Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1912-07-12

historic peoples or the Amerl-
can southwest. Willie science
is busy about them and has
heen 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
and final destiny
What is now southwestern Colorado,
central and northern New Mexico,
northern Arizona and southeastern
Utah comprising a territory of 100000
square miles, was at one time, hun
dreds, yes, and perhaps thousands Of
years ago, the home of a race of peo-
nile who from the peculiar location Of
their dwellings are known as the Cliff
4 jewellers, writes w. G. Mcbride In the
current number Of the Pacific Monthly.
better conception of the term Cliff
8 bweller is obtained by bearing in mind
8 the fact that the country wherein they
q dwelt is unlike any other on the globe.
3 This territory drained by the San Juan
& river and it's tributaries, and particu-
larly that part known as Four Corners,
. where Colorado. New Mexico, Arizona
g and Utah form q 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,
a flow at the bottom of deep gorges and
4 canyons, shut in by perpendicular
sandstone walls, towering at some
places to the height of $500 feet. From
the main canyons Others branch off in
q various directions, and from these still
others until one becomes lost in veri-
table labyrinth of cracks of Mother
Earth an intricate system of canyons.
On the high deserts or mesas the other
extreme is met, for here on every hand
Il rise immense cliffs and crags of ali
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
a from high point is magnificent,
B gorgeous, sublime. Here is natural
bridge beside which the famous arch
Of Virginia is a toy; there is cathe-
ldal or temple, many times larger than
st. Peters; just beyond, baronial
castle with towers and turrets, while
still beyond, down near the horizon,
Is a city with its domes and spires
q twice as high as the Washington mon
q ument.
First Known to History.
The first historical accounts of the
4 relics of this interesting people come
rom the Spaniards and from informa-
Il ton collected by them we learn that
q the ruins of to-day are the same as
they were 365 years ago.
Prof. Holmes. of the Smithsonian In
stitution, one of the first to study the
ruins from truly scientific method,
makes the following classification,
which has generally been adopted by
students. First-Lowland villages In
which dwelt the purely agricultural
classes. the sites chosen being always
IN the most fertile valleys and close to
rivers.
i aeeond-Cave dwellings, caves arti.
acially enlarged, often closed and
strengthened with stone or adobes of
kneaded clay dried in the sun, such as
are still used by the modern Pueblo In
alans for building their huts.
Ihlrd-Cliff houses, true fortresses
10 which the people of the valleys
probably retired when danger threat
sned.
IL may be well to state here that 1t
y the opinion Of most recent fnvestiga-
,ors that the lowland cities and VII,
ages We're inhabited by a different
people from those Of the cliff dwellings
/ proper.
These valley towns were laid out
with great regularity, usually in the
.orm of parallelograms or circles, ap-
garently with the intent of affording
ne best protection from the invader
II the sandstorms peculiar to that re-
gion.
That the inhabitants of these ruins
we're the agricultural classes there
seems no doubt, for we find indisputa-
Ole evidence Of their irrigation works
As Wen as of city water supply. The
ana deserts were reclaimed through a
system of storage reservoirs by dam
ulAg the mountain streams and con-
quoting the water to the lower plains
n canals in the same manner as the
government is now doing in many arid
sections OF the west When We con-
s1oer that they were constructed with
'at the aid oe our modern excavating
machinery and explosives, or even the
2mmon pick and shovel, we are COM
S'!ed to admit that here is evidence
an Intelligence far In advance OF
ever saown by any of the Indian