El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-11-28


I No one knows from what division OF
the human family they sprung, whence
! they came, nor why they vanish ed
The ancients often selected the High
est of Hills for places of worship, be-
lieving that the spirit of God was pecu-
/ liarly diffusive in such places. Tht
ancient oracles were delivered in cave
dwellings or temples. The Aztecs prac.
tced sacrifice and worship in the
mountains at periodical intervals.
An Ancient Tradition.
One of the oldest Toltec traditions
was that they had lived in caves and
suffered great hardships before reach
tives than worship probably deter
mined the selection of such difficult
building sites. 1t was probably pro-
lection from terrible and persistent
enemy they sought What was that
enemy Was II eventually victorious?
Did the cliff jewellers perish utterly.
did some terrible pestilence destroy
them or did they break through an
invading host and join the tidal wave
of humanity moving from the darkness
Of the north to the land of refreshment
in the south.
1t is the opinion of an eminent au-
thor that the cliff houses were con-
structed by refugees from cities of the
plains, such as Casa Grande, following
persistent invasion from the south.
Groups of cliff houses are accessible
in Arizona from various points on the
Southern Pacific lines. They are found
in the canyons Of the Blue ella, Salt,
ella Bonita, Pueblo, Eagle and Tonic
basin one Of the best preserved is
that shown in the picture accompany
ing this article. It is near Roosevelt
on the new scenic automobile line be-
tween Globe and Phoenix, several thou
sand feet above the floor of the can
yOn. perched beneath an overhanging
n
the country for many miles around ap-
preached by steep ACTIVITY the
ancient stairway having been COM
pletely obliterated by the erosion of
ages Its construction must have in
VOWED vast amount of labor. The
building originally consisted of three
stories, its walls of masonry, three
feet thick, plastered smoothly within
and without. The doors and windows
had lintels of wood, and were probably
protected by curtains of the skins of
animals, or of cotton or fiber The
cave jewellers manufactured cloth both
from cotton and fiber Successive
burials and deep accumulation of de-
brls indicates long occupation.
An Important Discovery.
A very cursory exploration of the
cliff houses has resulted in important
discoveries. Ralph /. Bateman, form
erly in the forest service, found among
other objects in the grave of a cliff
y
which he sent to his father, the Rev.
T. c.. Bateman, chaplain of the 14th
cavalry, then stationed at the u. S.
army general hospital at Fort Bav-
nard, n. NJ, who gave five of them to
Col. G. i. Bushnell commanding Ft.
Bayard, Col. Bushnell had them care
fully planted, and succeeded in raising
a crop of beans of a variety absolutely
unknown to this country Rev. Mr..
Bateman presented the balance of the
| beans to a gardener at Fort Clark.
| Texas, who has not yet reported the
result of his efforts at cultivation.
| Col Bushnell has very kindly con-
scented to present the University of
Arizona Agricultural Experiment sta
! ton with a few of the beans The
discovery is worthy careful study.
Beans discovered in another such
| dwelling near Prescott, Arizona, were
planted near that city and in that city
and produced a prolific crop. They
arc three times the size of an ordin-
airy butterbean