Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-04-19


termination. For many years ne has
ms 5e the American indian a matter
of close study aud has followed MIN
wherever he has gone, and has
sou ght ont his haants wherever they
might he BY suftering hardships
that few have audered and taking
risks that few would take, he mas sue
ceeded IN bringing 10 iebt many I'M;
portant truths heretofore unknown.
He has looked npon that rugged bit
of the face of nature and read the
story of it's mighty convulsions IT is
true that its great volcanoes did not
wipe out any branch OF civilization.
They occurred back in the dim past
when all the races of the earth we're
YET in the long night df ignorance and
savagery Nevertheless, they played
tremendous part in the history OF
the earth. The races they oxtingish-
ed had little to contribute to modern
culture. But they were the highest
products of their time, and in locat
ing the places where they perished by
the hundreds, probably the thousands,
JllSl Us iHeiF more eltBdHt bIotueis
and sisters perished on a later day
at Pompeii, Professor Monsen has
performed signal service for the
| cause OF science He has dug down
| into their rude graves, learned wnat
manner of people they were, their
customs and pursuits; their methods
of warfare; their virtues and their
arts
According TO Professor Monsen, al
point about 80 miles southeast of
the monument stone that rests equal
ly in the states of Utah and Colorado
and the territories of New Mexico
and Arizona, occurred one of the most
tremendous volcanic eruptions that
the earth has to record, The land is
| rife with the scars and ravages of the
great elemental disturbances. 1t
bears all over its face the record of
! stupendous ccmmotons. making 1t
one of the most interesting rields that
ever tempted the explorer or the sci
enlist In caves in the canon walls
and on the tops of the cliffs. in the
desert valleys a nd on the crest OF
numerous mesas. are found the ruins
of the inhabitants of a mysterious
race OF men who disappeared long
long before the dawn of history
| Where these people caioc from OF
how they disappeared wa m enig
ma until Professor Monsen recent
investigations cast light upon the
probable manner Of their 0e8truction
Out of the misty past -tae story
comes down to us in Indian tradi
tions OF how these people me theii
fate.
The Navajo Indians tell of a
mighty wind that swept over that
country years and years ago and de
stroyed all the people That Is the
form in which the record of the vol
cano has persisted among the people
The Hopi Indians. whom Professor
| Monsen believes to he the direct de
should be found on the walls of the
caves where a race of savage men
lived so many years ago 1t is mat
ter that opens up the most interest
ing investigation. Where they came
by this sign or now 1t got to this
country are mysteries that are yet tc
scendants OF the cliff dwellers. have
a tradition among them which tells
of a mighty cloud That overwhelmed
their people and destroyed them
This wind and cloud tradition Profes
sor Monsen believes to be nothing
more or less than poisonous gases
belched by volcanoes. destroying the
ancient people In the same manner
in which so many thousands were
killed at Martinique
This is, iadrcd bnt crude record
of those evenis. but tradition that
could have pei sted SO long among
an ignorant and fanciiu people must
have been founded upon wonder
full reality I. is the theory of the
explorer thai the people VINO were
destroyed We're the earliest of the
cliff dwellers. many of whose homes
We're ont of range OF the volcanoes
and therefore enough of them escaped
to perpetuate their race.
One of the most important discov.
cries made in the exploration was
that OF the graves of a race of people
who fiourished perhaps hundreds OF
years before the cliff dwellers. In
exploring the dwellings of the cliff
men 1t was found that the latter in
many instances had erected their
homes over the graves of tais earlier
race, and were. in all probability.
not aware of the existence of those
graves.
These men were more primitive and
more nomadic in their habits, while
the cliff dwelers were sedentary. To
the former Professor Monsen has ap,
piled the name of cave dwelers. a
name that has heretofore often been
given to the cliff people, as 1t was
generally believed that they were the
same race and ilourished at the same
time. But the California explorer
has proven that such is not the case
And the establishment Of the differ
ence between these people is one of
the results of his researches.
These cayp dwpllprs 1eclorea tho