But few things which they left enable one to judge of their characteristics. They appear to have had the typical qualities of human beings. They had their superstitions, their weaknesses, and their strong points. But they are gone.
"I came like Water, and like Wind I go."
It is true that we know but little of the people who formerly inhabited these buildings. Surely we can learn more through study. Thus far there has been almost no systematic study, and but little careful excavation or attempt to preserve the various objects found in the ruins. A school of archæology might well be established in this Park for the purpose of securing information about the cliff dwellers and giving it to the world.
In his report on his recent excavation and repair of the Sun Temple, Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes, of the Smithsonian Institution, says:—
The Mesa Verde is unique in its educational importance. It is destined ultimately to be a Mecca for all students of the prehistoric of the Southwest and an object lesson to all visitors who wish to see the best preserved buildings of pre-Columbian times in our country. It is self-evident that the excavation and repair of all the ruins in this park cannot be accomplished in a few years, even were it desirable to attempt it; the work means many years of arduous devotion, intelligently directed, and a large sum of money. It is desirable to open up these precious remains of antiquity carefully, following a definite plan, availing ourselves of methods acquired by experience. The work should be done with care, and it will be an additional attraction if visitors can see how the work is done. Work on the group will reveal important architectural features, and add much to our scientific information.
Prehistoric ruins abound throughout the Southwest. Many show considerable skill in construction and also suggest that the buildings were the work of a people who had organized government.
Mrs. Gilbert McClurg, who visited the Mesa Verde ruins years ago, appears to have been the first to conceive the idea of saving these prehistoric places for the public—of preserving them in a National Park. After a campaign of a few years, led chiefly by Mrs. McClurg, supplemented by the work of organizations and individuals, the Park was established in 1906.
In what is now this Park, a Spanish exploring party discovered cliff houses in 1541. At that time the buildings had been abandoned for generations. No one knows how many centuries or millenniums had then elapsed since the Mesa was deserted. The age of these cliff houses has been estimated from five hundred to five thousand years. Modern discovery of the region appears to have been made by a government geological party in 1874.
A few years later Baron Nordenskjöld, a Swedish explorer, spent many weeks with these ruins, and later wrote a volume concerning them. He carried away from them several carloads of pottery and other products.
The first white discoverers were either religious fanatics or people of the pot-hunter type who were looking for plunder. They were not interested in the preservation of any of the ruins discovered, nor of any of the equipment that had no commercial value. For years some of the early settlers and adventurers made it a business to search for prehistoric buildings in order to obtain the pottery and other treasures which they sometimes contained. Often these pot-hunting treasure-seekers utterly wrecked the buildings which they found. In all probability many objects of interest or information concerning the Mesa Verde cliff dwellers have been lost.