Gunnison news-champion., 1916-07-14

Il b. South Park was once the abode Of
3 te0ple superior to the Indians of the
bins, probably by that class who. at
4 early day. built their cities in the
. ifEs Of the mountains Of Mexico. This
OPPOSITION is quite improbable The
e !iience seems to be quite conclusive.
q lweyer. that the ancient people had
xprEed their way northward near the
fah line as far as Montrose county.
EEras Of cliff dwellings or cave dwellings
ive been found in the western part of
,1 Miguel county and farther north in
festern Colorado.
Il has been asserted that the Hopis of
o srthwest Arizona are the descendants
( the Cliff Dwellers. There may be
.tain Of truth in this statement. but it
7teis qualifying. There is likely a
III Dweller strain in the Hopis, but il
20 be remembered that the Hopis
-lrak Shoshonean dialect, quite diff
st-ent from the language OF the old
Aztecs Of Colorado and New Mexico
/ main Shoshonean. The Utes and
s p.s have traditions of the removal of
i Cliff Dwellers (that is, the few sur
5.yOrs Of them after repeated assaults
D the warlike tribes around them) to
the high bluffs of northeast Arizona.
The widows and daughters likely inter-
with other Indians. So there
als mingling of the races. Among
The HOpis there may be some descen-
ants of the Cliff Dwellers. The full
-.1ods are likely few, however.
What language did the Cliff Dwellers
eak? Likely an Aztec dialect. similar
ID the speech of the Aztecs of Old Mex
ru, but corrupt because of isolation,
We have Aztec hieroglyphics or picture
artings scratched on rocks. But there
no evidence tending to show that the
Aztecs of Mexico or the Southwest had
aa alphabet. They had no literature.
hey had no poet. and they died"
The ancient inhabitants of Colorado,
Ike those of New Mexico and other
parts of the Southwest, were not
mighty hunters. They did have
bows and arrows and lances, and prob
ably some of them were hunters; they
used these weapons to kill deer. ante
lope and other wild animals. They
caught game in snares, and caught
waterfowl by strategem a man wearing
pumpkin mask approaching a covey
Of ducks in pond or river and dragging
the birds down under water one by one
In short, they were not sportsmen like
The wild Indians. As a Hopi legend
runs, the Cliff Dwellers ''lived by agri-
9ulture rather than by the chase"
They were not timid; they fought
valiantly for their homes and country,
holding the enemy at bay until their
families could escape.
The ancient inhabitants Of Colorado
had four types OF buildings: (D peace
full homes. Pueblos erected in the valleys
where they lived and farmed for hum
dreds of years; (2) kivas. temples and
towers. used for religious purposes or
for council il-chamber, also perhaps as
. lounging place for the men in winter;
(3) fortresses. like Cliff Palace, Spruce
Tree House, Peabody House and other
community houses; (4) fortified rocks,
watch towers and other defensive works,
with thick walls, substantially built.
The masonry of some of these struc-
lures is from foot to two feet thick
Some buildings in the lowlands were
isolated and not very large. That was
tho first stage of the life of the former
of Southwestern Colorado,
that is. from 900 TO 1900 or later.
There were Pueblos to live in or cave
dwellings. In that early period the
people were very religious and had Kivas
for worship. When making new set
tlement for increase of population re
quired this from time to time. they seem
to have erected Kiva or Estufa before
they put up buildings for secular pur-
poses. A Kiva or sacred chamber was
needed for religious rites, for recrea-
ton and public gatherings. 1t was q
sort Of town-meeting hall. Centuries
doubtless passed; then this peaceful
people were interfered with by savage
tribes. In the fourteenth century, per-
hsps. they took to building cliff houses
in Nsncos canon and other canons; these
abodes far up in the cavernous sides of
high cliffs were places of refuge and de-
fence against their foes, the Utes.
Navajoes and other tribesmen; they