Indians of the Mesa Verde

by Don Watson

The following morning the two men set off to explore the ruin Richard had seen. Misjudging their direction, they turned too far to the west and within a short time found themselves on the rim of one of the deepest canyons of the Mesa Verde. The ruin for which they had been searching had eluded them but instead of being disappointed, the two men were elated. At the foot of the cliff, almost under their feet, was a third great cliff dwelling.

This ruin was not as large as the two they had found the day before but it was much larger than any they had seen previously. In the center of the cliff dwelling was a tower, the tallest in the Mesa Verde, and because of this outstanding structure, the cowboys named the ruin Square Tower House.

For a time the two men sat on their horses, looking down on the ruin and discussing their discoveries. During the past few years they had seen many small cliff dwellings in the Mancos Canyon and in other canyons to the south. Now they had moved to the north and in two days had discovered three cliff dwellings that dwarfed all the others. Off to the north and west they could see still more canyons and they felt quite sure that countless ruins were yet to be found. The importance of their discoveries was all too apparent, so without pausing to search for more ruins, or for the cattle they had originally sought, they hurried back to the town of Mancos and spread the news of what they had found.

Upon hearing of the amazing discoveries, John Wetherill decided to investigate for himself. With three companions he made his way to Cliff Palace. Near the south end of the ruin, just back of the painted tower, one of the subterranean rooms was in perfect condition except that the roof was missing. After cleaning it out carefully, the boys stretched a canvas over it and the room served as their home for a month.

It was a strange use for the ancient room. Six hundred years earlier it had been a sacred ceremonial room, a kiva, where reverent priests had conducted their ceremonies. Now it was merely a living place for men of a different race. The cowboys built their fire in the same firepit where the priests had built theirs centuries earlier. They stored their food and possessions on the same ledges where the priests had kept their ceremonial things. They slept on the floor, exactly where the tired priests had slept during their long ceremonies. The boys had no knowledge that they were profaning a place of worship. It was not until many years later that they learned they had lived in a kiva, one of the ceremonial rooms of the ancient people.

During the month they spent in the ruin John Wetherill and his three friends searched endlessly for the things they knew were buried under the debris. In the houses, under the dust and fallen roofs, they found the utensils and tools the women had once used. In the kivas they found the ceremonial paraphernalia and tools of the men. Everywhere were the objects that had been used in the daily life of the people. It became evident that the ancient people had deserted their homes, leaving in them the things they were unable to carry. Perhaps they had intended to return and had left most of their possessions behind.

Far back in the cave where there were no buildings the most exciting discovery was made. In this part of the cave the roof was too low for houses so the inhabitants had used it for a trash room and as a roost for their flocks of domesticated turkeys.

As the cowboys dug through the accumulated trash they suddenly found themselves face-to-face with the ancient Indians. For some strange reason fourteen bodies had been buried there in the trash. Natural processes had mummified them so perfectly that in some the normal expression of the faces seemed to be preserved. It was a thrilling discovery for there, except for two things, were the Indians. In only two ways did the mummies differ from the cowboys themselves. Only the moisture and the spark of life were missing. If they could have restored those two things the men would have found themselves confronted with the actual builders of the cliff dwelling they were exploring.

Centuries earlier sorrowing relatives had buried them there in the back of the cave. The dry earth and trash drew the moisture from the flesh and, finally, only bones and dried tissues remained. Nothing was missing except the spark of life and the moisture. Everything else was in place; the bones, flesh, skin, eyes, internal organs; all were there, only very, very dry. Long hair still hung about the shoulders of the mummies and in it were the mummies of ancient lice which had once formed a happy population.

John Wetherill found fourteen mummies in Cliff Palace. It was a fitting climax to his first venture in archeology. Of the five Wetherill brothers, John was the one who developed the greatest interest in the ancient cultures. For many years after his first work in Cliff Palace he was actively engaged in exploring the Mesa Verde and nearby regions and making their features known to the world.