They went to work in earnest this time, building houses; not with mud walls which would wash down when it rained, but with walls of stone, which type of construction their predecessors had begun. Some of the caves occupied by the earlier people could have eroded away while others could have been re-hewn by these later occupants. Who knows? Crumbling remains of old [talus] houses might have been leveled off at the base of the cliff and new homes built over them. Indian men carved the heavy stones into square and rectangular blocks with stone axes. The stones lay almost flat and the masons did not have to be too careful in their fashioning because small pieces of rock hammered tight in the joints would hold the blocks steady. These walls were laid on footings of smooth-worn river pebbles. Block after block was carved and laid into structures seven feet high. Indian women carried water from the little river in [ollas] on the tops of their heads and trudged day after day up the steep slopes to the cliff. They gathered clay, perhaps not from Frijoles [Canyon], because it was hard to find. They might have traveled miles for enough to apply a thin coating of wash over the stone walls of their homes.
Indian men labored with stone axes to fell the trunks of pines which they used in building roofs to their houses. They gouged holes out of the soft cliff to insert the ends of roof beams and sealed them in tightly with mud mortar. Across these vigas they laid small poles. Many miles were covered to obtain long slender canes and cat-tail stems from the muddy low banks of the [Rio Grande] for the next roof layer. Then pine needles and brush supplied the next coat. Something leafy had to hold the thick mud coats which were smoothed flat over the top. Sometimes Indian houses had doors in the front walls and sometimes they did not. It all depended upon the wish of the individual builder. Most of the houses had two-pole ladders of pine. Rungs were lashed down tight with willows, pliable reeds or even strings of rawhide or rope made from the [yucca] fiber. By means of ladders the Indian could climb to his roof-top and go down through a small hatchway or opening. This gave added protection against hostile groups. In any one of many cavate or house rooms was a fireplace. In the ceiling above was an opening for the escape of the smoke. Cliff dwellings were smoky places regardless of the type or style.
Time developed the terraced community apartment house for the [prehistoric] [Pueblo] Indian in the cliff as well as in the open flats on the floor of the [Canyon]. Second stories, it seems, came quite late in the evolution of house types at Frijoles. Narrow mud walls of such poor quality as were built in earlier times at [Tyuonyi] would never have held two stories but the new walls of fashioned rock would hold them because they were more stable. It stands to reason that when stone and mortar were laid into a wall, the process of drying out transformed the wall into a unit. This process reminds me of an expression I remember from my freshman days in college, that: “Pre-Cambrian rocks are homogeneous in their heterogeneity,” and it is certainly true that stone walls built by our prehistoric friends of the sixteenth century could enjoy the same comment. Floors to these houses were plastered with fine [adobe] mortar. The rough surfaces of walls were plastered over too, from floor to roof timbers. And the cliff dweller was lucky if no water got inside his house. The secret was to keep them dry. It might not have been an uncommon sight to have witnessed the mudding of roofs by Indian women of sixteenth century Tyuonyi. After a good rain they could have taken advantage of water caught in pottery vessels which had been set outside the houses. This would have saved the women many a weary step to water and return.
One story was not sufficient so up, up, up went the houses to two and three stories. The cliff formed the back walls of the rooms—then Mr. [Prehistoric] Indian had only three walls to lay instead of four. Walls of stone, ten and twelve inches thick, would hold the weight of one or two additional stories and especially when they leaned against the steady cliff. But additional rooms meant more poles, more cane, brush and mud. When second and third story rooms were added the smoke from fires in rooms below escaped through a front opening. There was no way for the smoke to escape through the upper rooms and the cliff dweller was smart enough not to cut a hole in the floor and let the smoke into his house above. And, too, second and third story rooms likely were much safer than first story rooms. Ladders could be pulled up to the roofs. Who knows that these Tewas were not thinking of revengeful [Keres] people to the south?
In some cases caves were hewn and used independently of the [talus] houses to the front but certainly it was impossible to stay inside while large fires were burning. The poor cliff dweller would have suffocated. Many attempts were made to ventilate caves by boring smoke holes above the doorways. But it was impossible to ventilate a cave successfully. Not much of a draft was created. Indians attempted to ventilate their cave homes by cutting as many as three holes through the soft cliff and then plastering the holes on the inside to facilitate the passage of the smoke. They met with little success.
Fires were kindled inside and when smoke filled the room the Indian either had to go outside or into his [talus] house. I once had an experience with fires in caves. Undoubtedly, the Indian of long ago experienced the same as I. When a fire was kindled the smoke circled around and filled the chamber. The vents did not work. Smoke hovered down to the height of the door and went out at that point leaving a definite line of demarkation around the cave wall. The Indian plastered the wall underneath this smoke line so that his house would not be so filthy and so that he could crouch down and lean his shoulders against it without getting soot all over his back. I have seen cave walls exhibiting as many as thirteen thin plaster coats. Never let it be said that caves were popular places in which to live while large fires were burning inside. Perhaps our [prehistoric] friend knew that if he built a fire inside his cave the walls would warm up. Then hours later, after most of the smoke had gone out, he could return and be quite comfortable without suffocating. And he, no doubt, would have rolled down a deer skin or matting of corn shucks over the opening to keep out the cold during the winter months.
The majority of the caves at [Tyuonyi] were connected with the [talus] houses to the front. Caves entered from second-story rooms were very popular and likely were used, for the most part, as ante-chambers and not as independent dwellings. They were excellent for storage purposes and if the Indian wanted to live he had to hold food over from one season to the next. Covering a period of a little more than a hundred years, let us say, the Indians of Frijoles [Canyon] cut over three hundred cave rooms in the north cliff. Some were, used independently of the houses to the front but most of them were not. Caves were hewn before houses were built, and likely, a great number of them were cut after the talus houses were erected against the cliff. They built just as many houses as caves, if not more. Houses extended as far as four rows of rooms out from the cliff and they were terraced up as high as three stories. On top of them were open porches which we call “[ramadas]” today. They were mere shelters with four corner poles and a few cross pieces of juniper or pine with brush and leaves over the top. What delight some old [cronies] might have had basking in the sun during some hot summer afternoon!
This was the valley of the cliff dweller, the Ancient [Tewa] more than likely, who built houses and cut caves for almost two miles up and down the north cliff of Frijoles [Canyon]. Here he could see for great distances—he could look up and he could look down. He could hear the water rippling in the Rito below and he could live in true Indian fashion. But these villages were not built in a day or a year. It took many years. Although there are the ruins of enough houses and caves along the north wall to have housed two thousand primitive Indians, no more than a few hundred ever lived here at one time. There simply wasn’t land enough to farm, or game enough to supply food for a greater number. It would seem that [Tyuonyi] never had a static occupation but an ever moving one.