THROUGH THE NAVAHO REGION 



479 



leveled themselves into tlie great Chin 

 Lee Valley. This is one of the most 

 remarkable valleys of the region, be- 

 cause of its tremendous size; it meas- 

 ures about twenty miles across, and 

 ends in a great ridge of black moun- 

 tains. After skirting the edge of the 

 mesa for twenty miles, we were at Chin 

 Lee, the school and trading post at the 

 mouth of the canon. Familiar pictures 

 of the Canon de Chelly lead one to ex- 

 pect it to have an abrupt beginning 

 with high walls at the edge of the mesa ; 

 on the contrary, the guide pointed out 

 the canon mouth to us with difficulty, 

 and at this point its walls are no more 

 lofty than those that bound an ordinary 

 arroyo. 



The caiion is more or less dangerous 

 for an automobile when there is plenty 

 of water, although the sand is hard and 

 the road good, because of the quick- 

 sand; and it is almost impossible when 

 the sand is dry. Even with an Indian 

 team there is always a certain amount 

 of danger because of the possible sudden 

 rise of the rivers, caused by rains. Kain 

 may come above in the caiion without 

 one's knowledge, and the first intima- 

 tion that water is rushing down in the 

 dry river bed is a sound like the rattling 

 of hundreds of wind-whipped papers. 

 There is nothing to do but pull on to 

 high ground and stay there for a couple 

 of hours until the water recedes. It is 

 likely to flow for only a short time, al- 

 though in great volume, not at all like 

 the ordinary swift stream, but in long 

 rolling waves four feet high, with power 

 to drown the horses and carry the 

 wagon and men along to be lost finally 

 in the quicksands. 



As the traveler proceeds through the 

 Canon de Chelly the walls at right and 

 left rise rapidly until at about one mile 

 from the mouth they attain a height of 

 two hundred feet. Almost every turn 

 on the winding floor discloses ancient 

 dwellings high in the cliffs and of the 

 same color, in some places groups of 

 standing houses, in others merely ruin 



walls. Small caiions extending l)ack 

 from de Chelly disclose vistas of pres- 

 ent day Navaho homes, set in green 

 fields, with melon patches and peach 

 trees. One may travel up the eafion 

 long distances without seeing an In- 

 dian, but he may be sure that many 

 Indians, even miles beyond, know of his 

 presence, and that many curious eyes 

 follow his progress. 



The Canon del ]\Iuerto branches off 

 toward the left within a mile' of the 

 prehistoric ruin known as the "White 

 House," which is perhaps the best pre- 

 served and most widely known cliff 

 dwelling of the locality. The caiion 

 wall at the White House is about six 

 hundred feet high, and the White 

 House is recessed in a cave, having the 

 appearance of two white teeth in a wide 

 mouth. The ruin is without ladders 

 and inaccessible now, and is thus pro- 

 tected against vandals. 



Thirty feet beneath the White House 

 ruin stands another, built on the river 

 bank; and still below this, set in the 

 bank, is disclosed a third ruin where, 

 within the year, the rush of water in 

 the rainy season has washed away the 

 sand. The presence of this lowest ruin 

 is of great archaeological interest, and a 

 few hundred dollars spent in temporary 

 work would preserve the walls in place. 

 If this be not done, another season's 

 rain will probably wash the whole lower 

 ruin away. When facilities for travel 

 are better, thousands of people will go 

 to caiions de Chelly and del Muerto and 

 find them more interesting than the 

 Grand Caiion itself. One's impression 

 of the Grand Canon is of a tremendous 

 spectacle, awe-inspiring and imper- 

 sonal. The Caiion de Chelly, while 

 large, is more intimate. One can touch 

 its walls and feel that he is a part of it. 

 Every turn brings surprises, a group of 

 ruins in the cliffs, trees rising from the 

 bed of the river. The sun casts shad- 

 ows over the walls on one side, and 

 paints the opposite in orange, except in 

 1)1 aces where water flows down over the 



