South Bend News-Times, Volume 37, Number 121, South Bend, St. Joseph County, 30 April 1920 — Page 16

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VW -" 1 ' : : ; L while tilllnc their f.cla

Uncle Sam Undertakes the Task of Patching Up and Preserving From Further Decay the Wonderful Rock Shelf Castles of the PrehistoricFolk of theCliffs.

Copjric!it,lö20,Tte Iateraatioaal üjoillcate.

O put a fenc around a rrehl-

torlo wondfrrland, and rteh tip th rulni of a byxon civilization

'within It po that they may not

suffer further dilapidation, la txsk which the Government has newly undertaken In eonthwfst Colorado, where one upon a Ilm, amid weirdly pictoreaqu rarroundlng-s. flourished the Cliff-Dwell era. Th fenca Ls nothing more than a IIa which Conjrre.s has drawn about an area of lrty-flve square miles, embracer plateau through which, from northeast to southwest, the Mancos Rlrer haa cut a slice 2.000 fet leep. Into this canjon from both sidrs run lateral orea of equal depth, breaking tip tha xne.ca Into a labyrinth of narrow cllff-walled passapos. It Is In hlrh and almost Inaccessible recesses In tho faces of the cliffs that are found the rnlna of prehistoric villages. Located In & wild and gloomy sorpe Im the eo-called Cliff Talace. which, occupying" a helf beneath overhang!nr rock 1.000 feet above the canyon's bottom, bears the aspect of an enchanted castle. Extending along: the cliff nearly 423 feet, and In parts e and even stories hlgrh. "with majestic towers round and square. It Is to the eye far mora Impre.vilve than any of the ruined castles of the Rhine. A Fortress On A Rock-Shelf

It might be called a castle, It would more properly be described as a fortified town, which In Its day may have

sheltered 1.500 Inhabitants. A huge structure of dressed stones laid In mortar. It in. like the Capitol at Washington, a patchwork of architecture, expanded to Its present size by many additions. it? towers are loopholed. evidently for defense, and Its residential portions are mainly devoted to suites of rooms which presumably were assigned to families. In front was a stone-paved plaza for dancing; and an Important feature was a wa.ll of Folld masonry built flush with the edpe of the precipice and extending from one end of the great rock-shelter to the other, 50 that the sheer face of the cliff was continued upward 9 or 10 feet above the

floor of the cave. In the wall there was only one small entrance, which could be blocked at a moment's notice. It was a fortress, well-nigh Impregnable. Access by climbing to the shelf of rock on which It stood was practically Impossible to an enemy; and, even were a foothold on the fhelf pained, the structure itself was so planned as to be admirably defensible. All doors were at a considerable height above the ground level, entrance through them being obtained by lad-

Iii '

through

1 f-ag. e a,!::

NVhO'iv knows

conies along the upper atorles offered means of communication from room to room. Ttie descent Into the pulf below

for baking bread and for storage. Larjre stores of food and water were at all times kepr on hand, to provide against possible sige. Most remarkable were the under-

twenty-

trnc tv tprn rut In tho vf rtiral ranvon

ilnffs is 425 feet Ions, with a depth of I three In number, which were ued for

5 v reet. and at the front they are u 1 - . . -

feet high. There were 124 rooms on

meaning of these Is well understood

the ground floor. At the back of the ! D" UAe '""'"V":

xnem aro in use xouay oy ine i'ueuiu

It never was a palace, and, though J ders readily withdrawn, whilo bal-

cave aro extensive open spaces In which turkej's were probably kept. many signs Indicating that those birds were domesticated by the Cliff-Dwell-ers. Sky Parlors And Underground Rooms The roofs were platforms on which the occupants pent much of their time, the women performing their household duties, doing their cooking and making pottery. Some of the rooms were used for grinding corn.

Indians, who are indubitable descendants of the ancient ClifT-Dwellers. A klva Is always circular In form, the only entrance to it being from above, through a scuttle and by a ladder. An opening in the middle of the floor is supposed to lead to the under world, the world of ghosts. During ceremonials tho voices of the ghosts are heard this being an artifi.ee of priestcraft; for the "mj-stery men" have secretly installed a speaking tube

that enters the chamber from without, thus producing the illusion. The Cliff Palace was not discovered until 1888, Its situation being remote, and the entrances to Its canyon blocked by falls of rock since the time when It was occupied. Another prehistoric hamlet, not very far distant, almost equally remarkable and known as Spruce Tree House, Is ptrched on a similar lofty rock-shelf, and Is provided against unexpected attack by a number of dark passages which lead through and behind the houses in every direction. The?e appear to be secret escapes, such as are found In ancient European castles. Skilled At Raisins Garden Truck The Cliff-Dwellers were agricultural people, growing beans, melons, pumpkins, squashes and particularly corn, which was their main subsistence. They understood and extensively practiced irrigation, in some instances building large reservoirs for the storage of water. It would appfar that they also raised cotton, fcr numerous fragments of cotton cloth are found In their ruined habitations. At all times

they must

have been obliged to keep apprehens-

watch for their savage enemies.

prepared at a moment's notice to .ceek th leg

refuge In their rock-shelf fortresses, carrr.s. and p

They wero of the Stone Age, know- , lng not the u?e of any metal, as proved by the Implements and weapons found buried beneath the dust of ages ;n their ancient abodes. The du?t is Impalpable' fine and poisonous, fo that explorers while working In tho ruins have been obliged to tie damp sr-once over their mouths and nostrils. The j

air of that region is so dry that drad

Sem of them, however, may have brrn denned for the enr-ure of eaq'.cs. The modern Mki and Zur.i

have towrrs for thl

rock-p'.nnaclf.. a live turkey

rvi-ned on top for t'.i:t. hidden ber.r.i'h v.ho rxt':

purp? on lofty

a h r . e in

e ro

t:rl by

Tho.e lr..i;.tr.:

Icrp CxC'.r

urk thrm a! in' rrv.il for

feathers uM lr. re'.igious rrrrmnla..

Inns

a ; o the

dwellings of the precipices were abandoned, or why their inhabitants deserted thrm. Unquestionably t hexwere vacated before Columbus landed on the shores of America, and It m-v hax-e been l.O yr-irs or more earlier. One theory is that a chnnTo of climate, with diminished xvatej- supplv. may

j have forcc- those prehistoric people

to mo-e out. Quite thickly ea?ered over the top of the plate.iu are hurro mnur.ds which

f vide-u'Iy buildings

rem n n f iviiidi:

represent rJ: and rroup

some of xx-h'.ch mut

srre:it extent. A few rf them ha re-

have ten of

cent'y hern rxp'.orrd by

d:cg:nr. a'

re:

bodies undergo a natural mummifica

tion, and in thU condition many have j been found, remarkably preserved. j A method commonly adopted by theso prehistoric people in disposing ' of their dead was to wrap the body In ! a robe of turkey feathers woven upon ; a foundation of yucca-fiber cloth, to further enshroud it in a cover of matting made of reeds, and finally to seal j it up in the wall of one of the family I living rooms. j She House another group of build-1 ings occupying a cliff-reces-s 200 feet j

long and 150 feet high got Its name j from the mummy of a young woman ! found, with a child beside her. aealed J up In a wall. It was a ghastly thing. the body doubled up. and with tongue protruding from the mouth, ns If" death came to her in utmost atrony.

Yet In her lifetime sh may have been a joyous and beautiful creature; her hands and feet xx-ere noticeably Fmall. and her fine hair soft and brown. Lofty Stone Vatch-ToxvTs

Of utmost interest are the ruined ; For right there is the only p'.ic" In all towers which occupy many Isolated this country wrier f. :.r S-at- s ro:r.i heights In that picturesque region. ! together at on.- pvr. They are built very substantially of ! The rep:. ir xv -rk i.n !rrn':en or. th dressed rtone, some of them round j cliff duellings niakn n atten-.j.t at and other.! square, and the presump- rcron! ruct ion. It alius mereiy to protion Is that they were po5ts of ouUook i serve from furthrr U - y. by reinto detect the approach of enemies, j forcemcnt xvith rnere-o and o'rr the view obtained from them covering j protective measure, these rnv-t v.ilua great extent of country. j able relic of Atneric in ar.ri.jity.

hax-e revealed most interest inrr

tectural remain.-. Presumably thev represent a period later lb. an that of the cliff dxvell.ng; but. t eir-.g unprotected by roof-i of r'ck. t'.y have undergone rapid disintegration. A Pn historic l"l.ithoiOne of the-se build. ngs, of huc iae snd Impressive architecture st-d er the el-e of a cliff l .'O ) f. er h. ish which is. so to speak, the v,r' front of the great plateau b. re b er: ;.d. It was a prc hi. 'oric a ;.ir'ni' nt l:ou-. containing: several handre-d rootn. sn 1 fröm its windows the c.p m.- on;M look out upon a tnarv 1 r,: - e xp.Tn.-e rf scenery cox'erinpr par's of fo'ir P-af.

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