DON WATSON Mesa Verde Museum Association Mesa Verde National Park Colorado LITHOPRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY CUSHING-MALLOY, INC., ANN ARBOR. MICHIGAN, 1953...

Under the arching roof of a tremendous cave stands a silent, empty city. For almost seven centuries it has stood there looking out across the canyon toward the setting sun. Proudly, almost haughtily, it has resisted the heavy tread of those slow centuries. Like a giant with a shawl of everlasting stone pulled closely about its shoulders it has stood with unbowed head, an eternal monument to the intelligence and industry of its builders. Almost seven centuries ago the people turned their backs on

After the cliff dwellings were deserted by the Pueblo Indians late in the thirteenth century they stood, unmolested by man, for many hundreds of years. The owls and pack rats took them over and enjoyed their security, but from all evidence it was many centuries before men again entered the caves. The Indians themselves may have intended to return when conditions became normal again but they never came back. There is no evidence that farming Indians ever lived in the Mesa Verde after its desertio

In a little while we are going to do a very strange thing. We are, first of all, going to go back seven centuries to the year 1268 A.D. Then we will climb down the trail and stroll into Cliff Palace. Somewhere near the center of the town we will find a comfortable seat on the roof of one of the houses. And for a year we will sit there, quietly and comfortably, watching the people. We will take no part in the activities—we will simply watch the inhabitants of the town as, through the year, they g

Spring is a happy, joyous time for the people of Cliff Palace and there is much laughter and gaiety in the great cave. The bleak, uncomfortable winter is over; there is a feeling of freedom and broken bonds. Everything in nature indicates that a new year and new life are beginning and the people respond just as do the animals and plants. The winter that is ending has been cold and even though the people became accustomed to it there was suffering and sadness. Many of the older people who were af

Summer is an easy time for the people of Cliff Palace, a warm, lazy time. There are certain tasks to be performed but there is also much leisure time for sleeping in the shade, gossiping, gambling and trading. There is not the restless activity which was so evident during the spring. Life proceeds at a slow, easy pace. The early summer is dry and warm. Little rain can be expected until in July; sometimes it does not come until August. The crops in the fields must live on the moisture stored in t

With the arrival of autumn the finest weather of the year begins. For almost three months it will continue, until winter sweeps down out of the north. In early September the days are still warm but the nights have a pleasant coolness. As the season progresses the daytime warmth continues but the nights become cooler and cooler. By October they are crisp and finally there is frost. The mesas flame with the colors of autumn, the distant mountains are cloaked with a bluegray haze and for weeks the

Winter is the least enjoyable of all seasons for the people of Cliff Palace. It is a long, quiet, cold season, when the witches plague the people with their evil deeds. There is much sickness and suffering and often the sadness of death hangs over the town. Those who are active and healthy do not mind it so much, but it is an uncomfortable season for the children and an agonizing time for older men and women who suffer from rheumatism and arthritis. During the late fall the weather has grown col

The year we have just spent with the people of Cliff Palace was a normal year for all of the people of the Mesa Verde. We have seen the daily events in one cliff dwelling and we may feel sure that similar events were taking place in each of the many hundreds of cliff dwellings on the great mesa. There was not a single occurrence that made it any different from the countless other normal years they experienced. It did not remain long in their memories for it was just one more year when all of the

The story of the Mesa Verde really had its beginning many thousands of years ago in a distant land. It began when the first ancient Asiatic stepped across from Siberia and became the First American. Who he was and exactly when it happened we shall never know, but it was the important first step in a long chain of events which led to the occupation of the Mesa Verde by Pueblo Indians. There seems to be little doubt that the early inhabitants of North and South America came from Asia by that north

The Basket Makers were the earliest farmers in the Mesa Verde area. Their culture was comparatively simple and was featured by excellent weaving, especially of baskets and bags. Because of this trait they were called Basket Makers by the early explorers and the name has stuck. Credit for recognizing and naming these early people goes to Richard Wetherill, whom we have already met. In 1893, the Wetherills were digging in a great cave in Butler Wash, in southeastern Utah. While digging in the natu

Even though the culture changed the people themselves did not. It is extremely important to keep in mind the fact that the Modified Basket Makers were merely the descendants of the true Basket Makers. They added new material things to their culture, thus modifying it, but they themselves changed not one particle. To state it briefly, it can be said that the change in name has been made because the people acquired the things which were mentioned as lacking during the earlier period. They learned

As we move into this new period it should be stressed that there was no radical change in the culture. The same people continued to occupy the Mesa Verde and they showed the same progressive tendencies which we have seen in the earlier periods. At this time, however, the people did a surprising thing. They adopted a new cradle. Offhand, this may not seem especially important but it had a startling effect and early archeologists were confronted with a baffling problem. The new cradle caused such

This period has often been called the golden age of the Pueblo people. Before we go into it, however, we should make some mention of the beginning date, 1100 A.D. Usually, in the general Pueblo area, an earlier date is given for the beginning of the period. One may very easily push it back fifty or one hundred years, or even more, depending upon how the period is defined. Recent studies have produced some perplexing problems concerning the architecture, pottery and movements of the people during