verge of the rock gazing
silently into the shadowy abyss No
howl of coyote or scream of night bird
broke the stiffness. and even when the
sun Redeemed the east. nature seemed
10 sleep on, voiceless and unmoved.
The Indian led rs down an almost per-
pendicular trail that seemed 10 vanish
as the parted shruhbery closed behind
US. When W. reached the DEPTHS the
air seemed suddenly cooled and al
though Nc found no living water. We
passed 3 ncoi covered with lily pads
and yellow ooze that almost sickened
US with It's suffocatiEg perfume. Al
most in the centre Of the oval bottom
land We came upon traces of the
burned Navajo village of long ago
Jim. our guide here abandoned us TO
our own resources ard went ranging
about in the thicket like a bird dog
working the stubble.
We found the burial ground in the