The Winslow mail., 1925-08-04
Canyon de Chelly, North
of Gallup, is a Wonder
Spot of the Southwest

bileS have traVerSed the canyon,
but the loose sand does not make
a good road for a pleasure ride.
At the entrance, at Chin Lee, the
walls are low, but as one proceeds
up the canyon they rise higher and
higher until they reach height
of the canyon.
There are interesting sights to
be seen from the very entrance
ipinnacles, crags, and soon one sees,
high up above tiny ledge. long
rows Of Photographs: then there
are large and small wind caves,
and soon, in one of these caves.
one will espy walls that have been
constructed by human hands.
Remarkably we'll are some of
these dwellings preserved. Espe-
cially is this 50 of the White House,
/ Whitish mud. The design and
construction of the buildings are
excellent, although there are many
articles which moderns use in
masonry with which these ancient
people were not acquainted, such
as arches, and bonds at the inter-
sections OF walls. In lieu of the
first, they used number of poles
over the opening on which the ma
sOnry was continued; at the latter,
walls were abutted to others with
square joints, with no bond; but
even so, these ancient walls show
better workmanship than do those
of the modern Hopi, for the walls
are smooth and straight, and the
walls of the circular kivaS are built
in the form of perfect circle.
The flat rocks used in the walls
are plastered with mud, which, as
long as it is dry, is almost as hard
as our own plaster. Each dwell
ing has one or more. cirular rooms
which were supposedly used as
places of worship and are called
kivas.
Some of the ruins are built in
caves level with the floor of the
canyon, others are rather difficult
to reach, and others are entirely
inaccessible. One wonders how
these ancient people reached their
houses and how they transported
their building materials to such
unscalable places. 1t is probable
that the reason the White House is
so well preserved is because it is
so hard to get to. The floors of
some of the caves slant at pre-
cariohs angle, yet the houses built
on this slanting rock stood as firm
ly as those that were built on level
rock, proving the skill of these
people as builders.
No less interesting is Canyon del
Muerto, where tiny, beehive-like
structure were built in which bones
and mummies are to be found
Gruesome, indeed, are some of the
sights that meet ones eyes occas-
ionally when peeping into some of
these places.
Where the canyon walls are not
vertical, can be seen regular steps
which the ancients cut out of the
solid rock with their stone hatch
cts, forming trail leading to the
rim, but such trail would make
a rather precarious path for most
of us. Photographs are to be seen
everywhere. Some have been made
by chiseling the face of the rock,
others by painting.
There are so many things TO be
seen; beautiful scenes, magnific-
lent walls and crags, odd picto-
graphs, and dwellings both ancient
and modern, that one could de-
scribe them at length and not do
the canyon justice. 1t must be seen
to be appreciated.
In both canyons, on little grassy
shelves or in little side canyons,
are the hogans of Navajos. Here
they have their little corn patches
and their bands of sheep and goats.
The goats wander around on the
rocks and crags very much like
wild goats of the mountains Here
also can be seen Navajo women
weaving the famous Navajo rugs.
After spending what time can
be spared in Canyon de Chelly,
there are a number of roads one
can take to get back to the Old
Trails highway. One can go di-
rectly south to Ganado, thence
west to Keams Canyon, then south
to either Holbrook or Winslow, or
one can go directly to Polacca and
the other HOpi villages, which are
also worth a visit. From these
villages a good road leads to Leupp