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Show Facts About Cliff Dwellers of Southern Utah When we speak of undent history tho mind instinctively reverts to the limes of Egypt, Babylon, Assyria Greece and Home. We deal in ancient history, In terms, 1'haroahs, kings, Kutrips, emperors, anil the like, and Ihey all seem like a troublesome bunch, hard to et along with, and continually going alter each other whh an axe, a spear, a bow and arrow or a sword. When a guy got to be king, ho generally went to war, fell for some swell dame, or went the boo.u route, and in our school days if wo could remember -which and the date, the teacher told us we were real bright and if we kept tlio lick up we might amount to something in later 'life. How the Tom Dink and Harry of the ancient days got along wo had scant Information. Did they live In a flat? Did they have a gas and electric motor and 10 per cent discount If paid on tho 10th? Was il against the law of tho land for an ancient to flavor nis pretti with lemon extract. If he parked his cart wheel against the curb, did it cost him five shekels? On these vital points of every day life, history is as silent as the tomb. The king and his doings seemed to be the whole show, and thus ancient history, came to be considered something far away and remote from any local interest? Ancient Dwellers of the West. But while the kings or tne old world wore putting on their show anj squandering the public treasury in lavish selfishness an ancient people lived in the very land in which we aire so proud today. From whence they came and how long they lived and where they went are matters of conjecture. The undisputable thinig is that here they lived, for their dwellings dwell-ings still stand and bear mute testimony tes-timony to their existance and reveal many facts of their every day life. They built their sheltered adobes high up under the protecting rims of almost perpendicular cliffs, and hence their name, the Cliff Dwellers. In prehictoric times a large human population lived in these cliff dwel-lngs, dwel-lngs, seeking a home there for protection. pro-tection. They obtained their livelihood live-lihood by agriculture, cultivating scanty farms that yielded them small crops of grain, corn, squash and other fjrni jroducls. Tt se we ' he frnn-t.ersmen frnn-t.ersmen in the bjilding of permanent perman-ent habitations. They were not content con-tent with rude buildings; anj had long . cut-grown caves and earth homes of the less civilized Indians. They, shaped stones into regular forms, ornamented them with 'designs and laid them one upon the other. They made bricks from clay an'd their masonry has resisted the destructive forces of centuries of wind and rain. They fashioned axes, spear points and rude tools from stone, many , specimens speci-mens of which are found in the exploration ex-ploration of these homes. They wove brightly patterned sandals and made useful and attractive pottery. They also wove exceptional baskets' and their baskets and pottery give! evidence of considerable skill and industry. here These Dwellings arc Found. Cliff dwellings are to be found in! 'southeastern Utah, southwestern Col-j orado, New .Mexico and northern Ari-j i zona. The ruins are not all con-j ! structed with the same degree of skill and completeness, neither are they I ! uniform in size. The ruins found in 'Arizona are more extensive and are ' tilsj more remote from railroads and main lines of navel than those of Col-! Col-! orado and Utah, thcugh some of tus ! Lest preserved of Utah ruins are in rather inaccessible places. . In San Juan county are to be found Utah's greatest specimens, thcugh some others have been unearthed in sever-' sever-' al other places. A few miles across ! the state line from Utah in Arizona f the. larEest and best constructed cliff homes thus far discovered. dis-covered. In Utah from Monticello south through Grayson to Bluff Cliff dwel-ings dwel-ings may be visited with comparative compara-tive ease and very little loss of time, one day being ample time to visit one or more of these ancient abodes. However, a week or a month might be spent very delightfully and profitably profit-ably in this region as there are many districts that have not vet been explored ex-plored and there is an excellent opportunity op-portunity for orginal discovery .and investigation. , . ' Good Auto Road Leads Waly. In round numbers Monticello, Utah is 100 miles from the railroad, its shipping point is Thompson Springs on the D. & R. G. R. R. A good automobile road leads all the way through San Juan 'County with connection con-nection with southwestern Colordo points. At the present time the ' government has under construction a new post road and when this is completed com-pleted an automobile trip to the cliff dwellings and the natural bridges will rank with the great scenic trips of the continent. .' , Contents of Dwellings.. The relics left by these ancient people peo-ple in their abandoned dwellings have shed match light on .the habits and customs of these people. That they were agriculturists is proven by the corn, grain, grass seed and other farm crops that have been taken from the various excavations After generations they learnej the art of irrigation and possibly moved to sections sec-tions where water was more abundant abun-dant than in the broken canyon district dis-trict where most of the cliff dwellings dwell-ings are located. Stone griddles and grinding stones tell t.ie story of how they ground their corn and baked bak-ed their bread.' They boiled their meat in well made vessels some of which were elaborately decorated. They wore sandals and 'liked per-, per-, sonal decorations. All these things are learned from the relics unearthed after long ages. They were a re- , liijious people for they had places of ; worship, and from their decorations is gathered that they worshipped the sun as the father of the universe. Their sense of beauty was keen, and even to this day their decorations I ,.nti ul,.ral liuMiltiflll When these ancient people first climed these precipitous walls to seek shelter they were probably cave dwellers of the primitive cave man type. These caves were shelter from torms, desert sun, wild animals and repacious human enemies. Later adobe supplemented caves, brick and stone succeeded adobe and through the slow -gains of the age culture grew in place of, savagery. A trip to the cliff dwellings is educating and inspiring. In a tangible, and direct way it tells the story of a long struggle strug-gle from primitive man to civilization. civiliza-tion. They are one of the greatest sight seeing trips the west has to offer and leave an impression on the mind that is not soon forgotten. ? .Natural Bridges of Utah. Few people realize that the greatest great-est natural bridges of the world are located in southeastern Utah. Beyond the cliff dwellings some 20 to- 30 miles, in Jan Juan county, Utah, and about 50 miles from the automobile highway. These scenic wonders for ages have "been hidden from human gaze. There are three notable bridges in close proximity and 'a fourth some hundred miles to the south. The three largest are known as the Edwin, the Carolyn and the Augusta. The Edwin is the smallest smal-lest of the three w'ith a span of 19-1 feet and a height of '108 feet. The Carolyn has a height of 205 feet and a span of 186 feet, while the Augusta has a height of222 feet, and a span of 261 feet. The Nonezoshi or Rainbow bridge is located some 75 miles southwest of Bluff, Utah and has a height of 308 feet and a span of 275 feet. This bridge was discovered August 14, 1909 by a party representing the Utah Archaeological society and a United States land office surveying party. The natural bridges is one of the finest scenic treats in the entire en-tire country and an automobile road should be constructed to them at the earliest possible date. The great inspiring in-spiring scenic attractions of the nation na-tion are an asset to the entire people and should be proteccted and made accessible by good highways. In the not too distant future we may hope to see the natural bridges and the great canyon section of Utah connected connect-ed with a fine -highway and when this day does come, Utah will take her rank among the very greatest show spots of the world. |