MESA VERDE AND CASA GRANDE NATIONAL PARKS 



141 



the Park, and then stops in the vicinity of one of the finest 

 ruins, "Spruce Tree House." 



This ruin is located in a short spur of Spruce Canyon, 

 and is at an elevation of about 6,900 feet above sea-level. 

 From the brink of the canyon one sees stretched out 

 before him the great desert of Arizona and New Mexico, 

 quivering in the heat of the southern sun. In the 

 distance may be seen the hazy peaks of the moun- 

 tains of New Mexico which form the southern 

 boundaries of the great desert expanse. From 

 the top of the mesa the ingenious trail that leads 

 to the entrance of the cave passes down through 

 small crevices and over projecting ledges to the 

 ruins. 



The first thing that strikes the visitor is the 

 unusual circular chambers that appear like pits 

 in the floor of the ruin. These chambers are 

 called "Kivas," and are presumed to have ful- 

 filled the function of ceremonial rooms. In 

 Spruce Tree House there are approximately 

 eight of these rooms, which were used by an es- 

 timated population of 400 persons. Back of 

 these are the chambers which were occupied by 

 the inhabitants of this ancient village. The cave 



with smaller stones. The hewn stones were shaped with 

 the aid of implements made of a harder stone and in many 

 instances the trueness with which they were laid sug- 

 gests the presence of a plumb line and the absence of labor 

 unions. In some ruins may be found the whetstone, as 

 it were, a large boulder of sandstone, the deep grooves in 



Photograph by Mark Daniels. 



CUFF PALACE, THE LARGEST KNOWN GROUP OF RUINS 



The round, vat-like chambers in the sunlight are kivas, or ceremonial rooms, in 

 which war councils were held. The round tower shown is the only one com- 

 pletely circular to be found in the Mesa Verde ruins. The square tower just 

 beyond was once four stories in height, a proud skyscraper of this ancient race. 



Photograph by Mark -Daniels. 



THE ENTRANCE TO THE KIVA 



This is by ladder through a square hole in the roof. The top, or roof, performs 

 the function of surface for the open terrace. The roof of this cave is strongly 

 blackened by smoke that rose from rires of centuries ago, but the walls are clean 

 and well preserved. 



which testify to this primitive method of. sharp- 

 ening an axe. It must have been a joy to the 

 youths of the day that there were no creaking 

 grindstones to turn for father. 



Spruce Tree House was discovered and named 

 in 1888 by two brothers who ranged cattle in the 

 neighborhood, but this fact does not excuse the 

 government and the committee on naming things 

 (or whatever it is that is responsible for the 

 names of our national parks and other places) 

 from continuing the use of the word "house" to 

 describe a group of houses large enough to ac- 

 commodate 400 persons or more. How would 

 we like to feel that posterity, in the event that 

 the fate of some of our great cities should be 

 that of Tyre or Sodom, might fasten upon it 

 the ignoble title of River House or Painted 



is 210 feet in length and 89 feet in depth at its 

 widest point. There are 114 rooms in the vil- 

 lage, some of which were at one time three stories 

 high. It has been shown that at least fourteen 

 of these rooms were uninhabited, and were used 

 as mortuary chambers or for storage. I said 

 that the first thing which struck the visitor was 

 the circular chambers, but perhaps it is the won- 

 derful degree of preservation shown by these 

 walls. Whether theirs was a representative form 

 of government or not it is certain that the pork- 

 barrel principle of construction was unknown to 

 them, for some of their stone walls have stood 

 for nearly a thousand years without the aid of 

 an annual appropriation for maintenance. The 

 walls and partitions are laid up in hewn stone, 

 set in adobe mortar and occasionally chinked 



Photograph by Mark Daniels. 



A CHANCE FOR THE ROMANTIC 



The balcony and the parapet wall of Balcony House are the most interesting fea- 

 tures of this ruin. Whether the balcony was used by dusky lovers of a starlit 

 night or put only to the prosaic use of a means of communication will probably 

 never be known. Until it is, however, the romantic are privileged to attribute 

 to it the former use. 



