432 MESA VERDE 



toward the La Plata mountains ; on the west is the broad Mon- 

 tezuma valle} r , drained by tributaries of McEltno creek ; on the 

 east is the valley of Mancos river, and on the south the narrow 

 canyon through which Mancos river discharges on its way from 

 the La Plata mountains to San Juan river. 



Standing on the southern edge of the Mesa Verde and looking 

 across the deep canyons of the tributaries of the Mancos, it is 

 seen that the same plain extended originally far to the south 

 into New Mexico ; but what appears to be a level surface is found 

 upon traversing the country to be a land deepl} 7 dissected and 

 almost impassable except along the flat-topped ridges or valley 

 bottoms. 



The Mesa Verde derives its name from the fact that its top is 

 densely covered with a growth of cedar and pihon trees, con- 

 trasting with the arid and almost desolate lowlands. In viewing 

 the mesa from a distance and in going around it the impression 

 is derived that its surface must be a plain, but upon laboriously 

 climbing to the top of it it is found that it is in reality more like 

 a hollow shell. The whole interior has been dug out, not in one 

 great valley, but in almost innumerable small narrow canyons, 

 which converge toward the south and enter the Mancos. The 

 plan of the surface of the mesa would give tb appearance of a 

 number of fingers stretching up from the so- | and spreading 

 out toward the northern end. In other words, the fingers of 

 time have, as though drawn from north to south, dug out the 

 long narrow valleys, leaving only thin parallel ridges rising al- 

 most to the original height. Traveling along the top of these 

 ridges is easy, as the surface is smooth. Numerous cattle trails 

 wind in and out among the trees, and on horseback the ground 

 can be covered as rapidly as the rider can dodge the stiff-pointed, 

 dead, lower branches of the trees; but in attempting to go from 

 side to side it is found to be almost impossible to make progress. 

 Reaching the edge of a precipice, the explorer wanders up or 

 down until by chance he finds a place where the rock has been 

 broken down, and on reaching the bottom of the valley he must 

 again search perhaps for miles for an opportunity to climb out. 



About the only sure and practicable way of visiting vari- 

 ous parts of the mesa is to ascend near its upper edge, at 

 Point Lookout, and then keep on this narrow rim, in this way 

 passing around the head of the different finger-like gorges. 

 There is here a trail traveled by pack animals. At places the 



