TUB SAX JUAN-TIIE LAND OF A lecture given by Dean Hymn Cummings of the State University for the of State Museum Tho Utah Archaeological Society from its n little over two years has realized that it had a field of operation within our own state through the southern part of tho commonwealth were regions very known ami yet containing countless ruins left by a prehistoric Tims to make Utah better known ond to collect accurate data concerning the first Inhabitants of our state two through the aid of E. A. have been conducted into San Juan the first in the summer of 1007 and the second in The first explored and mapped tho canyons on the north of the Cottonwood and Butler's Comb and surveyed and the u-ivr tributaries of White region of the natural Upon this und map oi tin bridges n to ent of the Interior which the n needed by the department to make a recommendation to the President that this section bo set aside ns n National All know that tin's movement succeeded and that the Great Natural Bridges of Utah to bo preserved forever for the benefit of The second season three mouths were spent iu the During the first two weeks the western tributaries of Montezuma canyon were explored the mesas lying between and a sie selected for The next were consumed in uncovering part of a large Pueblo ruin on Alkali Ridge at the head of Ruin a small tributary of Montezuma The party during the timo of excavation was made up of A. V. a graduate student from DeFritsch and two Harvard Neil and Clifton two students from tho University of and Dean Byron Cummings of the same At the close of tho work on tho Dean Cummings and Judd and made a trip to Butler's by of cleaned out a kirn in a typical cave ruin in that and from thence journeyed across the San Juan river into unknown strip of Utah lying south of treacherous across the garnet beds through Monument sixty-five miles to on tho border of Arizona and close to the Navajo Thus by hundreds hundreds of miles with saddle and pack horse southeastern Utah has been explored as thoroughly as the timo nt the disposal of the two parties One purpose of this work has been to make the great natural beauties of Utah better known to the citizens of the state the world nt We are all acquainted with the grandeur of the towering snow-capped peaks of the Wasatch have oft been charmed with the dear sparkling that dropped among We have filled our lungs with the life-giving ozone of these bathed our weary brows in some spar kling stream as it glided out from under a snow and sat down and feasted on the beauties of the divine harmony in color spread out before Thus have we rested many and many a and have arisen better more ready to take up and meet tho opportunities to really live among men and help make the plan of the universe more complete and more But the Wasatch cannot compare in its grandeur and richness of coloring with the San Juan country a real land of Here you may wander through deep gorges stretching across the country for miles and miles like the great tentacles of some huge devil gaze up at their precipitous sides that tower for hundreds of feet above your stand entranced at the contrast of their rich reds and yellows with the bluest of blue skies above your and wonder if you really are living in the twentieth century or been transported back to some Titanic age when mighty giants stalked the earth pine trees for Everything seems to have been done on such a vast scale and the mighty material forces of the earth seem mere playthings in the hands of some master All nature seems to mock your and yet smile at you as an indulgent father smiles at and helps his first born as it tries to comprehend the of But soon your wonder changes to admiration and the impressiveness and beauty of the scenes before you gradually dawn upon you and you bow your head in humble recognition of the masterful power of the great Designer and Builder of the Southern Utah has grandeur and beauty of scenery that are destined to attract the artistic and curioUS of every The Great Natural Bridges and Monument Park are alone around the world nJ with their rich setting fantastic t they present a series of cIl Pictures that one never efface from his In the cliffs of all these CJ and out over the Mesa between them are found ruins of the the cb the ries and fortifications of a historic Once these canyons resounded with their songs of joy and cries of f Once these broad mesas and I narrow valleys were dotted I their waving cornfields and I patches of squash Her I they gathered the leaves t yucca extracted their bres and made them into cords or plaited them From this yucca fibre and cotton they spun yarn which they wove into From the rushes and reeds of the canyons they plaited mat and baskets that the basket- maker of to-day would love to But this was not u j extent of their industry or the limit of their artistic 1 they gather ered fine clay carefully mixed t it and fashioned it into and i cups of all shapes and j These they painted ia elaborate designs and j producing of pot- tery that invite our j This people were the first in-j j habitants of our and the citizens of Utah should have a state pride in collecting dences of their life and skill and accurate data in regards the extent of their The remains they have left behind them are fast disappear- j ing and we must be at work this state is going to take iti place among its sister and provide a state museum archaeology and history I shall adequately set befool scholars and all the people a. j complete record of this re- j We must have a stat I j But these homes are now d j their workshops aw j an the evidences their achievements their cave-dwelling v- neath the accumulated dust J They have passed to tn j great beyond and their om dren have been gathered their fathers and no one is W to tell of the achievements 0 Whence come 1 when did they occupy this where are their descend- Hi