Anonymous

“ In order to preserve these cliff dwellings Mesa Verde National Park was created, but they are not the only attractions in the area. In the winter the park is closed to travel by deep snow, but in the early spring the blanket of snow is replaced by a mantle of flowers that change with the seasons, and to the story of the prehistoric inhabitants is added an absorbing story of nature that is peculiar to this mesa and canyon country.
“The Mesa Verde region”, writes Arthur Chapman, “has many attractions besides its ruins. It is a land of weird beauty. ”

“ Spruce Tree House, located in a large cave just across Spruce Tree Canyon from the museum, has been made readily accessible by a short [6] winding trail. This is the only excavated cliff dwelling in the park that may be visited without going on a conducted tour, and is open to the public at all times. A ranger is always on duty to protect the ruin from vandalism and to give information to the visitors. ”

“ The canyons which seam the mesa, all of which lead toward the distant Mancos River, are, in many cases, replicas of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. While the summer days are warm, the nights are cool, and the visitor should bring plenty of wraps besides the clothing and shoes necessary for the work of climbing around among the trails. It is a country for active footwork, just as it was in the days of the cliff dwellers themselves. ”

“ Sun Temple was not constructed haphazardly, nor was its form due to addition of one clan after another, each adding rooms to a preexisting nucleus. There is no indication of patching one building to another, so evident at Cliff Palace and other large cliff dwellings. The construction of the recess in the south wall, situated exactly, to an inch, midway in its length, shows it was planned from the beginning.
We can hardly believe that one clan could have been numerous enough to construct a house so large and massive. Its walls are too extensive; the work of dressing the stones too great. ”

“ The introduction of corn or Indian maize into what is now the southwestern United States may be called the antecedent condition for all advanced cultures of the area.
Evidence has not yet been established that the first of the maize-growing Indians of the Southwest were permanent occupants of the Mesa Verde. Nevertheless, in the Cliff Palace cave, well below the horizon or floor level of the cliff dwellers, archeologists have found a yucca fiber sandal of a distinctive type which is associated only with the first agricultural civilization. ”

“ The absence of a cave recess in the rear of the building is significant, as it allowed the cliff to be used as the back wall of the rooms.
Square Tower House measures about 138 feet from its eastern to its western end. There are no streets or passageways as at Spruce Tree House and Cliff Palace, and no open spaces except on the kiva roofs. The rooms are continuous and compactly constructed. Excepting the spaces above the kivas, the walls are united from one end of the cave to the other. The foundations of the secular rooms are constructed on two levels, an upper and a lower. ”

“ The argument that cliff dwellers in the neighborhood built Sun Temple and that incoming aliens had nothing to do with its construction seems very strong. The architectural differences between it and Cliff Palace are not objections, for the architectural form of Sun Temple may be regarded as a repetition, in the open, of a form of building that developed in a cliff house; the rounded north wall conforms with the rear of a cave and the straight south wall reproduces the front of a cliff dwelling. ”

“ Rain at the right time was the all-important problem, and so confidently did they believe that they were dependent upon the gods to make the rain fall and the corn grow that they worshiped the sun as the father of all life and the earth as the mother who brought them all their material blessings. ”

“ The general slope of the surface is to the south, and as the main road to the ruins meanders back and forth in heading each smaller canyon, many times skirting the very brink of the great northern fault line, tremendous expanses of diversified terrain are brought into view, first in Colorado and Utah, then in Arizona and New Mexico. ”

“ A new scenic road approximately 1 mile in length branches from the main highway at a point 8 miles beyond the entrance checking station and ascends to the crest of Park Point, the highest part of the Mesa Verde National Park, which attains an elevation of 8,575 feet above sea level.
From this majestic prominence the great Montezuma Valley, dotted with artificial lakes and fertile fields, appears as from an airplane, while to the north are seen the Rico Mountains and the Lone Cone of Colorado, and to the east, the La Plata Mountains. ”

“ The floor of the cave is elevated about 200 feet above the bottom of the canyon and is just under the rim of the mesa. The entrance of the cave faces west, toward a great promontory upon which stands Sun Temple.
The total length of the cave is over 300 feet and its greatest depth is just under 100 feet. The vaulted roof is so high that the cave was always light and airy and offered a perfect home site to the cliff dwellers who were seeking protection from the elements as well as from their enemies. ”

“ The new public camp grounds are located in the piñons and junipers on the rim of Spruce Canyon only a few hundred feet from Spruce Tree Lodge and park headquarters. Individual party campsites have been cleared, and a protecting screen of shrubbery contributes to their privacy. Each site is provided with a fireplace, a table with seats, and a large level place for a tent. Good water has been piped to convenient places, and cut wood is provided without charge. Toilet facilities, showers, and laundry tubs are also provided. A ranger is detailed for duty in the camp grounds. ”

“ The ruin was purposely constructed in a commanding situation in the neighborhood of large inhabited cliff houses. It sets somewhat back from the edge of the canyon, but near enough to present a marked object from all sides, especially the neighboring mesas. It must have presented an imposing appearance rising on top of a point high above inaccessible, perpendicular cliffs. No better place could have been chosen for a religious building in which the inhabitants of many cliff dwellings could gather and together perform their great ceremonial dramas. ”

“ Similar rooms are still in use in the present day Pueblo Indian villages and are known as kivas.
Usually the kiva roofs have collapsed, but in Square Tower House two kivas have the original roofs almost intact. Following the plan of these original roofs, three of the kivas in Spruce Tree House have been reroofed and upon descending the ladder into one of these the details of construction may be noted.
Kivas in the Mesa Verde are always underground and are nearly always circular. The average diameter is 12 to 13 feet and the depth is such that the roof would clear a man’s head. ”

“ Sun Temple was not built by an alien people, but by the cliff dwellers as a specialized building mainly for religious purposes, and, so far as known, is the first of its type recognized in the Mesa Verde area. ”

“ The earliest culture so far definitely identified as having permanent habitation on the Mesa Verde is the Basket Maker III or the Second Agricultural Basket Maker first found in Step House cave on the west side of the park below the debris of the latter cliff-house occupation. ”

“ The tower is, of course, the most conspicuous as well as the most interesting architectural feature of the ruin, being visible for a long distance as one approaches Square Tower House. Its foundation rests on a large boulder situated in the eastern section of the cave floor. This tower has three walls constructed of masonry, the fourth being the perpendicular rear wall of the cave. The masonry of the tower stands about 35 feet above the foundation, but the foundation boulder on which it stands increases its height over 5 feet. ”

“ Horizontal masonry replaced the cruder attempts of house-wall construction; rectangular or squarish forms replaced [30] the somewhat circular and earlier type; and gradually the single-room structure was grouped in ever-enlarging units which assumed varying forms of arrangement as the development progressed. The art of pottery making improved concurrently with the more complex house structure. This later period represents the intermediate era of development from the crude Late Basket Maker dwellings to the remarkable structures of the “Cliff House Culture.” ”

“ Two or three feet from the fire pit, and in a straight line with the ventilator shaft, the deep recess, the deflector and the fire pit is a small hole in the floor of the kiva. This hole is usually about 3 inches in diameter and from 4 to 6 inches deep; its walls and bottom often covered with a smooth layer of mud. In the present day kivas this hole is known as the “sipapu”, and is considered to be the symbolic entrance to the underworld. The kiva was a combination ceremonial, club, and workroom for the men. ”

“ More than anything else the cliff dwellers desired security from their enemies. Their next desire was safety from the elements. When it is considered that these were the motivating influences, it can easily be understood that such minor matters as space and comfort would receive little consideration. Since the inhabitants were an easy-going, peace-loving group it can be imagined that crowded living conditions would not be objectionable. ”

“ One hundred sherds were collected from each site and studied to identify the pottery types, the sequence of their development, and their relationship to pottery types of other southwestern archeological areas.
The forest fire of 1934 revealed many hitherto unknown ruins. Two splendid watchtowers were found on the west cliff of Rock Canyon. In a small area at the head of Long Canyon 10 new Early Pueblo ruins were located and no doubt scores of others will be found upon more careful search. ”

“ The argument that appeals most strongly to many in supporting the theory that Sun Temple was a ceremonial building is the unity shown in its construction. A preconceived plan existed in the minds of the builders before they began work on the main building. ”

“ The lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western System traverse some of the most magnificent scenery of the Rocky Mountain region, a fact which gives the journey to Mesa Verde zestful travel flavor. Two main-line routes are provided to the Grand Junction gateway. ”

“ On the theory that this building was erected by people from several neighboring cliff dwellings for ceremonies held in common, we may suppose that the builders came daily from their dwellings in Cliff Palace and other houses and returned at night, after they had finished work, to their homes. The trails down the sides of the cliffs which the workmen used are still to be seen. The place was frequented by many people, but there is no evidence that any one clan dwelt near this mysterious building during its construction. ”

“ In the shelter of the caves that have been eroded in the sides of these canyons are some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in America, built many centuries ago by a tribe of peace-loving Indians who prized the security offered by the almost inaccessible caves. ”

“ Spruce Tree House has more walls that reach the top of the cave than any other ruin in the park. All through the central part the walls were three stories high and the top of the cave served as the roof of the upper rooms. ”

“ With the knowledge and benefits of agriculture, which was probably developed first in Mexico, hunting gave way to husbandry, nomadism to sedentary life, and there followed a great period of change and advancement. ”

“ A combination of desert types from the lower arid country and mountain types, usually associated with regions of higher rainfall, occur here. The desert types are highly specialized to cope with their environment, particularly the plant and smaller animal life. ”

“ A. E. Douglass’s tree-ring chronology the earliest date so far established for the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings is 1066 A. D. and the latest date 1274 A. D. While it should not be imagined that these are the all-inclusive dates representing the total time of the cliff-dweller culture, it is interesting to note that this same tree-ring story tells us that a great drought commenced in 1276 and extended for a 23-year period to 1299. ”

“ These men, well [37] trained in the social and biological sciences, make it their duty to help the visitor understand the natural and archeological features of the Mesa Verde. Because of the need of protecting the ruins and the somewhat devious trails by which they are reached, no one will be allowed to enter any ruin except Spruce Tree House unless accompanied by a ranger naturalist.
CAMP-FIRE TALKS
Each evening at 8 o’clock informal talks are given at the camp-fire circle near park headquarters. ”

“ The walls of the pit were formerly plastered with a thick layer of mud, but only a few patches of this remain. Around the edge of the room, where the floor was low, were a number of small storage bins made of thin stone slabs. No side entrance was located during excavation. In some of the pit houses evidence has shown that entrance was often made by means of a ladder through the smokehole in the roof. ”

“ Fortunately, the configuration of the cliffs above the ruin makes it possible to get a fine birdseye view from the rim of the mesa. Views obtained from the heads of the two trails are most striking and give an idea of the setting and size of the building before it is entered for closer inspection. ”

“ At a point about 3 feet above the floor is a narrow ledge running entirely around the room. This ledge is known as the banquette and its exact use is unknown. On this ledge were built six stone buttresses or pilasters, and these, rising to within 2 or 3 feet of the top of the kiva, served as roof supports. Short beams were placed from pilaster to pilaster around the room and a second set of beams was laid across the angles made by the first set. ”