Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-02
BY A. G. BIRCH.
Special to The Star and North American

Special to The Star and North American
Newspaper Alliance.
DENVER, Colo. October 1--WE
started up Hell's Canyon, side canyon
of the great Tampa gorge, on Friday
morning. August 81, to search for In
dian cliff dwellings.
Before we had gone far We noticed a
cliff that vas literally covered with
Indian carvings. These had become
faint from long weathering Later we
were told by men familiar with Indian
sign writing that these carvings indi-
Gated a battle had been fought near
here andt that a certain number of
scalpS had been lost and a certain
number taken by the tribe that carved
the record - -.
Farther up the canyon we found the
ends Of large petrifled logs protruding
from the sandstone cliffs. Hundreds
Of feet Of stone had been laid down
above these tree trunks since they fell
there, denoting the passage Of hun
dreds Of thousands, possibly millions,
Of years.
The country here was very similar to
Mesa Verde, and we spent the greater
part of two days exploring every &C
cessible ledge that looked as If it might
contain cliff dwellings, with the result
that we found the only real evidence Of
prehistoric Indian habitations that we
saw on the whole trip.
Find Cliff Dwelling.
On q ledge about so feet long and 20
feet deep we discovered we'll defined
indications of former masonry dwell
ing, circular in shape and Is feet in
diameter. The materials used were
rough sandstone slabs, laid in adobe
mud. There had been no attempt 70
dress the stones. and the whole was
very crudely put up. Evidences of
house dirt on the floor were lacking. as
were also any bits of pottery or other
household utensils.
At the other end Of this ledge were
the remains of corn cache or crib,
built in the form of a>truncated cone,
resembling a beehive. Rough slabs of
sandstone again had been used, with
adobe mud for mortar. This bin was
about 4 feet in diameter and 2 feet and
8 inches in depth, but evidently there
had been another tier or two of stones
on top. The walls were 4 to inches
thick. Two other caves nearby yielded
similar specimens of corn caches.
It was not possible to assign def
mite period and culture to the slight
ruins found here. In our opinion, the
Yampa Canyon and its tributaries never
were The scene OF extensive Gill DWELL
erS' settlements. Bitter Winter grips
this region so much of, the year that
the ancient Indians probably Stunned
1t for warmer regions to the south.
Late Saturday afternoon, September
!, we started on downstream. Some
slight rapids were encountered.
Early Sunday morning we passed a
series of hot springs gushing out of the
rocks on the north bank The water
had most peculiar taste.
End in Sight.
BY midmorning of Sunday we began
to catch glimpseS on to the west of
lofty red sandstone walls, and so knew
we were almost to Pats Hole, the
junction of the Yampa and Green
rivers and the end of our journey.
Soon afterward the tremendous yellow
ish face of Steamboat Rock came into
view.
Steamboat Rock is in the center of
Pats Hole. The Green River comes in
from the north and the Yampa from
tn east. The conioined streams flow
around the base of the rock in a perfect
horseshoe until they turn westward
into Whirlpool Canyon. just across the