The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-01-11
Nrw Mexico Had First American
Apartment Houses


Apartment Houses
The first summers work Of the
National Geographic Society's
pedition TO study Ch&>o Canyon
New Mexico, whore vast apartment
dwellings, housed one Of the most
thickly populated and highly cul-
tured communities in North AM
erica before Columbus came, has
just been completed. according 10
a report made to Gilbert Grosvenor,
President of the National Geo
graphic by Neil N. Judd, leader
of the expedition.
While details OF the summers
findings must await formulation to
be presented to members Of the
National Geographic Society it is
stated that the results Of the first
seasons work fully justify the be
lief that the studies in New Mex
leo. which Will be continued
through several summers, will rival
such expeditions OF The Society as
those which revealed to the world
that Pon1peii of South America,
Machu Picchu, and made known
the Valley Of Ten Thousand Smokes
.Alaska's vast natural cauldron,
which has been Set aside as a
National Monument
A bulletin from The Society ex-
planning the significance Of the alb
original apartment houses, which
are veritable treasure chests Of pre-
: Columbian history, says:
"Chaco Canyon is that segment
of the Chaco Rivcer which is set
out near the borderIand of San
IAN and Mckinley counties. New
Mexico Its sheer, but sometimes
crumblinc walls of sandstone rise
from its floor anywhere from 100
feet to a height nearly equal to
the United States capitol dome
From their upper lodges stretch
semi-desert wastes, making for an
isolation which adds another nys-
terry to the bygone metropolis Of the
canyons NAV. Whence came the
lumber TO build and whence the
water to cultivate the corn, beans
and squash of these aboriginal
farms?
"i'rom an airplane this cash
in the desert surface might re-
semble magnihad sector of the
Panama canal. Closer inspection
would disclose, however, not IN
cxpanse Of water, but an uawater-
cd canyon, in or bordering which
are dozen huge ruins that look
to the casual observer like remains
Of giant apartment houses, con-
tanning hundreds Of rooms, with
associated temples or Sanctuaries,
known as kiyas. and lesser build
ings. the true significance Of which
is not Yet known.
More astounding still, some Of
these larger structures, such as the
Pueblo dell Arroyo (arroyoz zwash).
one Of the, two large ruins upon
which The Society'S expedition is
TO concentrate its Investigations,
are built after the familiar E.
shaped ground plan Of the modern
office building, with the addition
of a curved wall binding the ends
of the + projections and forming
inner courts. The other ruins
10 be studied. Pueblo Bonito (5on-
ito-beautifuD is q D-shaped build
wit
long
"Archeologically this ancient Is
land of Manhattan, surrounded by
a sea Of sand, may accurately oe
described as hundred miles from
anywhere: for it is 100 miles from
the cliff dwellings, Of the Mesa
Verde, 100 miles south TO the an
cient town Of the Zuni. and 100
miles west to the ancestral site Of
the Hopis.
Within an aera less than half
that Of the District of Columbia
there are eighteen enormous COM
munity houses having from 100 to
500 or more rooms. There are also
otner structure types, such as the
three TO tWelve-room dwellings,
groups Of 'talue pueblos' under
the wall Of the canyon. in the i'm
mediate vicinity Of the large build
irgs, and tiny cliff houses and sto-
rage cists under the canyon wall
itself.
Then there are circular struct-
ures, adjacent TO both large and
small dwellings,. and semi-sub-
terranean home built of mud in
stead Of Stone-the last mentioned
found by The Biographies recon
nalssance party-which point to
possibility Of other ruins of great
er antiquity that Will be invalu-
able IN tracing the development Of