An interpretation of Canyon de Chelly National Monument; a ......pretation of Canyon de Chelly National Monu ment could be done only with the help of com petent persons in the field

An interpretation of Canyon de ChellyNational Monument; a study for children

Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)

Authors Grabber, Adeline, 1899-

Publisher The University of Arizona.

Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this materialis made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona.Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such aspublic display or performance) of protected items is prohibitedexcept with permission of the author.

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553830

AN INTERPRETATIONOF CANYON DE CBELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT I

A STUDY FOR CHILDREN

■ u:,v ' ’ ■ An n :* lu'v n n Tr.: ■:::.••>Ijy —•— ": : n-.-.-;- -■ ■■. ' n . : 1 V n r ' " . - - . r ' ;

- Adeline Gralrtjer ^

: r " '■1: nn ; Ax-r: r

A A Thesis . - -rn:n < ,:n •.submitted to the faculty o f the -

; Department o f Education = ;

in p artia l fu lfillm en t o f the requirements for

the degree of

MASTER OF ARTSin the Graduate College, University of Arizona

1951

/ ?v57

PREFACE

A study which is as broad as An Inter­pretation of Canyon de Chelly National Monu­

ment could be done only with the help of com­

petent persons in the f ie ld of anthropology,

geology, English, and education.

The writer i s indebted to persons too num­

erous to name. Two in particular to whom she

wishes to express her appreciation are Clara Lee

Tanner who gave unstin tingly of her time and

cr itic ism in a ss is tin g the revision of the story

and in helping the author to acquire anthropol­

ogical knowledge; and Victor H. Kelly who aided

in planning a story based upon modem educational

goals.

%% S'

Page

PREFACE• ♦ r . 1'. 11.. . .. , . . j.:;

LIST OF PLATES . . . ' . . . . . . . lv

IHTRODCJCTION. •» . .« . - . .» - . . . . l-lThe Problem and I ts Scope . • • . . 1Purpose of the Study . . . . . . : 1Method of Procedure . • . . . . . . 2

v ;' l:.> -•■‘•-rv-:-, ;'lChapter

I . ■ JIM ARRIVES AT. CANYCE DE CHELLY . . . ; €

I I . ; A TRIP UP CAHYCK DE CHELLY , . „ ... . . . ; . - 8

I I I . CLIMBING THE LADDER TO WHITE HOUSE . V .i 29

IV. JIM IS SAVED FROM DISASTER . . ; . ' 1 . . 44' ’■ ' ■■ ■' l. • ' " 1 : -1'' !1-. f : 'l . . .V. SPIDER ROCK . . . . . . 57

VI. THE ANGRY CEE - . . . . . . . . . . 74

• VII. THE STORY OF CANYON DEL MUERTO AND MASSACRECAVE ......... ..................................................................80

VIII. MUMMY CAVE . . . . . . . . 86

IX. THE FIRST AMERICAN TROOPS IN CANYCE DE CHELLY 113

X. HOSTEEN NOT AH TELLS OF THE LONG WALK . * 125

XI. RANGER LEWIS TELLS OF THE LONG WALK . . . 141

XII. JIM AND TSOSIE SAY GOODBYE . . . . . 148

XIII. VACATION IS OVER . . . . . . . 151

CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . 159

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . 160

TABLE OF GCETMTS

111

LIST OP PLATSS:

r..: lo--~ : ^coc '- Page

Hogan and gardens as seen from Antelope Point, thef ir s t look-out on the r la • • .r . . t w 1 «:: v •’:! i r 12

The red-walls became higher and higher as they rod#up the canyon . . . 14

A cave high in the canyon wall . . . . . . . 17

There were three groups of Ancient Ones in Arizona 24

The gleaming White House was set securely in the cave 30

The pict©graphs at Antelope House . . . , . 47

Much of the ruin has been washed away by spring floods 47

White House Ruin looked smaller than ever now thatthey saw i t from the rim of the canyon . . . 65

Spider Rock and Speaking Rock are sometimes ca lledThe Captains . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Rangers often use the old hand and toe t r a i l . . 72

Hoskanlnni1s journey to escape Kit Carson . . . 76

The tw isting path o f Canyon del Muerto . . . . 82

. Border design on kiva bench . . . . . . . . 102■: - • - ■- ■ ■ ■ '- • . • r -. ■ •

t ;,v ; , : . v - - v ,

' : i ' ' i ; :’ : "■ j ; -J/T : r : • - • ' . ; V ■ v v

IV

. '".rvO. e . ' : - r - r . . . . vll;INTRODUCTION; {3.:.':.; i::- ?.vvx« .1 \. j c ‘ t'r.o :

,Pfi l «zV

'■ . The .Pr.oblem,and^Its .Scop«u , i.- zx.u.v L: h:„ ■ " 1,, '

This study i s an interpretation for intermediate grade. V ' l l 1; ; : : : ;11 1 . r . i r.h'V- 1 : -V--

children. I t i s based on the h istory and development of a7 - l ; n.;: c - L v ;.-f <>;• i " '-‘in { . : - : ;• .

National Monument area. I t has grown from (1) a three year

period of In terest upon the part of the author in the Nation-vv^y ,v '

a l Monuments of the Southwest and Arizona in particu lar, andL h ; * v i ' : . r.', r-v uv-..-. r, ; ■,r

(2) the Navajo people who liv e in the area. The author wasv: l: ■ i-• .'i /T 0%'x «'

also searching for supplementary reading m aterial for in ter -

mediate grades which would combine s to r ie s o f the Monuments

with sto r ie s of the peoples who had lived there or were l lv -

ing there at the present time.

Much has been w ritten on the adult le v e l about Canyon

de Chelly and the Navajo Indians. Furthermore, much of the

material i s accurate while some of i t i s u nreliab le.* c--' : 1 ;.,V ■ -:;.v y . : " " y y ' : r ; ' - r : y v : . ' y : . = : •

The problem of th is study has been (1) to review mater-

i a l which has been written on the Canyon de Chelly National: y v y iy r • L1 T y.:: Hv *. o v c:-'--.nr

Monument and the Navajo Indians; (2) to se lec t that which i sa b j . V y b . - v y y o y y . ! . y y;-' y ' b y - y y y : r :■/ ' '

accurate; and (3) to interpret the selected material in terms■’ P- y ' i y 1 ■•■■■ y p ^ y ; P ■: y y y . y v ' : p b y b v v ' ' ' p 1 y y - , - \ P

of the In terests and comprehensions of children of the in ter-r : . .-'..y y '■ yy---- P- t o -V'. t o y v ' p lb: ' y

mediate grade le v e l .

p.by.r :'-yy',‘-b • Purpose of the Study: t ob: i ■ y

The purpose o f th is study i s four fo ld . I t includes the

2

followlngr n : r/;- '/ ; IvoO - ■ - ••>::

/ To add to the f ie ld of supplementarj readtog m te r -

ia l of the Intermediate grade le v e l by tracing the h istory

of a Monument area and i t s Inhabitants 'from the ancient past

to the- present• /

2#: To-Inculcate in children o f that grade le v e l an ap­

preciation of a sequent o f : ow great American heritage by

using a Southwest National Mcmumentas the loca le for the .

story. , ' r-,1.;:'-;-.. v ^ 1 : - ' v - v-,:'; X o r I n ' ; r: ' .r-- o ^ r v

j 3. To bring to the readers a b etter understanding of

:an American minority group, h : i'cvx/o ol :;

4. To make known at; least a part of the United StatesGovernment’s long-range reh ab ilita tion program now functicn-

ing amcmg th is minority group. ; r Zhr.nr ; ; ,- "rz", v i - y

zV : , o Method of PrWedure^: 1 v-... ;• r-.z-vr:; ; '

" zr"':' - It ' ,z,In the se lec tion o f m aterial to appear in th is th e s is ,

zz-:- . : z z i v : . . " -a sp ec ific method o f procedure was se t up by the author to

implement the research.Zz. : czj. ;■ z - ; : ' : : ! 5 -zz l '-x; c-'z"-

P ir s t , an in vestigation was made to ascertain av a il-r : : ; - z Z / : : Z ' : ; ’ Z ; • : : W . ■; z ■: z c - : : ■ I

able litera tu re su itab le for children of the intermediate1,, z z v v "y -j-.Z • t .> z z ; z - Zzc, , z V: : '■ 1

grade le v e l on National Monuments o f the Southwest and thez ■ ; : ,jy r •; z : ' .; z : z f "" .z: z r" : z - ' z z,

Navajo Indians. A search to discover m aterial on th is prob-■:-Z_ ■- ' • ■ z - z l j z ■' Z X ; : t z z Z i v r . S ; Z Z Z v v v:;- . : -.v- :: z : /

lem was made in lib ra r ies and book sto res . In addition the

author examined the most complete l i s t in g of ch ildren’s

books, namely the Children’s Catalog, 7th edition of 1946 x

3H C:'.' Z ■' r : ' • . f " - " ■ i \ V -i f . t -r - ' -i 3 -h X : U " , t : ' ' - : : 'and supplements for 1947 to 1950 in c lu siv e . Material on

O d ' -::7' 7 ... d ;::7 f ' 7'-Canyon de Chelly national Monument su itab le for children

was completely lacking. -7d;r dn..:; ' :: : l . .-. 7;.::: : ..'7 r rv : rd^v.

Second, an examination o f unpublished manuscripts re-

garding the National Monuments and the Navajo Indians was;:d; ' .-v, ^. i - j ; U:; . : 7 7 : ■ 7 v-r7 7 , V-y-v:- 7 ^

made. Several theses written for adults were found. These,

however, furnished l i t t l e information which would be of" 7 , d i v : : : ' d 7 : i 7 - : ' : : 7 -7 77 V " , ■ ^ : 7 7 V 7 . - ' - : 7 , y

assistance to the w riter in developing a story for children.

Third, the author then used the following sources to7—7:.. :.7,; : ; d 7 7. 777 ' 7 . '77:: ; : '■ % ' !. " '

secure factual information about the various National Monu-- ■ O - ; ' . : . ■ v 77 7 7 7 ' - : 7 : ' : 7 : 7 V ' 7 , 7 - " " ' l l ' 7:7 ' ' - . . y . , 7 7 V ; 7 ' 7ments in the Southwest end the Navajo Indians:1 7 :

Department of the In terior—Washington, D. C. r Anthropology Depa»tment--Dhiyersity o f Arizona, Tucson,

ArizonaNational Geographic Society—Washington, D.0.United States Bureau of American Ethnology Southwestern Monuments A ssociation—Santa Fe, New Mex­

ico> Museum of Northern Arizona—F lagsta ff, Arizona ;

Pioneers’ Soclety--Tucson, Arizona Correspondence with various au th orities such as

Superintendents of Southwest Monuments Owners of trading posts 7 7M issionaries on the reservation

■- - . Interviews ■ - • -- -7- 7, , ■ *■: - - ■ - 7 :- ■ - 7:; 7 . . .

. Fourth, following a preliminary exploratory period dur­

ing which the above resources were examined, «& decision wms

made to study and write about four Southwest National Monu­

ments. As research progressed on the f i r s t ofwthe four, i t

rwas rea lized ;by th e-th esis 'd irec to r and the author that the

Iv". 'H. rW. -Wilson Company.

study was of too great magnitude. I t was agreed then thati’nv. :,1.> • *.F h .. ; V V : C r . ■ t 'jn ... i'-.T ; . 'e f »

Cflnycm de Chelly national Monument alone provided ample mater-: ' .-'X.X,C ;.r.v ;;.'v r e: V: J LI L=Jia l for a th e s is .

;> v.-:f';y r n ic t z c d iy -zc hT-z zr r l l y r.r- ■: r-~F ifth , having selected Canyon de Chelly, the next step•’z ; z .. ■ oz. ■ Jv; 1 z : ::•: * < ? rVv;!e !-•?-*

was to choose the sp e c if ic ruins of that area which had thez ; . ’ r: ' v - ' ■ ' O ' . v p : u u v l a ;' v t h o v r j t: < r ,

4

s i t e s were chosen and in tensive reading cm these followed.r. crv ■■:: '.. f’-L', i «<■. { '. vent* Tvove.n. ar:. «. . :These were: White House Ruins, Mummy Cave, Antelope House,

0 _7? v. i , ; . . v' t v- 1 .., .; V v. ,V; z 2 : f . : : ; - : V ' ■ : z • ; > ' v. j v

and Standing Cow Ruin.C-'' , l : : t V.-:' ;' cr: y r y : • •; r -r ; - l 5 Z'. : ;i n ': : :cr_y

Sixth, with the choice of Canyon de Chelly, i t was im-dv*.: •: .Lt : . J . V i , v z '1 r . r z o a r . : v - v h . v c ,

p l ic l t in pursuing the study to include facets of Navajo' : n , i.c.:; C r ;*r-r: .. ' ■ C r C c r r ' t v- c' " r : c

l i f e .' ' Uh':-: 'C/c rc cn : no zcVc j o Z -ter : 1 cz ^

six th step s, the following basic princip les were kept in mind:

Included. A ll information of apparently controversial issu es

was to be elim inated.

2. The writer w il l se le c t only m aterial which she be­

lie v e s to be of in terest to children. Her experience of twen­

ty years as a teacher in the intermediate grades has enabled

her to acquire ideas about the reading in tere sts of pupils in

these grades.

3. The four major ruins were to be the veh icle for carrying the burden of prehistoric time while the Navajo In­dians served for the h isto r ic period. These were to be com­bined to give continuity to the story.

4. Because of the dual in terest in the Monument and in

5

the Navajo Indiana, the author was on the a ler t for any r e f­

erence to the la t te r which had story p o ten tia ls .

5. The study must be directed primarily to the Inter­

ests and comprehension of the;inter#ed!at#:grade le v e l be­

cause that i s the group best understood by the w riter.r ; ■ • '' "• , V / ... - K i l l 1Seventh, having gathered su ffic ien t data, the f ir s t

i . : - r : ;; 1 K" 1 l v 1 h-i 1.' ■ v,.;; ;• e 11 v e v l . ' l ;draft of the story was w ritten . I t was woven around a white

; r- i ' 1 c c ; v :.••• • ;h ; r - i;V V,':1H .1 b ' b ; :; " uboy’s v i s i t to the Monument and h is. friendship with a Navajo

ch ild . I t was necessary to check much information and many1 ir-- ; w . ;;i: a v;;:: . .. r..; ; 1 •: r 1 -'-l 1

d e ta ils . This n ecessita ted further research, another tr ip

to the Monument, and interviews with the Monument rangers‘1 ■: .;v- , v ' c : ' , : : ye-; v ; j b l i v. i l ••V- r: c &

and other Government employees on the Navajo reservation ..■bv 1 • - ) i - b l ;, ; o v l l h V;-l' : y . : e t b ,

Eighth, several additional rewritings and much re-fashioning of the story followed in order to round out theI;'.-! r j. ^ 1; ; on onrb 'o'/l boaction; evolve a p lot; and avoid contradltlons in time,

1 .;;:: O/:1 o.:;.;'I; ; o.b bo: - l:c 'o: o: oc o 1 1 ; oobc l 1"' o -space, or action . Revision of vocabulary occurred repeat-

l v ; i I n ' .no; o;-: i r. ;"•; b lo-obC;' . v ' . o o ' n o m 11; loo. oedly.■'■OO ’ o"* ll:-- loo-o O'-Oohh '• • ‘0. - .f ’ .' O 0 O . :"'l " boon 11;.O

‘ ■ * • '1 « • • .0 , - o - - ' ■' ♦ ■ I.'-' • . ' V ' ; " "n • " < '• i ; * 0 . v

o-oor. c n ’b - . I o n : ; or-op roo in- :u o t ol-- •. . . . on i r n v o l ; o; ;

ob ' -n o i .ooo -on-o- •■ul-.o-.. oo oi t l b 1 ' ; n ' n o o l i , . r i ; *:,o o 11 o. o i l

-o.l l :o '-.0o-; -O'- O': on.

bo ; - ; on oo o-poio ■ ., t- .. ...i ;; 0:0 •* 'o;-0 ' ; • -on 1;- .

1 1 1 - 7

. > : r - . * y . . ; t y n 1 y r - • * - n f ' - i , ' ' --

:;l, ''G,'Vlx;p

■ 'n::.GG-.

•V G - G V G G tGG:

G:GG\ G*hG5

: ; g n G :' i g : - r '••.; V*. •;

j'G Xn G ‘X'-' ri.'.'-j4.-CHAPTER I■' G-1- CG IG G; -X

G - G r J I M ARRIVES M* CAHY(S BE CHELLY ') :: 'G. 'G , ^ I g X'g- ; • - g v G L- X g g _- : : :-;. g - v h t : G G y G ; : ; : vg -g ;- g »

"Please t e l l me more about the Monument, .Dad. W ill I. Gv.Gf ' G o v : : v G g : : '.i ;g . - r G . r . : . - ;v v o g . :g . r;

have a horse or pony to r ld e f Do the Navalos l iv e rightU G G G G . VG G !j GG ;> G g g : V' .g / : ! - G GG j G , I G G " 5 G G -

near us? Is there a Scout troop there? W ill I be able toU G G G'g :;,:: : g - ‘ ' G G G G G i: G g G g G g G ; g : : .G . G : r s- G G ;G; v' ' iG' c k

play baseball?"V. G ‘. ‘ : GG'GG G :GGGf,G.vr GVG GG . G ' ; G .Gg G i - 1 V.G' .: G" G

The questions came forth in a torrent which l e f t Ranger. ■ G:G - g . , -Gf G :.GV L : ' v . - G G V r . . ; g G G ::g, g g :g ; - . g

Lewis breathless trying to answer h is son. .G .. G .GGG_-.Gg ‘‘ G ,i;G ; _G; ' ’ i G G ' G • V T V . G G-GG: G i G' l - -

"Whoa-oa, son, i f you w ill just slow down to a galloph v : / g :.:-, ; . -:g g . , G . . .. - G G % . G ’ X G . j O G - : :G 0 • ' :• X G ; iG G ? ; GG G ' .

for a moment, I may be able to keep up with your questions.G G I g 'GV. G:-,VX’ ;G ) i 1 C: . G G-G G C1' 1 r ■'' - T X: G,%\/G ; g_. J, ; 7; G ' ... • G

As you have a l l summer to get acquainted with your new home,. G G G ’ .v •n; G .GG A. ' G G \ / ' ' Xg ;; G :-G G G GG -•-..•G.,G: "■ .4 ' '

let» s not rush ourselves on such a hot day."; G G: v ;: P G G!G': "G" : G. .G"r G/ 'U. : GG r G- ‘ G G G. G , y - . ' G .. G G ; -.

Jim was excited and had been since, the school he a t-X G- 'G GG :g • • GG G • : G :f -. ..* - G =: G •' ' G ■ G G :G X G . - ; ' \ G' y

tended in Massachusetts had closed for vacation. In . factG-v '• GG" G G ' ■; ' ■ :■ : :G G ' g ; ■: : G V f r- G : I r.G\ : ;G , X GG VG'-;

during the la s t mcmth he had found i t d if f ic u lt to keep, h isG G G - G V ' ; ■' G ' G G ‘ V; r GGr '■ G - : G G G ' / G G G ' %_ ,

mind on anything but h is summer plans• F ir s t , h is mind had'' . ' * • ■ • ’ • ’ G * •* G* - "• 1 • • ' ' • , *- . . ; ' * •• . . *

- : • 1 - • g •" •*' •• * • * .• * r ... • - -■ G : L ... - » ... G . 'G

been on the long tr ip on the tra in . He was to travel moreG GG G G ’ - G G g G T:'!. G ■" J. G GGj G G X ' ; .V ; l - G G . % : ' G .GG-"!; .

than two thousand m iles, and a l l by h im self. He r e a lly f e l t' '• G ' G G ' G l .G/. G. GG’ J- .G. . ; . ; g g G . C ’ -G G = ’ - G- G ’ G > G. v ' G g g J X i-

quite grown-up for a lad of twelve. Then had come thoughtsG CXg G G G . . . G G -GG G G ' G ' p : G VG J g. g GGV- VG C ’’ ; G.V V G G, V-7" V- V t V V G

of Canyon de Chelly Monument where h is father had recentlyv g w * v*vrG: 'G. ' v ' ’’G'; V v g - G v v . .. tg . v* G X g '*. g g .

been made superintendent• What would Dad’ s new position be like?

They had driven over ninety m iles together since leaving

7

Gallup, New Mexico, where h is father had met him at-th e tra in .

At Gallup he had seen Navajo Indians, for. th e -f ir s t time. They

were standing about s tree t cbrnera'in small groups, or.they

were ambling as though lo s t , down the c i t y ’s s tr e e ts . He hopedi t would not be lik e that at Canyon de Chelly Monument.

They had driven from Gallup to Win&ow Rock wlrfeh ffisv ‘

father to ld him was the cap ita l o f Navajolahd. Then had come- '--.'V;'- r_, -'i c Uxu'v r . ,

Cross Canyon where they had passed a mail .and passenger truck

which was enroute from Gallup to Ganado. The trubk had just. Vi-.. r -. -..... - \ r ;.. r

stopped at Gross Canyon for two Navajos who were standing.at

the. roadside and sign a llin g as the truck came along.

They had seen the large Navajo m ission at Ganado. Now,

th irty-four m iles farther along, they were re a lly getting near1-- ■- " V : .11"'r." :/ ’ i'. <"• .V • s . r V t ' ; ' i'A' k * ‘ ^

Jim's new home. A few m iles in. the distance he could see the

green of the cottonwood trees growing at CMhle. " 11 le ^ e dv. , r v d r o o a O i x I n t - : n s v n n:-n '-n ; n :/ ";! - m " - f - .lik e an oasis in the desert to Jim because i t whs the only

iv. r- i ? ; 1 : :U;‘■ Z3'glimpse o f trees he had had since leaving Ganado. Now the

V.nn :■ v :.,nvi nnn: an nnnrnl n1- : ' /Z --houses of Chinle appeared quite p la in ly .v.f.'i j n o u , T. hr- Vo }):„ ~' 'r V ; ^ r- -- o^ n . v- ' • O’-r; “

Ranger Lewis noticed h is son’s re stlessn ess arid remarked..n n ;n '• r V. o- ; •nr*

"Ninety-four m iles since leaving Gallup, boy. i t ’ s just aIn n o n .% .. . o .;- : o. n nO' v -o-nco-:; do n' ;-tn -.nno::-n:;-.v.o -n n - : . ..matter o f two more m iles and a few more minutes and we’l l be

n , ; : an -'n .n .' boon- ;• ; ■ ■ : ,;o f t r •' *at Chinle, the entrance to Canyon de Chelly, andrheadquarters."

• • 0 i t an nan r - . ; o t ort . • ."I can scarcely wait to see i t . Dad," rep lied the wide-

- 0 - t f":eyed son.

■•an

::n; rn. : c' C O i" ; on, . ;.t on \ O :

•-:' vo , o,- .o-ir-o n n , n ■ ■ a no .•= noono

o::: vo’ 'oy:' n n : :;o-..

i :.-v" l v x x;. ■ * f - ■ - d r ?.. ■ »>1 ;>» ’ f 1 -CHAPTER II

l l zx ;V.. i. F-'r *11. CUlckl.y r&.u' ; i T?-" ■' ,

‘M v-Xi.'.- r f ’; ex,

: ' C v . H - A TRIP UP CAIIYOT DE CHBLLY * - -

FX i.': ‘pi ex ': •: r.C . Y f'. r- 1. 1 x -"Time for bed, son* Remember we must awaken at the

■ir- ;; .v'crack of dawn tomorrow I f we are to go up the canyon to White1

;• Vv: ; x : e . v-v e . n: v, xbex'; ne! x' x::'House Ruins to take p ictu res•"

: V ' :e . r:':,nvJim knew that h is father meant what was said , so without

v: ee:,: x ;■ . l e • 1 v':\r' ■>. . .■ x : : . vhv;-delay he said goodnight to Dad and Mother and prepared fori--"...A-: '.7 V __ eexeexv e i: ex-/,.bed. Soon he was dreaming of the morrow and possib le adven-2 , v: f' . x AA. v : r . ; . o . ! • A..;' .; UX ,

tures at White House Ruins.-- ; -V ' xM- :: j A : ; , v l Vv'V- :r:.r XCX ::AC ' :v;:" ;

A ‘ 1, C '-lx. 1: 7' :1 i: _ ■ A ;• 1 X t: O- 7C :7 ': '/n

rim the: next morning, Jim bounded from bed, was quickly1 ;:1 ' .• ;■: x A v -t . ;■ / 11 x - : r .

dressed, and soon out in the yard brushing h is palomino. He1 l > s d . v x x 1 ^d v x nr.- iv- " x i x

had been thinking of a name for such a fin e creature.h x , x x xxxx x 1 ,7r x x l ? ; ;: x . r l " xx ;■ x V : - x - x • x x v . :

When Ranger Lewis appeared at the corral gate, Jim ex-XX '.x: t ' : X " !: V '.'- -

claimed, “Dad, I have i t . My horse i s named. He i s T ailA': ''XX 1 "Ax- - X XX" x x x X .. x . <: >? x xx ""X 1 . x ..X ' XX v : : y

gha* t ig a l i . That i s the very f ir s t Navajo word I heard or- X : XX. I - A- X: -X. :xx "X--" • OX ~ Xx r x X. lx X;';X: x XX' x: A n xx -' - X‘ .XX X:

learned. Do you remember yesterday when your Navajo handy-■ :X'XX ' :l-:-V . 1 -:, XX.XXX X XX-1 .X - XXX XI XV'XX -X/X.:'; X XllXX x"-X:

man around here saw my horse, he called i t T all gha1 t i g a l i f• 1 * i , f ' x •' •_ r •••; mmmmmmmmrn

He to ld me that i t i s the Navajo word.for palomino. I thinkrxxx x - t X

i t i s a fin e sounding name and just right for my fine p e t .”I l l:, xx "xx v x - l l x : " x::. - 1 v.-,.- x : 1 1 ;• i . r . ' x - 1 :-l rx-x.

" x ^ l X . - ' X L . .X. . . . i - ' 1 X : 2 . X 1 :l:..x • • , ' X ‘; XX •- x 1: . • 1 1 X ' X -

1. David Gorman, Navajo Government worker at Canyon da Chelly Monment, May 25, 1951, Interview. Customary, accord­ing to Mr. Gorman,to name horses according to th e ir color.

; *X think i t i s a" fin e choice,. Jim. I a lso think your

brushing t h i s 1morning has made Tail gha1 t lg a i i* s coat look

lik e spun gold. You and he w il l quickly become fa st friends,

I'm certain . The rancher from whom I bought him said that

he Is a sp ir ited amlStel, but g e n tle ,! and that'' he lik e s c h il­dren." " ■’ i:: .V-' j.lf. Jix: h*'j ■

«If we are to be on our way soon, how about helping me

With the saddles, saddle bags, cinches, and so forth?"

After what seemed too long a time to Jim, they were '

ready to leave Monument headquartera. Ranger Lewis took the

lead . Jim followed c lo se ly behind.

The day was bright and the Arlzona /sun seemed to promise

that i t would be r e a lly hot before noon tim e. : .y

: Jim's eyes opened in wtoiderras the horses sing le-footedalong the sandy e ahyon flooW r :- ' t

- . "They're red ,' Wid. The rock i s rbd; and Oh so high!"

he exclaimed looking at the almost stra igh t sandstone w ells

' 9

on either, jti.de. ....

Ahead as f a r a s h e could, see were w alls o f red rock

which tw isted in various d irection s. Jim had never been in

a canyon before. He gazed in- awe as;the^cah^W- # en e imfolded.' V •: ? :

before h is eyes.' / iV i ■ . •• -t

/ L T - Ji l -.. L : .

V — l'- :,:i - 1:

"The canyon i s n ' t 'r e a lly deep here, son. You just wait

t i l l we are r e a lly In i t and you w ill see w alls that are

higher than the R.C.A. Building that we were up' in la s t sum-

Do you remember the R.C.A. Building at Rockefellermer.

Center In New. York, mmf* xri-:..u? prci:;e:v-.i:N', nac ; • .T x- " T e a , X re^mber, IMd. I*, made, me dizzy to look down

frcmi the uppe r a tor i e a o f th e b u ild in g .w -

• "Well, the w alls farther ;up the ; canyon are ,one1 2

f i f t y fee t higher than that t a l l building we v i s i t e d .« h

"Wheel" exclaimed Jim reca llin g h is previous summer vaca­

tio n , "I surely w il l be light, headed when X-look down from

those c l i f f s ." . • ', X'J % X*:. V '0 V . •. : 1 2 3 4 5 ; x - • • • . c*

His father added, ?TMs i s jnet ^the begiim lngrof a can- ..5yen that extend#-fo# twenty m ile#.*

"What do the Navajos ©all the c^ ym ^ bad?!! L ■ o;"They always refer to j i t as .T se-gi which t they pronounce

4 5say-yee. . I t means t • down in the recks * amd a .good name theyhave given i t , " answered that lin g er . : :xr : c , ^

"But how did i t get a name that sounds lik e a .French,name?". Jim asked with a puzzled expression#

"That * s a good-.question, son. When th e: Spanish came, to

1. World Almanac and Book o f Facts for .1951, ed. HarryHansen (New York), p. 466. R. C.X7 Building i s l i s t e d as. 850 fe e t in height, u-xy ,v-oi- ; :-r i- ;,f.- ?-.y : r- - v . , . - : . _ y '

2. Charles D. Wyatt, "The Canyon de Chelly National Monument," ed. Dale S. King, Arizona's National Monuments, (Prescott, Arizona: Prescott Courier In c ., 1946) , p. 1 0 . At the junction of de" Chelly and Monument Canyon "the height of the w all i s one thousand fee t."

3. Cosmos M lndeleff, "The C lif f Ruins of Canyon de Chelly,Arizona," Bureau 'of American Ethnology, 16th Annual-Report..........(Washington, D.C.: Government;P r in t i^ Off 1c#,: 1&W), p*7lfc2.#

4. Gorman, interview . " ^ ‘ * ' '5. M lndeleff, op. c i t . , p. 82.

11

th is section , they had d if f ic u lty pronouncing the Navajo word

T se-gl so they simply ca lled i t Shay-e* That was as near as

they could come to pronouncing the name e a s ily . In time the

white s e t t le r s dropped the fin a l sound and ca lled i t Chelly

or Shay. The Monument may seem to have a French name, but1

the French people have not been here . 11

Ranger Lewis was pleased with.Jim 1 2 3s in terest in the can­

yon. As they rode along, he answered h ie son's many questions.

"Now i t r e a lly i s deep. Dad, " exclaimed the boy. _ "How

far have we riddent"2

"This i s Antelope Point - or Tse-nada-atin, as the Navajoe

c a ll i t . I t i s the f i r s t lookout along the rim drive. The3

w alls are only three hundred fe e t high at th is p o in t ."

"Only three hundred fe e t l That seems t e r r if ic to me,"

rep lied Jim. "I don't know o f any places in Massachusetts- <

that are as deep as that."

Jim could see a few human figures standing on the f i r s t

lookout along the south rim. They waved to him and h is

father.

"How small they look up there 1" he thought as he waved

back.

1. Ib id ., p. 79.

2. Wyatt, op. c l t . , p. 4.

3. R. B eals, G. W. Bralnerd, and W. Smith, Archaeology le a l Studies in Northeast. Arizona. Los.Angeles: U niversity of . C alif omia™Tress, 1945, p. 152.

12

Hogan and g a rd e n s a s seen from A n te lo p e P o in t

th e f i r s t lo o k -o u t on th e r im .

* Jim, there are many things about our Western canyons

that are d ifferen t from places in the East. For example, the

quicksand. Avoid the damp or wet sand, Jim, when you and

Tail gha* t lg a l i are in de Chelly or del Muerto. The quick­

sand i s often damp or wet in the Monument....Autos have been

lo s t in these canyons because they became bogged in i t and

gradually sank. I f you and Tali keep on the dry sand, you

w ill be safe," he warned.

"I surely w il l . Dad. I don’t want to lo se T a il, as you

ca lled him."

"And I don’t want to lo se a fin e son," added the ranger

looking with pride at h is boy.

Each laughed h ea rtily at h is own remark.

The red w alls became higher and higher as they rode up

the canyon. Jim gased wdde-eyed as he looked ahead.

"Dad, what happened around here? How were these high

red w alls formed?""They were made by grains of sand. The w—"

"Tiny grains of sand I" exclaimed the boy.

"Yes, Jim. Do you remember the poem you used to say

when you were a l i t t l e fellow?"

"Oh, I know," eagerly answered Jim. "Did i t go some­

thing lik e this?"

"L ittle drops of water, l i t t l e grains o f sand Make a mighty ocean and a mighty land."

13

1 . Robert Morris, Supt. o f Canyon de Chelly national Monument, May 25, 1951, Interview.

14

- 4

The r e d w a l l s becam e h ig h e r and h ig h e r

th e canyon .a s th e y rode up

-v*x "That*a. the po®»». ffi®.f:$The< dropsj orfwater end grains of

eand.iMtde: a mighty land.in th is area, 9 answered Jim's father,

i. ' nHow? vwaa Jim1 soreepmiae,* whieh was; of loomrme, just

what rRanger Lewis had anticipated , i Jim could always be ex*-

pected to ask ihow*cor , *whyi: when anything in tf^ e fte d ^ a * -

Continning h is s to r y ,: the ranger explained, . "The wind

blew the sand, in to p i le s • or rdm es.nlm te^fother jlayer§ io f

sand were blowntc® the'idm es. S t i l l la te r the grains o f sand

were cemented together.^;: Wer a period: of m illion s o f years,the sahd was changed ihto sahdstoneV” -

"So i t r e a lly was k i t t l e drops of water and l i t t l e grains

Of sand that made these obeaut 1 fu l w alls, wasn11 - i t , ; Dad?” -

' }v Pointing to some curved> send dipped; layers•:ahove th eir

heida;''Ranger Lewis continued, "Look up there, Jim, and you

w ill see the layers of oldtsaaddimes^ G eologists c&il th is

cross bedding. % I t simply means layers o f m aterial, one on2

top. of: the i o th er." __

%*?e been looking for cares. Dad, because you to ld me

that we would see eaves in th e rocks a l l along our ride to ­

day.' I*ve noticed a few small ones high above u s. What hollowed out the caves; Dad?” Cl. . t ,

"Nature has to o ls for Her work just as a workman has,

Jim. Wind and water Were the ch ief to o ls which were used in

1. According to a M ultlplex^display fix ture at Canyon de Chelly Monument headquarters.

: :2 . W y a t t , op. c l t . . p . 7 .

15

16

th is region. Water coming from the top of the mesa seeped

down, evaporated, and took away some of the cementing mater­

ia l which held the sandstone together. This loosened por­

tions of the rock and caused i t to flake of f . The wind has­

tened the flaking action . After thousands of years and thou-1

sands of flak ings, these holes or caves were formed."

"There must be hundreds o f them in Canyon de Chelly

Monument," ventured Jim.

"There are hundreds of them, and most of them are shal-2

low, open-facM caves," answered the ranger.

"We’ve ridden about three and a h a lf m iles, Jim. Soon

we should see Eos teen Begay’s hogan. He i s a fin e old Nav­

ajo who liv e s in Canyon de Chelly near the junction of del Muerto."

After riding for a few minutes, Jim said eagerly, "l

think I see him. Dad. Is that Hoe teen ahead there in the

com patch?"

Surely enough i t was Hosteen Begay hoeing h is com . As

Ranger Lewis and Jim rode, up, the' old Navajo, stopped h is work

long enough to wish them a good morning and a good tr ip .

The ranger remarked, "Your com looks fin e , Hosteen."

"Good year for com . Good for melons, beans, and

squash, too," answered the Navajo. 1 2

1. Multiplex display fix tu re at Canyon headquarters.

2 . Anne A. Morris, M-gglng in the Southwest (New York: Doubleday, Doran Co., 194b), p. 175.

17

A cave h ig h In th e canyon w a l l

Out side and near tM doer of the. hogan, to e t een ’ a wife,

was b u sily eooking. She was kneeling before the f ir e over

which something boiled in a black iron k e t t le . As she

watched the. f ir e , ahe tossed aeroetMng back and forth fro®

one.hand to the other. I t looked lik e a lump of bread dough.

"What i s the Hava jo. woman doing. Dad?" asked Jim. ;

Leaving Hostem- to hia hoeing. Ranger Lewis rode - c loser

to Jim ^ d answered^ "8&e i s making Navajo bread py squaw

bread, as i t i s often ca lled . L et's go over and watch for

a w hile. I'm sure she w ill not mind our watching."/ I

"Good morning, ^Ama. Good Navajo bread i t i s th is

morning, I see," greeted Ranger Lewis casually# . .

The r Nava j o woman smiled tim idly and pointed to two pack­

ing boxes near the f ir e . This was her way o f asking them to

s i t down and watch her. She continued, pounding the dough in

her hands. When i t was fa ir ly th in , she dropped a round :;

piece into the boiling-mutton fa t . I t floated about in the

grease lik e a s iz z lin g l i t t l e is lan d . After a few minutes

she removed- i t fr m .toe k e tt le with two long forks and put

i t a piece of brown wrapping .paper to drain and coo3.. : She

continued to pound eut-TOre circular p ieces of the thin dough.

Jim] was fascinated . In fact he ,began to fe e l hungry as

he.w atched]her..,. , hIv

v . 1 # :Shine Saith, missionary to the Navajoe, interview . May 26, 1951. ’Ama, meaning Mother, i s a term of respect used when addressing a mother who i s a particular friend of the speaker.

”I f we stay W re: longi Jim, 3 )u w il l be hungry" long %#&»

IW e lunch time,^ md-led the ranger* ' l . ,

■ As Jim- and M s father made ready to leave, the Navajo

woman said something In her* native tongue and held the brown

paper towards Jim.

"Take one, son. -:n. iaitiUw a n tsfou':: 1bsam ple her^eooklngi”

Jim hesitated# but M s fa th er added, "It i s her .way" o f avow­

ing that, we are friends* Take erne; Jimy or she .will, think

yotiXhave bad Mmners.w .•-‘■"'i'; ri- :v; rx X=-r;'' -

c : Jim sm ilingly, and:shyly reached for a piece*, o f the squaw

bread and thanked the NSvaj® woman. :: a ; \ a'

. y- * ?]Md, w il l you have seme of it?" asked Jim holding the

bread out toward M s fatheri :- y.t ; : r . . : -

1 Before Ranger Lewis could answer Jim, the woman was be­side the father - offering! Mm'a piece of bread alad* *: tv

/r. * "Thank; youg 'AmagE said the yrangerwM le her reached for

the .bread. ?I * ve eaten your bread before and I know i t i s

always ta s ty ." i vi l.c 1: -.-y ] ;:r: T.'" :"

r - . "Yumj yum. r I t * s good, " remarked Jim with gusto.

The Navajo wmman smiled; said something in Navajo^ sad ::

returned to her b o ilin g k e t t le .

"Well, boy, sh a ll we b# on our way?" asked Jim* s dad,

reminding Mm that th is was mot the end of th e ir tr ip . % ir.

;*0h, yes#" replied Jim. "For the moment I 'd forgotten about WMte House Ruins."

"Such i s the power o f ;food ," teased the ranger.

19

# 0

As they l e f t Hosteen Begay's p lot o f land. Ranger Lewis

ca lled fro him, "You w il l have a good orop of peaches tM s

year, Basfrem. Your trees look fine*"

"Yes, i f rain gods don't wash trees away," answered the

old Navajo*

'•'-•“•'■■As they rode along, Jim asked, "What did he mean. Dad?"

"Sometimes during the summer we have fla sh floods around

herei I t rains very hard for a short time. So much rain

f a l l s that the stream overflows and a raging torrent sweeps

through the canyon. That 1 s why the peach orchards and crops

are planted away from the center of the canyon and in a safer

spot near the canyon w a lls ."

"How did peaches ever get way down here?" puzzled the

a lert hoy.

"Peach trees were growing here when the Nava joe came to

th is country over three hundred years ago. The peaches wereale

brought by the Spanish who explored th is area. *

■ : Jim rode on with a bewildered expression and a far-away

gaze In h is eyes.

Looking fondly at h is son, the ranger remarked, "A penny

for your thoughts, boy."

"Oh, I was ju st wondering i f I ' l l ever be able to learn

enough about th is Monument so that I can help you la ter In

the season when many tou rists come h ere ," he rep lied In a 1

1. Wyatt, op. c l t . . p. 8 .

Stsomewhat discouraged tone of vo ice . .i.-'-wl . ■ :>:-

~ *1 *m eertmlii b@ of gr@&% help, Jim, but mean- ,

time l e t «s not woroy about 11 , I- aball akplalm and your

good memory-will- aid you-in answering the many queatlda# : rC.l

Which tou rists w il l ask* For example, many persons want to

know the kind- o f rock in these canyon walls**- ' i --v d 'v.

7 " l could answer that now,. Dad,M rep lied Jim in a bright­

er tone. *It i s s a n d s t o n e : ; . 1 r

The lesson on horseback sm tinued as the ranger, added,

"It i s sandstone and geologist's c a ll i t . d e Chelly sandstone.

S c ien tists have said ’ i t i s as. old as some of the sandstone1

In Grand Canyon and Oak Greek Canycm.. Many to u r is ts are

a lso in terested in knowing that mder th is s o i l there i s a2bed of shale four hundred to seven hundred fleet th ick . r

G eologists, men who study, rock .foraations, . c a l l ; i t Chlnle

shale. " f-r-r •' -' ■ r c:: f - n.f plr.uc »

Eager to prove that he remembered more of what h is

father had to ld him, Jim proudly added, "And I know that ,

flaking of the sandstone caused the caves." : n • ; ,

Continuing tlmt thought, the. ranger remarked, "And the

caves made fin e places for the Anasazi to build th e ir .homes."

As though he hadn't understood c lea r ly , Jim asked, ?Who-

who. were th e. An——An—ah———An—ah—sah— . o - . "■: * 1 2

:-r J V'^-- ' :1. : ..V

1 . Loc. rc l t . r '

2. Beals, e t - a l . . op. c l t . . p. 151.

"An-ah-eah-ze®* f p r o m p # d t a t wmlm# Sp the- o;1

rescue in Jim * a pronuneipMoas *is the name given the ancient

people who liv ed in. th is part of the Southwest.*

"An-ah-sah-zee> An-ah-sih-peei ^.repeated- Jim. .'few # a l l

o f: the smcient people in the Southwest ca lled -th a t, .-.Dad**.* '

.r, There seemed: to he no-end}*0?Jim's in terest:< n d M s -

questions. r-., rrhi- • . vh-: c-vly 1/ r-r.-: : : - : "Oh, -no, J|m.-; .There were three groups of -Ancient Ones

in Arizona^ The Anasazi liv e d In the:northern part of Ari­

sons in prehistoric time a. 1 111 draw:you "a map la ter to : •

show you where they liv ed . In fa c t, we might stop now. How

la your .appetite| .son?. :.0r lia. that 18,1 fo o lish quest!on?f>.e

asked Ranger Lewis-as he slowed the chorse. : n r - l

o v”Oh, I can.always;eat. I*ve been gettin g hungry eversince I saw the squaw bread -being made, * rep lied Jim as he

"i " 'looked, about for a shady ’ stopping plade. '

Seeing some cottoOTOod’trees oheadj4 the ranger suggested

"Shall we head for those cottonwoods up the cariyon and-Mve

our Imich while our horses re st for a while? 11 Then I can '-draw

you the map rin the .sand emd explain Anasasi;*?. nc-.; r.-.r

1 1: "TMt ' sa fin e -id ea , I)ad. l; I think .Tail gha» -tig a il ' would appreciate a r e s t ,* answered Jim en th u sia stica lly .

Reining Ms horse in the d irection of the trees , the

ranger answered, "And I 'd appreciate n drink of cool waterv: . • - v Cr-v: , .1. *}. V / ' v - : ........

from my canteen and something to eat. tt

23

&a they rested and ate in the shade of the trees . Ranger

Lewis sketched a map in the sand. F irst he drew two lin e s

crossing each other.

"We’l l begin here with the Four Corners, as everyone

c a lls them. This i s Utah, " said the ranger printing the word

in the sand. "East of i t i s Colorado, and south of these are

Arizona and New Mexico. This i s the. only,place, in the United

States where.four sta tes meet to form four corners."

Then the ranger d e ftly sketched in. the Colorado, L it t le

Colorado, and San Juan r ivers and outlined the Anasazi coun­try . .....................

"The Anasazi, " he said as he printed the word in the

sand, "lived in the area between the San Juan and L itt le Colo­

rado r iv ers , Jim." S ittin g back to look at h is map he con­

tinued, "Those people probably reached the Southwest about1 2

the year 300 A.D. and liv ed here u n til around 1300 A.D."

"An-ah-sabi-zee, An-ah-sah-zee," said Jim over and over

trying to say the word with the same ease as h is father.

South of the Anasazi country and extending through the

mountains of central Arizona and into what i s now western and

southwestern New Mexico and on into northern Mexico, Jim’s

father drew another outline within which he printed these

1. John C. McGregor, Southwestern Archaeology. (New York: Wiley and Sons, 1941), p. 206.

2. Ann# Morris, op. c i t . , p. 182,

500 A.D.

There were three groups of Ancient Ones in Arizona.

le t te r s *: leg o llo n i r : rj-v *..,■

■t :-r vwnig^eie-owri, • he pronounced I t as he wrote MdgolloriV - r.-: ?

- ' Jim scratched h is head in ah ' expression of bewilderment

to think that Mogollon should h e pronounced Mug-ee-own.

The ranger noticed h is son's woe-Wg«a# expression. In

an attempt to encourage the hoy he added *"Grown-ups have

trouble with that word, too, son. - The Mogollon received :th eir

name from the mountains of that a re a ..! Mow over h ere ," ..con­

tinued' the ranger as he outlined another: area to the w est:o f

the Mogollon and south o f the -Anasazi, "were the Ancimt Cues

whose name i s spelled th is way.

Jim watched as hid father printed the word Hohokam in the sahd.

"Soni suppose yeu: try to pronounce th a t without any h elp from meC" "Jr.

The boy gazed at the word Hohokam and said i t —incor* reo tly . ; ■; . r 5:

%o, Jim Those ancients were ca lled Ho^ho-calmi I t

has the same rhythm as the words 'blow, blow, calm1 and also

rhymes with them. Think of thoseJ three words! and you w ill: say the ancient name correctly . .c: Jor

"Ho-ho-ealm,* Ho-ho-calm: An-ah-sah-zee, An-ah^sah-zee:; •

Mug-ee-own; Mug-ee-own. Dad, I*11 have to practice and prac­

t ic e and "practice these words i f I. hope to be: eM ef JuniiMP

Ranger around here th is summer.*

^Mith a l l #*at practice;" laughed h is father, "and in time i t ,w i l l come to you." 1

%ft: c 1 f Glancing at the aim, the ranger added, HS<m, time i s

moving, righ t along, t. Shall we, head towaids -:White House Ruins?

Soon the l ig h t should he r igh t for yohT p ie t^ e k . ? , ' 7 r - ;

/?#hen w il l ,the. sun he ahistog on,the ru in . Dad?" - "* 1

. "Itiwon* t be:on i t whilel%p@u are here th is summer, hoy.

The only time that the isum s tr ik e s the ruin i s during . the V ‘ 21

winter and: then .only for a short ttime during:.the afternoons.

There w i l l ; he enough refleerbed l ig h t , from the s#md, etWugh,

so that you should he able .to v take good picture s at anytim e

from now u n til la t e : afternoon; E : ; L: : ; ; : !

The saddle hags were seen .strapped and they were on

th eir way again. Jim.kept thinking about the ruins of the

G a n y o m . r-Vv V:.-.; ' t ' ; v ; T , v; •: ' , :

- ^?hey a r e : l ik e e^pty apartm ents. r What:happensd to those

peop le," he wondered* > v:.:-.: v->

• F in a lly he . asked h is fa th er , r."Why d id : the Anaaazi leave

here, .Dad? There.must have been a reason." . - : v-

u : %hat1 s an important chapter in the l iv e s of those peo­

p le , Jim," answered the fath er. "In the year 1276 there be­

gan a te rr ib le drought in the Southwest• I t la sted the fo l­

lowing year, and the fo llo w in g .. .In fa c t-fo r twenty-three

years a fter 1276 there was no ra in in the Southwest. I think

th a t1 s a pretty good reason why they may have migrated."

"Twenty-three years of drought 1 No wonder they l e f t I"

1 y:I^% Roherit Morris, interview .

exclaistod; the ¥oy* - J ’v., ¥c-i: 1 %ht le s.n-.l

, >j ■ 1 ’’Scane! s c lm t ls t s say there i s evidence that the Havajos

came to the Southwest about the year 1300: and that they drove1

*he?Aaalwiirefots*;:^d#e#the-fthger^- A^Skf- that may be s t i l l

aamthsr reason for th e ir leaving. ** - ir. :;hc ; = .

Jim was silenced: for some1 2 moments -with thoughts of th is

great tragedy.in th e . l iv e s - o f the Ahasazi. • Soon however,

he asked, "How are we going to get up in to the White House,

Dadf : Itojhe if-w e had a strong rope; We could throw i t ovef*

a timber er around a towers Could we# - Then- we could g#

hand: over hand lik e two monkeys going up a rope • n

•That might be p ossib le , Jim,: but we: aren' t going up

that way for two reasons: 1 f i r s t , ' we don’t have a rope. Second, - and more important, . the timber might break or the

old wall crumble. I f that were to happen, we would have des­

troyed a part of the ruin to say nothing of what would happen

to us. We rangers do nothing to harm these p r ice less struc­

tures. In fa c t we are here * to preserve h isto r ic and pre- '2

h isto r ic s tru c tu res ,1" continued Jim’s father quoting from

a w ell mastered government b u lle t in .

"I understand what you mean. Dad, but how w ill we get

up the rocky w all you. to ld me aboutt* persisted the son.

1. Morris, op. c i t . , p. 182.

2. Department of. In terior , •The National Monuments," Special B ulletin (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Of- R c e , 19i^J, p. 17.

28

"We'll find a way, Jim. You ju st wait a while and

y o u 'll find out," came the rep ly .c r ^ r T T n i l . V

As they rounded a curve in the canyon, Jim*s searching

eyes spied something iMtr# n estled high .in; the red w all on

the l e f t . He was so excited he stood up in the stirru p s.

"Is that i t . Dad? Is that White House Ruins?"V o a -'." t o ; v: v : : : i a a ; ; r - c y ", ?:■:> - '■'

"It certa in ly i s , Jim. I think you would make a goodva-VV /o " ;v. - oar./y; - y Van pea p rg- r-'y v v .t. ;■ ;V X y'.p.archaeologist, boy, because you are developing something, < V :; ' W y %: ; - c 1:c- t , - u y t ; • ; ! : » . r . ' . y - . i r - y — V - ; . - y :■"lik e a bird-dog sense of locating what you're looking for."■> V V l ' < y V ■ " v c - y y r y , ,

Jim was pleased with h is fa th er 's words of praise midi.yvyV irr.-o >vl.- f 5nVoy fT::X ;y:rvj.V ■ y; v:.~; ■ y

a broad grin crept over h is eager face.V y v l : • : : ; V '/ . y f U y v ; : v - y c y y ;. , ; : : , - . y . _ . : t v y . y y y y

•A few minutes more of riding and they had arrived ati y VC- y V y y y d c f l v y . - p y y % y -• vthe foot of the gleaming white ruin, Jim's f ir s t glimpse o fthe home of the Ancient Ones.

- ■■ '* ^V--, . y :iv -ycy .Ly y , L: y. b y ' l y y V;y- y y y -- ; ; r

y- • - - LI- b; h i r l - j y y y y v - r ; ■: t7 r ■ -

v -

•• y ... L : y.r;y •'*; -"i ; : • .:ob S . ■'i -

-y: V r y y y y : ’ Toy . o ■ -y " 7

l y y y l y •' ; • V - Cr:*. i ur.-- • y : .y - ■i" y r-.cnt y i'o n

V ; ■ y y - y y ; j / ( ; n . y i - - -V.:' y y y - f; ' - ;* ; : -

- • : y t, ; * -■ ? “ k p ’ - i v :• VU;-;. IT: ' .; r

- - i . T ' : : y 7 /. - . — : % V : o . .. L V V

- « ': L ■h i-r-' :j v - t , j %r; y : y : ' : J r : • ■ - -* V.

'ii V C I n 1 ; : .1 - : v : _ ; ' - < : ,

■y' .i V /

CHAPTER III

CLIMBING THE LADDER TO WHITE HOGTSE

Dismounting h is palomliio, Jim gazed with awe at the

gleaming white house se t securely in the cave overhead. He

reached for h is camera and stepped a few fe e t away from Tail

gha* t lg a i l so as to get just the right angle for a picture

of the structure.

As he looked in to h is finder and moved the camera for

the best view of the White House, h is attention was captured

by something that was d e fin ite ly not p reh istoric .

"Look, Dad, a ladder1 A ladder i s leaning against the

w all. How in the world did a b ig ladder get fiv e m iles up

Canyon de Chellyt" .

Ranger Lewis laughed to think h is surprise had been d is­

covered.

"That took a b it o f planning on the part o f your Dad,"

he answered proudly. "Last week when Hosteen Begay was at

the trading post in Chinle, I made arrangements for him to

take our extension ladder up the canyon in h is w agon .E ver

since l*ve been at th is Monument, I 1ve wanted to v i s i t White

House. This was a golden opportunity to see i t and see i t

with my son. Hosteen Begay and two of h is friends brought

. i t up here in h is wagon and set i t up. And there i t i s

waiting for us."

30

Ray M anley

The g leam in g W hite House was s e t

s e c u r e l y i n th e cave*

Jim was almost tod excited a fter the discovery of the

ladder to snap -Ms: /ptstures^ Bswever, he certdinil^ would

have to have proof of the great beauty, o f th is ruin to show

h is friends "at achosl. Ho llasA iohusetts. As soon as the p ic­

tures were taken, - he joined h is father who was walking to -,

ward the lower portion Which was on the canyon flo o r . Jim

had overlooked the lower structure for h is attention had been

captured by the whiteness of the upper one*

#Two ru in s ,- DadS ' 1 thought the White House up there

was the only b u ild in g .** . v V.

*Weir, i t rs easy to understand that you’d • see--the White

House only. How you can see that the color o f the lower cob­

struction blends in to the canyon w a lls . I ’ l l t e l l you about

White House, la te r , " he continued as they neared the lower

pueblo. "At the moment I might say that at one time, th is

was occupied by the great Pueblo people. . Just look what1

flood waters have done! Every w all i s ready to topple."

"How old i s th is Anasazl ruin , Bad?" ; .

"This represents Pueblo I I I 1 people, Jim, and was b u ilt2

between 900 said 1300 A.D; " • 1 2 : : •: .. l j ,

"Archaeologists have divided the Ancient Ones into two groupsi -The ea r lier were the Basket Makers. We w il l learn

of them la t e r :when we explore some of the ruins in Canyon

1. Multiplex panel at Momment headquarters.2. Wyatt, op. c l t . . p. 8.

W:

dtol, Miner to* The Basket Makers'were followed by-the Pueblo

people* Archaeologists have a lso divided.the Pueblo builders

intoi five periods so as to sim plify m atters. .. ^ j _

r "Simplify!M exclalm d,Jim *. terr ib ly cohfusid*"

t "Well, we1 2! ! begin by sayingl that #h#r#meb!e".people

b u ilt large; homes such as you see here at White Bouse. Also

they were farmers. - The Indians had r e a lly becemM# e l w ill zedi

with the ra isin g of c ^ n . TMy no 1 onger depoaded: upon

sh ifting! herds of animals for food as they had In ea r lier r

year s . In , Pueblo time s they remained In Xone> place and

raised th eir food*. oi%i was the Important crop and th is was

followed by beans, osquash, and pumpkins. They raised many

kinds of corns pop corn, sweet corn, f ie ld corn, and f l in t

t "Where did ancient man :get the seed for h is com . Dad?"

"It was probably developed by a more highly c iv il iz e d

people far to the: south in Mexico or possib ly in eentral ,

America., I t may have taken as :many as twenty, thousand years2

torbe developed into:corneas.we know i t , Jim."

"But what about th ese ’f iv e Pueblo periods you mentioned; Dad? Why were they divided in to fiv e separate times?" puz­

zled Jim. \ / o-’v: ■ X- . !r;:=: - . v..: ■. cc r y - \ ' . y - y :::

"They represent periods of development, Jim. Archaeol-

1. Frank C. .Hibben, The Lost Americans (Hew York:Crowell Co.,- 1946), p. 26. “

2. I b id ., p. 27.

32

ogiats amn® t o .enF'help agaiafc#-*rma.m@tteA They

m@f#r to: the culture dating.betweim 17^ ®md 90O A.D. a s.th e

lu eb lo d period. During that period small structures> of r.n

Qhe or several: rooms war® b u ilt; .The- people who:-lived ittl r

those house made smie pottery; but^not a great d e a l . ^ ^

: : wProm 900 to 1100 A.D. y ? eon tinned the ranger, "was the2

Pueblo II cu lture, During th is period th e ir .stnuetures.had

a dozen or two rooms and; a l l were b u ilt _ together lik e an ,

apartment; house. Pottery and other craft a developed: furtM r.

"In Pueblo III which begem before 1100 .andreontlnued up3

to the year 1300 A .D .,; the:apartaent-llke :houses beoaae ’very

large, some with more thanrone.hundred:ground floor rooms.

Some; were three or even four stor ies high. . Pottery became

much more abundant. I t was:not only more varied in co lors,1

but also more elaborate. In decoration•" ; ; - . . . ; -

- Jim was intrigued with the story of these stages of

development and listened: in ten tly a s:h is father continued,

"Roughly, those are the dates of three periods, but the

periods overlap considerably." rj ;

• ' "What do you:mean by * the periods overlap considerably,1

Dad?" ; n :.mV ut; -f-:,

"Well, by overlapping we mean that some of the people * 5

: V ■ ,j : ov -v: . , ■'

-1 . McGregor, op. c l t . , p. 238.

2. Ib id ., p . .251.5. Ib id ;, p. 271. ,

were m<Si*evprogressive 'than others of the same tim e .' Why, we

#6 mot k&oir. I t -was then as i t ia today. People in bxar

large c i t i e s arb iometlmea^iief1# progressive than people who

41f# far1 out Ih the country. . While* one group1was - s t i l l l i v ­

ing' in' old fashioned Puehl# II m uses, others were occupying

Uip-tb-date and grihE structures lik e White House."

"Wd the people a l l disappeaf about 1300, Dad?" ‘

"Hoy San. Alth@ugh:$ do hot kn^r too much" about these

la ter periods, I can t e l l you'that in Pueblo IV times there

was some continuation of culture along'Pueblo III l in e s .

Then the Spanish came in the middle of th is p er io d ------

"Oh, that was in 1540, Dad^" Interrupted Jim; a%cited

and pleased that he knew a date in Southwestern h istory .

t "Right you - are, son.- From that date to the end of■.. ; i

Pueblo IV which was about 1600, there was no particular dev­

elopment among - the Pueblo people." ol

"From-1600 to the present, which i s known as Pueblo V,

there was continual disturbance of the Pueblo people. Very

few of the surviving -Pueblo people- were able to keep th eir

native culture' through these h isto r ic years."

Pointing ahead he continued, "But l e t us get back to

Pueblo III and this'low br ruin . At one time i t Was four'

sto r ies high and had fo r ty -fiv e rooms." * 2

l i Ib id .,:p i 296.

2. M indeleff, bp. c i t . , p. 105.

"Ovea? here, " said Ranger Lewis, walking ..to the. eastern

th^ rnjms, "the w alls are s t i l l tw elve fe e t high and .

% s (me plan % th#y fo w te m And. look at the .th ick-

nes# of th i s wall & A few of them are two fe e t th ick . The

roof of- the npper-or -fourth story ;came within four fe e t ;of'l 2

the floor of the cave a b o v e ^ , . t , a > nsi. .ignr

: . , ."How did the people ^living in -the .White. House # p -there

ge$ ih to th e ir hornet", asked Jim, point in # to t he structure , nestled in the cave far above.

"The preh istoric people b u ilt ladders which .they .-used,

in going .from one story to another^ Sometimes the ladders

were on the outsid^ of th e room. At other: t im s ; the ladder,

was placed on the inside and one climbed put through a smoke

hole in the roof to the story above."

"When an Indian here reached the roo f oS the fourth

story o f th is lower ruin, he apparently, climbed another lad­

der which led to a doorway im the center o f tW upper, ruin

there <m that ledge fa r above us. There again ladders led ?

from one story to another u n til our. Indian of the past f in ­

a lly reached the white rooms on the very top." r i

; "Gan we go up now?!* asked Jim eagerly. And almost in

the same breath he queried, **#ml,l we t ie our, W rses before

we -go up. Dad?*!: i .'--.-h ’v - - . v . ‘" ' 1 2

1. Loc. c i t . , ; :

2. Ib id ., p. 107.

Looking over toward the animals that were contentedly

grazing. Ranger Lewis answered, "They seem to he gettin g »

irltxhg:-.perfectly and won’t wander too far because they have

itotead good grass to eat,"

BOth:.lmd soon climbed the; th ir ty -f iv e fee t o f v er tica l

c l i f f by means of the fin e extension ladder. At la s t Ranger

Lewis was ready to explore the upper ruin or the White *

House. And he had an equally excited companion in h is young

•Please t e l l me more about th is place. Dad,• said Jim

looking about at the w ell preserved w a lls .

r "This i s the principal room of the ruin and you can see

that i t i s in the center o f the cave. These stone w alls are2

two fee t th ic k .•

Jim was amazed at the clear whiteness o f the w alls o f

the uppermost ru in s. As he f e l t of the plaster# h is father

continued, "Mr. Anasazi decided to do some spring painting

one day and whitewashed the front of h is home. Not content3

with that, .he painted a. band of yellow along M s w all." t

*. #wDo the Hava Jos have th e ir own sp ecia l name for th is place, to o ,. Dadf*

"Because of t he white w alls , the Havajos call: tM s ; .4

ruin Kini-na-a-kai which meais 'white house.1 2 *

36

1. Ib id . , p. 10#. : : s . Loc. c l t .

2. Ib id ., p. 109. 4 . Ib id ., p. 104.

37

Pointing to the beams, the ranger continued, • "Look at v

the tiliheits, Jim. A ll' b f th is i s -original wood.r:,ZPhel Pueblo

litUlders used fin e timber for their- construction. - One piece

dates back to 1066 A.D."

*10661 Oh, th at i t a' fam iliar d a te ,M proudly announced

Jim recognizing a second date in h istory . "The b a ttle o f ,

Hastings, William the Con<|ueror, and the year ftuat th t

mans irivaded B ritain ."

"Right again, boy, and th#t i s a rgood way to remember

the date o f (me of the timbers Of th is ru in . -'Ihings were :

itoppening in what i s now the Southwest as w ell as in other .

parts of the world in those days*"

"But how could you know the age o f an old dried up piece of timber. Dad?" : :1 t ^

"There are s c ie n t is ts whd toPow th# sto r ie s to ld by the

trees . The annual gp?oWth rings o f each tree are. the clue,

Jim. By studying the sto r ie s to ld by those rings In the tim­

bers found in various ruins o f "the Stouthweat, s e ie n t l^ s -h a te

b em : able to trace bach hundreds of years and o sta b llsh dates

very accurately. This system o f -^telling tiTO i s ca lled tree 2ring dating." —: :

"Who-in the world ever thought o f anything lik e th a t,--Bad?-*. . . . . —». -

"Dr. Andrew E. Douglass of the U niversity of Arizona

developed the method a fter years and years of research, Jim. 1 2

1. Wyatt, o£. c i t . , p. 9.2. Morris, op. c i t . . pp. 244-265*

IS took great patience and much knowledge of the Southwest#n

i Walking to the l e f t o f White House, the ranger added, # ’’L et’s go to the smaller, room west of th is one. I t was a

la ter addition.* o.,.- \ ; .,■■■" ■ '

*How do you know, Dad?*

’’The side w alls and the back wall t e l l the story, Jim.

Do you see any d ifference between these w alls and those in

the other room?*

Jim looked c lo se ly and a fter a few seconds remarked,1

"They are made, o f adobe, n I s that I t , Dad? Only the front

wall i s made of small stones• And the w alls aren’t so th ick

as in the other room, * he added. : ; .

"That’s i t , son. The use o f adobe was learned from the 2

Spanish and th is makes us think that the ruin was occupied

and repaired by other-people a fter the Anasazi' l e f t . Prob­

ably I t was reb u ilt b y1 the Hopl a fter the Spanish c a m e •

"Who were the Bopl, Dad?* queried the youth.

"Briefly, Jim, some archaeologists think the Hop!e* are3

descendants o f the Anasazi. Also some b elieve they lived

here at White House in the seventeenth century."

"What happened to them. Dad?"

"Scientists think that they were e ith er driven out when

1". ...M intoleff, 0£. c i t . , p. 109.2. Wyatt, op. c i t . . p. 9.

3. Loo, c i t .

38

re-the Navajos arrived or became; Hava jo in th e ir customs, tt

pliedvthe 1 father as -he walked;about l looking for other- points

Of " in terest. fOr !''hisr.Soii»'.'V''-; th •" V.?.3.vv trc . 3 .

•: e"Thi a, ruln rwas e.®aeof ;>.thevlalts>fco be abandoned, of th e :

Soventj-one ruins between Monument headquarters and the junc-2tltrn of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon,M

%he@-ee! Seventy-one ruins in '.thirtoim aliiles- o f can- ,

yonj, ' %d& ? - h n - : ? c v e r Lny; r.v.r.

? :■ *That la correct, ^im*#; 1 v -s-fU: d r • be h!;i wbi'i o ,

; % wonder why tlrore; are Iso many in- thisnpart of the

eanym l”; : v . - c : l ' - . u r : e;-:

"As we came up the canycm today, perhaps" you noticed3

the te rra ce so r benches o f Imad ra ised above;the stream bed.

In th is part of .th e canyoay that b a n ch is eight to tent fe e t

above the stream. I t i s good f e r t i l e , l#ad. This terrace

made fine fam la n d ’for ra isin g th eir ©oraj melons, pumpkins,

arid beans. > The -.stream was1 2 3 seldom more bthan a foot deep5

when flowing, and often -only a few inches. The Ancient Ones

could sink a.; hole for water anywhere by digging only a few

fee t in to the ground. S@i - with good s o i l high ‘ 6&6ugB’**i@v©

the stream so as not to bei*flooded and with plenty of^water,

they had very desirable farm s ite s* r^o; you eto:understimd

i t lea st <me good reason #hy=;they Would want to build: th eir

1. Loc. c i t .

2. M indeleff, 0£. 6 i t . \ p. 156

3. Ib id . , p. 87.

4. Ib id . . p. 89

5. Ib id . . p. 88

40

homes a lon g ,th is part o f de C helly .M

Oh the other hand* Jim, about three m iles ahoy# he®**.

the s o i l Is d iffer en t. There the ta lus slopes ere numerous.1These ta lu s .slopes are broken.rock and sand mixed iwith s o i l .

They do not ^ k e good farm>lands, •’ added the ranger in ex­

planation. r 5 . ibo! *' ) .c* I h f c ; . V-.-:- rr v vfn

t: While h is father talked^ Jimrtried from d ifferen t places

in the room to take p ictures. The werhamglmg roof shut out

so much lig h t that :he decided i t would not be;w©rth h is w h ile .

He would just hare t o carry th e photograph in vhis own mind -

S t thet bs c o u ld ite ll h is friends about the p lace.Ranger Lewis interrupted M s ;sen’s to o ^ h ts .o f all he- -c

t©uld : te l l h is friendsrsmdwquiricly torou#at him -back/tOfthe

present by saying, ”We .have: f iv e miles-, o f rid ing iback to

headquarters before the sun;goes town, Jim. * 1; - I h t h 5

: - ; "All r igh t, ;Dad.; I'm read y ,t came the reply as he put

h is camera back into the case and put the case strap over

his shoulder. vi;-Lrl o ’ r,c:t - ivio •-■r-n,

; r. Carefully they descended.: Wien; the eanycai floor had

been reached, Jim gazed upward at ith e} great height o f white ;>

ruin. Then h is eyes followed on up the s ix hundred fee t o f 2 • ■ .

canyon wall above him. -Even th e m tn which minutes -hefttisehad seemed so large was now small in the magnificent red : .

1* 5i2SLe * ' •' ♦ ? V ' ' ' "2. Wyatt,; m . o l t . , p. 8 .

41

canyon: wall* h : l

ffThese 'walla towering above me make me fe e l very small. Dad, * he remarked in a tonei of awe. ' r> a bo tc r f.

fet "Appreciating the. wonder a of Nature i s very l ik e ly to

do that to one,, son,*, the ranger rep lied q u ie tly . ; - , :

Having mounted th eir horses, they were bn the way down

>Slw canyon and back to headquarters. ?; are::-61

i V "Sonv-you have seen the ruin that: i s perhaps beat known

of a l l in Canyon de Chelly arid the lone most often irlalted*

i l t is n 't the o ldest or the largestbin the Itetxument t a t i t Is

the one most e a s ily reached.*

As they rode down the canyon^ they .passed several Navajo

fam ilies in th e ir wagons In the. distance* They were retu m -'.I 2

ing from a tr ip to Cozy's trading post at the mouth of the

Monument. Now they were heading up the cany cm to their homes

rin the upper part of de Chelly and in Canyon del Muerto.

As they neared the turnoff, for del Muerto, Jlm noticed

a young shepherd driving h is flo ck of sheep near the w a ll.

A black dog helped the boy in keeping the flo ck together.

; *0h, that la Nee Yazzie driving h is grandmother's sheep

back to her place in dal Muerto," remarked the ^ranger iftemi-'r--

they had come near enough to id en tify the young shepherd.

"Hello, there, Kee, * ca lled the ranger as he waved, tov ' 1

L, '" i : Wyatt, oi . e i t . , p. 8 .

2. Cozy McSparrcn, trader at CMnle, Arizona.

42

the young- shepherd.

Shyly the boy waved and said something.

.■tl: *Kee i s a bright boy and although he i s about your age,

he has never been to sch ool.*

"Never been to school, Dadt How does that happen?"

"It i s unfortunate, son, but only one of every three1

Navajo children ever attends school. There ju st aren’t

enough Government schools for a l l of them."

Jim was le s s in terested in th eir educational p ligh t than

in the Navajo boy. He remarked, "Did-you c a l l him Kee, Dad?

That’s an unusual name."

"It is n ’t unusual among the Navajos. I t means l i t t l e

man. He Is Kee Yazzie or l i t t l e Yazzie and h is father Is2

Hosteen Yazzie, or b ig man Yazzie. I t i s unfortunate that

he doesn’t speak English. He would make an in terestin g com­panion for you."

The ranger noticed that Jim looked tired and so maid

nothing more u n til they reached headquarters.

As they dismounted, Jim looked at h is father saying,

"Thank you. Dad, for spending your free time with me. I t

has been a wonderful day. I ’m so glad that we saw the famous

1. "The goal . . . i s to provide school f a c i l i t i e s for a l l of the 24,000 Navajo children between the ages o f 6 and 18 years. There are now school f a c i l i t i e s for only 7,500 pupils." (This number Includes 1,000 pupils In mission schools. ) J. A. Krug, fThe Navajo," A Long-Range Program. for - R ehabilitation, 1948 (Washington, D. CT: Department o f Infer­io r , 1946), p. 3l3u

2. Gorman, Interview.

43White House Ruins.”

”1 don’t know a b etter way of spending free time than

with a very sp ec ia l person," rep lied Ranger Lewis smiling at

M s son. . JZX

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' GJOG o - ' r r j J :u : 0: 0 G O O: G Ot'G o h ' J ‘J J J OOGo.0 Gg -0

1 - ': ' O-G - 'G rb G v- J O :'J. : - , c : ' b e :■ • 0 : - " • . . G S G G ' Go.

b l j . G o ' O - ' * J o 0 : ' J L bo: . J - J h i e ; 1 G 0. L ■ i. - o L" l . J ". j c oo ‘ .

*.

1 L - L« - ' / >:

i>’ v<: r ^ o : ; s r ; h - : ■ v;-,*: :CHAFFER IV

v?-;. v -n v - ; -JIM IS SAVED PROM,DISASTER -r, .. 4i -, i ti.' .-’ v n v n ; ( . v

“It* s a beautifu l day and Tail gha* t i g a i i i s champingit.r< ' ■: r c r . rev 1 j-’co thii ?lv??.t vt,';-^v i.-.

at the b it th is morning because he wants me to ride him upI t ' C r v 'C. ( I v t ' . i v : ' p -■ v. i ' v r . j ^ p s r r : c ''"T's i '%the canyon. Dad. I f you haven't any work for me to do. I'm

i ; . t-hv. r, 1 > rr- i - j - t n l l i ' : : ] . T.slr-fp r i" - ■. 1.- :going up de Chelly again to explore."'Hr : "t A;X L'; .lv> - Pv i r; vp': - v C L d I t

"There i s always plenty o f work to do at any Monument■ih-u-’ '; ' I':-'- r ’ i o ' ; o x - - ' - 0 - < - o ? .headquarters, Jim, but th is i s your vacation^ so be on your- ' ' 'C. o o o -- -0 ; - p v : r . v : n o u- c 2 - o p v . X ; . o o o n o : ‘'r i; 2 ,

way. And don't go too far," reminded the father^-'2 o ro.t ' : - o •--.f ,; lototi. -o O' o o ooo-i.o o;- to- :■-<

"We won’t , I%d," answered the son.n ^px ;; Lv -P ?■ ■; p.; - p-Vvxxx :X:xo P'-p-xe-- XXXf . VKnowing the dangers of travel in Canyon de Chelly, the

* 1 * * t i ; • • •’* ' . •— - ' .«> " i —'►».. ..iv. !-.« . p, . . ■. ».* .■«> tranger added, "Enjoy yourself, but be carefu l."

xP : i pp-xP ; xP-p : 2 x.'n xx;; • •• rvvinxr xv lx; 2' „P:x :A Navajo and h is family were driving down Canyon de:'2 x x r - x-;:- P xPxi2 . 2'X.xx ';x. rv x 1 ;; r : x x.;;-

Chelly. Jim could see the heads of several children bobbin;x-' - x ; Px tPx x.r.x;:';xr ,P'

as they came nearer.

learned that i t meant, "Hello there" and was an expression ofP s x - p . ^ p . x - - -X P . ; r ■ ■ p ' . .■ x: P P ' ; . P ' x . " ; ;x \

fr ien d lin ess . His father had to ld him that the Navajos would 1

a b ly ," thought Jim.- - 2 7 ;-x7 ;r;x}x -X . f..'CXX t i x f- . v ; x.";,’■ - - - •. - . . ' » ... .. • 1 • . i p- ‘ . 4

As they neared him, he waved and greeted them with

"A-la-han-ey."

He had heard h is father greet Navajos that way said had

1. Morris, op. c itJ , p. 180i

become friends with him.mqr® quickly i f he spoke to them in

toe ir language 4 . Ranger, Lewis had a lso said,,that th ey ,res­

pect ..persons who take the time and. effort to learn the d if ­

f ic u lt tongue. Jim was certa in ly .h sb ig every e f fo r t ,to

learn (paiekly. r:".r ' n r - f>:. l* c.'- ■ a-h i 2 - h l r t * .1 •;:

c As he rode along he reviewed the Navajo wqrds he had .

learned during;the past few days and said them aloud.. "Tsli

£har t l g a l l : That i s my h eau tifu l palomino. Tse-nada-atln:

That- i s Navajo for Antelope Point up th e r e ,9 he said- looking

ahead to the f i r s t rim lookout. ~ . ”Kini-na-a-k a ls That i s -

White House which wen saw not so l # g ago. Hosteen: : That is -

mister or s ir . A-la-han-ey: I sn lt , that a musical way to say

good morning?* he asked: h is palomino as he leaned forward to

pat the horse' s g lossy , coat. • t r ,, - c -r ; r:.; - ,,,,;s; Tail, gha« t i g a i l answered- by golng a h it fa s te r . , ;

1 ;j "Just take your time. T a il. Bad says i t i s not wise to

hurry in Arizona in :the summer."

: j They had gone about four m iles when, Jim1 s attention was

captured by another Navajo family In their wagon. They tuined

in to a branch,canym from, de Chelly. ; • ,

j i "That is Canyon del Vuerto* Hosteen. You and? I haven’t

been up, there. Shall we explore i t th is morning?"

'Whether Jim reined M s palomino in that d irection or

whether the.;, animal understood Jim, I t i s d if f ic u lt to say. 1

1. Rev. H.; B. L iebler, Supt. of, S t. Christopher's Mission to the Navajo, B lu ff, Utah, interview , July 31, 1949.

46

St any rate, the horse turned l e f t towards the narrow canyon#

Soon they tr a iled the Navajo family In the wagon as they

bumped along th eir way up the tw isting canyon#

The cool morning a ir refreshed Tail gha* t ig a i i and be

began to travel fa s te r . On and on they went while Jim tr ied

to imagine what scene lay around each approaching bend in the

tw isting red c l i f f s #

His attention was captured by a pictograph high above

In the canyon w a ll. I t was a picture o f a row of antelope.

Jim thought they looked lik e a parade scene along the rock

face. Some were painted tawny red# Others were white. Some

had white rumps. The an tlers , noses, and hoofs were black.

"This must be Antelope House,M said Jim to Tail gha*

t ig a i i . "Dad to ld me about i t . L et's go over and have a

glance around the ruin," he said dismounting and leading h is

horse by the reins#

The ruin showed at le a s t th ir ty rooms on the ground

flo o r . One section of w all appeared to have been four

stor ies high at one time. Jim thought that many rooms must

have been swept down the canyon by spring floods so that i t

was not possib le for him to know just how large th is Pueblo had been."

"An old del Muerto apartment house. Tail gha1 t ig a i i ."

The palomino answered by nuzzling h is master.

1 . Personal v i s i t . May 25, 1951.

47

The p ic to g ra p h s a t A n telop e House

Much o f th e r u i n h as been washed away

by s p r i n g f l o o d s .

: ; w ill; be - fun to look aromd here, more carefu lly .an-

other day. Tali* " he rmmrkmd uelng (mly a part: of the palo­

mino * s long name* Leading h is horse toward the canyon flo o r ,

he added* Bad always says, * Shall we be on our way?1w

• 1; :: Continuing they, eo«a @ame to a camp where several Navajo fam ilies; lived* Against the le f t w all of the canyon he

noticed a ro o fless circular hogan. D irectly over the struc­

ture and painted on the canyon wall . was a blue and white cow.

fA cow," he said talk ing to himself* i : - v •. <>,>~

As he sat cm h is horse and looked across the canyon,

he thought: that this- must be the pictograph which gives the

place i t s name; Standing Cor Ruin.: Ee remembered that his

4*

father had;told that. the sun never shone on .the canyon: floor1

here during the w inter. : l : :"If th is isr Standing Cow, Tail gha* 1 2 t l g e l l , you and I

must he eightim iles;from headquarters• .We; must not linger

for soon we should head for home, boy,” .said-Jim patting

h is h orse .. PlMd warned: us not to go too far.®

But cu rio sity got the b etter of Jim. fI wonder what * s 1

around, th e . next tw lst o f the canyon w alls?w he mused. "Let1 s

find o u t,;T a il, and then ;turn for headquarters.* : r -2

; . Jim gazed upwards to the thousand fee t high rim and had

a fee lin g of being suddenly hemmed in . In places the canyon

• ■>1. W. W. H ill , "Agricultural and Hunting Methods of

the Navaho Indians,® Publications in Anthrooolomv. #18. (New Haven: Yale m iiyerslty P ress,“TqS'S'J, p. 2 6 .

2. Morris, 0£ . c l t . , p. 147.

1was not more than On#- h m d # # faria ' wlde i ■ He- f e l t as" : '•

thongh' he were Mdlhg Into a-huge trap, nIa th is why i t i s

ca lled del Muert0, the Gahyon o f the Dead?tt he wondered,

- : :*-"Aa they^leped’alwig, - Jim noticed an occasional nervous

twitching- in th e’ palomino»a muscles,

V ! - ‘ •Perhaps he doesn't like' th i i ferieed^ih fe l l in g e ith er , • Jim- thought.2 - ' : : L •.vr.ev-3 •

■c - With the passing of each;second' the fee lin g grew that

they were in danger* What that danger was Jim could not de­

cide u n le ss lit was the fee lin g that-the c l i f f s wire'ahetit to

fa ll.an d crush him and h is palomlnO* cr-"-' ’■

K- BI don't l ik e ' i t "here, * he thought; - * - i -

:l l Suddenly a sound Startled him, •Was that an echo?* he

asked him self; ■ I t resembled hoof heats. I t grew leader.

*What i s wrcmg with mO th is aoralng?* he asked h a lf

aloud and h a lf to h im self. - *1 am imagining a l l #orts of

things. I'm not so brave as I thought I was, I wish we

were out of the Canyon of the Dead, • ' i:

th eir canycoi, * , __ -

A mile or so behind Jim, a Havajb boy was urging h is

1 Ibid ' p- 146-

EBO

hoibna?to gotas^ fa st as he dared up te«aek«wwts canyon.

There had been more water than usual In the canyon stream.

I t had overflowed i t s . banks. Mueh e f the; s e l l had been .1

changed to dangerous: quicksand.' &. > • r ' i1 2

> We must save the Pelieano fromix.-li "Faster, T il ah zhlin.

quicksand,;” , he said as he learned; towards the horse»s head.

%he Pelieano Is new here* - He does not - know where the dan­

gers are. Faster, T ilsh i *M .in ,f W: c r ie d urging Ms horse

to even greater speed, .vs - . r .'

; ■ Finally; Jim rea lized that someone really-was ca lling , to

him and coming up:the canyon. At that instant he could hear

.a*boy*s voice shouting,- "Sand." Quicksand. Turn* Quick to

th is s id e . Away, from sandl” r;o v .• -X y ^ -r c v"

: " Jim reined Toll' gha* - t i ^ i i l to soi abrupt halt end :: equally; qa ick ly urged M s horse to the opposite mi#» o f the

canyon. Soon: a Navajo boy riding bareback ^ill@i#d up toMs sid e . u r : - r ; : i n i n i : : ; : i : n . i

"Quicksand i s ahead. You, were heading towards a p it

o f quicksand:without bottom. You and your horse;would have3

been pulled underhand smothered by i t ." o .• •;

: Jim looked.-at the mwmetmer in bewilderment. Who was he?

Where had: he come from? Jim wiped Ms brow with: a • khaki 1 * 3

1 . Black horse, according to David Gorman. '

m a n , , S 2 f f i ! 8 & ' W « * . » * k . , . L o n g .

3. Morris, op. c l t . . p. 145. '

m -

colored handker-chlef. wM3.e wheeling M ai Macae: about, in the - ,

direction of down the;;canyon» i . ; -; : ,

t He and the Hava jo boy f #id% by #ide<.'\ :Ji#*#. nerye#

calmed gradually as he took f le e t in g g-impaes o f the p lacid c,

Indian.- boy* n ' - . y ; - ,, r , . ; : ' .... ■' v - y v;. i ■: t ,

; L Jim broke th e s i le n c e f in a lly * . ;MI: d id n 't .see you in

the canyon, i How d id .you know ! *aa In danger?” he asked

anxious to understand what had happeM^* V :

”My fam ily 's hogan:- la at the mouth o f.ith la :canyon %A*r Hosteen Begay's. I was hoeing the beans and squash when you

passed th is morning.: , Some time after, you passed, I was ta lk ­

ing with my father. When. I to ld Mm .you were alone and going

up Canyon d el Muerto, he asked me i f I had warned you about the quicksand., 1-I ;said; no. My father sa id , 'Follow hi ml ’ "

”And so you followed to keep me from harm, ” said Jim

looking g ra tefu lly at- .the boy. Mlt .certain ly i s fortunate

for, me .that you were in your garden th is morning.”

”1 wonder why my father didn'.t warn me about th is , ” i

s a id , Jim more; to him self th m to the Ijadlan youth. o ;

- The -Havajo boy thought Jim was speaking to him and

asked, ”Who i s your father?” , ; ; : v v 1 .c ;i ;.r:y

^My father, i s Banger Lewis, the Monument- ranger, * r e - .. . p lied Jim.

"Oh, we have not seen the ranger or the trader going up

*hi^ season. They did not know that water had

come down th is part of the. canyon, * he rep lied in loya l

defense of whatr might otherwise have seemed lik e negligence*

,H;:- They rode - db#n the canyon in silen ce for some minutes*

Jiin imhted to thrnik tW hoy khd to get acquelnted' wi tti him,

hut he f e l t at a lo ss for words* TMs was the f i r s t FawliJO .

boy tie had met. He wonder ed1 i f Hava j o boys were d ifferen t.

Would they care to become fr ien d ly with a white boy? The

Hava Jos he tied seen at* the trading post were quiet and shy*

They did hot ta lk mueti accept among other HavajOsV ;

^ "Wellv there i s ho harm in trying , n thought Jim. *So here goes:w ; ^ :..h> ; cv/r r

-: name ls^ Jim. What i s your name?* : t j i'---':'.--"

Lbokihg shyly at Jim he replied , MI am Tsosie Hotah.1*

•Do you l iv e here a l l the time?" asked Jim urging the

boy to t e l l more abbW h lM eli^ H : :

r • l l iv e here in the summer. In early November my peo­

ple leave Canyon1 de Chelly arid return to th eir tiogan hear

Chihie."

Remembering what h is father had t old him about the lack

of schools "for Navajo children, Jim asked, "Do you go to

school in Chinlet* C'V-: : 4^Kot In Chlnle# I; go to the Wave j hoarding

school at Brigham City, tTtah. That i s quite far from here, ^■ -■-i ■ ■he answered. Z; C 'L- O r' : LC.

Jim.thought that must he the reason the boy spokeL ,

6 ite r Mountain Indian School^ Brigham Clty^ Utah*

English so ;well. Strange, but Jim had never thought of a

hoarding school as a place where any hut white boys and g ir ls

attended. Here, home with h is people for the summer, was

another, boy who was no d ifferen t from him self except, perhaps

that h is skin was. s lig h t ly darker» t c - v : , Vox- r 4 c s - - , Soon they cam to Standing 6ew l|«ln idiere Tsosie greeted

some of his: friends who lived there# a r r , e.•; ' -j "They say, th a t; they won ‘ t mind i f we look around a b i t , w

informed the Navajo^boy. rr; • • • ; • , rv:fn. - ~.nco, % •;• - v!.t,- in: ;. The i two boys, dl amounted and dropped the re in s over th eir

horses * r heads. • -They; walked towardnthe blue and white p icto­

graphy on the wall* ny . •’ ; vinz'f-u lie:* : v vr 1\'-V; n•'Walking toward the ro o fle ss struoture h e h a d e a r lie r

noticed under .the ;.pi@tegr«ph Jim asked, "What; do they mae

th ishogan for?" ;"<* V- In? 11 r-nn-.v-- a;; -It* a". :1-■ 1

La i : "They use i t for threshing com , * q u ietly rep lied

T sosie. a a a a aaaa r aa a l i a c a l -;?vl H a a ; • y- a ; a a i a a a " a : l

Several fe e t frea the circular structure Jim noticed

some storage * p its • ic n a'cn! inaaa.; LI.-' '.vl-yL-.-a :;:rr Ha » "VTMs i s where a,they store th eir eom u n til they are -.

......................... 2 L ‘ready to leave Canyon del J ^ rt® in ; the f a l l , ” ., *e sa id ,in

answer to th e; question Jim.,was, about, t® ask* . ?There i s as

much storage space below ..the -ground as we see above. They 1 2

1. H ill , 0 £ . C i t . , p . 194. a--; . : i ,

2. Ib id *, p. 198* .: i .

dugLthe1p its out so as to have more space•n

,-*Wha.t do. you memi: by * they the p its out T ?" asked

. : The Navajo boy explained to Jim - that these were storage

p its which were; used hy:the Aneient Ones. For; centuries the

p its were not used. Dust and sand hlew in f i l l in g them.

When ; these Nava j os - b u ilt th eir hogans ; and raised, com here,

they found i t easy to dig the loose, sand* out o f the; p itss ; .i

"They make fine' places to store com , " added. Tsosiei In

ending h is explanati<m. : v ■ r:lv.v;ys . bo

11; i Jim noticed as, they walked about that the ground was

l it te r e d with peach p it s . < Herwondered how so few Navajos

could have eaten so many.peaches. : Across from the;Navajo }~

settlement was the ; orchard. Them were many more peach; -

trees than there; were Nava Jos. in the. l i t t l e camp; at Stand­ing Cow. ;,0

: As the boys; s tro lled about the area, Tsosie remarked,

"Here the Nava Jos dry th e ir peaches; in the la te; summer. The

dried fru it, i s , kept for - food, during the winter months." -p

c> The . boys walked to the other side of the canyon where

the Nava Jos had b u i l t 1 a weeden dam near the orchard. : They

had diverted the water in to a d itch which irr iga ted their2com f ie ld as w ell as the orchard. Jim thought th is was a

: *' - - - J:' r .l'.: - - C p'-r.-r- y- ., v '; : . 1. Personal observation, May 25, 1951.

; av 2. Personal observation.

59

good nse: Of :the . : K : . - '• .r.r: : v*

n " A :fiw mlmates more of exploration and the boys were

ready to leave. Bidding h is friends goodbye, Tsosie walked

towards h is horse. Jim followed c lo se ly .

"Are you ready to go, T iish zhiin?" he asked in h is

native tongue as he mounted h is black horse. To Jim i t

sounded as though he ca lled the animal C li-sheen.

"What i s your horse’s name?" asked Jim somewhat cm fused.

"It i s T iish zh iin . That means black horse in Navajo

language. My horse understands Navajo so I always ta lk to

him in our language."

The boys rode in silen ce for several m iles. Jim’s

thoughts were of h is experiences o f the day. Again he shud­

dered at the thoughts of the d isaster h is Navajo companion

had prevented. By the time they reached the junction of de

Chelly and del Muerto canyons, they had agreed to see each

other the follow ing day.

"Before the sun i s th er e ," said Tsosie indicating a

point in the eastern horizon, "I’l l look for you coming up

de Chelly."

" It’s a bargain," agreed Jim as he bade h is Navajo friend goodbye.

"This morning Dad to ld us to be c a r e fu l,* Jim said to

his horse as he rode towards headquarters. "We must ask Dad

more about canyons. T a il, or we’l l get in to trouble before

the summer i s over."

Tail gha* t ig a i i made a queer l i t t l e whinnying sound

as though In complete agreement with Jim.

! ■■■«

v-. ;v e r - h . v-

C': ?:yo ':; y.v..>vVc r;n rJ Of. -.T ;-; vv-. Cctr-jl'v;."- kv c l : : '- "

/i / vr. v y C t i l ' : ; '

r r . < \ : .• : v l > ! ;1 d <■:- Vt x ' v r y c : - - d c •• y ; '

• ;y ; - h v j v f V ' "> d. . U ' ' . ’ " : ::

'i - •' * ; v.a y x a : f, • ' " ■ *"r' ;

I : : ; > . . : ; T- ' ; ; ’ , : ; v, * ■: f - _ -■ v ; > ;v -'i T V \

r • *- - r. r. . ■ V . * - i ’y o o : - :'.T- :

u ' : v : , y i - ‘ T v . :. - } . -n - . y n l o v y ; i ‘ ;x ' - - r v : 1: "Uj

. T; "r r ; . y . - k d d b l :,V- a V a - y . V - -v: :. y

t i . - r : , ; ; h \ .' T : . r b 7 . a " : ; • , ■ j ■

, v f : : - V a , . " X X a ' a X ' d t C l ' * * d

: : r.--: ■ -i : * V - - - X a - : ' - / O ' ' C.: -

/ : 1 '"-'-I l~ . .y • : ' y 1 ,-•• -

- •' ' : d a a - ’ C '

% ■ ; ' ■ v: - j A ; - . ;; . • r f ; . - r :;:yV v h . - x a d r . , 7 a 1- '

- ' 1 : 1 V: ?.- o I . . : ; r h c u y l ; . ; K -.t i .

V.cm:: c

r ; :

.n-:

CHAPTER V

SPIDER ROCKt

‘ - V : c. ' t j v . - --1 , I ’--;f : ; • ; • , i tEarly the next morning Jim and T sii gha* t ig a i i were on

th eir way to meet Taoaie Notah at h is hogsn at the mouth of

Canyon del Ifuerto and Canyon de Chelly. The day was clear .

and bright, a good day for adventure. T sii seemed to th inkV: ? "::v' '.V-.. >: C f *: Iv: t.-”

so too for he maintained a l iv e ly ga it up Canyon de Chelly.

Jim passed three Navajo fam ilies in th e ir wagons going

down the canyon. He was sure they were going to the trading

post. One driver answered Jim's greeting with a shy wave of

the hand. The women s it t in g on the floor of the wagons made

a pretty p icture. Their brigh tly colored velveteen blouses

shone In the sunlight.

"Those high necked blouses and long f u l l sk ir ts must be

h o tl* he thought. He pictured in h is mind the cr isp , cool­

looking cotton dresses h is mother wore. "And Dad to ld me

that the Navajo women copied the sty le from Army o ff ic e r s '

wives who lived out here in the I860's . The same sty le for1 r . v v : ' • : - ' . : ••••/. rs

over ninety years I Whee, I can 't imagine Mother's being sat­is f ie d with the same s ty le for more than n inety years."' " : - l b - - ' /.v; .

Jim was absorbed by h is thoughts and the time passed * 1

“ ' ■“ -b.:::-.' r : ; b t. ' V b"C,; "v . r ';;v.-V-J-1. Dr. Clarence Salsbury, Supt. of Ganado Mission,

Ganado, Arizona, Interview, July S6, 1949.

(jaicklf* , In:-the.distance he :could: see Hoateen.Begay in h is

born f i e l d . ' ; . ;,?■ r-";.: I ' - ; r , 51

BQood m om lng,-Hosteen,M greeted-Jlm.as he came near

the old Navajo. Then remembering what h is father had to ld

him about the co u r te sy o f speaking their language, he:.quickly"

added a second greeting. tWA»la»han-»eyv Hosteen."-

"A-la-hah-ey," came-Hosteeii.'Begay’s reply.

short distance from the hogan, * H®ete®of s w ife ‘ sa t be­

fore her loom at work <»i her weaving. Jim ca lled a cheery

good-morning to her, too* Wing both industrious and shy, . ,she turned tim idly towards Jim, just longlenough to say# y. "A-la-han-ey. " and re sumed her weaving* : : ' . : ^

: As Jim. continued :<m h is way, he wmdered what adventure

was • in store j for Tseale andrMar that bright summer day.

There were so many places to mcplore in: Canyon de Chelly that

one didn’t know what to do f i r s t . Tsomle undoubtedly knew

the r canyon.well• Jim decided that h is fr ien d would have some­

thing: in terestin g in mind. ' ^

; b There was Tsosie bending over the squash plants and

loosening the s o i l . : Seeing Jim, he waved. He arose from h is

work and went to the hogam for h is lunch. He was soon at the

corral getting readyrfor th eir tr ip . Jim-noticed that, there

was no,saddle on T iish zhiin and that the reins were lengths

of rope. b ; b , ■ r: -X" :';r; v.y -

...___ "Strange th a t..I didn’t notice that before. I guess I

was too excited,yesterday** he,thought.

58

59

i ' hH1,7 T so s le ,M greeted Jim as he rode toward-the corral.

*1 thought I: ad.ght be too early arid fin d you s t l l l aaleep.*

- - Mounting M s black horse, he answered, "Oh, no. We

Havajos get up at dawn. * > '■ ‘

"Don11 -you ever sleep u n til noon when you’re very tired?"

Inquired Jim as they started up Canyon de Chelly.

Tsosie did not answer immediately. ; While the horses

loped alemg enjoying the coo l o f the early morning, he con­

tinued, "When I was a : l i t t l e boy, my mother to ld me that the

Crow People flew back and forth over our hogans a fter stsarise.

I f they saw someone covered up, they would begin to gossip .

They to ld other crows that someone in the ho gen was sick .

That was bad because someone in the hogan might become sick1

because the crows had gossiped.* ; :

r "Do you b elieve thatf" inquired Jim. ; r !

"No, not now, but I believed i t u n til a fter I had been

to school for a / long t ime. Now I am used to gettin g up a t ’

sunrise.’ ;My eyes won’t stay shut any lon ger ," rep lied Tsosie

with af s lig h t smile appearing as he spoke. r

As they rode along the canyon flo o r , Jim spied sometMng

moving on the sandy bank at th e ir r igh t. , ;

."Is that jl woodchuck?" inquired Jim pointing to the animal. r—!li'- ..

"No. I t i s n ’t , ? rep lied Tsosie recognizing the creature

1. H ill , OE. c l t . , p. 19. . ; '

60

Immediately,..^but i t does look something lik e a woodchtiek

/from a distance. Its eol#r, though, is reddish "brown upon1

the hack and mixed with grey and hlaek lik e a fox . ”

"Is i t a red squirrel?" asked Jim in a second attempt.

‘ " N o . . This animal does not climb trees as the squirrel

does." Z ^

Jim looked r e a lly puzsled. The Navajo boy saw Jim's be-

wilderment and added, "Here are a few more clues: This ani­

mal and i t s many neighbors liv e . In a burrowed town. The town

i s r e a lly honeycombed with tunnels. One of the animals i s the

leader and he s i t s before the entrance of h is burrow. He2

gives orders to the group." •

"Is i t a mole?" asked Jim in a n ot-too-certa in tone.

"NOi Jim. It isn ’t , but I ' l l t e l l you one more thing

about th is, animal. When i t Is cooked. I t ta s te s l ik e :roasted3

duck. At le a s t we Hava^os think so." : '

"That’s a good r id d le , T so s ie ," remarked Jim as they rode

along, "but what i s th e answer? I: give u p .".

' "It i s a p rairie dog. There are.many of them around here. 1 2 3

1. J. G. Wood, The I llu str a ted Natural H istory. (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, IsA^ pp. 1^5-1VS.

2. Loc. c l t . \ T" ' '3. Gene Baldwin, student at Ganado Mission High School,

Interview, July 21, 1950.Also H ill, op. c l t . . op. 171-172: "Prairie dogs were

also important as food. They were shot, drowned out, or dug out." They were always cooked in the same way. "They were cleaned . . . and the l iv e r , lungs, and fa t put back in the body cav ity . Salt was added and. the opening pinned up with - tw igs. Then the hair was singed in an open f ir e and the animal was burled in the ashes to roast."

I t ' s your turn now: t o ; give- me a . ridd le * w - . ■■■.•' ••

Id:-.,. " I ' l l t e l l you one to puzzle over, one which I heard

over the radio a-few days ago. What animal i s a th ief? I t

Fill s tea l from you, hut i t w il l always give you something

return.* . A I.':/ rWI think: i t i s , a pack rat or trade ra t , Jim. One o f

them s to le a small slin g: shot from me th is summer,, but! i t v

l e f t some, pine cones and stick s in exchange.^:

: : "Right with the f i r s t guess, n rep lied Jim looking ad­

miringly at h is friend .."N ow i t i s your, turn, Tsoaie.* ;

r Tsosie rubbed his forehead thought fu lly and then asked,

"What sta te was a Valentine present to the United S tates,

Jim?" y V ; - - : : . Tr ^

, "Tlmt rl<Wle I ' 11 guess a t . Was i t Arizona?"

i: ‘ • "Yes, i t :1s* i I t became a sta te ©n February 14th, 191B.*

. ; "That reminds me of a riddle my. father to ld about a

Valentine present.. . What was another Government Valentine y

present? t This was a present to a l l o f the people in the

United S ta tes. I t i s Important in your l i f e , T so s ie .*

. ; T sosie th ou gh t. a few seconds and then asked, "Was i t

freedom?" , .y - : - y : v - -

"Freedom was a . Fourth: of. Ju ly : present to us, T sosie .

The: present I'm thinking about, was given on V alentine's day."

y Tsosie rode along thoughtfully. "I think I »11 have to

give up with that r id d le , Jim. What i s it?"

"It i s Canyon de Chelly National Monument. I t was given

61

%

to a l l of the people of the United States on February 14th,

c: should have guessed that when you said your father

to ld you - about I t 'and that 11 was Important in my l i f e • Ran- know a l l those date#.* f i ;v-

• They w re now at the foot of White House Ruins. . Tsosie

directed h is horse- to the right side o f the canyon. Without

questions," Jim followed u n t il they reached the foot of a ' :

t r a i l leading up from the canyonw :

" le t 's send our h d r s e s t M s t r a i l while you and I go

up the one that was b u ilt by the Ancient Ones, "suggested Tsosie.'X-j'. [; ^

"Do you mean that the Anasasl b u ilt it?" asked Jim

pleased to think he could remember the pronunciation of the

d if f ic u lt word and a lso proud to th ink he knew something o f

the early people o f Canyon de Chelly. : ;

- "Yes, the Ailasazi dug i t o u t," he answered dismounting

M s horse. « A ' , ■:.0 r A ; - : A;- A:: ;■ A A--;

While Tsosie put the reins over M s horse’s head and;

made ready for the ascent up the steep c l i f f , he to ld Jim

about the ancient hand and toe t r a i l . A; - 1 v

' The Ancient One# had chipped holes in to the sendWtome ■ , . . . .... 1

|u st far enough apart to make steps on the steep slope.

That was th eir short cut to the top and the holes made ellmb- 1

1. Wyatt, bp. c l t . . p . 9 . A

Ihg easy. • : r '

.•ih-.'-’M-SCn-yoep way, T llsh zM ln, ” he said sharply1 to h is

horse wMle clappings h is hands. "He knows Wmt he should

doi L Often when we are here at White House, I climb the

tP a lllo f ,th e Ancient Ones a fter I have started Tllah zh lln

up the modem wide path. ; He 1 # usually at- the rim by the

time I get there. c - ::: .

lx 3 - Jim:looked worried. "But what about Tail? I wonder I f

he w ill go up the; newer t r a i l without me. ; : ; -e

"I think he wl11 follow T llah zb iIn;", comforted T sosie.

i - l "He probably^:will i f be doesn’t find some good green

grass; along the way, ? laughed : Jim. . ; : ; ' • 1c: IV :- i : : A fter:starting th e ir horse# up the winding path# the

boys.climbed over a low ledge of rock and began their tr ip

up the old: hand and toe t r a in Tsosie led with; Jim follow­

ing c lo se ly . Jim not Iced:: that the chipped holes were large

enough •for!aJamm* s fo o t, although the edges had been worn 1

round by.:.tim e» ; At the side: of: the ;toe; tr a ils he saw smaller

round: holes where the Ancients had rested their: hands while

climbing. ; He thought that th is must have been a great help

in steadying;them while going up the. steep c l i f f because I t

gave him added confidence in climbing ;a .tr a il that went a l­most straight up.

Pausing to re st about h a lf way? up, he glanced across " 1

1. Personal observation ,, May 25, 1951.

the canyon• How small White House looked tucked away In I ts

shallow cave 1

"I’d b etter keep my mind on th is ," he thought turning

h is head back to the hand and toe t r a i l and continuing h is

climbing.

They climbed for another few minutes when Tsosle ca lled

down from above, "Look, Jim. Look down at Chee In the canyon

Doesn't he look small?"

Jim looked down to where a Navajo boy was rid ing horse­

back up de Chelly. Jim thought the boy looked lik e a mechan­

ic a l toy moving up the canyon.

The great height had made Jim fe e l a b it weak in the

legs and the climb bad winded him, but he said nothing to

his Navajo friend who seemed not to mind th eir strenuous

exercise at a l l .

Upon reaching the rim, the boys found the horses graz­

ing contentedly.

"Tail seems to be finding something to eat," remarked

Jim looking at h is horse, "but there i s no grass for him

that I can see."

"They find something. Those low bushes make good

browse. After a while Tail gha* t ig a i i w ill lik e them as

w ell as our Navajo horses do."

White House Ruin looked smallsr than ever now that they 1

1. Wyatt, o£. c l t . , p. 9.

W hite House Ruin lo o k e d s m a l le r th a n e v e r

now t h a t th e y saw I t from th e rim

o f th e can y o n .

65

i

66

saw i t frmi the rim of the ' : ^

;ttSpider Rock Is only eight m iles from here. Shall we

go up to i t -and have our Itmeh there?”

Spider Rook! What a faiieihating name. What could i t

be? jim knew that h is friend would t e l l him a l l about i t in

He answered, "Spider Rock! I haven’t heard o f that, but

I ’d lik e to see i t ." ’ ■ ; ::

"That's f in e . Come, T iish zh iln , we must move right "

along, * said Tsbsle as he .mounted .his black horse.:• ; .f- ;■ % l-v C r . -• ' -

"I wonder i f that i s where bad and that v is ito r went to

take pictures the other day, ” he thought Jas they rode along*.

Tsosie was in the lead and said very l i t t l e , but Jim- ♦ . V , , > ■ . - ■ f *• ’ r V - 5 <■ • ' ' ■ 1

f e l t that i t was a fr iend ly s ile n c e . The boys were becoming

good friends without much ta lk about i t ."' -'i, -o. r .y"1’."- y y y y i r ; L'.yr, V .•■■■

They had not ridden far when Tsosie stopped before a-f- * •» ■' ; ' •*' . - s " ' • - , » . • * ' X « '• - •" . ’ « .

' 5 : «- : i . " "• v . - : - ' » * • % .?• ' j ' .'1 *$•

p ile of rocks a few fee t from the path. He quickly d is --yy : • ,y:ryy, J* yly: : I:-y ■ I . -. ;

mounted and placed a sprig of juniper on the rocks. Hey'-’-y '1';''y^y y:■ y / yvv-y:- y?''

weighted the juniper down with a small rock. He stood be-"y'-yy i.T r y : . y ' ■; /. ; :'y. : ■ ; ’ y y ■-

fore the rocky pyramid apparently saying something. His l ip s

moved but Jim could hear no sound. Jim wondered what was

happening but had learned not to ask. too frequent questions.

Returning to h is horse Tsosie explained, "This i s

Tsenadjihlh, a Navajo sacred place or shrine•"

1. Richard F. Van Valkenburgh, "Sacred Places and Shrines o f.th e N avajos," Plateau. XIII (July, 1940), 6.

67

n: Tlie Nava jo boy posaesaed a s ix th .-sense and knew when

Jim had a question i i i h is mind# t;- .

; "That i s a hewd word to aay," remarked Jim admiringly*

"What doesJLt mean in English?” ' r %1

’ r ”I t means * picking up and putting on stones1 2 in Eng­l is h , ” answered Y sosie. T'.-: :: :-

”That i s jnst what you did a#.you spoke to i t . ”

”Yes,; in the:Havajo- language ! asked that we have a

good trip .- I f I were to say i t in English i t would be th is:

’ Pl aci ng rocks, Male onePlacing rocks. Female one

: ; V; Everywhere I go myself '• r ^ 5 '*?-May I have luck.

" - h Everywhere. my close re la tiv e a go- * :■ r-zMay they have th eir lu c k .”2

"Will you stop at the shrine when we come back, too?*!--V. :■ ; .

queried Jim. .. .................................

”No. We Hava joe never stop when w e return from our

tr ip . . I t i s only In, going, ” came the rep ly .Y , ,, "That i s a fin e custom, I think. How long have the

Navajos used these shrines?”

. ”Once when I asked my father how long we had been us-

ing the tsenadjihih , he to ld me that i t was a long time be-, y ' • 4 ....................

fore Huelte. We t e l l time by Huelte. Huelte i s Fort Sum­

ner. Our Long Walk to Huelte was in 1864.”V ;y : ,v y s y - ... ■,

"Huelte, Fort Sumner, Long Walk—I wonder what he

1. Loc. c i t . 3 . Loc. c i t .

2. 1 ^ . , p. 8 . 4 . Ib id ., p. 7 .

68

means, * "thought Jim while Tsosl* i@en%inn@4 .his s tery . • •

a Whan ; I was a U t i l e boy, my father told , me about the <

shrine. He. said that Talking God and Hous.e. God made the

f ir s t taenadjlhih for Dineh fo r . th eir good rlmek* Mneh ./ 1

(whieh Tsosie pronounced De-nay) v la the name we Havajos2have given ourselves. • I t means. The People, ” - added T sosie

as they cmitinued along the rim path# i : ;. When they had reached a thicket o f pinon, Tsosie gave

directicais: . :”H©re i s where we t»ra said take the path -of

many tw ists to the overlook.H • ^ : 5 -

L w ! t e n y « .t* ls t s I s r ig h t, ” thought Jim as they headed

up the:shaded area. I t was no doubt a path used by to u r ists

who drove to the point where Monument Canyon branches o f f to 3

the southeast, : Vm ■ vex- ■ ■' cl -

?It must require carefu l driving, * thought Jim, "tostay on such a narrow winding road.*

"There i t i s . Spider Rock,^ annomced Jim’s guide, i h

"And I ’m hungry." - . r--. -, c =-!- : . v- c-- -. . %' " 4

; Jim gazed sp eech lessly :from their thousand foot ...highvantage‘point .t o a remote - rocky p illa r r is in g from the can­

yon flo o r . vc v V vvv: i>'vvyc..; C / ■ /1 v .

■■ - ' -■ -■ ■ ' V .. ;v-l M v y,: vv /'v:; l.v.. - ,v - : .v > ,

1. Gorman, interview .2. Ib id .

3. Personal observation. May,24,

4. Wyatt,: op. c l t . . p. 10.

1951.

69

While the boys unpacked th eir lunches, Jim mused aloud,

"Spider RockI I t looks more lik e a fin e place for an eagle

to build I t s nest than lik e a sp ider’s home."

At the moment Tsosle said nothing, but while they a te ,

he to ld Jim the Navajo legend about Spider Rock.

"Many Navajo boys and g ir ls b elieve that a giant spider

l iv e s up there at the top of the rock. I used to b elieve i t

when I was a l i t t l e boy. My mother often to ld me that i f I

were bad. Speaking Rock, the one across the canyon there,

would t e l l the spider about my m ischief. Then the spider

would come down and carry me up to h is n est at the top o f

the rock.

"What a horrible story to t e l l ch ildren1" thought Jim.

"But then I guess i t i s n ’t any worse than Jack and the Bean­

sta lk , Hansel and G retel, and a few others that used to

frighten me when I was small."

"It looks very slim from here, doesn’t I t t One of the

rangers to ld me i t i s forty fee t square at the top and about2

eight hundred fe e t high," remarked T sosle . "Some people

c a ll Spider Rock and Speaking Rock.The Captains."

Jim looked ahead to a point where Canyon de Chelly ran

northward. By turning s lig h t ly , h is gaze followed a branch.

1. Ib id .

2. M indeleff, op. c i t . . p. 85.

3. Loc. c i t .

S p id e r Rock and S p eak in g Rock

a r e som etim es c a l l e d

The C a p ta in s .

7 0

Ray M anley

71

Monument Canyon, as I t wound i t s way southeastward*

"When we go back, l e t ' s .go down the newer Monument t r a i l

with our horses. Then you can t e l l your father that you have

been on the Government-made t r a i l and the Anasazi hand and

toe t r a i l . Won't he be surprised!"

The sun was getting low on the western horizon and the

boys, without discussing i t , mounted th eir horses and started

the ride along the canyon rim.

At White House overlook, they led the horses down the

newer tr a il and towards the canyon. Jim noticed how care­

fu lly h is palomino picked h is way along. About h a lf way down, they came to a short tunnel.

"The Government engineers did some b lastin g h ere ," re­

marked Jim looking overhead at the rocky roof.

"Yes, and here are some holes in the rock which they

made when they d r ille d and set in stick s o f dynamite," added

T sosie. "They made us a good wide t r a i l and many Hava jos

use i t , e sp ec ia lly when they are with th eir horses. I f the

Navajos are not on horseback and want to get to the rim quick-1

ly , they use the old hand and toe t r a i l . "

"Dad says that he often uses the old Anasazi t r a i l , too," added Jim.

When they reached the canyon flo o r , Tsosie patted h is2horse and asked, "Toh? Toht"

1. Robert,Morris^ . interview .

2 . Armer, op. c l t . , p. 6.

H angers o f te n u se th e o ld hand and to e t r a i l

72

Taosie rode T ilsh zh lln towards a small stream across

the canyon while Jim and T ail gha* t ig a i i follow ed.

"Toh %mi@t be waterp thought Jim. *1 muet rmmember

th a t .” '■':v

Jim gazed upwards to look again at White House Ruins; : ; o r v : . v :: / ' r: - '.e ; : l .

and remarked to h is Navajo friend, "My father to ld me that

few Navajos have ever been in White House, T sosie . Why i s'7;V 7 ‘ 7 1 h 7 7 7 7 '.7 ' %' 7 A 7:". fV.' '.'7 X*! . 7 •- - :77 V'7? ' ' 1 7 - 7 7tlmt?"

"Many Nava j os w ill not go in the houses of the Ancient7-. 7. '7-7 7;. - 7 -7 ’- --7 l _::7.-7' : ' 77" 7 V> !7 7 7 7 ; 7 7 777 '■ ] 7 7Ones. They say that the houses are f i l l e d with ehlndi or

7 7 I 7 7 ,7 .7 r - 7 7 . 7 7 7 , 1e v il sp ir its and i t i s not good to go where ehlndi i s . Of

L : i’i v 7 -, 7 7 r . v 7. .Li'..'..7..7 0: .7 ; - 7 , 7 ' ; -l . s - ’ ~ 0 •• -course, some of my people do not b elieve in ehlndi now."

"Chindl. e v i l sp ir it s ! - How superstitious these Navajo#. 77 7 7 -.r77 L 7 ' Vr X 7 V X " 7 \ 7 7 7 ,are!" thought Jim, and then as quickly added to h is thoughts,

:77r;:77 7 . - ; " :7-. . : i 7 1 7 7 . "-7 7: 7 7 , . 7-77 77 7 -"But many white people s t i l l have fears o f haunted houses.

; 7 7.7- ' 7 ‘So we aren’t any d ifferen t from them a fter a l l .

' * , ;:r.-Another mile of rid ing and chatting and T aosie’s hogan

7 7 .was in sight,

•• - 1"Thank you for being a guide today, Taosie. I ’d lik e

77;to explore more of the canyon with you another time. W ill7. - 7 7 7 ' ; ; 77 7:- ;v.->C7 V-:7 :\ [777. 7 7 : 7 7 - 7 7 j 7 r '7,-7^ :77'..

you come down to my house to see me soon?" asked Jim.; ; ' 7 ' . r'7 7 > / - '7 ' . : 7 7 7 7 7 777 -;7. .7 7 7 ‘ 7 - ■ ■

"Soon I w ill ," answered h is friend as he rode away- 7 77-

leaving Jim with four m iles of travel back to Monument head--: --'T C A'.:',; A','..; ziL/: x:; A-'"-

quarters.

2. Gorman, interview .

' , 'V ‘ :r;M. t.Vv:" ■ r u \ or-. ; 1 •

^ • •CHAPTER VI.'■v..-- f,

THE ANGRY CEEffj

.7 , ■ ,v ‘.T, 1 ‘

■r' • V. t o :v.'0 i.;

l Or . - ' UOThe pleasant morning coolness greeted Jim as he l e f t

SO; : , .o . t o v o o . ■■ ■ ; • ,vv : o r o - : - ; J t ; - ^ o o r t ' O O ' -

headquarters with no particular plans for the day. Upon

reaching the reg istra tio n desk in front, he was pleased to\ 1.-'0..': > o j v..: <; ;;o ; ■1 ;' t ■ ■:see Tsosie approaching. Without discussing the matter, the

t o - - . t ; . r t : v o v - : - - r : : 0 ; u : ; t ■ : ' / ' ' - . :

two hoys started toward a c lu ster of cottonwoods on a low'■7'--oo \* :'■■■ u f:. S', rovot.o -■ V.O ; -.i 0,:h i l l not far away.

They began talk ing as though no time had elapsed since

their la s t v i s i t . Jim, of course, was eager to know more

about h is Indian fr ien d 's tr ib e .•S .o.i V . : ;; t. a; : v t ' t t - ; ' o S"You have mentioned the name of Hoskaninni several

. '" .■O' ; ;o;; : t ’■ •• \ 0 - '' i. t '.O',: v.:. U t ';:V, " : O 0times, T sosie. You said he i s loved among the Navajos as" V.. U .. ; t;j. ; h ov. v11 >0.:: " ', •- . , . v V.George Washington i s among white people. Could you t e l l me

r- ..•■r, O' •' I..-:;- vt.:; p r - ' r ; -- o o o : ... t -more about th is Hoskaninnifw

T sosie 's eyes had that far-away expression which Jim" . o r t ■' rV.:- - . y- - v , - . n : - ’-.r • . .r;' ;,r-r.r - ;v; r Or.;.had seen several times when he talked of h is proud people.

He seemed to be transported in to another world where Hosk-- oreminni must have played an important part.(’ -;r V' • ■

"His rea l name was Huskaaney which in Navajo means Theu c; ■ "■ :r;, c;: i,":

Angry One. However, Americans ca lled him Hoskaninni because

' ' " 1 ’ V • f - .. ' *

75

they couldn’t pronounce I t as we do. When Hoskanlnnl heard

that Kit Carson of the United States Army was on h is way to

Kayenta with h is men In July of 1865, he to ld h is w ife and

sen to he ready to move at any time. Hoskanlnnl’s family

and fourteen other follow ers made plans Immediately to escape

to Navajo Mountain by going through Ute country. That was

as dangerous as facing Carson’s men because the Utes were our

enemies, "too. They l e f t the night the news came to them.

The l i t t l e band of seventeen persons, three'horsey and twenty1

sheep l e f t Kayenta and traveled northward to Agathla Peak,2the Place-where-hldes-are-scraped. Here, I w i l l show you

how they went." And T sosle, lik e Ranger Lewis, began a sand

map for Jim.

Jim was somewhat astonished that one as young as h is

newly found Navajo friend should know so much about an In­

cident in the h istory of h is people. Jim was to learn that

th is was a b itte r chapter in the h istory of T sosle’s tr ib e .

Old and young alike knew most of the d e ta ils of th is story

down to the la s t sheep, Jim was a lso to learn that th is ta le

was told over and over, year a fter year, around Navajo camp

f ir e s .

Tsosle continued with the story:: "They traveled by

night so that they would not be seen. To the east they could

1. Ib id . , pp. 7 -9 .

^ 2 . Katherine Jfflke, a Navajo at Dlnnehotso, Arizona, interview , August 8, 1949. *

Hoskaninni*s journey to escape Kit Carson.

76

see the eaa^flr0s!; of the soldiera who were a fter them. To

th% west wer6 the f ir e s o f thslir enemies, the U tes. They

a lso had to he on the lookout for bands of raiding Mexicans."

‘' - ' "If -they l e f t so hurriedly, what food did they pack for

th eir -tripi*- asked Jim.

"They had none," rep lied T sosie, "and Hoskmninnl would

not le t them k i l l any of their twenty sheep. They gathered1

grass;seed and boiled i t for food."

J i "After:" they had gone tiro'nights north of Agathla, they

turned west to" 01 jetoh and then west and southwest to the

east side- o f Navajo Mountain. -Hoskaninni was not sa t is f ie d

that th is was the best place for safety from h is enemies,

so he" t obk hi S people - a round t he mount Sin and northward to­ward the Colorado River* ThOre he found a place where the

grass was good. " v;' V r: r-::-.. ^ j

- "Here^? said Tsosie pointing to i t m Ms sand map,"was" a1 place where the mountain hid them from th eir enemies

2to the south. Hoskaninni decided that would be th eir heme

u n til he was certain that the;-soldiers were no longer search­

ing for them. Ed, h is fam ily ,"and h is fourteen follow ers

remained in : that section for more than four y ea rs.*

■ "What did Kit Carson • do about t h is f Did he try to .

follow. Hoskaninni?." queried Jim.

1. K elly, op. p i t . , p. 7 .

a? ™ ! 1,0? 2 ’ Cummings, former professor at Hnlver- s i ty o f Arizona, interview , December 28, 1950.

77

w0h» yes;r Kit Garsen. seat;,so ld lers a fte r BDskanlsnl*

but they lo s t men and horses because they did not know the

rough country. Gar son F s , soldier# became discenraged and

burned back saying I t wa# no us# trying to fo llow .th at old

f©3C,e5oskaninnl» V ;-'1 2' I-.:- % - -"When-they came out of ;hiding In 1868,’" continued

Tsosle, "they had-onen thousand sheep, many horses, and much

silver* Many .say that Hoskaninnl had discovered a s ilv e r 2

mine. They divided th e ir possessions among them and s e t­

tled on a str ip of land forty miles wide between the Colo­

rado River and the Carriso Mountains. That i s over h ere ,*

said Tsosle pointing to the map in an effort to help Jim

capture the picture of the NavaJos1 journey.

"The Angry One liv ed u n til 1912. Several summers ago

my father talked with l is son, Hoskaninnl-begay. My father

was v is it in g at Goulding* a trading post in Monument Valley,

which i s h ere ," said Tsosle scratching another location on

h is sand map. "Hoskaninnl-begay was then an old man."

"How old?" interrupted Jim.

"It i s thought that the son was ninety-two years old3

when my father talked with him. He died the next year.

Everyone says he was a fine old Navajo. He had many friends

1. Dr. Cummings, interview .

2. K elly, op. e f t . , p. 9.

« x. 5’x. from Harry Goulding of Goulding* s TradingPost dated February 12, 1951.

79

among the Indiana of other tr ib es as w ell as among the white

people."':'x Y I J

"But come, Jim. You said your father wanted you to be back at Monument headquarters'not la ter than noon. The sunt e l l s me It Is almost that time now."

"Where has the time gone 1" exclaimed Jim.it::- i: :/t-"

As they walked along, Jim mused, "I understand why you' 1 j r;:!::respect and love The Angry One, as you c a ll old Hoskanlnnl• 1

• • ’ V. _: r i i l c r r i r c; Ob' t - ' - : io

- t- - '• C i " 1 ;b '4 - r - b ^ -o oi 0 0 : o r . :

■ ' ' ' J' l ' • " ' '* * '* coy: r O Y ; o ::' 'o •: o "ol r t o O V l b : : . - bo bbb ; r ‘

'< ■-v • v i : ;>■ —- - v. i .. ; J - o b'-vo--:-

"■'ihY .t 0- ;o:o: ' y . -r b: : 000 0- '0 1 ■ ;■ . l-“ v V;-

o'b*. 1 f: 2 • ’• ‘b; - 'I :bo- lb: vo jO0: b - - .. % , '

b e ,- : - or; b ;b: Ter- y-iev-v':.-, "-b ' re 1 0 . : b e 0 - ; . - '

• u - c . - . ;bO 0 1= 'o ; . ,

• b r : • V Iv V - . " . : ; ; . . 'oo o b o ro r o I . v. or-: . t o .- : r. : b -

ib r r , , r r / v r r ; ' -0 :1 :0 : . b ; :■ ’o.0:;o o ■ b.'Ui t o 0 ' b : ,

V ; ' : v v nlr-r- t / : I : - . h ' : : 0 f l r V o b b b - t " 1 b

" t b e n t Y / r ,

: • . > r : " . L b ' l : b o I : - C r / o b U

t o o r -::r T - .{ :.i - : - r t o'- ”; i * , ... ... . .

C : : Y O O O Y . 0 . O ' : O b r -: i : 0 - 0 : 0 ; . . . b:

b t - t b o b : o . o l ; o :..r o r o o . : . . ; • ' 0 :o;y : ; ' A. :: r r . v -

0.1 = ::":- Oib. ; = : 1:: -0’ :: rOjO:. b. :: o V : ■ bi : v; -

■ "" 0 .O' 0 : : 0 ;: r - . - t ■■ , _1. Loc. c l t .

'% I.-' -f. j ; ! ' ^ 7 h -c-x-",

:’V'i:u;; re?;,'"

THE STORY- OF CANYCE DEL MUERTO - AND MASSACRE CAVE

:

r . r ■; 2 r c u i e -ei - v.rCHAPTER VII

x„. v tv :,v.ps

"Dad, how did th is canyon, the Canyon of the Dead, gete a •" ■ " '■ r - ; ^

I ts name?" asked Jim. He and h is, father were making anotherr v i U - : r - , . ■ M: . - V - ' . ' ' : • • . . ■ ' : " ' a * %

hairpin turn along the tw istin g path of del Muerto.

"The Mexicans christened the canyon with blood in the

winter of 1804 and 1805. They named i t Canyon of the Dead

after their cowardly sort of v ictory up there in a cave ,"j’V-V; i' r \ " ' ' : ' ■ '■ ^ '' ' ' =' ' '

replied Ranger Lewis*

"Why do you c a l l i t cowardly. Dad?"

"The Mexicans and the Navajo's had raided each other

back and forth for years. One day when the Navajos decided

to raid the Mexicans, they put the women and children of the

area in a cave where they thought a l l were sa fe ly concealed

from any enemies. The women were to ld to be quiet. They

were a lso to ld to build no f ir e s which would t e l l th eir

location ."

"It so happened that the Mexicans to the south decided

to go on a raiding party that very day. Among those in the

cave was one old Navajo woman who could not keep her hatred

of the Mexicans to h erse lf . And for good reasonI At one

time she ha<i been a captive of the Mexicans. As the men

passed below, she tauehted them in broken Spanish. She

81

called them ’men who walked without eyes; *"

"But the Mexicans were not without ears. They heard

her and quickly divided in to two groups. One group remained

in the canyon so that the Navajos could not escape. The

other went to the top of the mesa where they crept out on2

rocks overlooking the cave. Their large bored muskets went

into action . Many Navajos were k ille d . Only a few were

able to hide behind the loose rock s.11

"Many o f the musket, b a lls ricocheted from the rocks and3

k ille d those in hiding. Not sa t is f ie d that enough damage

had been done, the raiders entered the cave and k ille d the

wounded. They took a l l of the Indians1 2 3 possessions worth

the taking." -

"And so, in leaving the canyon, the Mexicans spoke of

i t as the Canyon of the Dead, or Canyon del Muerto, in th eir

language• Ever since that bloody day, the cave where the

defenseless Navajo women and children were murdered has been

known as Massacre Cave."

"What a horrible thing for men to dol Where i s the

cave located. Dad? Could we see it?" asked Jim again in ­

terested in another chapter of Navajo h istory .

Ranger Lewis was pleased with Jim’s growing in tere st

' 1. Morris, 0£. c i t . , p. 163.

2. Richard Van Valkenburgh, "Tsosie T e lls the Story of Massacre Cave," Desert Magasine (February. 1940), p. 23.

3. Loc. c i t .

1

The t w i s t i n g p a th o f Canyon d e l M uerto

85

in th® h istory iof the Montraent area#

• "We w i l l itot „be able *o v i s i t Massacre Cave today, Jim.

Perhaps la ter von as you become more fam iliar with the coun­

try i t w il l be safe for you and Tsosie to make the tr ip .

For the present, you w ill have te be s a t is f ie d with what

l i t t l e I can t e l l you about the p lace. W® rangers never

take v is ito r s that far up the canyon. Even Cosy does not

lik e to go there for the treacherous sands are very hard on

b is cars." : v.. ^ ; . ' ' '

r "Could you t e l l me more about Massacre Cave now, Dadf*

"Strangely enough, one woman escaped the slaughter in

the cave. She was the grandmother of an old medicine man

who lived in these parts. He claimed that she hid under a

large rock in the cave and In that way her l i f e was saved.

The medicine -man1 s grandmother said that seventy Nava Joe2were murdered in: that one-sided, b a t t le ."

"So i t was from th is episode that Canyon del Muerto,

the Canyon of the Dead, got i t s name. The NavaJos c a l l - i t3

E n-a-tse-gl," concluded the ranger.

But Jim was anxious to know more. "How long have Ameri­

cans known about the canyon. Dad?" asked the eager boy.

"Several la y claim to the. honor of having f i r s t seenV.v; ; r , ' -V- - ; - " : . . : : ■ . ; ' ■ ■ * 2 3

: 1. L. H. McSparron, owner of trading post at Chinle,Arizona, interview . May 25, 1951.' : ::

2. Van Valkenburgh, op. c l t . . p. 22.

3. M indeleff, op. c l t . . p. 85.

84

Oanyon del MuertoV From my reading, c e n t!# # # the remger,

gather that a surveyor naiaed Lt. Simpson apparently went

a distance up del IMerto Ih 1849*’ 1 111 t e l l you iiore about

Mm la te r . Then I read that a man named "Pfeiffer went a l l

the way through the canyon in 1864. S t i l l la te r In 1882 a

group of explorers led by IK #&yajo cM ef named Gahado Mucho- / 1

thought they were the f i r s t :to enter the canyon. ”

"This la s t group under ’Cel. James Stevenson was organ­

ized for the purpose of s c le n t if le etepldretlcm o f the ruins

of the canyon.I Stevens<ai did some excavating at the fo o t of

Mummy Cave, the plabe we plan to via$S: todWy#- ,lM le digging

he came upon two sk eleton s.of the Ancient Ones. Strangely

enough from the discovery of these mummies, he gave to tM s

branch the name Canyon de los Muertos, or Canyon of the 2

Dead. So tM s canyon has rea lly been named twice; in 1805

by the Mexicans and in 1882 by the Americans."

"Now for a few more fa c ts about Massacre Cave: When

you go there, you w ill see that the w alls are p itted with3

b u lle t marks. Even today there are hundreds of wMte marks

to be seen on the w a lls , each mark showing where a Mexican 1 2 3

1. Bureau of American Ethnology (hereinafter referred to as BAis), '25rd~l&inual Report (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing O ffice, 1904J, pp. 15-18. In July of the year 1879, a society ca lled the Bureau of American Ethnology came in to ex istence. I t was one of the purposes of that group to study native American l i f e , both ancient and modem. With that in mind, the soc iety sent out an expedition.

2. BAE 4th Annual .Report, vpp. xxxvl*3. Earl H. Morris, "Exploring in the Canyon of Death,"

National GeograpMc Magazine. XLYIII (September, 1925), p.263.

85

b u lle t stru ck . The b leached bones o f the v i c t i m o f th a t

massacre are s t i l l sc a tte r e d about the cave f lo o r ."; - r r ; H v r i j

"Tsosle has never bean In the cave. Dad. That*s

strange. I s n ’ t I t , because he has l iv e d here fo r y ea rs."

"No, I t I s n ’ t stran ge, Jim. The Navajos re sp ec t anda i? . "1.1-

fear the dead and few o f them have ever been In MassacreV.'Uui-: .. c i y r' c.v-r: 1 " r ' :" c - - :Cave sin ce th a t1h o rr ib le day."1 G O ' : L-' :: VGG ' "v. g g :: - ov, ' - ' . G v

But as he thought about I t , Jim f e l t con fid en t thatJ . g g ■ n - G .v c g ’ : : n a " ! G - v : " ' A C ' ' 1 ] - : v ' T v :■T sosle would go w ith him to the cave. From remarks the

’ •?}ii G I.c-cg G; • ' g : ’g".:'. :G G - Gg,--1 g ggg'Indian boy had made, Jim came to the conclusion th at school

■ ■ 'Gn k . : • A-'.-: "G11/' .. ,had changed h is fr ie n d ’ s :s;.-k, I;G j.G •":C .... GGk

G'GGGG. GGC 11: ,. -■ ! : : C11

G-iG Gj ’ :'k:CG j

ZiGGCG ■k- .-1 :;g :-g-.: .kGv :> :: : r ■

'’C G" i.v ■ 1 X

T-,r\ r GGGG'Z' : t r-n k

>:GG Vg:k w GG' GX 1 T• i i >: .

k-H;LIc' pG op ;.o,

1 GV;.G;;--

Jl:- /%':SG'-G'-G-i G X "•. j

1 GGhGGG; :..-'A - 1 -k.

} r:-. ; 1 ug::; Arv::, GGGGl

Tgg

i,, - ; .,, -

. Van Valkenburgh,

‘ c r

0 : ; -cx /j r.,

;

ch-1 :: v; ' c/ - '

CHAPTER VIIIv r> . L

•'' 'j • a' MUMMY CAVE

Ranger Lewis fin ished h is story by the time the b r i l - ' i V f v' •: - ' t n :■ l' " V":' -

lia n t red w alls of Mummy Cave came in to view. Three hundredV 1

fee t above them stood the Tower House. I t was perched on a

ledge of rock in almost the middle o f the cave.

"This doesn't look lik e a ruin. Dad. From here i t looks

lik e ' a new b u ild in g ," remarked Jim.

"It i s in good condition now, son. However, a number ofC 3:1-: •’ h:. ■ :• ' . . ' -

years ago i t was about to topple and cascade into the canyon.L - n ■;5 V-! ' ' ■ " \ .

The Smithsonian In stitu tio n of Washington, D. C. sent a manLh’-viV-;/' j; ■ .. * . -named Earl H. Morris to repair the foundation and the tower,

; v::" -5 r..’/ ' - ■ .replied Ranger Lewis.■i 1 V T :V \ • ' ' ■ : - - ' ■ '

The ranger continued, "This ruin was f ir s t used by Bas­

ket Maker people. Later i t was occupied by C lif f Dweller

Pueblo people."pLOCv',: CJ' • ; : r ' . - ' ' '

"I thought these pueblos were used by the Anasazi,"u > i:. " h: ' . ’ - f ■ ' ■ . . ' ■ ■ .. ■

Jim answered with a puzzled expression.

"Perhaps you w ill remember that at White House I to ld

you the term Ariasazi i s used fo r a l l o f the Ancient Ones in. !> A1

th is area, . Jim./'I: ' ' ' '

The e a r l ie s t Anasazi were the Basket Makers.

1. M ih d eleff, op. c l t . , ' p. 149., r‘ ■ .. , - -

2 . BAE 42ndAnnual Report. p . 6 .

m

They are the o ldest people in th is part of the SeutMeat of

whom we have knowledge so far. - They liv ed way hack In time,2roughly between the year* SOO. and 700 A.D. .. Bight you are

that the Pueblo .people, liv ed here la te r and b u ilt many homes

in the caves-of'these canyons.0 ; ;

c "Why are the early Anelm^t "toes ca lled Basket Makers,

ctx “Let *s follow th is t r a i l up to Mummy Gave and 1*11 t e l l

you the story o f the Basket Maker#,.0 answered the ranger lead­

ing the rway. e C'-.L "f r ■... . 7. '■ ; , i. . v:-:--.VC

“During the la te 1880 *s .and early 1890’s an archaeol--og ist named Richard W etherill dug among the ruins in south-

3eastern Utah at a place ca lled Grand Gulch. As he dug down

through the midden or layers o f tr a sh :le f t by .mn, he noticed

that"there was no pottery among the ruins. This was most un­

usual because pottery had always been found among pueblo ~

ru ins . 0 c : . Tv-..,.;-; s i:.-;-: ■; f : v , ; v , - - v - v

r “As we go up th is t r a i l , you may see sherds or small

pieces cof:pottery in the trash:along, the sides of the t r a i l .

This Is the trash which the Pueblo people threw out of Mummy

Cave. : :Wateh ^or i t i a s we go up, sen .0 ; .

T.i; v ; vh :-:~u 1 2

1. ".Alfred Vineent Kidder, An In troduction to the Study..of Southwestern Archaeology (NewHaven: Yale UniversTEy Press, 1924), p. ^9. t T -

— — 2 ..... .McGregor op. c i t . , pp. 206, 225.

3: kldder; op. c i t . . p. 77.2. - 'L. r / V .

Jim’s eager ieyes began.peering from right to l e f t ? --

hoping to-:see these clnes tot###blo occupation. : -

ic'vj-Ranger Lewis -continued h is story. "Mr. W etherill did,

however/ come raoross-many remnants of b eau tifu l baskets in :

the lower layers of refuse at Grand Gulch. Thls suggested

to him that those Ancient Ones had not known how to make

pottery*- They must have used baskets instead, he thought.

Because these baskets: were found in the layers of remain#,

farthest down, Mr. W etherill reasoned that they must have

come before the G liffH ouse:Pueblo people. As there were

so many baskets and no pottery, Mr* W etherill referred to

them as Basket Makers.*- This seemed a f i t t in g name for

those early. Anasagl * .v.-ii-:rc:. ; SLearning h istory from what he found in layers of

d irt n mused J im ./ : 5 'V; •- r..

3 * ; "Yes, sm , th is old earth of oiurs holds many sto r ie s

o f the past. hi These -sto r ies are often preserved in. layers „

or. strata , one on top o f the other* And i f you want to be

very: s c ie n t if ic , boy, you may be in terested in knowing that2the reading: ofc these, layers : i s ca lled stratigraphy. I t his

another means, o f . dating, both la y ers: o f rocks and human re­main sw ith in them. ”

: l"Stra-11 -gra~phy, stra-1l-@ra-phy, .* repeated Jim slowly

in an e ffo rt to store th is , in h is memory. , . * 2

' h* S d?®r» .SE- P- 77.2 e IMde p Pe 45*

8 9

! "Dad, that i s a second to t e l l ancient time, -'isn’t '

i t? I remember you to ld me that the timbers from White

House Ruins gave a date th ere .fl

‘ "Yesi Jim, I t i s a second method, but there are others,

too. However/ those two ways tree ring dating and dating

by stra ta 'or stratigraphy, are very Often used in dating Southwest ru ins. " ■- . -

: "Did the Basket MOkers l iv e in Utah and Arizona only,

"Ho, Jim. They liv ed in other p laces, too . But what

do you think of a suggestion that we have our lunch here at

th is mid-point of the t r a i l while we continue our story .

The view here i s in terestin g as you w i l l see i f you turn

around;" • " ' : •

Jim was astonished a t the view which th e ir b r ie f cliato-

ihg made p ossib le . However; having a twelve year old boy* s

healthy appetite, he temporarily put aside thoughts of view.

Basket Makers, stratigraphy, tree ring dating, and Pueblo people. -. ■ : ’ ; - ’ : ' ■ ' ■' - - ' :

: Each picked a camfortable boulder and Jim unpacked the

lunch. Between b ite s of h is sandwich, Jim's father con­

tinued h is story.

! 1 "Now to proceed with the story of where the Basket Makers

liv ed . Remains of them have been found north of here along

1. Loc. c i t .

90

the, upper ,tr ib u taries of the San Juan River Utah and east_ • ’ V . . . > " « . •. •* • - - ' v •• . ; . > - - • ' "

to the southwestern part of Colorado. Southward they ex­

tended into a small part of New MexjLoo and across the Chjnle1

Valley, here in Arizona, and as far west as southern Nevada.

. , „’’That’s the Four Comers area. Isn ’t i t , . Dad?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • - V . / « : ' • - ■: ■ ' ' r , - ; - - . . . ■ •. :

.... , ."Yes, i t . was c h ie fly Four Corners, but i t continued

rather far out to the w est. . I t i s a small area, but perhaps

one day Basket Maker s i t e s wl3L be found in other p la c e s .K

”1 wonder where those Basket Makers came fr o e fw asked

Jim. . . . .:■ . .- .'c v . c ? - " '’’Some of the archaeologists think they may have come

from Mexico long before the time o f the Pueblo peop le.”. ... .- :■ -

’.’Did the Basket Makera™ live- In. those ruins up there in

Kuamy Cave?", asked the boy.

’’No. Mr. Morris who .repaired Tower House thought that

the Basket Makers used the cave long before that Pueblo

house up there was b u ilt . They lived in p it houses. As

th e ir population Increased and they needed more room, they

began to terrace the land at the foot o f Mummy Cave where

they, b u ilt many, more p ithb u ses.” .

."What aro pithou30=, Dndt" . ,, . .

”A pithouse i s a structure which was made by digging a

p it or hole one .and one-half to eight fe e t in to the. ground.r>v: - : uu o; ; r-. ji A - : - . ' ' \ / . : v r ; ,

1; McGregor, op. c l i . , p. : 206.

2i Earl H; Morris, op; c i t ;; p. 295.

Moat of'them afreurid here were c ircu lar . These h o le s o r p l t a1

varied from seveh to W enty-f our fe e t in •diameter. w a llsof the pithouses here were lined with posts leaning Inward

2and plastered yoter w i th mu # They la id a log roof over their

structure. This was covered with earth. Often so much of

their house was helow ground lev e l that only a foot or two

showed; Imagine the roof Of a house only a foot or two above

the ground! **

"Around th eir circular homes, *r. Morris found c lu sters

of storage bins or slab c is ts ."

"What do you mean by c i s t s . Dad?' Are slabs pieces of

rock?" ■ - ' ?-

"The Basket Makers dug holes Into the ground and lined

them with thin pieces of rock. These were th eir slab c ists#

Does that ahster ydW questioh?*

•• »Yesi1;-Dad> Were these holes as deep as th eir p it -

houses?." -

they wera not so deep as th eir pithouses. Also

they were only two to s ix fe e t across and were sn a il or. \ 3 .

b o ttle necked at the top. They roofed them over with logs

and sealed a l l jo in ts with mud made strong with shredded’» <■ ', i’ - ’’ >- i-.. - s • , v •■t - -1 ■*. : f .......................... ■ •• • ' . ' * 2

" ■ 1. Frank E. H. Roberts, "The Ruins o f Klatuthlanna," Bureau of American Ethnology. B u lle t in . 100, 1951, p. 16.

2. Earl H. Morris, op. c l t . , p. 272.

3; Anne A. M o r r i s c l t . , p. 155.

S'-'

92bark, lea se s , • or com 'husk#. TMa made the bins rat-proof

ao that small ereatm ^s ■ @»ttMaiOS get-the grain which was

Stored there* " They stored other possessions there, a lso .

Sometimes the^ even rased the c is t s for the burial o f th eir 2

dead.M * ‘iv Lu ths- ;

The:ranger continued, wT1m plthouses at the foot of the

cave were found In a mlddeni Do you remember what midden I s ,J lm f" rs; - l.--■ .-■.vi v Vy".i ,s:;v, :v. • : :.-v - .. v

v* : : Myes, Dad. I t i s the rubbish heap made up o f refuse or

debris l e f t by smn**:' v ■ ■ ; r.:-::

cv t :;«That i s f in e , son. fou are learning f a s t ," he said

with a smile and then continued, wThe people who lived in

the cave threw th eir refuse just over the edge. However,

that huge overhanging cave roof you see up there protected

a large part of the rubbish heap. . When Earl Morris and h lec ;

workers' dug in to the midden, they learned the story of the

Basket Makers in this" area#", v v ;

,v: "In; one of the storage bins we were just talk ing about,

the archaeologists found seven hundred ears of brightly

colored com .i Every ear looked as fresh as la s t year’s har- 3

v est . * - And.then Imagine the surprise of the diggers to find

a Basket Maker b u r ia l:ground in the c is t s in the slope, o f d eb risl”............- — ' V.v ■ - * -* -- ' : .1 .. 1 : . ' - « : -; .

1. Earl H. Morris, op. c i t . , p. ^70.2. Kidder, op. c i t . , p. 78.

- : - • %

3. Anne A. Morris, og. c i t . . p. 155.

i "A: b u r ia l, grotmdl • Ir should!thtaku thsy trould be i-sur­

prised . What were the.nburials l ik e . Dad?” queatloned the -

interested' hoy. ; : cvILh- ?.:% t!? ’ trn1 1

o f >;hFThe bodies :u*re always flexed* That means that the •

knees were drawn up!to the ch est. • . v - •. r' ! t: ”Why Dad?” r : ^ . v r ; • .....

"Folding the body in th is manner took le s s room than

i f i t were la id out stra ig h t. -The arms, though, were at

the mummy1 2 3 s - sides* 8 w r v : - : v

! Ranger Lewis explained that i t was seemingly a general

oustcm among the Basket Makers to f lex the body. Also, he

pointed out;that these people here at Mummy Cave were ap­parently using old storage c is t s and they were small in s iz e ,

v . i “One Iflne mummy here not only had a beautifu l basket 2under h is :head,'but there was a lso another covering h is fa c e ,”

Ranger;Lewis added. •

"That’s a peculiar use for baskets. What did their

baskets look l ik e , Dad?”

"Many of them were shaped lik e trays. They were made of3

c o i l s .. i-This -type; seems to haveobeen most commonly used. -

The c o ils were made by forming a foundation or warp of two

rods placed side by s id e , with a bundle of grass or fib ers

91

1. McGregor, oj>. c i t . , p. 210.

2. Anne A. Morris, on. c i t . . p . 152.

3. McGregor, o p .- c i t . , p. 214.

94

above the rods• : These were firm ly held in place-by:Shess

weaver .as she; wrapped:® willow , or other sp lin t , around them.

She then 'sewed the sp lin t through the so ft bundle, at the.top1

Of the foundation below* I f she wished to decorate her bas­

ket, she wove in' sp lin ts of a d ifferen t co lor . Many o f1th eir

white!, baskets were decorated in black or red and were r e a lly 2

b ea u tifu l.a l The Basket:Makers were r e a lly ©lever a r t i s t s .M

iv.cy, : fDidtthey make a l l of th eir baskets tray-shapedf*

HOhy-no. That; was: only the most, commonly shaped bas­

k et. Many were made' with pointed bottoms and a small mouth3

and were used as water bottles* These were covered with

pitch to waterproof them* Seme of th e ir baskets were so

f in e ly woven; that they held water even though they weren't

covered with a : p itch .* ,; - . r,

"There were a lso larger and deeper baskets which prob­

ably. served as:cook pots.* ,

*Hew ;could;,anything b e . ©ooked in a basket?* asked Jim

in astonishment* vr. b f r.i r 1 • l rr;i vrf .Hi si father explained ;that by. dropping hot stmies in to

th e iliq u id , they were1able vtoneook a good stew as w ell as

other fo o d s V d ' ruv.t h;,ve <;h.: c-i'i:'; V'-- :

v.i i Ranger ■ Lewis suggested tM t; they continue on up the -

vr‘ r-"~' held .V - ; V1. Loc. c l t .

_ . 2. Earl.R.: Morris and Robert F. Burgh, Anasazi Basketry.Basket Maker II. Through Pueblo I I I (Washington,' T>.ft. :~7rar - negieelnstitutT on, 1941), (Pages not numbered). 3

3. McGregor, op. c i t . , p. 214.

#6

’fcfrall. As they moved aleirly upward, th eir d lsensei on was

s t i l l of the Basket Makers. " : T : - , -

"Before we get too far from the subject, Jim, I want

to t e l l you about the burial robe of one of the Basket

Makers. The archaeologists found him wrapped in a rabbit- 1

akin blanket." ir r:

- c: ;' ••How did the Ancient Ones make rabbit skin blankets?"

Inquired the puzzled boy. :

"First the Basket Maker eut narrow str ip s of rabbit

skin with a f l in t k n ife . Then he bound the s tr ip s around

fib er cords. These fur wound cords were then placed in

p ara lle l rows each touching th e next. The rows were twined

together with strong fib er coed. This made a so lid looking2blanket which r e a lly was very warm."

"It must have taken dozens o f rabbits to furnish enough

skins for- one blanket. Dad."

"It certa in ly took a great number, Jim, and that t e l l s

us that the Anasazi must have been fa ir ly good hunters."

As there was ho let-u p in Jim’s in te r e s t , the Ranger continued, "This particu lar Basket Maker that the Morris

group unearthed must,have been a ch iefta in because there •

were many of h is possessions burled with him. Most exciting of all^ th is Anasazi held a spear thrower or a t la t l , as i t 1 2

1. AnneA. Morris, op. c i t . , p. 152.

2. McGregor, op. c i t . , p* 216*

# 6

i s ca lled , in h is right tond. •. : • ; : : ;;;. '-"Perhaps h® had been a great hunter. Dad,11 interrupted

Jim, hoping, that he was right in h is guess# . ^

-"Yes, he maylhave beenla great hunter, or i t may have

been a sign Ithat:he was a -ch ie f of h is tr ib e#" o c - -

i 9Did they find;:my bowe;and arrows burled with him,

too?" - -.r.; ’U:;- ■■

"No, i Jim. - .This:man was burled probably about the year 2

500 A.D. Bows and arrows were not known u n til some time

la ter ." vc-1 y '.v :i ;; "How was the - spear thrower made? How did i t throw a

spear? Was there a spring or tr igger in it?" inquired Jim#

; Ranger.Lewis- explained that the a t la t l was a stick o f

wood usually about two fe e t long# There was a notch a t one

end Which held the spear# At. the other end were two loops

for the thrower*s fingers# The Ancient One moved the thrower

backwards#1 With a l l h is power, he threw the spear at h is

target. : ' ..

Khbwing:that Jim was in terested in a l l weapons, the

father continued h is explanation. The spear was usually

fiv e to 's ix feetH ong, and about one-half inch in diameter#11 _.wsi9 made qf two p arts, usually . The part that held the

stone tip or -point.was the shorter section , and was made of

1

1.- Anne,A. Morrls, ©£. c i t . , p. 153.

2 .. LOC. c i t . '

harder wood than the sh a ft. The two parts were iwade‘to f i t together snugly. - a clr - . T;

o "Their' spears must hate heeh sOAethlhg lik e arrows, ited. Were'they feathered-like arrows?* -

^Usually they had three feathers and these were ‘care­le s s ly applied. Spears having two and tom#times four ;

feathers have been found, though. *

"The stone pointa for these spears W ere-Beautifully

flaked and shaped. They-did th is by str ik in g the atone • _ • _ _ . 2

with a to o l/ or by percussion a s !i t i s called* Some ad­

d ition a l work was done by applying pressure* Many h id “

notches for holding them in the spear* They were a l l about

the same s iz e , varying only from-one and a quarter 16 one3

and one-half inches in length, * said the ranger measuring

out the length with h is fingers* L v

"The Anasasl often lashed small s tones to the under side•••' . , . 4

of h is a t la t l . ‘ I t i s thought they must haee ‘heeis charms, *

added the father knowing that th is would in terest Jim*

"Perhaps he Was superstitious and thought they would

bring him good luck in hunting," suggested Jim. : v

- ^Very lik e ly that was the case, Jim. ho doubt you

1. McGregor, op. c i t . , pp. 217-218.

2. ib id . , p. 213. '3.

V ' •Loc. cit*

4. I l b J L x l e J , p e 218.

rea lize that -the a t la t l wa a quite %avent ion : for the ;y ear

500 A.D. Before th is time, man had thrmm a spear d irec tly

from h is hand. This new device greatly inereased: h is throw­

ing distance by giving more length to h is arm." ■ ;i- "Just one more, item about that .burial, Jim. - The old

Basket Maker mumay had a bracelet o f s h e l l s ,on h is l e f t . r

"Shellsl ,Where could they find sh e lls in Arizom?” „

Inquired the surprised b oy .. ; : - r , -- ■.., :

...... "Probably they bartered with .other Indians who had re­

ceived sh e ll from the region - around the Gulf of Lower Cali­

fornia. The , sh e lls very l ik e ly changed hands many times

before they were g iven .to th is ch ief o f the Anasazl.^ :

: t Jim was about to ask another question when they aed- ; denly reached the eastern end of the caya^ r - ■ "

, "Well, here we are at long la s t in Mummy, Cave, o r r .:3

T se-i-ya-kin as the Navajos c a ll i t , " b reath lessly an-

nounced the ranger. ; , ; c.; ^"It su re ly .is quite a climb," panted Jim.

"That may be one of the very reasons why the Basket

Makers and Pueblo people b u ilt here. In th is place they4

were protected from th eir enem ies." 1 2 3 4

98

1. Anne A. Morris, op. c i t . , p. 153.2. Loo, c i t .3. M indeleff, op. c i t . , p. 112.4. Loc. c i t .

Jim gasped when he f i r s t glimpsed the great cavern be­

fore him. ■ . ■: / v *.' , - - • .. ■'

"What a large eavel" he exclaimed impressed with i t s

s iz e . "Surely the Indians would have been w ell protected

in th is cave high in the face of the c l i f f w all*f s

"It i s huge,* answered h is father. "It i s the larger

of two caves here. I should lik e t# have gone into the

smaller one f i r s t and saved the larger for the la s t o f our

exploring here, hut the only approach to Mummy Cave i s by1

way of the t r a i l leading to th is eastern cave."

Anxiously Jim asked, "But Dad, we w il l see a l l of Mummy

Gave, won’t wet"

"Oh, yes, son. Later we sh a ll v i s i t Tower House and

s t i l l la ter , we’11 take a look In the western cave up here,"

Jim noticed that the w alls of the rooms were b u ilt of

small pieces of stone only three to four Inches long and

about two inches in width. They varied from one-half to8

one and one-half inches in th ickness. The stone w alls

were neatly constructed.

Jim remarked about the small rooms that were three deep

against the back of the cave. His father to ld him that they

probably were used for storage. .

Noticing a room separated from the others, he asked, "What i s th is round room over here by i t s e l f . Dad?"

99

1. Loe. c i t . 2. Ib id ., p. 116.

222675

; "That,- I think 1b -the-.most- la*#r#eting -structure in

th is part of the cav®, son. That!s a kiva." i

■ - "Rival WMt in the world i s a: k iva, rDad?"

; >"Kiva i s a :hard .w®pd to define, Jim., perhaps we can

best explain i t according to i t s use. What i t was used for

anciently.may be explained in .th e Hop! use o f the kiva to­

day. . Of course you remember the Hopie may be descendants

of the Ancient Ones. The Hopi kiva i s a sacred room. Cere­

monies: and re lig io u s dances take place there. Sometimes the

kiva serves as a :club house for the men of the v i l la g e ."

"Didn’t they have roofs over th e ir k lvasf?; inquired

Jim. ■ v : . " / x "V *i.-\ . ; i , ;'1 2- ■ V

"Yes, but unforttm ately; there -are no kivas in Canyon2de Chelly with the roofs in p lace. In the Hopi kiva there

i s an opening in the center of the roof which serves as

entry way. There i s a ladder, from th is opening to the floor

below, doing down th is ladder appears to have been a cere-3

menial requirement," explained Ranger Lewis.

"Look at the narrow bench around the edge o f th is

kiva," said Jim. • , : - : :

I t was two fee t above the floor and about a foot wide.

He walked toward:it and sat down.

"It must have been d if f ic u lt - to s i t on th is thing

1. Ib id ., p. 174. 3. Ib id . , p. 175.2. Ib id . , p. 181.

100

101

through a, re lig io u s ceremony or a club meeting. I think

I ’d ache I f I sat long on such a narrow stone ledge. And

look at the fancy decoration around i t , n he added pointing

to the fiv e Inch band of red design which bordered the front

of the bench.

The Ancient Ones had painted a white band around the

bench and over the white had worked out a fine design in red.

"Give, kiva, another word to add to my l i s t th is sum­

mer, 11 said Jim as though talk ing to h im self.

"And here’s another, Jim, i f you are in the mood to

learn new terms. The Spanish ca lled a kiva an estufa which 2 '

means stove. Perhaps that was because a f ir e burning for

a long time in a kiva would surely make i t hot."

The ranger walked about. looking for other in terestin g

things for h is son to see and added, "The word kiva seems

much easier to remember and i s now used in referring tothese structures."

Jim noticed as he sat there that the bench didn’t go

en tire ly around the room. I t was broken by an opening that3

might have been a chimney.

"Was th is the chimney. Dad?"

"It certa in ly i s lik e a chimney In form, but arehaeol- 1 2

1. Ib id . , p. 180. 3. Ib id . , p. 177.2. I b id .. p. 174.

B o rd e r d e s ig n on k iv a b ench

ogiata have; not h een ab le to find out what they used: i t - for ,f i m * ? V C'nv-yr-)\ ' 1 1 :v ; * > t % !'. * .V ; -r ■ •" u n - t r

r ; r"Perlmpa they were able to get fresh a ir Into the kiwi

that way,* auggeited Jim. :l v;. : i '-re •

; , probably Was th e ;ease# but we s t i l l don't know

for certain , * rep lied the father* ' j J 5 ,

p • PWhy are the w alls -so f u l l o f - small h oles. Dad?" r •-

: !*Those l i t t l e niches or holes in hthe 'wallsrwere prob­ably :places where they kept th era r tls le s used:in th e ir

1sacred ceremonies. They used those n iches, very IfkSly,

the way we use a drawer for .putting th in gs: away u n til we

nSed them again#* L _ r : - P ;•:■■■ v - v P . •■■■.!. 1 ■ •

; "This i s the f i r s t rmmd room w e've been in . Dad."

Pointing to a round room touching the larger one, Jim asked,

"Isn't that another kiva?" ? : : : . . '

i v "It i s ; son. Look sW rply and you lw ill:see a third."

■ - ; Jim's eyes glanced towards the ledge and there, f i f t y 2fee t from the second; was the th ird k iva. t ‘ 1 -

3- "Canyon do C hilly kivas are nlw iys c irc u la r , Jim."

"That's a lop-sided locking circle,PDadi" : :4

.P "That's r igh t, son. They are seldom true c ir c le s .

They are often elongated, or lop-sided; as you called i t •"

P "Did they ever make1 kivas in other - sh ip ss. Dad?" ::

1. I b id .. p. 178. 3. Ib id ., P* 174.2. I b id . ; p . 115* : pv 4* I b id .. P« 177.

104

" ■ nAa I said before, tbey•didn’t In Canyon de ©billj-*-

and that means Canyon del Muerto, too. But Ancient Ones in

Other places often made reetam gularas w ell as round ones. ”

' Jim walked from the th ird kiwa toward the small stor­age rooms he had noticed earlier*r i. •

"Those storage rooms seem to ,in d ica te that th is was a

permanent;home for theses people. They had to have a place

for th e ir possessions as w ell as for the eern and other;foodstuffs which they needed during the winteri*

They explored along the w alls of the cave toward the

ledge overlooking the canyon. Jim looked ahead and ex*

claimed, "Three s to r ie s high and perched right on the.edge.

No wonder i t i s balled Tower House."

Jim peered over the edge to the bed of the canyon2

three"hundred fee t below. • He f e l t the same weakness in

the legs that he had experienced when climbing the Anasasi

hand and toe tr a il .

"You* d b etter s i t down a while, Jim, u n til you get

your bearings; I know how you must fe e l," :

"Oh; I ’m a l l r ig h t. Dad. I don’t mind the height ata l l ." CT I ?. ; n v;:-' V ; v .. . : : : ' : y" f"

"Gazing downward from a censiderable elevation sc^w-

times makes:me fe e l s l ig h t ly light-headed ," comforted the 1 2

1. Ibid*; rp. 112# . •

2. BAE, 4th Annual Report, p. xxxv.

lo se

rang®*'. "And while you re st , you might look up at the roof

of Tower Houses The roof ©f SMs old Snlldlng i s s t i l l in ­

tact . T h i s i s just another proof of good construction toi

the part of the Ancient.Ones.B

i v ."Howwere, th eir roofs d ifferen t from ours. Dad?”

"Their roof s were made in layers, Jim. Aft Sr th eir

four corner pdsts were securely set in the ground; fh w

timber^ which we c a ll str in gers, were connected to the

comer posts at the roof le v e l . The Ancient Ones were

then ready to lay the f i r s t part of the roofing. This con­

s is ted of heavy timber. At right angles, or across the

beams, the Ahasazl la id a ser ies o f small p o les. These

were close together. Next, and at right angles to the

small poles, came straight small branches put side by side

and so c lose that they touched each o th er .”

”Do you mean that each layer cr iss-crossed the other layer. Dad?” -:rv:v:,. • - • ;

L ”Yesy I presume that i s another way of saying at right

angles. ”" Continuing h is account o f ancient roofing methods,

the ranger added, "Then came the fourth layer which was

small brush and grass to f i l l in the chinks. A mud dr clay2

covering was then:spread over a l l of th is m aterial. This

roof kept the pueblo quite comfortable at a l l seasons. I t 1 2

1. Roberts,-BAE B u lletin 100. p. 16.

2. BAE, 8 th Annual Report, p. 150.

• 106was warm In iwteter and cool during -tiie hot summer days. M

: wTower House must be very old. Dad."■ 1

"According to tree ring dating. I t was; b u ilt between

the years 12S3 and 1284, ; Jim. Yes, i t la. an-old apartment

lM > U S e , ' - : l s n 1t . --l*t*f V*':.. . I. f- '] V'.'• r'" ■' " : % : ,

: "md the PueWl# people l iv e here long. Dad?" ,

"They l e f t th is area around the year 1300, probably

because of the warlike Havajos who came here about that • 2

time." , • ‘ a Arr , Mer : A .

"Could another reason have been the twenty-three year

drought; Dad?" : , - ; i ”

"Very l ik e ly i t was, son. I am happy to know that you

remember your fadts about th is region."

As Jim. rested against a p ile of earth, hands at the

back of h is head, he gazed at the floor beams projecting

about two fee t from the sid es •„ of Tower .House. He noticed

that the beams which showed at the f i r s t roof were much

larger timberst than those projecting from the second roof.

The second:roof timbers were larger than those o f the third

story. He remarked about th is to h is father. ;~

1" Ranger ;Lewis - explained„ that the - timbers of the f ir s t .. :

story bad to carry the weight of the two sto r ie s above,

thus had to be larger than the others. In each successive

_ ... -- 0,1- Anne A. Morris, og. c i t . , p. 262.2. Ib id . . p . 182.

107?

story, the roof timbers became small© r as the weight they

carried decreased. thv . Ji-« re^ariceu' 1

h: “A s:th is ledge Is only th ir ty fee t wide* they had to

build carefu lly otherwise th is tower would have s l id in to

the canyon-long ago ," explained the ranger. • “In fa c t,: i ;

archaeologists feared i t would s lid e a number of years ago

when the southwest com er became -undermined more than three 2 J

f e e t . The t e r r i f ic windh: of many years had blown out d ir t,

pebbles,-.and rock. That i s when: Mr. Morris and h is workers7/:.

came to the rescue an*.laved Tower House by repairing the

foundation and la ter the Tower i t s e l f ." : ■ : : ::

r- "Gazing at the firm looking tower, Jim asked, "What did

they have to dot? ’ i r.,i:d r : . Z : T

ycv } "To repair the foundation, they had to f i l l the hollow3

spaces with mortar and a lso to drive in wedges of stone.

The following year, they returned and repaired the walls: of

Tower House a lso ."

"The ancient builders did not t i e in the w alls at : the

corners, or;bond th e;w alls as masons.c a ll i t . They merely4

set; the end of one w all against another* -Therefore the

walls had pulled apart. Mr. Morris and h is workers corrected

- t ■'r*: .ir;-'. '.... ..... 1. M in deleff,,op. p i t . , p. 112.

2. BAB, 42nd.Anhual■Report, p. 6.

3. Anne A. Morris, o£. c l t . , p. 168.k - c - v v .

4# Loo* d t *

108

t h i s .”;1" t ;; -i;: V ' v ; l l ;• V:_"' ;'T.f 1;:

' : As th ef w lk ed toward the western cave, ; Jim remarked : f :rabout the great s iz e o f the rooms along the ledge i. 11

MYesi son, th is row of seven rooms along the led ge-Isi

bats tending- in several *ays♦ They are the largest rooms in

Mummy Cave. 7 They are a lso larger than any other group of

rooms in the canyon. And furthermore, .they are larger than

anycother group of foams in- this,"part-of’the Ifaited S ta te s .”

Back of the rooms west of SowOf'HousifsJi* spied apicture on the c l i f f w a ll. ■“ :;-.t r,-s.7 :: : t -»•

‘':'-''i:”->»I,ook, Dad, a picture of a man. J And: i t i s . paintid^

green I ” ■ - -X \ t ,"k -*■ V :?»;■-«j. ,

"Yes, and you111 find another pictograph near-by i f

you look sharply.” >

Jim's eyes moved along the cave w all. ~ ' ; sr*

' "Here i t i s . Dad. I t i s a sem icircle and a lso paintedgreen." '':v- !: .

"There are several p iotog^phs quite near headquarters,

Jim. We w il l look for them another tim e. On the north

wall of Canyon de Chelly, just one-fourth of a mile east of

the mouth; there are some c ir c le s painted on the roeka and

some grotesque pictures of human beings and animals#"

1. M ihdeleff, op. c l t . , p. 112.

2

3

4

2 . Ib id ., p. 113.,3. Loc. c i t .

B A E ,---------—i l Report, p. 28.

^MSometlmea rock pictures t e l l s to r ie s . One of them in

the canyon shows a goat on a t r a i l . On,the rock at the foot1

of, the t r a i l there i s a drawing of a horse that has f a l le n .”

f l ’l l wager that was lik e our. road signs which t e l l usthat there i s a steep -h il l ahead,” ventured Jim. *

. c V ”xt may have -bein* Jim. I t may have to ld the people

that only a goat could climb the t r a i l . A horse would be

lik e ly to s l ip and f a l l . Or i t just as l ik e ly i s ah .id le

sketch drawn by someone who had nothing e lse to do."

"Dad, perhaps we got the idea of road signs from the

Anasazi,”:in s is te d Jim;carried away with h is idea*

"That p icture, though/ i s hot the work of the Anasazi/Jim." f f ■

"How do you know. Dad?" *

. "The Anaeazi did not have horses. Those animals were

introduced in to our country by the Spanish who came in the

16th century. The pictures must be the work of a la ter

people, probably the Havajos who f i r s t inhabited Canyon de

Chelly. They acquired: the horse from the Spanish."

"Dad, how th ick ar# these walls#* - f t "2

c: "They average two feet or more in thickness," the

ranger answered . as - they moved on to the western cave*

r "Why, tedy" I thought you sa id that the western cave i s 1 2

109

1. BAE, IstA nnual Report, pp. 383-84.

2. I b id ., p. 112*

330

sm all,” remarked Jim in-surprise as they entered i t . ^

in ;WNo, son. Tt Is small only In- comparison with the

mighty two hmdred foot cave we were In a while ago, but -It'

nevertheless, a; sizab le opening, isn.' t I t , boy. ” - r ;Jlm wandered about to M s t » w t rs Be examined

sec tion s-o f w a lls . Decorated-piece# :of pottery attracted

Ms atten tion . Weil trained by h is ranger father, he did

not pick up may of the'O bjects l e f t by the Ancient <lHes.

He looked with h is eyes and not with M s hands.

”How many rooms were in tM s part of Mummy Cave, Dad?”

"Archaeologists tMnk that there %ay have been twmty1

rooms in tM s section , " answered the ranger. "Book askmhdhere for a wM le, sen .” ; - t :

Jim* s eager eyes sWpt t l» cave.

"The rooms'are larger than In the eastern cave," re -2

marked Jim, "but there are no k iv a s .11 , ■ .

wDo you notice may other differences" between the two

eaves?" Inquired the ranger.

- "There are no small storage rooms? I s that i t . Dad?"

"That*s i t , Jim. These rooms are a l l too large for storage c i s t s . ” mv,

Looking down Into 'the’ canyon,- Ruadgmr. Lewis noticed the horses moving about, - : v L : - 1 2

1. I b id .,- p. 113. c . w , a . :

2. Ib id ., p. 112. , - ■ " . -

m

; ; j ' nT sii looks restleaa^ - Jim .i: He-mp^rfsefttly tMnks I t

i s time for us to b e o n our .way back■ tq headquarters.”

try ;.t: ”A11 Eighty Dedl l td forgot ten about 'time upvfeere and

seemed to be l iv in g w ith;thelM asesi in tl»;:l®og eg o ,” said

Jim as they retraced:their stepsuto Tower. House# y ! . ;

i ■ Soon they were; again, in the great eastern cave*

y Jim remarked, "Dad, - you said th et yen wanted $e save

the larger cave!for the la st* Well, rhere i t d s . Whsel1 v

Over two hundred fee t across indr one;hundred-feet deep.

That Is larger than fOhele Tom * s lo t i in the c ity , is n 't i t ,

Dadf? asked theLboy withja ;tone of awe. ; l,: n ;

”As a matter o f fa c t , i t 1# larger than several c ity

lots," Jim. But: otme along, hoy. We - must not lin g er . - We

s t i l l have an eighteen m ile, ride before sundown.”

■ coming,* Dad." v y - - Tu.:, yn/y"

yr »- ”I f you w il l be very carefu l, we * 11 take a short cut

down the ta lu s slope. Watch your step as you go down now,2

Jim,"warned Ranger Lewis. "The talus i s .treacherous.

Sliding rocks and an avalanche of d ir t aren* t h elp fu l foot­

holds. But i t w il l save us much time: to go th is way."

Carefully they descended, but-despite th e ir care, the

air was fu l l of dust caused by the s lid in g earth and rook.

• j "Whew 1 I can’t understand:how men can dig in th is * 2

. . — Kl ndel ef f , op. c l t », p. 112.

2. Anne A. Morris, oja. c l t . , p. 168.

112

s tu ff and s t i l l remain h ealthy!w remarked the hoy.

Ranger Lewis was too busy watching h is footing and trying to inhale as l i t t l e dust as possib le to answer h is

son then. Onee they were sa fe ly in the canyon, he did ex­

plain , "When archaeologists are digging in a slope lik e that, r - • X I V; ' ■> ? X " : : ' - j j ' / j r X ' : V" V "*

at the foot of Mummy Cave, they wear face masks, Jim. I f. ; . f r r t Vi..t - a v ;;v- u . : ,, ' • 1they didn’t , they would very l ik e ly contract pneumonia."-X..:, ' O v ; ' : . v V i ' u v ' r , x 1.:.’ ? ' . X . . ’ . ' x

"Pneumonia l I thought pneumonia was caused by a bad: v ; X ' v , :: . X- ' - l ; . - ; ’ ”’

cold that affected the lu n g s," said Jim in surprise.

"It i s , Jim, but i f much of th is dust were to get in ­

to your lungs, i t would cause a bad c h i l l . - That would soonX :::: " - ' X r I : > c ’’ i" ;:X- X - X,:-: ;-

be followed by pneumonia. Archaeologists know th is . That

i s why they guard against dust c h i l ls by wearing face maskslx..-X-;-X X: u I /'X: V ' : . - ; ,when digging in dusty ruins."

After several hours of rid ing down the canyon, theyC:':XI .'■•f ■Xv''X:X;. - ?x I i. '"V _ ":p :KX:r’. v 3-

approached Monument headquarters. Jim seemed deep in' - V. 1. - ;; - ; :X : 1 - X X v - : -;•" V'V' v r e ­

thought and very tir e d .X - X X X > l ' . - X : : ! * - " : ^ . X : , X . y . { . ; t o 0 % X : . ' . X>: X X . X':''- ' :-

As they neared the Government building. Ranger LewisiX-XXX:‘X Xv XX;.-i; "■ V:'X X"-:inquired, "Have you had a good day, son?"

"Wonderful, Dad. Where do we explore next?"•X' 7 -. . * • ; .• :X. :X . ..

"We w il l know the answer to th at question tomorrow whenXIX n r :-X... . X\ - X v ; ~' XXX :> ' I ' X

we see how we fe e l a fter such a strenuous day, Jim. One

learns in th is canyon of yesterdays not to plan too far

ahead."f. ' T.V-'V

1. Anne A. Morris, op. c i t . , p. 154.►* * I - — * * • - * -

- - ■" " ' •: -L :L >CHAPTER IX

" THE FIRST AMERICAS TROOPS IS CANYON DE CHELLY

Ranger Lewis was in h is o ff ic e b u sily making out gov­

ernment reports* Stopping for a few seconds, he called to

Jim in the next room. "You are very quiet tonight, Jim.

What have you been doing?"

"Just reading. Dad. I found a story about so ld iers

coming to Canyon de Chelly back in 1849."

Once again Jim went over the story he had been read­

ing, picking up the high points of the expedition as he

leafed through h is book.

The expedition had been headed by Col. John V/. Wash­ington, ch ief of the 9th m ilitary department and governor

. . 1of New Mexico. The colonel, who was tired of Navajo prem­

ise s and broken tr e a tie s , decided to push on to Canyon de

Chelly. At that time th is canyon was the heart of Navajo

country. There he would d icta te the terms of a new treaty

of peace to the Indians.

A ll of the d e ta ils of the expedition fascinated Jim. Much remained in h is mind. 1 2

1. James H. Simpson, Journal of a M ilitary Recon- n a issan.ee (Philadelphia: L lpplncoit, Crambo and Company, I$&2), p. 9.

2. Ib id . , p. 67.

r At • Santa Fe# -New; Mexleo. m August M r 1849,: 6 e l . ’ "

Washington Issued h is oM era. ■ to h is troops. They were; to

take thlrtycdays rations for I lf# Inmdred men. Four com­

panies of Infantry commanded by Col. Alexander) and two com­

panies of a r t il le r y under the command of Maj. Henry. L. Ken­

drick were to leave Santa Fe on August 16th. They were

ordered to go to Jemez, New Mexico where they would be

joined by other forces. One company of dragoons:(soldiers

either mounted or on foot) In charge of Capt. Ker, and one

company of mounted volunteers led by Capt. Chapman were to

move westward. They were to meet the other troops at Jemez

on August 19th. Lt. James H. Simpson and M s two a ss ista n ts ,

Edward M. Kern and R. H. Kern, were ordered to go with the

expedition to make a survey of the country through wMeh

they passed. These three men were to draw maps of the

country. They were to sketch d e ta ils of the land. They

were to write about I ts mountains, p la in s, and r iv er s . They

were to t e l l how the people liv e d . In other words they were2to c o lle c t as much Information as possib le about the region.

Lt. Simpson le f t Santa Fe with the infantry on August

16, 1849. He was eager to find a certain fort o f which he

had heard. The Mexicans had to ld him that the Nava Jos had 1 2

1 1 4

1. Orders No. 32.2. Ib id .

a fo r t "or: pi’esltH o near the o f * "Canyon o f C helly , " as

i t was then ca l le d . They saM t h l i t ’t ^ fo r t was so h igh

th at I t "would requ ire f i f t e i h l a d t e r i to sc a le i t ." '2

' The In fan try reaehed James a- <Hy ahead o f schedu le.

There they r e s ted and w aited for the company o f dragoons

and the company o f mounted voluftteers to jo in them. L t.

Simpson's two a s s is ta n t s ,' the Kerri b roth ers, jo in ed the

troops a t - Jemes a lso*- They had come d ir e c t ly from Taos,3 , . . . . .

New Mexico. V— • V i . ' . n ■ ■ -■ rv: : *

By August 22nd, the troops w ere 'rested arid su p p lie s

were ready. The so ld ie r s had been jo in ed by a company o f4

Mexican vo lu n teers • under the lea d ersh ip o f Capt. Henry X.

Dodge. They were then ready fo r th e ir march to Canyon de

C helly . c v l - : r . vr- :..i: ..•■r

- From Jemez, the so ld ie r s -fo llo w e d a route which Went

in a n orth w esterly d ir e c t io n . I t took them through a part

of Chaco Canyon in riorthwesterri New Mexico. Soon a f te r they

went through a dangerous pass which had great c l i f f s on

e ith e r s id e . I f -they were to be attacked by Nava jo s , t h i s .

I t seemed to them, would be the l ik e ly p la ce . -

~ "It su re ly would b e ," agreed Jim in h is thoughts*

, C ol. .Washington ordered a r t i l l e r y p laced on the h e ig h ts5

so as to p ro tec t th e troops as they went through* 1 2 3

1 . I b id . , p . 67. 4 . I b id . , p . 24.2 . Ib id . . p . 1 5 .

3 . I b id . , p . 18 .

115

5. Ib id ., p. 61•

. Forty, Pueblo Indians e n d ,th e ir c h ie f , Ow-ta-wa> l e d :

by Capt> Henry. L. :pti»hed;ahead over th e p a ss . Even

th ese Indians must have had, fea r o f the enemy in th e ir

hearts because th ey stopped baf®rm th e summit was reached

to r e c e iv e some;medicine from th e ir c h ie f . They rubbednthls

medicine over th e ir h ea r ts , ; on th e ir le g s , and "even m1

th e ir r i f l e s to i make them ’’b ig and b r a v e .w = Cc- . ; r

Lt- 3 It took the a r t i l l e r y ! th t# e hours t o g#t tW #w(^ the

p a s s .1: C oli Washington' claim ed i t .tos the m ost d i f f i c u l t .2

one he had ever seen . . L t. Simpson c a l le d i t Pass Washing-3

ton o n ih is •map Iri honor: o f th®3commanding o f f le e r ,

v On the fo llo w in g day, September 3rd, L t. Simpson and

th ir ty o f the Pueblo Indians went out to seou t around. They

were anxious to learn i f th a t day*s march were to be a s :d i f ­

f i c u l t as the one the day b efore; tT helr route took them

along th e val le y o f the Rib .Negro. i I t was decided to-camp

there th a t night* There;were: good w ater, p len ty o f grass4

fo r th e ir anim als, and an abundance o f wood. . f o r th e ir f i r e s .

September -4th found them w e ll in to Navajo country. A

few fr ie n d ly Navajos al<mg the way made i t known th a t th ey 5

wanted peace. However^ the c h ie fs o f th e tr ib e had n e ith e r

I b id . , p . 62 . -:

2 . L t. Simpson, the topographical en g in eer .

3 . I b id . , P la t e ,45. V. ‘ : .0 • :.. -r -:.4 . I b id . , p . 63 .

5. I b id . , p . 66 .

been seen nop heard from. C ol. Washington was determ ined,

th erefo re , to push on to Canyon de C helly and d ic ta te peace

terms a t th a t c e n tr a l p o in t . . v .

’ r So 'the men tpmshe'd on. They made th e ir seven teen th

camping ground sin ce le a v in g Santa Fe about f iv e m iles north-1

ea st o f th e head o f Canyon de C h elly . : . :

; ' Early on the momlng o f September 5 th , C ol. Washington,

L t. Simpson, and s lx o t h e r s s ta r ted fo r de C helly.; A fter

tra v e lin g about f iv e m ile s , th ey saw the deep canyon below .

I t . Simpson, who was to exp lore and map the area , began the

climb down. He descended to about three hmtdred fee* ; but

could go no fa r th er a t th at p a r ticu la r spot because the ;

c l i f f w a ll was so s tr a ig h t that there was no fo o tin g fo r

him. From where he stood on the rocky le d g e , he could see

a stream o f w ater on the f lo o r o f the canyon. \ ' ^

2 " ;t Great3.y vpleased, the lieutenant • and _-.hls.-men- returnedto camp. .They reso lv ed to explore la t e r when th e ir camp

was c lo ser , to the mouth o f the canyon. This b r ie f glim pse

o f the b e a u tifu l canyon made them anxious to re tu rn . •;

: ; Now ;th at Jim had;been up de C helly h im se lf , he cou ld

understand the keen in te r e s t o f L t. Simpson and h is men.

: As the main .troops approached de C helly , they could see3

Navajo huts smoking and springing into: f l a w s . Many, o f ..the

! • Ib id . , p . 67. 2 . Loc. c l t .

3* Ib id . , p. 70. :>. - ,

Nava jo s - feared the coining o f s o ld ie r s and would ra th er bum

th e ir; homes; and f l e e timtt beeoee p r lseeers# ^

r ox A fter a mareh o f about tw en ty -s ix m iles the s o ld ie r s

eaaped near a co m f i e l d . To th e ir sorrow th ey Learned : ^

th at th ere was no water in the v ic in i t y . That n ig h t theywent w ithout c o f f e e ,I th e ir fa v o r ite drink. And b e c a u s e ,

they were in enemy country, a l l f ir e s were put out a t su n se t.

n The ncxt in c id en t in the sto ry in te r e s te d Jim g r e a t ly .

On - Sept ember 7 th a c h ie f o f the N avajos, Mariano Martinos* :

appeared in camp w ith another In d ian . He had come to ta lk

peace, w ith C ol. Washington. Jim could imagine the proud

c h ie f and h is companion appearing q u ie t ly in the Americans

camp. He could c lo s e h is ey es and. see the Navajo lea d er , a

d ig n if ie d man, l i s t e n in g p o l i t e ly to t h e e o lo n e l .

: ; I.Col. Washington to ld the Nava j o c h ie f th a t a l l - s to le n

property must be returned b efore a tr e a ty could be made.

He. added to the l i s t o f sto len property the animals which

had been taken from the s o ld ie r s w hile on the march to

Canyon de C helly . A long l i s t o f animals to b e returned by

the Navajos was m e lte d to C hief t e r t in e s . I t included erne

thousand seven ty sheep, th ir ty - fo u r m ules, n in eteen h orses,2

and sev en ty -e ig h t c a t t l e . The c h i e f s a i d th a t-h e know ;

nothing, about the c a t t le and claim ed th&t th e y ,te d probably

been s to le n by th e Apaches. ~

118

1. Ib id ., p. 71. 2. Ib id ., p. 72.

I l f

; Col. Washington waa firm in demanding that a l l of the

animals he returned, including the c a t t le . I f i t were la ter

proved that the c a tt le had been taken by the Apaches, the

government would pay the Navaj os for a l l which were brought

in . ; ; : C ' v : ■- ■ 'And now Jim could see the Navajo leader leaving camp.

He Imagined that .the Indian was heavy with th is burden he

must carry; to h is people. Jim could have lingered over the

return of Chief Martinez to M s people, but he went on with

the main thread of the story . He continued to l e a f through

the volume.

The.wMte so ld ie r s ’ camp near the mouth of de Chelly

was a good spot to stay . I t was w ell placed for making a

treaty with the N aw jos. And i t was a perfect base from

which to explore :the canyon. Good water for the so ld iers

and animals could be had by digging p its f iv e fee t deep in 1

the arroyo. And there was feed for the horses, too .

Three days had gone by since Lt• Simpson had looked

over the brow of the canyon and descended a few hundred :

fe e t . He was eager to make a rea l exploration of i t . About

h alf past seven on the morning o f September 8th, a group of

six ty so ld iers under the command of Maj. Kendrick started

up the canyon. L t. Simpson and M s a ss is ta n ts , of course,

were looking for the legendary fort o f the Navajos. I t was

1. L o c .e i t .

rumored that the Indians took refuge in th is spot in times

of danger.

A march o f three m iles revealed no fort* The men were

greatly impressed with the beauty of the canyon, however.

They followed up a " le ft hand branch* o f the canyon* Jim

knew that th is was del Muerto. They even went up a branch

• of that branch as far as they could go* Returning from the

smaller canyon, they continued th e ir march on up Canyon del

Muerto.

They noticed patches o f corn, melons, pumpkins, and 1

squash growing. They a lso could see the remains of Pueblo

houses in caves as they marched along.

Jim could e a s ily follow the men in th eir journey along

de Chelly and del Muerto. And he could w ell imagine how

enthusiastic they would be over the spectacular beauty of

the entire area. Never, would Jim forget h is f i r s t tr ip s

over the t r a i ls followed by the so ld iers .

Having gone some distance up Canyon del Muerto* the

Americans were certain that the famous Navajo fort was not

there. Could i t be farther up the main canyon? They de­

cided to return to the fork in the canyon and continue up

Canyon de Chelly.

The sold iers had gone a distance of three and a h a lf

m iles from the mouth of de Chelly when Lt. Simpson noticed

1. Ib id ., p. 74.

a place where tir o e s , tmt not animals, could go up- to thep t i a . ' i v ' N . : r::.' yyr X:'--' .ic

^That *aa pyoWbly a t r a i l leading up to irt$Et we now

c a ll "Antelope .Point# ?' thought Jim#

As they traveled farther up d® © iellyy they wbeerved

pueblo ruins on the: le f t / w north gldo o f the canyon. r2

This was about seven ml lea f r<m the mdu th* Lt. Simpson - *

and h is a ss is ta n ts picked up several remnants o f black

gray and black bn red pottery which theiy Sound a t the base

of the c l i f f at th is ruin. . Prehistoric pottery, Jimknew

from h is own experience. t;, ■ z l - l . . : . r -

Continuing, they passed another large canyon on the

r ig h t. ■ ‘ ::•: : , ch-: ch.hh c h %

"Oh, that i s Monument Canyon. Well do I remember my

tr ip to Spider Rock at the mouth of that canyon,* Jim i

r e c a lle d .' ' ■■'•vy c-'h - rh h'c _ ■ c v: ■'

: Shortly a fter noting the':, branch canyon, Maj. Kendrickdecided to turn back. From time to time during th e ir trip, the soldiers: noticed Mavajoa gaming down at them. Jim knew

how surprised the Indians must have been to see Americans in th eir canyon. And he knew how much more surprised they

undoubtedly were to see th e ir ch ie f, Martinez, with the

so ld iers . y'y y c H - .-y y . y - ,

...... As _ the men rode back to samp, many Havajos liv in g in

1. Loo, c i t ♦ 2. Ib id ., p. 75.

122

the canyon showed th eir fr ien d lin ess by bringing but1

blanketloads of peaches fo r the tired abldiers to emt*-

It. was Septerfier ninth.? I t was the day that t l»

treaty was to be made* r

i " "What a day that must h a w btaen, t*. thcrnght Jim.

y vChiefi llartinea: arrlyed early in the morning with a

present for Col. Washington. The g ift: was a beautifu l mule

which he wished to give; to th e commanding o f f ic e r . Col.

Washlngton thanked him,, but explained thet a public o ffic er

could not receive presents. : Disappointed that M s "peace

offering" was not accepted,, the; ch ie f l e f t the ea^u - -

Not long a fte r , however, Martinez returned. He was

accompanied by Chapaton^ the ch ief o f the San Juan Nava jos

who lived to the north of Canyon de GW lly. They came to

return: seme captives and 'animals and other property which ;2

th eir people had taken. Col. Washington carefu lly ex- y

plained to them that they had Just th ir ty days to return■ . '■

the remainder o f the; property. A ll could be returned at

Jemez, New Mexico. He -fu lly ’ explained the treaty and the3

two ch iefs agreed that th e ir people would abide by i t . -

In the afternoon -after the treaty had been made, a

colorfu l group of one .-hundred, warriors appeared. Many wore

helmet-shaped caps trimmed with eagle feathers. TheyL-'J :: •- r :. x ;; :.Vi ;; !. :

i . 1614., p. 76. 3. Ib id ., p. 81.2. Ib id .. p. 80.

carried bows, lancesj arid sM ilSe* S sfew even had r l f l e i*

Theirs was a peaeeftal * i s s i « i , though. They had come to

barter with the troops. They had brought blanket#, animal

skins, and peaches which they traded with the so ld iers for

ornaments and cloth in g . The Navajos; pointed te the a r t ic le s

they wanted from the troops and then to the a r t ic le s whichI

they wished to barter. How Jim wished that he could have

been a s i le n t observer at a l l that tradings

The troops* stay at Canyon de Chelly was cut short be­

cause o f news received from Santa Fe. Col. Washington had

word that the Apaches had attacked the fr iend ly Pueblo In­

dians of Zunl -and had k ille d a number of than." H astily

plans were made to return to Santa Fe. They were to go by a

southerly route so that they might help at Zunl.

The so ld iers gave a l l the help possib le a t Zunl. Then they continued th eir march, some reaching Santa Fe on Sept­ember 25th, the rest coming in the next day. Col. Washlng-2ton’s men had traveled f iv e hundred eighty-seven m iles

since August 16th, the day of their departure from Santa Fe.

Jim summarized in h is mind the many things which had

been accomplished by th is expedition to Canyon de Chelly.

Lt. Simpson was certain that the Navajos had no stronghold

or fort In the canyon. I t was a myth. D efin ite ly h is men

had proved that i t did not e x is t . A fu l l and complete

1. Loc. e l t . 2. Ib id ., Map, p. 6.

treaty had been made with the Navajos• Col. Washington’s

men were the f i r s t American troops to enter the canyon. At' ■ ' / A . :: 1

le a s t so the Navajo c h ie f, Martinez had to ld them. Seventy-

five sketches!anti: drawings had been made o f the country2

through which the troops had passed. Much Information had

been gained for future m ilitary use. I f i t were ever nec-

essary to send troops up the canyon, there was nothing to

prevent th eir passage. I f i t were necessary for troops to

follow the top of the canyon, Lt. Simpson had found that

the south rim would be the b etter because I t was le s s' ■- I-.'.-.-- : , : - ■ ■ ' v . / . Vbroken by branch canyons.

The knowledge gained o f Canyon de Chelly and the Nav­

ajo country was important to the American so ld ie r s .

"Yes," thought Jim, "but l i t t l e did the so ld iers rea l­

ize that the country they explored would one day be a fin e

National Monument. And how right was Lt. Simpson in h is

suggestion for a wagon route "from Santa Fe to the Pueblo

de lo s Angeles" going by way of "the pueblos" of Laguna

and Zuni."

L itt le did Lt. Simpson rea lize how important th is road

would become in the development of America. Jim hoped that

some day in a speeding tra in he could follow the old wagon

t r a i l to the "Pueblo de lo s Angeles" which was now a th rlv- ing c ity .

124

1. Ib id .; p. 82. 3. Ib id ., pp.124-125.2. Ibid. , p. 3 .

. - .N

CHAPTER X

■; HOSTEM NOT AH TILLS OF THE LONG WALK

I t had been a good day for Taosie and Jim. They had

ridden to Cozy McSparrcm*a trading post and hack to Taosie*s

hogan by noon. Upon returning, Jim had been in v ited to have

his noonday meal with h is Navajo fr iend s.

A piece of o ilc lo th about a yard square was spread on

the ground in the summer hogan. This hogan was used only

for cooking, weaving, and as a place for the fam ily to

gather during the heat of the day. I t was not much more

than a three sided structure of brush, covered with a roof

of the same m aterial. They sat cross-legged around the

square of o ilc lo th while Hosteen Notah be * esdsaan, ther : . - : . . *' '- *. - , . •;* •. ■ • : •'''•> # .. • - , - - - -mother, brought a ro a st,o f lamb from the nearby f ir e . Soon

a steaming pot of coffee was placed before the father.

_ Hosteen Notah carved the mutton roast in to s l ic e s or

chops with a knife which .'.looked much lik e one, used for hunt­

ing. Each helped him self to the meat using h is fingers to

grasp and eat the chop. Jim watched carefu lly so that he

would follow the table manners of h is h osts.

S ittin g cross-legged was a new experience for Jim. 1

1. Meaning the w ife o f Hosteen Notah, according to Mri Gorman. -

1 2 6

His leg s and fee t were s lig h t ly numbed a fter a time, but he

was enjoying-M s experience se mneh that he soon forgot

about h is discomfort; C ,:'e. I

The fam ily was so in ten t uptm Sating that very l i t t l e

was said u n til Hosteen Notah reached for the watermelon.

While wiping h is hunting knife oh a piece of cloth^ he re­

marked about the fin e melon - they had bought - at the trading

p ost. He * carved i t in circu lar s l ic e s and then cut each

circular piece in h a l f .T h a t , too, was eaten by holding i t in the hands. ; v' ;.

Jim noticed that Tsosle was served coffee along with

the re st of the fam ily. They drank i t from white enameled 1

cups. When the mother offered a cup to Jim, he'thanked her

and :said, MNo> thank you.* ■

As the mother cleared the few enameled dishes away and

tid ied up the summer hogan, Hosteen Wotah, T sosie, smd Jim

moved to the open end and sat looking towards the mouth of the canyon: ' -h- v-::'..

After some id le ccmversatibn, Jim ventured, wDo you

remember when Hit Carson came to Canyon de Chelly, Hosteen Hotaht" - : V. '

Jim apparently had a notion that T sosle1s father was

old enough^to r e c a ll such an incident. I t was d if f ic u lt for

1•' This i s a meal which the author was in v ited to share with a Navajo family at the v illa g e of Dlnnehotso, Arizona, August 8, 1949.

Jim even , to: guess a t, the ..age of these Indians j and lik e . ,

most;children, he had l i t t l e or no Idea of age*

"No. That was many fears before I was born. My grand-" ' ..... ■■■"'' ■* ..............' ' ' " ' 1

father remembered. ...He to ld me about the Long Walk, to. Hue I t e

many,times." ... ^

, "Do you remember, Jim# tlmt I to ld you Euelte i s the

Navajo word for Port Sumner?" asked Tsosie in an ,effort to- • » . .. • t . •>., • „ , J.: - m,. t . t i 5 - • . -.t.. * - - * " V* ^

help ,.h is.,friend.. ' ' 1 ; r r-' % -. - . -._ , - Jim.had noticed, that,;.occasional Navajo words crept in­

to the .father1 s ..conversation, , , „■

. ^Huelte was the far-away camp irtiere they kept our j^ople

after the Long Walk,^ continued.the father. , , v

- "Will you please t e l l us the story your grandfather

to ld you ,about th is LongrWalkf" aakedl.Jim.

. . Hosteen Notah gazed down Canyon de Chelly. With a £

far-away look in ;h is eyes, he unravelled slowly the Navajo

version .of those terr ib le days for hi# people:

"We Navajos bad three enemies in those days: American

sold iers; Nokai, or Mexican people as you and Jim c a ll them;........ 2 - ‘ ' ' " •' ' ............ .....

and the Utes. We had other miemies, too, but there werenit

so many of them. There'were: the Comanches in Texas, and

theZ uhis in the souths' Sometimes we fought the Hopis.

1. S a l l i e P . Brewer, "The Long Walk to Bosque Redondo As Told, by Peahlakal Etaedi," Museum Notes (May) (F lagsta ff, Arizona: Museum of Northern Arizona, 1937), p. 56.

- 2* ' -Ib id . , p. 61 ' . I y'- '

Wherever we went there were enemies who were ready to k i l l

ha," - n .1.:;- :Hv - ; ;• ■1

"We had a ll ie d s ix tr ea tie s between 1846 and 1863

with a ch ief we sometimes ca lled the President. More often

we called him ju st Washington. We thought Big Chief Wash­

ington was afraid to send h is warriors but here. We2

thought he believed only in ta lk and signing tr e a t ie s .

We believed that Canyon de Ohelly was a fort that American

so ld iers would never enter. I t s red walls were too steep <

■and too high for any American so ld ier . Here we f e l t safe

from a l l our enemies. But our people learned that there was

no place that American so ld iers wouldn’t go to hunt us down

lik e wild anim als.tt : ' ■' '

! There were long s ilen ces between the words Hosteeh

Notah related . But most o f the time he talked as though

he were delivering a speech. Jim was to learn that many

Navajos' have great a b ility as orators. He was to learn

that often they gathered In a c ir c le , on horseback, and

in so ft tones, d elivered v/ise words.

' The father continued, "We were surprised when so ld iers

commanded by Col. Washington entered our canyon In 1849.

Our alarm and fears soon died though, because they did not 1 2

1. .. John L. Hughes^ Doniphan’s Expedition (Cincinnati: J. A. and TJ»* P.-* James,-1850), p. 188.

2. Charles A. Amsden, Navaho Weaving (Albuquerque: U n iv e r s ity o f New. M exico Press, 1 9 4 9 ) , p . 1 5 4 .

128

go all* th© way through the canyon. They returned to where

GMnle now I s . They didn’t k i l l us* They were here to

make a" treaty and to explore. Then two years la te r , in

1851, came Col. E. V. Sumner. He and h is so ld iers marched

ten m iles in to th is canyon and la ter made another treaty

with my people. Soon a fter th is , the f ir s t m ilitary post2

in Navajo country was s ta r te d ."

"Where was thatt" asked Jim eagerly. ;

"That was at F t. Defiance, to the south o f the canyon,*

replied Host sen Hot ah. "We couldn’t understand why Big

Chief Washington wanted us to liv e in peace with the Mexi­

cans while he and h is warriors fought them. We a lso couldn’t

understand why he la te r divided h is warriors in to two groups

that he ca lled the North and the South and then le t them

figh t each other. S t i l l he wanted us to liVe peacefu lly

while surrounded by a l l o f our enem ies.”

' "In September of 1862 the President sent Sen. James H.3

Carleton to command th is country. His camp was at Santa

Pe and with him was h is brave warrior. Kit Carson. Then

our trouble re a lly began." For the next two years Navajos

weren’t safe anywhere except at Bosque Redondo."

"Bosque Redondo was the reservation in eastern New 1 2

1. Charles A. Amsden, i "The Navajo Exile at Bosoue Re­dondo," New Mexico H istorica l Review, (January, 1933), p. 36.

2. Loc. c i t .

, 3. Amac^n. Havatho Weaving, p. 158. \

129

ISO

Mexico:where Port:Sumner.waaloeated,8 added fsoslermaklng

another^explanation:In hla fa th er’s story# i

r -'1 :.flKlt . Carson* a; f i r s t joh ims to round up a ll- the -Mea-1

calero - Apaches that he could find* They lived to the • : -

east of us. By.February of 1863 there were 350 Mesealeros2from Dog Canyon eith er at Bosque ledondo or on th e ir way

3there.!': - . • . : • . : - ;

i ;: "Then Cen. Carleton gave orders to Kit Carson to make

war against us. Carson scouted about here In July of 1863

looking for a good place to build a fo r t . He chose a place

near Canada and b u ilt F t. Cantoy. This was to be M s base.

It. was>much too c lose to our canyon for us to f e e l sa fe .5

He,had many Hta Indians working for him as spies* The .

ntes not,on ly spied, but captured our people and sto le our

herds when they could. In those days there were many r ich

Navajos who owned a thousand horses each besides mules,6

c a t t le ,a n d sheep* We were not always poor as you see

most of us now.8

1. John C. Cremony, L ife Among the Apaches (San Fran­cisco: A. Roman and Company, 1868), p. i'8S*j rl 2. Ib id . , p. 200. .

3. Aaaden, Navaho.Weaving, p. 160.4. War of the R eb ellion: O ffic ia l Records of Union

and Confederate Armies, Series I , Vol. 26, Part" Y"(Washing­ton: Government Printing O ffice, 1889), p. 233.

5. Ib id *, p• 234• . ...... 76. Grant Foreman, A Pathfinder in the Southwest: the

itin erary of Lt. A. W. wHlpple during M s expjLoratlons Tor a railway route from Fort Smiih to Los Angeles In tEeT"years TsSS ana 1854 ozmmn: un iversity of Oklahoma Press, 1941),FTTseT”

ri-e f Jim was greatly impressed with the d e ta il and the

many dates th is Indian knew. He doubted i f he, Jim, eould

re la te such, a lengthy ta le . However, Jim’s father had

to ld him how Navajos gathered about h(%#n f ir e s on the long

winter evenings. Grandfathers often told over and over

again lengthy legends and other s to r ie s . Favorite among

the s to r ie s was the Long Walk. No doubt th is explained the

fact that T so sie ’s father knew a l l the d e ta ils o f th is part

of Navajo h istory .

i . The Navajo father continued, "By the end o f July 1863,

the Ute Indians had captured four Navajo women and seveh- 1

teen children. Kit Carson thought that the TJtea should be

allowed to keep th e ir captives as w ell as the horses, mules,

sheep, and c a tt le which they had sto len . He thought that

the TTtes should be allowed to s e l l th e ir captives to the8 .

Mexicans, i f they wished. Carson thought th is would make

the Utes more eager to pursue us."

' "Gen. Carletcn did not agree with Kit Carson. The

general gave orders that a l l captured Navajos were to be5

sent to h is headquarters at Santa Fe. He said that the

Tfciited States would give twenty dollars prize money for

every horse or mule captured. Then the animals belonged to 1 2 3

1. War o f the R ebellion. 0£. c i t . , p. 234.

2. Loc. c i t .

3. Jb id .j p. 235. .

132

the TJhltecUStates and not to the Utesi - The animals were.

then branded, with the le t te r s F. S• The ‘cavalry used the

captured animals. (Jen. Carleton, a lso offered :one d o lla r

for every sheep that; could he stolen from us. These he >

had k ille d for food for h is troop s.” : • . :

: ' ; After a b r ie f pause, .Hoateen Hotah continued to unwind

the story lik e a ITavajo woman unwinding a h a ll of yarn#

”Hot content with "taking prisoners and steading our animals,

Carson and h is Ute helpers destroyed our crops o f wheat and

com . “ My grandfather to ld me that he remembered the day

that ten acres of gbod 'corn were destroyed hear Canyon de 1 "

b *' Jim f e l t that h is friend*s father lingered a moment

over the family* s part in the story. I t was such d e ta ils ,

to ld by. most fam ilies , that made Bosque Redondo a rea l

tragedy;which remained three and mere generations la te r .

l- . ^ in another place Carson and h is men took seventy-five2

thousand pounds of wheat;and much corn. Much of th is he

fed to h is animals# By that time the Eavajos were afraid

that they were to he captured, starved, o r sent to Bosque

Redondo where three hundred f i f t y Mescaleroa were already

in exile* But we s t i l l had Canyon de Chelly as our strong-o

hold and our people didn’t think that the so ld iers would

invade th is .p la c e .” .

1. Ib id ., p .2 5 0 . 2. Ib id ., p. 234.

>; v: c My p»todfather to ld me that In Hovember of 1863

son:went to« the loqmla or Hopls to get them on the war1

against usj 'IWr The v illa g e of Oralbl did not wish to

go to war against the Navajos, hut Carson punished them by-

taking the governor and one other man as prisoners. He

made these men march s ix ty -f iv e m iles with only one StopV 2 -

of two hours. Kit Carson also made the Zunis join the

Havajo hunt. I f they wouldn’t , th eir v illa g e s were des- 3

troyed."

1 * Jim looked at Hosteen Hotah and wondered how the man

could t e l l the story of h is people’s trouble without anger

in h is voice and manner. Only occasionally did Jim detect

b ittern ess in h is fr ien d ’s tone.

"A few of the head men among the Havajos went to Port

Cariby during September and October and said that they and

th eir people were ready to surrender and go to Bosque Re­

dondo. My grandfather’ s friend . L it t le Foot, went to Fort

Canby in August of that year. He promised that he and h is4

friends would return in twelve days. When L it t le Foot did

not come in . Kit Carson sent a party to hunt for him, too."

......... "Kit .Carson thought there were only a few Havajos l i v ­

ing in Canyon de Chelly and i t didn’t seem worthwhile to

ehter i t . Gen. Carleton again did not agree with Col.

1. Ib id ., p. 255.2. Loo, c i t .3. .Loc* c i t .

4 . Ib id . , p. 251.5. Ib id ., p. 256«

Cppson abotst 'the nymber of Navajos in the canyon. In Jan-1

wary 1864 Gen. Carleton sent orders that Canyon de Chelly1

was to .he Invaded. Carson had only fourteen o ff le e r s and

three hundred^ seventy'-flve en lis ted men with him Mien he2

le ft; Port Canhy on the morning o f January s ix th . My

grandfather said that the weather was bad and the snow was3 ' '

deep; I t took Kit Carson s ix days to reach the mouth of

Canyon de C helly .fl

1:ix. A; long jmuse followed. I t seemed that Hosteen,H©tah;

was re liv in g th is , f in a l blow, the arriva l of the enemy at

the entry to Ms people’s la s t stronghold. But he continued

i n :the same tone of voice, never re a lly betraying what he

f e l t * , ri : V: ."Kit Carson decided not to enter the canyon u n til he

had scouted along the rims. He, was.;net afraid to enter,

o f ; that -my people were certain . But he did not want to

lo s e :any of h is men. He divlded h is men, in to two companies.

(toe group,under Capt. A. B. Carey was to scout the south

side while Capt. Joseph Berney was to move along the north 4

rim .- ; They were, to march eastward and meet Capt. Albert * 2 * 4

1* o f the R ebellion; O ffic ia l Records of Unionand Confederate Armies. Series I , V o l . 34, Part I . (Wash­ington: Government Printing O ffice, 1891), p. 72. .

2. Log, c l t .

3* Ib id . , P» 76. •

4. Ib id . , p. 75.

P fe iffer who h ad been sent to scout along. the rim of del

Muerto;” _ > '

wDid Kit Carson go on these scouting trips?" asked

Jim .:. For; some time he had been in terested in 'this co lor­

fu l Army o ff ic e r . ' : - - ? " ■ ■ " -; . ih ■ ‘

"Carson went with Capt. Carey1 2 s group along the south 2rim ,h answered the Navajo. "Nowhere along the rims or in

the canyon could they see Capt. P fe if fe r . He was not at

the eastern opening when Kit Carson was ready to return to

Fort Canby. Fearing that Capt. P fe iffe r had met with

trouble, Carson returned to h is fo r t . He was joyous to

find Capt. P fe iffer at the fort waiting to t e l l of h is tr ip

through the branch canyon, del Muerto."

; "Capt. P fe iffe r had quite a story to t e l l . He had not

only marched through del Muerto, but he had brought In nime-3

teen Navajo prisoners and had k ille d three others. Mygrandfather said that P fe iffe r was a brave man. The canyon

had eighteen inches of snow then. In some places i t was

two fe e t deep* There was ice on the stream, too. Their

uniforms-showed very c lea r ly against the white' covering in

the ■canyon. S u rely :it was not long before the Navajo# knew

just where the so ld iers were."

v"There was;much y e llin g and confusion among the Navajos

135

1. Ib id ., p. .7 6 . • 3. I b id ., p. 78.

2. Ib id . , p. 73*

now that th e ir la s t stronghold had been invaSM by Ameri- can so ld ie r s .1' -v.-'.:- . - -r-T,-. ■■ lt'r y

A-'v . ;T sosle1 s father told the story so r e a l i s t ic a l ly that

Jim had the feelin g that th is Navajo conld hate he«i |>ria-

ent during the trag ic incidents he re la ted . The Navajo’s

words made the ta le as v iv id as though I t had happen*d la s t year. V A c . l ; o v:- ;fh ^

: doming hack to th* present, HOateen Notah continued,

"My grandfather joined a group of Navajos who hurled rooks

down into the canyon. Some Of the elder men had r i f le s1

and fired at the American so ld iers . The canyon was so

deep that the r i f l e shots did no’* damage. The rocks hurled

down missed th eir targets. P fe iffer didn’t lo se a man in

that march through del Muerto. He must have fe lt.proud of

him self because he and h is men were the first to go a l l the . . . : 2 .

way through Canyon del Muerto. Col. Washington’s men and

CblV Sumner had attempted to go through, hut had fa ile d todo SO.:>'T' V." : :; A:-;- \

L: v n "Three days a fter P fe iffer returned from Canyon del " Muerto, Capt. Carey asked for permission to lead h is group

through Canyon ’ de Chelly. They l e f t the mouth of d® Chatty

on - January 16th and marched eastward. He had orders to2. t -. ; ’ : v , ' -. - • v ., , 3

destroy the peach'trees end hogans of our people. MyA. - - r : t ' ' : . A'.::'-V'L;.. * 2

1• Ib id ., p. 77. 3. i b id . , p. 74.

2. Ib id . , p. 71.

156

i m

grandfather told:me that many Navaj03 meed ropes ;of yucca .

leave# * * 0 pu ll their- ah###. j^ lSffs when tbey saw. - 1

American so ld iers - c o m i n g . : f :.. r -

ovr ; •’When Capt# Oarey reached th is p lace, " said, the father

making;a gesture to Indicate the .junction of the two canyons,

"he decided to ke ep oat o f del Muerto because. that .had been

Capt •: * P fe if fe r 1 s route. As Capt* Carey moved up de Chelly,2one hundred f i f t y Navajos surrendered without a s tru g g le .H

, 1 r*Our people now f e l t that the struggle was hopeleaa.

There was no place where they were sa fe . By the end of

January, Carson had more than fiv e hundred Navajos at Port

Canby, and was waiting orders from Gen. Carleton i n f Santa 3

Pe.: Small groups came in d aily to surrender. Many others4 ' " ' . . . . . . .had died of starvation . They had been told by Kit Carson

that they had u n til ten o'clock on the morning o f January5.

14th to surrender. I f they weren't at Fort Canby then,

Carson said that the hunt would continue." : ;

% "Sow in toe world did a l l of your people go from Ari­

zona in to , the eastern part of New Mexico?" asked Jimaome-

what; puzzled. , . - . -L

1 c The answer, was certa in ly a shock. "Most of the..prison-'

_ 1" Brewer, 0£. c l t . , p. 57. -J r ^ Vol. 34, bp. b i t . , p. 78.

5. Ib id ., p. 75. . ' * ■. ■. ... , <-4. Ib id ., p. 73. , . . .

* 5 . Loc. e l t . ,■; - . 7;-.

138

err:'walked from Port Canby to Santa Pe. Only children and 1

the sick rode. Some were taken f ir s t to Port Defiance and

others to Fort: Wingate;: ' These two places were merely etop-2

overs on the, way to Bosque Redondo. Qa they went from

these spots.- It: took many Navajos over a month to make the3

three hundred m ile Long V/alk. Many of my people sickened

and died on the way."

* aThe Nava j os had been told that th is was not a war to4

destroy them, but. to save them. This they could not be­

lie v e a fter losing th eir land, homes, horses, sheep, and

now th eir r e la t iv e s . What were we to do?*

" : : Again Hosteen Notah had that far-away look. Jim f e l t

that there was a lso more b ittern ess in Ms voice than ever before. r \ ‘ r

The story t e l le r carried the two boys with him In

thought through the la s t b it te r incidents of the Long Walk.

*Gen. Carleton once said of my people, *We can feed them'5

cheaper than we can: fig h t them; t Perhaps that i s why they

put^all of us on a forty mile square reservation at Bosque

Redondo. They tr ied to make farmers of us on that l i t t l e6 .. • .................................

piece of ground. But we were used to wandering wherever * 4 5 6

1 .. Richard Van Valkenburg. A Short History of the Navajo.People (Window Rock, Arizona: u . S . Department of InTerTor;"T55'8), p. 24. ' , .: 2. Amsden, Navaho Weaving, p. 164. 3 . i Van Valkenburg, op. c l t . , p. 24.

4. War of the R eb elllm , Vol. 34, op. c l t . . p. 72.5. Loc. c l t .6. Amsden, Navaho Weaving, p. 165.

we chdse." , 1 2 i n : nr;;

J l* reca lled some ea r lier Incidents In the story and

asked Hesteeti Ketah, "Did the reservation !) elcxig t o y<i«r

people ei«ief Were net some Apaches :She*e, t«of "- l ; "The reservatlcri did not even belong to my people. I t

had been given to the Me scaler o ' Apache s about the time the1

Long Walk started . A part of i t was already occupied by

the Mescaleros captured by Carson before he began h is Nav­

ajo hunt• My people were to share the reservation with the

Apaches."Jim could well imagine how unhappy the Navajos would

be at Bosque Redondo. They had always been a free people.

To be confined to such a small area would be bad enough,

but to share i t w ith another tribe would be even worse•

Hostsen Notah came to the end of h is story. "We had2

three choices: we could starve, be captured, or surrender.

We chose to take the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, the Long

Walk away from our freedom. L it t le did my people know that

these would be four years of cap tiv ity , that four years of

misery were ahead of them."

Not another word came from Hosteen Notah. Jim f e l t

1. "The President d irects the establishment of a re­servation in New Mexico forty m iles square, around Bosque Redondo as the center." BAE, 18th Annual Report. Indian Land Cessions, Executive Order of. January TS. 18647 To Apache~~¥rlbe, p. 8S0. ------- ■*—

2. Amsden, "The Navajo E xile at Bosque Redondo," p. 43.

that the Navajo was probably r e - liv in g the tragic incidents

of the Long Walk." ; : ' - ; t

For many days thereafter Jim could not get the story

out of h is mind. He f e l t that: he; must d iscuss i t further

with someone. Perhaps h is Dad might explain the other side-- OS'.-! C Tf: f ' : : . . : • ' i '

of th is chapter in Navajo h istory .

1*0

’ i 'l ‘l ’ ‘ - '

' - y .t;": -c ? 6

‘1 r-r- :

vr;:

: . .-i" a # H'

'.V "&

f. " 1 J . ■' • . . ' • ’ \ ; > • ; " '' ; ^ '

CHAPTER XI

' ■ ■. - ■ v ' ; ' •• . •

RANGER LEWIS TELLS OF THE LONG WALK 1 i - V

, :■■■ ' . . . , . . * - : f * ' f ' : V -1 r ' - ' v ’ - , “

"Dad, why were the American o ff ic e r s so mean to the

Navajos?"

"What do you mean, Jim?"

"Why was Gen. Carleton so anxious to get them a l l on a

small reservation in New Mexico?"

"Have you been reading about i t , or talk ing to a Nav­

ajo?" Inquired the ranger.

"Some days ago T so sie ’s father to ld us about the Long

Walk to Bosque Redondo."

"I thought s o ," remarked Ranger Lewis. "But there are

two sides to the story, Jim, the Navajo end the American." - y .IV:. : ' . ' , ■ . • : . . - ' * ■■■ 'As you know from your school work, there are two angles to

many incidents of h istory . As you can well understand, i t

i s d if f ic u lt for most Navajos to know why they were sent to Bosque Redondo."

"Sit down, son, and I ’l l try to give you our side of the s to r y ."

Continuing, the ranger attempted to give hie son the

facts in a fair-minded way. "Too many tr e a tie s had been

broken by the Navajos. However, that was not exactly the' r ' . "I:.; ' - . . . ' ■ ■ ■; . ■ - • ■' ", '

fau lt of the Indians, e ith er .*

Anxious to understand the story. Urn asked, "Why

weren't the Navajos .at fa u lt . .I f :they "broke tr e a t ie s . Bad?”

Ranger. Lewis thought a few seconds and then answered,

"In the f i r s t : place, the Americans did not fu lly recognise1

the clan organisation of the Navajos, Jim.M~

"What do you mean h y'that. Dad?"

"I mean that there were many Navajo leaders. Bach2

group of people in an area had i t s own leader. The Haw-

ajos of a group were loya l to th e ir headtaan. Whmi a leader

signed a treaty, with the Americans, he signed for h is group

only. He was net responsible fo r :members of other groups

of Navajos. The Americans did not understand th is . They

considered that the leader signed for the whole tr ib e ♦ As -

you can understand, th is would explain many broken t r e a t ie s ."

"Since tHosteen Notah to ld me the sto ry 'o f the Long

Walk, I have been doing a l i t t l e reading about i t . 1 find

that the Navajos were raiding the Mexicans. What does that

have to do with - the Long Walk story. Dad?"

"I think I can explain th at, sen. After our war with

Mexico, we signed a treaty with the Mexicans on February 2,

142

1848.: •'

v: •-

"What trea ty was that. Dad?" asked Jim. 1 2

1. "There .are, or have been, s ix ty or more Navaho elans." Clyde Kluokhohn and .Dorothea. Leighton, The Navaho (Cambridge: Harvard u n iversity Press, 1947), pp. 65-64.j - '.-r-r . : ' •: ’ ' . - ' . '2. I b id ., p. 69.

i

1 3*3”That:was the treaty o f Guadalup Hidalgo, Jim. We

si©ied I t at" iiladialupe Hidalgo in Mexico a fter our war with

the Mexican's. *

Jim was more' enthuA la#lk about h istory since M s

mer'at the cahytsi tMn ever before. Perhaps i t was beeause

he was learning i t where I t had actu ally been made.

Ranger Lewis ttidughtfuily continued, ”A part of one of

the a r t ic le s of the treaty said that we would keep Indians

from raiding ih Mexico. We a lso promised that United States

c itize n s would h ot buy sto len goods from th# In d ititi. ¥ f

Mexicans were made captive, we agreed in the treaty tog

♦rescue them and return them to th eir country.1M

"As you know, Jim, the Navajos were a scattered people.

They could know nothing of our treshEf Wlih the iiex ieahs.

Our Amy o fficers f e l t that the Navajo raiding o f Mexicans

was just another reason fo r attempting to co n tro l‘theseIndians." ; "v ' - v" ■' ^ kv ;.:

"Gen. Gar le t oh was ah Army o ffic e r who had had twenty-’• \ . ............... 3five years experience on Western fr o n t ie r s . When he was * 2 3

U. s . Congress.House/o f.rBspresentatiwes, Ittsee l- laneous Documents, Vol. 19, 47th Congress, 2nd Session (Washington: (Government Printing O ffice, 1883), S eria l No. 2158, pp. 124-133.: : " ■■ . L: ". V 1 ;■ ■: : - ' . : " ' . - ' -: ■ . :

2. Americans w ill not "purchase or acquire any Mexi­can r._ . . who may have been captured by Indians in e ith er Mexico or the te rr ito ry of the United States" . . . Ir "pur­chase stolen anim als." I f captured in Mexico and broughtto the terr ito ry of the United S tates, the Government w ill "rescue them and return them to th eir country." A rtic le 11, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, p. 129.

3. Amsden, "The Navajo Exile a t Bosque Redondo," p. 38.

sent to Santa Fe, there seOT®4 no other way to subdue the

N avajos.-• J^nbtless there was no thought of cruelty and

revenge, but our Government did want, to teaoh the Havajos

a lesson . .They- had to be made to respect other people’s

l iv e s and property." .. :r ; . ""But why did they herd them lik e animals , and treat

them so cru elly by sending them, away from the .land they

loved?" asked Jim. JBe had come to. lik e the Havajos so

w ell that he was anxious to know the f u l l story .

.. "Herding.them together and sending them far away seems

cruel t o ,us now, but a t the time, . there was no other way.

Gen. Carleton.wanted them to learn peaceful ways of liv in g .

He.hoped th at.th ey would become farm ers.. He a lso wanted

the children .at Bosque Redondo to learn to read and w rite

and to bectone Christians." . ... ...... .. .

"Did the Government think that Bosque Redondo had

been a successful way of handling the problem?" asked Jim

unwilling to give .up u n til a l l the questions In h is mind

had. been answered. :

"No. ,Bosque Redondo was anything but a success.

Everyone was unhappy. Gen. Carle ton was an Army man and

didn’t lik e h is new job of being am Indian guardian. The2

Navajos died by the hundreds or ran away. - The Mescalero

Apaches were unhappy because they were too near the Navajos' • . i ' .

1. ib id ;, p. 39.j ■ - -.

2 . . I b ld . , ; p . 46.

14*

and had to share tM Reservation. They quarreled constant

ly with t he Hava jos who* greatly outnumbered them. The

Apaches were so discontented that they asked for a separate

reservation. Whin Sen." OartetM refuse# tile-to them, the1

Apaches simply l e f t s i le n t ly m erM ght in November 1865.«

; : -."By the - spring of 1866 Carle ton 's so ld iershaddm g !

th ir ty miles of d itches for irr iga tion at Bosque Redondo

and.two thousand acres had been,planted in wheat, corn, and

beans. Even Mother Nature worked against the success ofBosque‘Redondo The Feeds River overflowed. Later in the

season, in sects destroyed th e ir crops." 1

! "Every crop planted for th r ie y iars W s-a failttt1#.

When the spring of 1868-came, the NavaJos were so discour3

aged that - they, planted almost nothing."

"Conditions couldn't go on?that way so the Government

sent Gen. W. T. Sherman out fr<m Washington to do somethingM4 ...........about th is s itu ation ."

1- "The poor Navajosl" exclaimed Jim. "What could the

Government do for them then?"

• "On June 1, . 1 8 ^ .another treaty was aide with them. • 2 3 4 5

2. Amsden, "The ITavajo EMle ‘at. Bosqm#..Redondo, • p . 46.3. Ib id . , p. 47.4. Ib id ., p. 48. " -5. TT. S. Congress, Senate, Indian A ffa irs . Laws and

T reaties, Vol. 2, 57th Congress, 1st Session, S. Doc. 357""" (Washington: Government Printing O ffice, 1903), S eria l No. 4254, pp. 782-785.

146

Chief Manuelito signed i t for the eight thousand Navajos1

th e n a t Bosque Redondo• *

’’They were given free seeds: and to o ls to encourage 2

farming. Each family was given a ? p iece : of land o f not --3

over one hundred s ix ty acres. ~ For ten years: they - were - to

receive a clothing allowance. There were fifteen:thousand

sheep and gdats given to the tr ib e . We a lso promised .them

a school and a teacher for every th ir ty children between5

the . ages of sik and' s ix teen • M ■ \ ; i ■ :■ ■' . 1. ;;; ■. ■■

• i"-- Jim reca lled the day when they had passed Kee: Yazzie

herding h is grandmother' s sheep. He remembered;hls fa th er's

te llin g - him- that Kee had never been to school and - that only6

one in-three Navajo children ever attends school* * 2 3 4 5 6

L k; 1. Am#den, Navaho Weaving, Plate 73.2. Seeds and implements for the f i r s t year were not

to exceed one hundred d o llars. Indian A ffa irs . . Laws and T reaties, op. c l t . . A rtic le 7, p. 784.

3. "The head of a fam ily . . . sh a ll have the priv­ileg e to se lec t • . . a tract of land . . . not exceeding 160 acres in extent." I b id ., A rticle 5, p. 783.

4. Clothing allotment was f iv e dollars per Indian. Given the f i r s t of September each year. Ib id ., A rtic le 8, p. 785.

5. "The United States agrees that for every th ir tychildren between the ages of s ix and sixteen years . . . a house sh a ll be provided and a teacher." Ib id ., A rticle 6, p. 783. ------

6. Cf. Krug, p. 42, ante.

Speaking up Jim said , "That i s a treaty we have not

liv ed up t(% Dad."

"Yes, son. Late though i t i s , we are now working very-

hard on that part of the 1868 treaty . As a part of a pro­

longed program we are trying to provide enough schools for

Navajo children. At any rate the Navajos were overjoyed at

the thoughts of leaving th e ir e x ile . Thef l e f t Bosque

Redondo on the 18th of June 186@."

"By November o f that year there were but 7 ,111 Navajos

l e f t of^the 10,000 who had gone to Bosque Redondo four years

before. L They'had been hard years for the Navajos. But

they were ho le s s d if f ic u lt for Americans. We wanted to be

fa ir but simply did not know enough about the Navajos to

handle th e ir problems, hoes th is help you to understand

the Long Walk a l i t t l e b etter , Jlaf"

"Yes, had. I'm glad to know the other side of the :

story." ' -: :: "

147

1 • v - - : v 1 l : V: ■:: : ■ " Z" y-': r

!• Amsden, "The Navajo Exile at Bosque ,Redondo,* p. 48.

. ; , CHAPTER XII .

JIM AND TSOSIE SAY GOODBYE

Jim had not s lep t w e ll. Thoughts of leaving Canyon de

Chelly had disturbed him a l l n ight. He was up at the white

dawn, as the Navajos c a l l i t , and soon dr.essed,

v-e Glancing, from M s bedroom window, he saw Tsosle and

T ilsh . zM ln out in the yard standing there patiently*

Neither boy nor horse moved. ; They merely stood,w aiting.

Jim had often observed just such a patient manner among

the Navajos.

: ,.t "What in the world brings Tsosle here so early!"

thought Jim.

r .::. H e dashed out to greet Ms friend . "Hi, T sosle. You

are an early b ird . What brings you four m iles from home

at., tM s .hour.?"-.

. "I wanted to see you before you le f t for school. .

T ilsh-zM in and I have come to say goodbye again," he

answered awkwardly. .

Eagerly Jim announced, "I have good news, Tsosle*

l id says he w i l l be here at de Chelly for another year at

le a s t . That means I ' l l be here next simmer, too . I s n 't ,

that wonderful? Of course, your family w il l be here in

the canyon again for the summer, won't they?" he asked

149

trying to Interpret M s friend 's p lacid fa c ia l expression.

... Quietly Tsosie rep lied , MITo. My family w il l go to

Poston as soon as we hear from the Window Rock agency.0

Jim’s high sp ir its f e l l , but hopefully he asked, "Is

that near here?"

: "No. I t i s many miles from Canyon de Chelly—many

m iles west, near C alifornia," calmly answered T sosie.

"Oh." Jim was downcast and lo s t for words. Then

there would not be another summer o f fun in the canym.

Canyon de Chelly could never be the happy place i t had

been for Jim without h is loya l Navajo friend. Jim was

s ile n t for many seconds.

- Sensing h is fr ien d ’s disappointment Tsosie added,

"But; you asked only about my fam ily. Even though my mother

and father w ill not be here, I w il l be at de Chelly next

summer."

Jim’s face brightened. "Oh, th a t’s wonderful, T sosie.

You had me worried for a w hile. Then we w ill be able to

explore around here aga in ," said Jim greatly relieved to

learn that h is .fear had been groundless.

"Yes,-we w i l l , Jim. My mother’s brother who l iv e s

here in the summer has no young children. He has asked me

to help him herd h is sheep next suraner." .

:"But if-,you are herding sheep a l l day, you won’t have

any time for fun, w ill you?" . . . ; , ; .

"My uncle has four b ig dogs who help care for the

sheep, so he doesn't need me a l l o f the time. That w il l

give us much time to play together. And some times you

might help me with the sheep herding, " he added.

They chatted a w hile. Jim premised to write to Tsosle

at the Navajo boarding school in Utah. Jim was determined

that they would continue th eir friendship during the long

winter months.

Jim excused him self for a few minutes to answer a

c a ll from the dining room. Upon returning he said to M s

friend, "Dad and Mother want you to stay for breakfast

with us, T sosle. W ill you?"

Patting Ms black horse he rep lied , "No, Jim. You

are busy with your leaving plans. My mother to ld me not

to stay and bother you. She expects me home before the sun

Is there," he continued while pointing to a spot over the

horizon as Jim had frequently seen him indicate time.i ' r j h : . ■ v . ■

"I'm sorry you can't stay, T sosle." Extending M s hand

JliR said, "This, then, i s goodbye u n til next summer."

Tsosle said nothing. He grasped Jim's hand firm ly.

Without further ta lk , Tsosle mounted Ms horse. As he

• l e f t headquarters, Jim called to Mm, "T ill next summer, T sosle. Goodbye. And don't forget to w rite."

"Goodbye, Jim," came the quiet reply as Tsosle headed

up the canyon.

"What a fin e friend! I don't want to leave here. I hope the autumn and winter pass quickly so that I can harry back," he thought as he returned to the house for breakfast.

150

- T v ' . ;v ’. y r : - . v ; n - ' L X y ' . v - ;;

f , v :: ■ ]. ' : ; ■ 1'=-' : t i l - : . ^ r - r . I ' A . v v

CHAPTER XIIIt o o J ■ X1 -.O': t i O ' X V y 0 o . V. Vt V "

. r- f 1 : VACATION IS OVER - ‘ / y .-:U:

As Jim and Ranger Lewis drove along the roads of theo p t i o r i : O V v . , p.o r r t - . t ; "'P v ;Navajo reservation towards Gallup Jim asked, "Dad, wheret v : : o “ o - - ' . r - - T P ; - ' t ' •- P ; ' ■ t

i s Poston?"

"Poston, son, i s a government project in western Ari-

zona right on the California border. I t i s already a th rlv -V-* *• - . I ? > 1 ; • • • • . - - - ; i . • • ■' . . : ' ' ■ - - ' r - ' • V :-4 . ■> ,4>. > . - I ' - - . - » ■ - ... ‘ . . •-■■■ ’ ■■ ■ . . ■ 0. * ' . P -

ing v illa g e o f many Navajo, Hop!, and a few Walapai fam-

H ie s . Did Tsosie t e l l you that h is fo lk s are hoping tor-,

go there?"

Very much surprised that h is father knew, Jim answered,o r - o r P i v X i ..v : ' ' r

"Yes, he did. Dad. But how did you know it?"

"Oh, news gets around at a trading p o s t ," he added

l ig h t ly . More ser iou sly the ranger said , "Two government

men were discussing i t recently and asked my opinion of

the Notah family."Pi'.-iX 1 •.: V- : , : - ■ ' : ' -- - " . :: ■ - ■! - . p .; .

"If you knew. Dad, why didn’t you t e l l me about it?"

"Son, I f e l t I t might sp o il your summer i f you knew-p •:''' - - .that Tsosie was to move.®

' - -iX'' - ; r r ; ;p. ,• ; — r .. . p , p

"But he w il l be here next summer, Dad. He w il l be at

h is uncle’s hogan in de Chelly next year. He to ld me so."

r. - i 1* As of June 23, 1951, 119 Navaj o', fa m ilie s , 23 Hopl, and 2 Walaiml are at Poston. Samuel S. Stevens, Farm manager of, the reclamation project, interview .'

152

f-.l;r.vir-c-Jim.'.was quiet for some minutes* * F in ally he asked,

. t,Why are the Hotahs leaving the reservation. Dad? Don't

vthey vlike Canyon de Chelly and Chinle any more?*

"It i s n 't that they don't l ik e the reservation, Jim.

I t i s a case of going to a place where there are b etter 1

opportunities. The Hotahs are poor fo lk s, son. They

have no sheep. The only time the family i s at a l l pros­

perous is when they are at de Chelly in the summer* In

the-canyon they have fa ir ly good land on which they grow

enough for the summer but not enough for the winter months. ”

co , "Does Poston have good land. Dad?"

"Poston i s on the Mojave Desert—"

0 : "Desert! Why should they want to go from one desert

to another. Dad?" asked the puzsled boy.

'J Trying to sim plify the story for h is son, the ranger

continued, "But i t i s desert which the Government i s re­

claiming, Jim. That means they are changing i t from a .

desert to a place where people may ra ise crops." He was

mindful of the good work that had been done there.

? u, fHow can they change a desert in to a good place to :live?" ' - .... .

Jim's father smiled and said , "For a change, suppose

1 ask you the questions, son. W e'll see how w ell you can

1. The Navajo reservation "when developed to i t s po­te n tia l maximum, could support 35,000 persons . . . yet to ­day there are 61,000 Navajos liv in g there. The dire need of seeking a live lih ood elsewhere i s se lf-e v id e n t." Krug,

• c l t . , p. 6 .

figure things out. L et’s pretend that I am the director of

a quiz program and that you are one o f the contestants on

my; program. * «

j Jim f e l l Into the game sp ir it immediately saying, "Oh,

that w ill be fun. Dad. What i s the f i r s t question?"

"The f ir s t question your quiz program director w il l

ask i s ’When i s a desert not a desert?’ "

’"Oh, th a t’s too easy," replied Jim pleased with him­

s e l f . "When there i s water, o f cou rse ."

.."That ’s r igh t, boy. Second question. Hot/ may water

be brought to the desert?"

r The question was not quite c lear , so Jim asked, "Do

you mean by irr ig a tio n . Dad?"

"Good boy. Score a second point for Jim’s side,"

smiled the ranger continuing the make-believe program.

, "Now to continue our quiz program, ’What water i s

there in western Arizona?’ We’11 see how w ell you know

your Arizona geography."

t > Jim thought a second and answered, "The Colorado River

Dad. Oh, th a t’s i t . The Colorado River has been used to

irr ig a te and the land i s no longer a d esert. That’s simple

The father looked very serious and replied , "It may

sound simple, Jim, but i t i s n ’t so easy as i t seems. F irst 1

a large dam had to be b u ilt on the Colorado River to store I

I 1. : Parker Dam.

144

the water that i s needed for ir r ig a t io n .’1

Going; oh with h is story the father said, ’’The land

there was fu l l of alkali. Crops w ill not grow even with

plenty hf water unless the a lk a li i s removed from the s o i l .

Be fore the Government brings an Indian family to fo s t te ,. 2

the land must be reeendltioned . n

In h is usual searching manner Jim asked, ’’What do you

mean hy reconditioning. Dad?” • .

; ’’At Poston there are three ways o f reconditioning or3

■reclaiming the land. The one most frequently used i s to

cover an area with water and le t i t stand. The water

brings the a lk a li or sa lt up from the s o i l . The sa lty

water i s la ter drained from the lan d .* '

: :: o v »vheh the Government workers have tested and re -tested

the s o i l and know i t i s good farm land, they plant a lfa lfa

cm i t . Not u n til the land has grown a fin e crop Is I t

ready for an Indian fam ily .”

• ."What happens then. Dad?" asked Jim anxious to know

i the whole story. :

: ' .- ’’Then the Indian agency at Parker c a lls up the agency

at Window Rock and t e l l s them there i s farm land ready for 1 2 3

1. Stevens, interview .2. Ib id .

3. 3^id. Second method of reclaiming: Mix gypsum In s o i l . This makes the a lk a li so lub le. Third method:Mix manure in to s o i l .

155

a family." -■ ■ ■ ■■ ■ •

"l ..tbfiraght:'-you said i t was a t Poston, Dad."

r , -"The Indian agency i s at Parker, Arizona, Jim; but the

land-reclamation project i s eighteen m iles south at Poston."

Jim could hardly picture Navajo fam ilies leaving the

land they love so w ell and moving to Poston. He asked,

"Can any Indian family go theref"

Ur "No, Jim. I t I s the Colorado River Indian Reservation.

Just as the name suggests, i t i s for Indians whose reser­

vations are drained by the Colorado River or i t s trlbu- 2

ta r ie s ."

. ■ ’’Well, l e t ’s see," said Jim.

"Hram, the Colorado River and i t s tr ib u ta r ies . As I

remember the two main tributaries of the Colorado are the3

San Juan and the L itt le Colorado. On the reservation map

you showed me once, i t seems to me that Navajos l iv e along

these two rivers as w ell as along a part o f the Colorado.

So that means that they too could l iv e at Poston, ’’ announced

Jim. quite pleased with him self for having figured out the

matter.

'- Jim was s ile n t for some time. His s ilen ces were

usually followed by a ser ie s of questions, h is father knew. 1 2 3

1

1. Ib id .

2. Krug, op. c i t . , p. 33.

3. Ib id . , pp. 20-21.

i s s e

: i : n H©w larg# I s that reservation :at Poston, Dad?" '

; "It extends for m iles and m iles, Jim. I read in a1

government b u lle t in that i t has 100;000 a c r e s ," continued

the ranger reca llin g the f ig u r e .' ;' Trying to grasp th# f u l l %tory, Jim asked, "Whose land

is i t . Dad?" ; «£• ><>■ o uv.vi- ■: :v :- ' ■2

"It belongs to the Mojave and CheMttdevi Ijadiana, son,3

but .they require only about a fourth of i t . Those two

tr ib es have agreed that the rest may be used by other Colo­

rado River tr ib es."

Jim’s thoughts went back to the story of the Long Walk,

the treaty of 1868, and the hardships the Navajos had had

throughout the past.

"When you to ld me about the Long Walk, Dad, you spoke

of a program to help the Navajos. Is the Poston project a

part of that program?"

"Yes, i t i s part of the Government's long-range pro­

gram to help make l i f e b etter for these in te ll ig e n t people,

Jim." '

The questions continued u n til Jim f e l t that he under­

stood th is help that was being given h is Navajo fr ien d s.

He began to understand how the Navajos might even leave 1 2 3

1. I b id ., p. 33.

2. Loc. c i t .

3. Loc. c i t .

their beautifu l country and starvation for le s s a ttractive

but more f e r t i le lands. -

Ranger. Lev/is interrupted hi^ son’s thoughts by point­

ing, ahead towards the c ity of Gallup. “Look, Jim. G iv ili-

nation pncem ore,1’ he reearked. . . . . . . . . . . ...

.. : ■ ^ C iv ilization , Dad?" he asked questiopingly. "Perhaps

so, but I . f e l t much, happier out at de Chelly when I was

riding T sll. gha’ t ig a i l , up the . canyon .to m eet-T sosie."

158

jJV-i.i 4L:

•;

on

: 1 : ; : ' :

CONCLUSIONS

' This study i s a small contribution in national Menu-

ment lite ra tu r e . I t reveal a that u i thin'any one Monument

area there i s a wealth of, interesting material that may beu tiliz e d and developed as suppliittertlriary reading for the

story may serve as a guide in developing s to r ie s of other

Natiohai Monuments.. - -- :V »- • ' - ; * I' * t ■»-.*. . , . ,»w.s* '-V. ^

The research re la tiv e to th is th esis demonstrates the

n ecessity for checking upon the accuracy of m aterials. This

requires careful se lec tio n . much discarding of materials

. The time n ecessar ily spent In Research for th is story

precluded the p o s s ib il ity of a s c ie n t if ic appraisal of c h il­

dren’s reading in tere sts in t t t f .intermediate grades. Fur­

ther evaluation o f the lite ra r y in tere sts of th is group is

indicated and points the way for additional research.

Because there i s a wealth of m aterial availab le to one

in terested in research, many other National Monuments could

be w ritten .as s to r ie s for children* Variety could be addedto the in terpretations by using such devices as a boy’s diary,

his le t te r s to a friend in a d istant .place# or h is experiences

as a student keeping notes on an anthropological expedition.

The p o s s ib i l i t ie s are numerous for one in terested in th is

f ie ld of h is to r ic a l research and creative writing*

"■Jr- z. c . . -x.r-'. y\r-'J,: '-. JC OIL:, , ■; 0': » '■•:% »v t j-. ,• , v--: : : i-n ,

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