Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-08-21
DIARY OF AN ARTIST-STUDENT
WITH THE u. OF u. EXPEDITION
Especial CORRESPONDENCE.
\ lAE,NT.A CANYON, Utah, Aug. y.
After an extensive tour of
4 exploration In the vicinity of

After an extensive tour o
exploration in the vicinity 9
s 1.3-- Navajo mountain which ha!
Z proved rich in important Archaeological
discoveries, our party is at last caTnpee
at the foot of the next largest Cliff
dwelling known to tns world in the
picturesque canyonaof tho Sega some e 30
miles south Of oliato
During the past week I'VE have located
ana cxcavated the nest Interesting
group Of burial mounds and ancient
pueblo ruins that have yet been found.
They are scattered Ter 30 miles down
the Kaenta lying for the most part en-
tiraly5in the open among the sand dunes
ana cactus in the most Isolated valley
OF the desert Their peculiar setting
In such dramatically lonely spot Is
z sufficient to give them u more than
ordinary interest and the fact that
they are most probably Of extreme an
tieuity and belong To the same group
in point OF time as tacse runs FOUND
In the Sega at Sosl--that is n period
antetiating the Cliff dwellers proper,
places them among the most important
ruins of North America.
Imagine lonely plain sloping grad
uaIiy to the north covered with cactus
and greasewood and cut through the
center By I winding stream worn from
30 to 100 feet into the strata OF
e sandstone Immediately Ia the south.
picture the Black mountains in the
form of y tremendous mesa rising SOD
feet above the horizon. then the equally
large and more barren Skeleton mesa
10 the vest. and to the north the top of
FL Captain, the giant pinnacle of Mon
nnlSntal mark rising II thousand feet
among the ciouds=-tt1is is the valley of
tle Eaenta covering an area OF about
70 miles and once the habttation OF q
& prosperous people The two az ttlee
lonely hogans o.. the NaYaJos and their
lii kept corn patches along the trail
completed the picture as&it exists to-
day--a picture Of absolute desolatlon.
INTERESTING FINDS.
BY the most careful examination we
We're able to locate and excayate
great many mounds scattered promis-
cuously over the plain. The storms of
the centuries have unhappily left but
srant material and definite conclusions
! are consequently hard to form, but now
and then a wall or n skeleton or n
piece of pottery or some other specimen
to tell the story, and every indication
points to n very ancient people print
stive5in many Ways yet wonderfully skill
.fui In many of the arts.
The interesting connection between
these people and those whose ruins we
4found54in the Sega at Sosa is clearly
proven by the similarity of remains In
practically every instance, and this sup
ports admirably the theory of q very
old civilization arptedating al other
peoples yet known TO have existed on
the North American continent, The
fact, too. that so little remains to tell
the story is enough to show that many
centuries of storm have necessarily
come In order to eat out so nearly
completely What must have been firmly
built structures Of clay and stone
B In the center of the plain a8llnique
promontory of sandstone protrudes
about 200 feet in tho air sloping rather
gradually to the south and east, risins
abruptly on the north and west, and
covering possibly 10 acres of ground.
The slipping surface is completely
strewn with shreds of pottery and fall.
en- wallis. This serves as a splendid IN
Sdax to what the rest of the buildings
Were In the immediate vicinity and
proves conclusively that at this period
they wefesyet people OF the plain. using
little protnontories and mounds for
places to build, and consequently vet
undisturbed by other tribes of war
B like nature. a
e. AGRICULTURAL PEOPLE.
gl Living in the open in such an UNI
protected manner and having houses of
substantial character requiring much,
labor and time to build, we must natur-.
nlly conclude that they were an agri-5
cultural and consequently not no.
has proven that people who build
houses are invariably sedentary, and
that means that some form of aericul-
lure must be known In order to exist.
We have already noted the close re-
3senblance of remains between these
people and those of the cliff dwellcrs
IN the Sega at Sosa- There We found an
abundance Of agricultural products
such as corn, beans. several varieties
of small grain and many crude agri-
cultural implements Here the actual
products are al5tlecnyed but admirable
examples of seed bowls and large Jars
for storing grains are possibly more
numerous than any other remains, and
there is n notable absence of any kind
of war implements. The same building
structure is employed; the same kind
of masonry. 1t is difficult to escape
the conclusion that they were one and
the same people being driven to the
cliffs for protection but practising the
same arts and continuing to till The
4 soil
The most conclusive proof. however,
is the remains OF what could be nothing
but a reservoir dam stretching for SOW