Show FIRST AMERICANS 1 park ruins unfold fascinating story of prehistoric indians 4 features more than one hundred centuries ago the first immigrants set foot on the shores of north america these early peo people le archeologists archaeologists believe crossed the narrow strait which divides asia from alaska and from bering sea they traveled eastward and southward from time to time in the cantu centuries ries which followed new bands of people crossed from asia and the earlier settlers were compelled to push onward to more remote sections of the continent it is possible that some of these people migrated down along alona the pacific coastline but the greater mass of them it is thought crossed the mountains and continued the southward trek along the east side of the rookies long before the time of columbus the copper colored inhabitants of f the western hemisphere whom L we call indians had fanned out and occupied all of north america mexico central america south america and the islands of the west indies under the administration of national park service are many areas connected with the life of the on an dent clent indians mesa verde Nat national lonal parks N national a t I 1 0 n a I 1 twelfth park and 14 national monuments lna in a series have been established to pro hect significant ruins in the states of utah colorado arizona and new mexico there are also mound city group national monument in ohio ocmulgee national monument in georgia and old kasaan hasaan national monument in alaska in addition many other national parks and monuments created primarily as scenic or scientific reserves also contain evidence of indian occupation unfortunately the indians during the long pre columbian period had no written history but the records of their wanderings demings de rings and the story of their cultural rand and political progress gradually is being put together by archaeologists archeologists from the tangible the camp campfires campH fires res the and the ruins these people left behind the story as it uin unfolds folds is fascinating the record of achievement is impressive I 1 originally nomadic hunters the first americans learned to cultivate the soil to indian farmers we owe such staples in our diet as corn irish potatoes yams bams and cocoa the indians also developed tobacco and taught us the me use of w EVOLUTION ocmulgee national monument in georgia contains on outstanding remains of indian mounds and prehistoric towns representative of the cultural evolution of the southern mound builder civilization this council chamber mound has been restored by national park service le quinine they learned to make pottery woven textiles and delicate jewelry from gold and silver the they y built fortresses temples and cities and in central america mayan mathematicians invented the use 01 of zero ro before it was known to scholars of europe and asia 0 EARLIEST EVIDENCE of man in the new world was discovered a few years ago at a site near fol som N M here peculiar grooved stone spear points were discovered in association with the fossil bones of animals which have been extinct tor for thousands of years the skeletons of the men who used these weapons have not yet been found but similar grooved points have been discovered in many places as far east as virginia this earliest american has been given the thelama th enama name of folsom man and he lived at a time when mastodons and sabre be toothed tigers roamed the forests and plains of the united states after the IF folsom man there is a long gap in our knowledge of ancient americans american but in central america the mayns mayas who had invented a reliable calendar were carving dates on stone monuments as early as years before the beginning of the christian era IN MESA VERDE national park and in the southwestern national monuments one may obtain a fairly clear picture of the life of the indians through a period extending back nearly two thousand years here although the indians had no calendar and carved no dates on monuments it has been possible to assign fairly exact dates to events which transpired long before the coming of the white mar man for example it Is known that from 1278 1270 A D to 1299 A D there was a continuous drouth for 24 consecutive consecutive years and it also Is known that about the year A D sunset crater a volcano near flagstaff L 11 1 1 CONTRAST I 1 prehistoric indian ruins built at the base of sheer red cliffs or in caves in canyon walls share the limelight with modern navajo homes and farms in canyon de chelly national monument in arizona white house ruins are shown in this picture ariz agizi erupted and covered the countryside with lava and ashes the system of dating indian ruins in the southwest is simple and ingenious and is done by using a tree ring calendar by starting with living trees and patiently matching pieces of wood from rein older and older houses the annular ring patterns in the southwest have been established for a period of more than a thousand years ONE OF THE MOST impressive ruined towns of the ancient indians Is pueblo bonito in chaco can yon national monument new mexico ico This town built like a huge five story apartment house contained in the alth century more than rooms and housed at least 1200 people A part of the pueblo was constructed as early as A D other ruined pueblos which the visitor will find fascinating are those built in niches in the vertical cliffs of canyon de Chell chelly yand and canyon del muerto huerto in canyon de chelly national monument in northwestern arizona the beauty of these wild canyons will live long in the memory of all who see them near flagstaff ariz are the stone pueblo of wu hatki and the cliff dwellings in walnut canyon in central arizona arizol no are tonto goot and montezuma castle national monuments and in the northern part of the state near the utah border is navajo national monument aztec ruins and bende her national monuments are in new mexico IN THE OHIO valley and in southeastern united states the indians frequently built large earth arth mounds very often these mounds were constructed ted in the form of truncated pyramids and were used as platforms for temple structures or houses one of these mound sites has been established as R n national monument near Chilli chillicothe ohio at this site known as mound city group national monument are a large number of mounds atma at macon ga ocmulgee national monument also contains a number of interesting te mounds one of which was constructed over a subterranean council chamber FOR information relating to the national monuments write to the director national park service department of the interior washington 25 D C |