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Show A TRIP THROUGH I SIJ1VALLEY I Dr. Geo. W. Middleton Writes Im- M terestingly of Country in Southwestern Utah. MANY ANCIENT CLIFF M DWELLINGS FOUND THERE M Abounds in Scenic Wonders and is , t Prosperous Live Slock Region H Reminiscences of Early Days, M When Colony Was Established. H H (Salt Lako Tribune) M Dr. George W. Middleton has re- turned to Snlt Lake after a general H rcconnoitcr of several days in San H Junn county nnd tho ndjncent nrca of H Colorado, over tho interstate line, no wns accompanied by Professor R. R. H Lyman. jH "San Juan is a country of ningnifi- jH ,cont distances," said Dr. Middleton. M "They speak in thut section of trips of H fifty to a hundred miles much as wo H spenk of stretches of ten miles in tho H more thickly settled parts. Thoso men H of science who sny tho earth is only n speck in tho universe ought to taku n trip by automobilo from Thompson tH to Bluff, nnd thoy would change thoir iH minds. Ono enn imngino what it used , to bo by team and buggy before tho H days of automobiles. "Geologically, San Juan, and tho H part of Colorado adjacent, is a great il mesozoic country. At Moub, nnd in ; the canyon south of it, the hugo vor- milliom cllfT of trlnssic origin is -ll thrown into mighty palisades find 'M buttes of wonderful beauty. Tho 'M Grand river, now nt flood tidev has iH carved a gOt'gfi through these formal ll tlons to a great depth. At Moub thto gorge crosses nlmost nt right angle tho vnllcy and then reenters tbs M mighty vormllllon cliff at the oppo- H site side, to mnko its way to tho " fB junctjon with tho Green river, and il givo birth to the Colorado. Only at M two places in tho winding canyons !- , tween Mbnb and Bluff docs the under- j lying carboniferous limostonc como iM through. At tho one farthest south is M located the Big Indian mine, a copper ' lode, now in process of development. M Cretaceous Plain. M "For a hundred miles east of Monti- cello a rolling cretaceous plain M stretches into tho Colorado. At its H terminus an abrupt escurpment, with H an upthrust of several thousand feet, mnrkes tho western boundary of the ' Mesa Verde. 'j "At Bluff two members of tho trins- 'M sic scries, a hard one superimposed M upon a soft one, give origin to tho H wonderful lithlogicnl formations of M that part. The Navajo Twins, two identical boulders of great size, bal- anced at unstable equilibrium on very fl narrow necks, are types of the, ero- 'fl sionnl architecture which thu Sun Juan river hns been producing over the unknown nges. M "Through the whole country abrupt 'M gorges lead southward toward thu San Juan, nnd their great under- l mining cliffs discloso the picturcsquo nbodes of the wonderful unknown peo- H pie whom we desinuto "cliff dwell- H cis." From time immemorial this haa H been an Indinn country nnd the cliff H dwellers, whoever '.hay were, wero H probably of the samo stock as scio M of the existing Indian tribes. M first Cliff Villages. M "Nenr Blanding we saw the first JH cliiT villages, but the very paradiso of M the cliff dwellers is in the section now known ns Mesa Verde national park. M Cliff villages of size to accommodato H a thousand people, cluster like swnl M lows' nests on these huge cretaceous fll shelves, with their overhanging walls. M The cliff dwellers were good muRom M nnd had artistic tastes. Evidently they were n very religious people. Tho ijH ceremonial chambers, where they are M supposed to have kept the sacred firo M forever burning, arc numerous. They M are all of the same design, with cir- M cular walls and each has six pallastcnt jH and an identical arrangement of their -M various symbolical apertures. Tho M dwelling houses cluster nround thaso M subterranean temples. M "Evidently tho cliff dwellers did not H limit their building activities to cliff 'H houses, They seem to havo swarmed H over the adjacant mesas and built H houses and temples out on the open H plain. Sun temple nnd Fnr View tern- rH pie are two of these structures which t have been excavated. So long has thn 'H time been since this mysterious poo- jH pic occupied their homes, that thoso H in the open, with no cliff to protect ,H overgrowing brush, have been reduced H (Continued on page five) iHI 1Wmm vSmk h 'j . 1 S ' fJr -'- A TRIP THROUGH j SAN JUAN VALLEY (Continued from first page.) i them, with accumulated debris andi to mounds hard to differentiate fromj ordinary hillocks, But the work of the excavator soon reveals regular well-built well-built stone walls in form nnd fashion of temple or domicile, or both united in one symmetrical plan. Old Trees On Ruins. I "Trees grown to Inrge dimensions on ; top of these ruins show thnt they are' many centuries old, but who tho people peo-ple were who built them, nobody has ventured a guess. They seem to. have been a people of fixed habits and lived , by agriculture nnd the chase. Corn nnd ' beans nnd the stems of pumpkins nrc found in the ruins. "The people of San Juan of the present day seem to be prosperous nnd happy. The story of tho Snn Juan. colony, plnuted forty yenrs ago, is one written in the blood of humnn hearts. It has been one unceasing fight with, I that great outlaw river, which refused , land still refuses to be subdued in' I spite of superhuman efforts well di-j rccted. Every once in n while the, great monster strikes back, and n. whole series of fnrms begin their mi- 'gration toward the Gulf of Mexico.1 BInnding nnd Monticello, nnd tho nd-j jncant country are developing fast., 'Dry land farming is proving n great success. Cattle and sheep have mnde most of tho San Junn people wealthy. People Wide Awake. I "Mentally nnd spiritunlly, tho inhnb-. itants of this outpost of civilization! 'seem to be wide awake. Their chief. difficulty seems to bo a lack of means of transportation. Snn Junn county could support a population thrco or four times ns great as it now has if nil its resources were developed. One day it may become the granary of Utah. I "Finally I would like to recommend the people of Snn Junn for their hospitality, hos-pitality, which is extended with n hearty good will to visitors who come to sec their country. ' "The elder colonists came mostly1 from my native county in southern Utah. Forty years ago as a little boy ' I saw those brave young men nnd women with the blood of youth uponj their cheeks and the vim and vigor of early years unabated ns they wentj forth in response to a call to colonize, thnt hard, uninviting country. After forty years I saw them again, withi forehends etched by the process of the! ever pnssing years and limbs not quite so lithe or supple as of yoro. A number num-ber sleep the last long sleep on tho hill which overlooks the scenes of their heroic struggle, but the rest arc still I undaunted nnd ready for whatever duty it takes to mnko good citizens." Professor Lyman went on to New Mexico on church business, while Dr.! Middleton returned home. ' |