NO. 6 



SNflTHSOXIAX EXPI.OUATKIXS, I92O 



99 



tion of a possible site for exhaustive investigation and permanent 

 repair. 



The Chaco Canyon National Monument was created hy presi- 

 dential proclamation ]\Iarch ii, 1907, and includes 18 major ruins 

 of very great significance in the study of ancient Pueblo life. Unlike 

 the vast majority of cliff houses and other ruins found elsewhere, 

 each of these huge buildings was constructed along preconceived plans 



Fig. 114. — Grand Canyon of the Colorado from llic lower 

 Torowcap valley, southeast of Mt. Tnimhiill. ICvidciice o\ 

 preliistoric hahitations were not lacking: in tliis region hut 

 the dwellings were widely separated and poorly preserved. 



and as a community enterprise. The studied arrangement of their 

 rooms and the perfection of their masonry rank them as the very 

 finest examples of prehistoric architectural accomplishment in the 

 United States. Not only did the ancient inhabitants of C haco C anvon 

 excel as builders with stone, but the loser objects, found in and about 

 the great communal dwellings, show that tbcy ba<l attained remarkable 

 skill as makers of j)ottery, ornaments and iniplrments of \;irious 



