204 



The National Geographic Magazine 



caves beneath the CaroHne abvitments, 

 especially that to the south or west, where 

 was found what may have been a work- 

 shop of the ancients, for evidences of 

 their pottery work were scattered around, 

 and at one place a number of fiber san- 

 dals were found in a fair state of preser- 

 vation. 



A few miles above the Edwin Bridge a 

 considerable settlement of Cliff-Dwellers 

 once existed, and rude s\ mbols are found 

 on the rocks in the vicinity of the bridges. 



A NATIONAL PARK SUGGESTED 



From all that is learned of this won- 

 derful country, it is believed that its 

 preservation and care should be under- 

 taken by the United States Government, 

 as in the case of the Yellowstone National 

 Park, so that roads may be opened and 

 these greatest of the world's natural 

 bridges can be made accessible for . the 

 tourists from our own country and from 

 all over the world, who would flock 

 thither were the road made easier. The 

 difficulties of railroad building do not 

 seem to be unsurmountable, and an ex- 

 tension from Dolores, on the main line, 

 is possible, even to a continuation through 

 to the Santa Fe System, embracing all of 

 the upper part of the Grand Canyon of 

 Arizona — a scenic route comparable to 

 nothing else in the world. 



More than a passing word should be 

 said about the little town of Bluff, on the 

 San Juan River, from which point an ex- 

 pedition can best be fitted out for the 

 Bridge Country. This is a place of about 

 fifty houses, and is a thrifty little town 



\vith some excellent stone dwellings, some 

 of them costing $5,000 to $10,000. The 

 inhabitants of the town are generally well 

 to do and kind in their treatment of stran- 

 gers, and their prosperity is largely due 

 to the cattle industry. They are on the 

 northern border of the Navajo Indian 

 reservation, having considerable barter 

 trade with the Indians, who work for 

 them cheapl}' and keep their dwellings 

 for them. The people are mostly jNIor- 

 mons. Their young people are educated 

 abroad and compare favorably with the 

 young people anywhere. 



Quite the opposite is the little town of 

 Monticello, some 50 miles to the north 

 and the county-seat of San Juan County, 

 which is a town of about a dozen houses, 

 some occupied and some not, built upon 

 the apex or divide of a mountain range 

 and formerly the headquarters for the 

 cattle interest of this section. Its nearest 

 point also is Dolores, which is south and 

 east some hundred miles or so and con- 

 nected by a wagon road little used. 



There are mountains about here — 

 Abajo, 11,445 feet, and Mount Linnaeus, 

 11,000 feet — while farther north, toward 

 Moab, are Mount Tukuhnikivatz, 12,034 

 feet; Mount Tomaskia, 12,218 feet; 

 Mount Wass, 12,586 feet, and Mount 

 Peak, 13,089 feet. Much of this portion 

 has been surveyed, though the townships 

 have not been sub-divided, but nearly all 

 of the western part of the country is still 

 unsurveyed and no very accurate maps 

 exist, excepting of the courses of the 

 Green, the Grand, and the Colorado 

 rivers. 



