Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-01-13

these dwellings in the cliff. Post holes
show that they built house in front
of most of the dwellings, no doubt
preparing them for summer use The
post holes are dug in the wall of the
cliff.
Below the caves, we found cover
ed up by the talus the lower range of
dwellings. Some partly and some en-
tirely buried. The dwellings nearer
the top look much older than the low
er ones. We slept we'll and did not
dream of the dead nation that once in
habited the cliff side and mesa above.
A good breakfast of bacon, coffee,
bread, peaches, plums and apples pre-
pared for us for another day. We dis
covered the remains of an old irrigat-
ing ditch among the scattered pines
and pinons In this ditch was the new
ly cut pine tree and the rings in the
stump showed it to be 125 to $50 years
old This ditch gave a clue to the
life and death of this settlement. If
this ditch could now flow with water
the canyon would again be inhabited.
We climbed up the moccasin worn
stairway to the mesa $50 to 200 feet
high and there found the ruins of
communal dwelling with court yard.
Around this courtyard there are
about 500 rooms, they have all fallen
in, but Prof. Hewett and party of
students from the Territorial Univer-
sity at Las Vegas has cleaned out
about dozen of them showing that
they were built of roughly squared
stones, chinked with smaller ones and
laid in mortar made of mud. The side
walls were plastered with mud and
these rooms were connected by small
low doors. Each family evidently had
three to five rooms. Prof Hewett,
Bandelier and Lummis, agree that this
building was four stories. AS the
stories recede the upper ones did not
have SO many rooms but there were in
all about 500 rooms. The deep round
depressions indicated three kivas,
Council chambers; among the cliffs
there We're several of these kivas in
the form of large caves. In the ravine
north of the mesa was number of
caves that were full of guano, indica-
ting that they had been used as turkey
corrals. No reservoirs are to be seen
in this mesa and the water must have
been carried from the water ditch and
streams below. This stream is now
dry and the water for one family
could not now be found, instead of
enough for the occupants of the 600
caves and 500 rooms once occupied by
the cliff people.
Aug. 26. Slept last night in box
car opposite San Ildefonso. San Ilde-
fonso is an Indian pueblo, on the east
side of the river and as there was
some danger of quicksand we did not
risk fording. In the morning we start
ed for the Pajarito region and viewed
the Tsankawi Mesa first. The cliffs
We're dotted with the cliff caves much
like those at Puye, but not quite SO
numerous. On the top of the mesa
was communal dwelling known as
| Tsankawi, and containing about 600
rooms. We there passed in sight of
Navakwee large pueblo of 800 rooms.
We did not climb this mesa for lack
of time but it was very like the one at
Tsankawi. Next we drove to Tchrega,
where we found large numbers of the
cave dwellings. This mesa is not more
than SO feet to rs feet high, and the
valley below it looks like it had been
cultivated, though there is no water
J now. On this mesa is the largest com
munal dwelling we have seen and hat
been four stories high and contained
about 1000 rooms We then drove
back to the railway at Buchanan dowr
a graded road which has been built
at heavy expense to transport lumber
from Buckman's mill fourteen miles
to the railway. We now go back tt
Santa Fe for our next start. At Tsan
kawi there were many photographs Of
the Indians, many were sun signs. Al
the gateway up the mesa is group Of
these pictures which Prof. Hewett calls
the reception committee. Each cliff
has its council rooms ("kivas'D, and
many of these caves are covered with
birds. snakes and men roughly pic
tured on the walls.
Santa Fe, Aug. 20. Rodey went
bers of the party will start in an hour
to drive to Cochiti, pueblo now oc
cupied by the Indians, whose traditions
say they once lived in the Rito de Fri
joles in the cliff caves and the com
munal house there.
The Rito is the scene of Bandelier's
story of the Delight Makers" in which
he pictures the daily life of these
people three hundred years ago. We
will go back from Cochiti up into the
mountains to see some old sandstone
lions carved by these people and ther
back to the railway, striking the road
at Thornton.
We may then visit the Acoma an ex
listing pueblo inhabitated by several
hundred of these Indians.
Cochiti, New Mexico, July 80, 1902
We drove yesterday thirty miles tic
} Cochiti from Santa Fe; the road was
very good and the weather fine and the
trip pleasant. Cochiti is inhabited by
the descendants of the cliff dwellers
of the Rito de las Frijoles. We saw
two Khivas (estufas) in complete or
der, and in present use.
They are built Of adobe and had mud
and wooden steps to the roof and a
long ladder reaching high above the
roof and running to the bottom. They
are about six feet above the ground
and about as much below ground
Under the hole in the roof, which is the
only door. is fireplace or altar.