222 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



been broken up. That which has been taken out and sold is, of 

 course, not absolutely lost, for it usually finds its way into mu- 

 seums. ' ' 



Your committee have considered the proposition and 

 believe that it would be a wise act to preserve these re- 

 mains. They are fortunately situated in a dry climate 

 wiiere the elements act slowly in the work of destruction. 



The remains include picture writings, carved stone 

 lions, cliff houses, cave dwellings, and community houses. 

 The land lies at an altitude of from 6,000 to 9,000 feet 

 above the sea, and the climate for a summer outing is as 

 delightful as any in the world. 



There are many of these ruins elsewhere in New Mex- 

 ico, Arizona, and Colorado, but there is probably no 

 locality in which so extensive remains are found in so 

 small a space. It is estimated that there are tens of 

 thousands of these ancient structures, and that from one 

 eminence 2,000 of these dwellings may be seen. Some of 

 the communal residences are two or three stories high 

 and contain 1,000 to 2,000 rooms each, with underground 

 council chambers. 



Use of the grass within the proposed reservation, your 

 committee thinks, can be made without impairing the use 

 of the park, provided suitable regulations against van- 

 dalism shall be made by the secretary of the interior, 

 and we therefore have recommended that permits for 

 grazing may be issued. 



Each generation usually destroys the works of its an- 

 cestors. Modern Rome is built out of the remains of the 

 ancient city. In the United States the prehistoric works 

 of the aboriginal races have rapidly disappeared under 

 the hand of the white race. 



In the Pajarito region a very large quantity of these 

 relics remains because the aridity of the climate has 



