The Holbrook news., 1912-09-06


 historic peoples of the Ameri-
 can southwest. While science
 is busy about them and has been able to read in the ruins left by them much of the pursuits, customs habits and religious beliefs of the builders, it is silent as to their origin an1 final destiny
 What is now southwestern Colorado, central and northern New Mexico, northern Arizona and southeastern Utah, comprising a territory of 2OO,OOO square miles, was at one time, hun dreds, yes, and perhaps thousands of years ago, the home of a race of peo- pie who from the peculiar location Of their dwellings are known as the Clin Dwellers, writes w. c. Mcbride in the current number of the Pacific Monthly. A better conception of the term Clin Dweller is obtained by bearing in mind the fact that the country wherein they dwelt is unlike any other on the globe. This territory drained by the San Juan river and it's tributaries, and particu- larly thae part known as Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona anC Utah form a junction, Is without doubt one of the most rugged, broken, arid and desolate appearing regions in the continent The zigzag water courses, most of which for the greater part of the year are absolutely dry, flow at the bottom of deep gorges and canyons, shut in by perpendicular sandstone walls, towering at some place to the height of 2,500 feet. From the main canyons others branch of in various directions, and from these still others until one becomes lost in veri- table labyrinth of cracks of Mother Earth; T intricate system of canyons, On the high deserts or mesas the other extreme is met, for here on eveFy hand rise immense cliffs and crags; of all colors and at all angles, single and in groups, one upon the other in bewilder- ing confusion. Worn by the action of the elements into every conceivable shape and semblance, landscape view from a high point is magnificent, gorgeous, sublime Here is natural bridge beside which the famous arch of Virginic is a toy; there is a cathe- ldal or temple, many times larger than St. Peters; just beyond, a baronial
  still beyond, down near the horizon, is a city with it's domes and spires twice as high as the Washington mon- ument
 First Known to History.
 The first historical accounts of the relics of this interesting people come from the Spaniards and from informa- tion collected by them we learn that the ruins of to-day are the same as they were 365 years ago.
 Prof. Holmes, of the Smithsonian h. stitution, one of the first to study the ruins from a truly scientific method, makes the following classification, which has generally been adopted by students. Ffrst-Lowland villages in which dwelt the purely agricultural classes, the sites chosen being always in the most fertile valleys and close to rivers.
 eccond-Cave dwellings, caves arti- hcially enlarged, often closed and with stone or adobes of kneaded clay dried in the sun, such as are still used by the modern Pueblo h. dian5 for building their huts.
 Third-Cliff houses, true fortresses to which the people of the valleys probably retired when danger threat ened
 It may be well to state here that 1t is the opinion of most recent investiga- tors that the lowland cities and vil- lages were inhabited by different people from those of the cliff dwellings proper.
 These valley towns were laid out with great regularity, usually in the form of parallelograms or circles, ap- with the intent of affording the best protection from the invader or the sandstorms peculiar to that re- zion.
 That the inhabitants of these ruins | were the agricultural classes there | seems no doubt, for we find indisputa- ble evidence of their irrigation works | as well as of a city water supply. The | arid deserts were reclaimed through a | system of storage reservoirs by dam- ming the mountain streams and con ducting the water to the lower plains | In canals in the same manner as the | government is now doing in many arid | sections of the west. When we con sider that they were constructed with | out the aid of our modern excavating and explosives, or even the pick and shovel, we are com pelled to admit that here is evidence of an intelligence far in advance of that ever shown by any of the Indian kzIbSs