Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-29
GOES To EXPLORE
HOMES IN CLIFFS
Or. ]. Walter FeWkes to Make
Study of Ruins in Mesa
Verde.
SOME. OF THE STRUCTURES
LIKE GIGANTIC HOTELS
Early Settlers Apparently More In
terested in Cooking Than in SAM
tation and Ventilation.

DR.. ]. Walter Fewkes of the Smith
sonian bureau of American ethnology
left recently for Mesa Verde National
Park, in southwestern Colorado, to con-
tinue the supervision of excavation and
repair on the prehistoric cliff dwell
ings in the vicinity of Cliff Palace and
Spruce Tree House, under an appro-
priation from the Interior Department.
The operations to be undertaken this
summer are in continuation of much
previous work carried on under DR..
Fewkes' direction to preserve these re-
markable ruins of the American cliff
jewellers. supposed to be the ancestors
of the Pueblo Indians. Three of the
ruins. Spruce Tree House. Cliff Palace
and Balcony House, have been put in
shape. SO that they are available for
inspection to the many visitors at the
park, and the present season will be de-
voted to work on Community House, a
ruin located two miles southeast of
Spruce Tree House.
Found Town in Ruins.
The Mesa Verde ruins are situated on
the Mesa Verde in Montezuma County
Col. in the side canyon of the Mancos
and are regarded as the largest and
most remarkable examples of cliff
dwellings in the United States. These
ruins were discovered in 1855, although
some smaller ones not far distant were
found fourteen years before. In that
year two ranchers riding over the mesa
and through its labyrinth of canyons
in search of stray cattle suddenly came
upon a deep canyon, and beheld in
great cavern in the opposite cliff a
whole town In ruins. its crumbl1ng
buildings walls and towers unmistak-
ably the work of prehistoric man. 1t
looked to their astonished eyes like
palace in cliff, and so they named it
Cliff Palace. On the same day they dis
covered, not far away, another large
cliff dwelling, which they named Spruce
Tree House after a giant spruce tree
which grew in front of the ancient
ruins.
During the course of the next few
years these ranchers and their broth-
ers, who were named Witherill, ex,
plored the whole mesa and excaVated
in many places, gaining vast KNOW,
edge of these early inha bitants, and
terry and implements of stone, bone
and wood. Since that time the govern
ment. through the bureau OF American
ethnology and the Interior Depart
ment has sent exploring parties which
have added to the National Museum
series of objects illustrating the life,
customs and arts of the prehistoric
American people who once Inhabited
these cliff dwellings. About 1905 the
Mesa Verde was made national park
and placed in charge of the Interior
Depa rtment A scenic road has been
constructed. over which one can now
ride from the town Mancos on the
Denver and Rio Grande railroad to the
largest of the ruins. Progress has
been made in the excavation and repair
of the ruins, and the public may now
1fSif D9i n
a good idea of the dwellings in which
the native inha bitants lived
Like a Gigantic Hotel.
In a report published by the bureau
of American ethnology DIR. Fewkes de-
scribes in detail the architecture of
Spruce Tree House, and points out
prominent features of this village. 1t
has distinct likeness to a gigantic
hotel built in cave with a crescent
shaped roof the floor of the cave being
about fifty feet above the bottom of
the canyon and the roof eighty feet
high. Its total length is 21S feet. and
its greatest width eighty-nine feet. In
places the rooms were originally three
stories In height, the final story at
present having no roof except the top
to be seen are on the first floor, al
though in some places second story
Is still standing. There have been
traced ia separate rooms in this great
structure. besides eight subterranean
ceremonial chambers, known as kivas
n has been determined that at least
fourteen of the rooms were used for
storage and other purposes. in the
foGrs of some of which human skele-
tons have been found. The remaining
100 rooms were used as dwelling places
and it has been estimated that the
building had a population of about $50
natives.
1t seems from the character of the
rooms that no premeditated plan was
followed in the construction of this
village. a few rooms were first built
and additions made as the population
increased. The arch of the early form
found among the ruins of Central
America was unknown to these early
tangular form slightly narrower at the
top and capped with Intel. although
some of them have T-form and are
placed we'll up on the walls, being
reached by ladders. Cooking was
evidently practiced on the roofs or in
the corners, judging from the amount
of zoot on the walls, but there was
little pretension among the jewellers
for light, air or sanitation.
Had Over 200 Rooms.
Cliff Palace. the second of these i'm
portant ruins. Is nearly three times the
size Of Spruce Tree House. and has
more than 200 rooms. It was repaired
In 1908 and now presents a very re-
spsctas appearance to the visitor.