Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1906-01-10
RUINS OF THE CLIFF JEWELLERS.
The Third Letter From Mr.. Byers. Con-
taning an Interesting Description of
the Ruins of the Cliff DwelIerS.


an interesting territory. 1t possesses
attraction to tourists galore. It is
probable that no other area of like
dimensions anywhere in the United
States possesses such a varied lot.
Among them are the petrified forests
and the old Aztec ruins, which 1 have
already mentioned, tie famous Grand
Canyon of the Colorado, a number or
interesting tribes of Indians, such as
the Nevajos:and Hopis acres of strange
cactus growths, broad expanses Of
desert land painted like flower, ex-
tinct volcanoes, and many other such
sights that belong solely to curio. Yes
and it is here, too, that one finds the
most interesting of the old cliff and
cave dwelling ruins, with which the
Southwest abounds, and which shall
be the subject of this weeks letter.
Within radius of eight miles from
Flagstaff, small and unpretentious
village on the Santa Fe railroad, are
to be found the most and best pre-
served of these ruins. About seven
miles to the southwest, Walnut Canyon.
its walls deeply eroded in horizontal
lines, breaks the monotony of the
plateau for distance of several miles,
and fixed like swallows nests upon
the faces Of its deep and almost un-
climable sides, are the slowly crumb-
ing walls of these ancient and pre-
historic habitations, wherein once
dwelt that race of people known to MS
as Cliff Dwellers.
From the bottom of the canyon to
the top it is almost three hundred
feet, and it is almost half way up the
canyons walls, underneath the most
enduring strata of rocks that we find
these ruins. They abound in great
numbers, and being well protected
from the weathering of time, the
crudely constructed walls are still
quite well preserved, despite the fact
that unnumbered years beyond the
minimum limit of four hundred have
passed since they sheltered their
builders. To serve as the foundation
or floor of these dwellings,, also she
root and the back wall, Nature has
graciOusly provided strata Of rock
and followed it out apparently "to
order", and therefore it was left for
the Cliff Dwel'ers to only erect wall
along the edge of the cliff and put in
the desired partitions in order to
have very comfortable and safe place
OF abode. This they did, and the
crumbling walls now stand as monu-
ments to their labor and their memory.
The walls are built of small lime
stone rocks, between each of which
was put goodly supply of mortar
not unlike our masonry of today.
This mortar resembles adobe, and has
hardened to the compactness of stone.
The rocks used in the construction
seem to have been faced" and
therefore the walls are left with very
smooth surfaces. One door was left
in each compartment, which, it is
the supposition, was closed at night
or during storms by blanket or the
skin OF an animal. In addition to the
door, many of the huts were also pro-
vided with small round port hole,
or possibly for the escape of smoke.
Several students who have visited
these ruins have advanced the opinion
that the Cliff Dwellers built these
dwelling places for protection from
another race of people of warlike
nature, and that these holes were left
to aid them in possible attacks. Since
they are usually found, however, in
the corner of the hut which apparently
was used for cooking purposes, it
would seem more probable to presume
that they were for the outlet of
smoke. That corner as we'll as the
hole is invariably blackened with
smoke, and such is not the case in
dwellings where no holes appear.
Well preserved and in fact almost
petrified, corn cobs are frequently
found by visitors in some of the rooms
and it was even the good fortune Of
our party to resurrect small bits of
pumpkin. Such, therefore, are known
to have been included in their foods.
There are fragments OF oddly painted
pottery scattered about galore, and
occasionally one finds pieces of q
mating woven from a material re-
senbling sea grass, and now and then
q weapon and domestic utensil made
of stone. s
Visitors to the place have aided
Natures elements i'm the slow
destruction of the ruins. and of the
vast number OF the ancient habitations
found in Walnut CANYON there are
very few left intact. Unlike at the
places where Wa find the Aztec ruins,
no burying place for the Cliff Dwellers
has.ever been found. Many excavations
have been made, but not as much as a