Sandy and Ralph crawled out of their bunks shortly after sunrise, but they found that Hall had already departed. A note under their door read:
“Have located Chief Quail. Don and I have him cornered and are trying to talk him over to our side. You can use the jeep to explore the canyons this morning but be back by lunchtime, so we can hunt for Hopi Chief Ponytooth. He’s up in this neighborhood, Chief Quail says. Happy cliff-hanging.”
After a brief argument with the Ranger, who repeated his warnings about flash floods and quicksand, Sandy and Ralph got under way.
“I know this territory like the palm of my hand,” the driller said as he drove carefully into dark gorges where the sun shone only around noon. “There really are four separate canyons, you’ll notice. From right to left they’re Monument Canyon, the Canyon de Chelly proper, Black Rock, and the famous Canyon del Muerto, which means Death Canyon. That’s the one where the Navajos made their last stand against Kit Carson.”
“How did he ever drive them out of a place like this?” Sandy marveled as he stared up at towering cliffs that rose almost straight up from the grass-covered canyon floor. “One man on a cliff should have been able to stand off a regiment by rolling rocks down on their heads.”
“That’s where your great-uncle was smarter than General Custer,” answered his guide. “He didn’t try to attack. If he had, the Navajos would have massacred his troops. Instead, Kit sent small raiding parties of cavalrymen down the centers of the canyons where they were fairly safe from rocks and arrows. They had orders to shoot every sheep, goat and cow in sight. After they did that, they retreated and blocked all exits to the canyons.”
“And the braves and their families just stayed inside and starved?” Sandy was really shocked.
“What else could they do? See that big blue-and-white picture of a cow drawn on the canyon wall over the cliff dwelling to your left? That’s a sort of monument which the poor old Navajos made to remind them of their slaughtered herds. After they finished it, they all came out and surrendered.”
“Gee whiz!” was all that Sandy could think of to say.
“We have time to explore just one cliff house,” Ralph continued. “It might as well be Standing Cow. Come on.”