The Winslow mail., 1925-08-04
BY A. r. HIPKOE.
Winslow, Arizona

ITO THE north of the Old Trails
Il highway, in Northeastern Ari-
Zona, lies a wonderland, easily
reached and intensely interesting
where the cross-cOuntry tourist
may spend a profitable and enjoy
able week or longer on a side Jour
ney, the memory of which will re-
main fresh in his mind for many
years. refer especially to Canyon
de Chelly and it's sister canyon,
Canyon del Muerto, which lie near
the eastern boundary of arizona,
about seventy-five milo in north
westerly direction from Gallup by
automobile road, and the scenes
along the roads leading to these
canyons.
The principal road to Chin Lee,
which is situated at the entrance
of Canyon de Chelly, leads from
Gallup. Others lead from Holbrook
Winslow and Flagstaff The near
est and most used road is the one
from Gallup. However, if most
tourists are like the writer, they
will prefer a few hardships and
take a different road out rather
than return by the same road over
which they went in.
To most eastern people, when
they see Canyon de Chelly in print,
they take it for granted that the
name is pronounced as it is
spelled, consequently when they
reach Gallup they do not recognize
it when it is spoken of, or are the
butt Of jokes and laughter when
they speak of it themselves. There
fore, to avoid giving the initiate
and the natives any more entertain
ment than necessary, short les
son in pronunciation will not be
amiss. For everyday use and for
all practical purposes, Chelly is
pronounced ebay, with the "a"
long; Muerto is Moo-er-toe. Thus
entrenched, the tourist may VEN
ture bravely forth without fear of
derision as to his pronunciation of
these two names But not SO with
the Indian names; with these he
must struggle individually in order
to master them.
Let us suppose that our tourist
is travelling west He has arrived
at Gallup, and wishes get an init
mate glimpse of the Arizona won
derland and the Navajo and Hopi
Indians in their native environ
ment He will direct his car from
Gallup to the northwest, and after
twenty-eight miles of travelling
over a good highway which winds
over rolling hills, covered with
scrub cedar and pinons, he will
arrive at Fort Defiance. Here the
tourist may stop and visit the In
dian school, Kit Carson's cave, the
Window, and other attractions.
Leaving Fort Defiance, the road
follows a canyon worn by Defiance
creek through high ridge. The
west side of this ridge is formed by
a high escarpment along the base
of which the road follows, climbing
rapidly. After few miles the
road winds onto a high plateau,
now through open, grassy plains,
now through thickets of pine and
cedar. On this high plateau will
be seen numerous bands of sheep
and goats herded by Navajo wom-
en- and children, seldom by men.
Here one may see many pastoral
scenes worthy of the artists brush.
About forty-three miles from
Fort Defiance the tourist arrives
on the rim of Canyon de Chiefly.
The road follows the rim of the
canyon for four miles to Chin Lee,
where, at the trading post of the
amiable Mr.. McSparron, lodging
may be had. Also, as the post is
situated at the mouth of Canyon
de Chelly, horses can be obtained
for the trip up the canyon. Ar
rangements can be made here for
saddle horses for daily trips, or
for wagons to take camping outfits
up the canyon for prolonged stays
In some respects the canyon re-
sembles the Yosemite valley, for
the floor is level and the walls
rise sheer on either side from the
valley floor, but of course, not on
such a grand scale, and there are
no waterfalls-at least there are
none when it is not raining. The
floor of the canyon is sandy, for it
is almost entirely taken up by the
stream bed, which is dry the
greater part of the year. Automo-