Hermanner Volksblatt. [volume] (Hermann, Mo.) 1875-1928, 1920-12-31
y ION NATIONAL PARK-Ths
newest of the national park
system, established last No
vapbar lie Elyolv IN haya manu-

newest of the national park
III system, established last No
vember-ls likely to have many
visitors this season. Some will go
because 1t is new. Others will go be-
cause Of the claim of Utah that Zion
equals Yosemite In beauty of form
n far excels 1t in beauty of color.
And still others will 60 because of the
story of a mysterious cliff-dwelling
that has been discovered-and is be
lieved 10 be inaccessible and %untouch-
ed by the hand Of modern man. More
over, q second canon, with many ram
iticationS, has been discovered in Zion
National park. White men have been
in tor at least have looked down
into it from the plateau thousands of
feet above--but they are few. And
who knows what relics Of the mysteri-
Gus prehistoric people of the great
American Southwest these unexplored
canOns may contain?
Exploration parties are already get
ting ready in Salt Lake City and Los
Angeles. It's no wonder. The story
Of the discovery Of the inaccessible
cliff-dwellings is one to whet the in
terest of the keenest mountaineer.
Thus the story goes:
Eyre Powell of Venice, Calf, point
cd his telephotO lens at a high per-
pendiCular cliff in a side canon about
three-quarters of q mile away and
squeezed the bulb. A certain quarter
of an inch in the print attracted his at
tention. He enlarged it as much as
possible. 1t then showed what is ap-
parently a cliff-dwelling something like
400 feet long and 60 feet wide. The
Cliff-dwelling is in a shallow cave
about 400 feet above the taluS at the
foot of the cliff. Below it are appar
emily traces of lodges once used as an
ascent and now almost eroded by the
clements. Hence it is n fair guess that
this particular cliff-dwelling has been
unvisited since modern men entered
this region.
And if this mysterious, ~long-hidden
abode Of the C~liff-dwelIcrs proves to
~ IL iCuItlN Ell| ~ ltt'Iiltl DN SUIllt
daring climber, will II Yield something
new? That Of course is the question
that adds zeSt to the quest, For,
though here and there are ]arChaeolo-
gistS who believe they have solved the
mystery of the prehistoric people, il
looks TO the common people as. If the
scientists were still guessing at the
answers 10 the questions: Who are
they? How long did the I've there?
What became Of them? 50 the pos.
sibility that this Zion CltH-dwellers'
inaccessible refuge, untouched by the
hand Of the spciler, may contain some
thing that will throw light on these IN
answered questions s fascinating.
Curiously enough, the many relics
Of this prehistoric peop!e throw little
or no light on thesG questions. This
Is the more strange, since the village
sites Of the ancient inhabitants, with
all the accessories Of village life
kivaS. shrines, burial places. fields, IT.
rigation works, l%OOkouts, StairwayS-
mHserv" Il pretty complete picture OF
life In this ancient Southwest. More
over, buried under the debris Of build
ings n In the graves Of the dead are
various artifacts of stone, bone. wood,
fiber and clay, which indicate the in
dustrlal and domestic life Of the PEG.
pie. Ceremonial objects, such as pipes,
fetiches and medicine stones, together
with the symbolic characterization of
domestic and mortuary pottery, give
glimpses of the social and religious
life of the times.
Such structures ms are above ground
rave been pretty thoroughly examined
and an astonishing variety has been
found. For example, there are many
cliff-dwellings, Of which those In Mesa
Verde National park in southwestern
Colorado are probably the finest In all
the Southwest.
On the Jemez plateau in the north.
ern central part of New Mexlco-a
part Of which II is proposed to set
aside as the national park OF the cliff
cities-there are both puebloS and
clin-dwellings Of the excavated type
called "cavate dwellings" The pueblo
ruins are many-chambercd community
houses, found upon the mesa-tops and
in valleys. The smaller ones are Of
one story; the larger ones have from
two to four stories. The cavate dwell
;ngs vary widely. Some are enlarged
natural caves. Others are wholly ar
.!icial excavations in the face of the
MT. the front wall being formed Of
- natural rock In stu. Some are