THE EXCAVATION AND REPAIK OF BETATAKIN 



By Neil Merton Jtjdd 

 Curator of American Archeology, United States National Museum 



INTRODUCTION 



The Indian appropriation act approved May 18, 1916, included 

 the following: 



For preservation and repair of prehistoric pueblo ruins and cliff-dwellings, 

 under the supervision of the Smithsonian Institution, Navajo National Monu- 

 ment, Arizona, $3,000. 



To carry out the provisions of this item the present writer was 

 rather unexpectedly designated, early in March, 191T, representative 

 of the Smithsonian Institution and special disbursing officer, Bureau 

 of Indian Affairs. Availability of the appropriation was limited to 

 the then current fiscal year, ending June 30. 



Entraining at Washington March 16 I proceeded to Flagstaff, 

 Ariz., engaged four laborers, and left with them by automobile on 

 March 20 for Tuba; thence by 4-mule team to Kayenta; thence by 

 saddle horses and pack mules to Betatakin ruin. This journey of 

 approximately 200 miles from the railroad was not without its 

 disagreeable features, 



Navajo National Monument, at an elevation of 7,000 feet, is none 

 too inviting in early springtime when sandstorms crowd the heels 

 of retreating winter. We turned northward from Tuba into the 

 face of wind-driven snow, camped about 6 miles short of Red Lake 

 at some deserted Navajo hogans whose old timbers offered fuel and 

 partial protection, spent the next night under frost-covered blankets 

 in the open desert, and arrived at Kayenta March 24, just as a setting 

 sun was painting the neighboring sandstone buttes with brilliant 

 crimson. 



My diary recalls the succession of discouragements under which 

 our special task was pursued. Both economic and climatic obstacles 

 intervened. We broke trail through snow 2 feet deep to establish 



No. 2828.— Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 77, Art. 5 



92187 — 30 1 1 



