The ancient pueblo culture was so intimately connected with and
dependent on the character of the country where its remains are found
that some idea of this country is necessary to understand it. The limits
of the region are closely coincident with the boundaries of the plateau
country except on the south, so much so that a map of the latter,[10]
slightly extended around its margin, will serve to show the former. The
area of the ancient pueblo region may be 150,000 square miles; that of
the plateau country, approximately, 130,000.
[Footnote 10: See Major C. E. Dutton's map of the plateau country
in 6th Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. Survey, pl. xi. His report on "Mount
Taylor and the Zuni plateau," of which this map is a part,
presents a vivid picture of the plateau country, and his
descriptions are so clear and expressive that any attempt to
better them must result in failure. The statement of the geologic
and topographic features which is incorporated herein is derived
directly from Major Dutton's description, much of it being taken
bodily.]
The plateau country is not a smooth and level region, as its name might
imply; it is extremely rugged, and the topographic obstacles to travel
are greater than in many wild mountain regions. It is a country of
cliffs and canyons, often of considerable magnitude and forming a bar to
extended progress in any direction. The surface is generally smooth or
slightly undulating and apparently level, but it is composed of a series
of platforms or mesas, which are seldom of great extent and generally
terminate at the brink of a wall, often of huge dimensions. There are
mesas everywhere; it is the mesa country.
Although the strata appear to be horizontal, they are slightly tilted.
The inclination, although slight, is remarkably persistent, and the
thickness of the strata remains almost constant. The beds, therefore,
extend from very high altitudes to very low ones, and often the
formation which is exposed to view at the summit of an incline is lost
to view after a few miles, being covered by some later formation, which
in turn is covered by a still later one. Each formation thus appears as
a terrace, bounded on one side by a descending cliff carved out of the
edges of its own strata and on the other by an ascending cliff carved
out of the strata which overlie it. This is the more common form,
although isolated mesas, bits of tableland completely engirdled by
cliffs, are but little less common.
The courses of the margins of the mesas are not regular. The cliffs
sometimes maintain an average trend through great distances, but in
detail their courses are extremely crooked; they wind in and out,
forming alternate alcoves and promontories in the wall, and frequently
they are cut through by valleys, which may be either narrow canyons or
interspaces 10 or even 20 miles wide.
The whole region has been subjected to many displacements, both flexures
of the monoclinal type and faults. Some of these flexures attain a
length of over 80 miles and a displacement of 3,000 feet, and the faults
reach even a greater magnitude. There is also an abundance of volcanic
rocks and extinct volcanoes, and while the principal eruptions have
occurred about the borders of the region, extending but slightly into
it, traces of lesser disturbances can be found throughout the country.
It has been said that if a geologist should actually make the circuit of
the plateau country, he could so conduct his route that for
three-fourths of the time he would be treading upon volcanic materials
and could pitch his camp upon them every night. The oldest eruptions do
not go back of Tertiary time, while some are so recent as probably to
come within the historic period--within three or four centuries.
The strata of the plateau country are remarkable for their homogeneity,
when considered with reference to their horizontal extensions; hardly
less so for their diversity when considered in their vertical relation.
Although the groups differ radically from each other, still each
preserves its characteristics with singularly slight degrees of
variation from place to place. Hence we have a certain amount of
similarity and monotony in the landscape which is aided rather than
diminished by the vegetation; for the vegetation, like the human
occupants of this country, has come under its overpowering influence.
The characteristic landscape consists of a wide expanse of featureless
plains, bounded by far-off cliffs in gorgeous colors; in the foreground
a soil of bright yellow or ashy gray; over all the most brilliant
sunlight, while the distant features are softened by a blue haze.
The most conspicuous formation of the whole region is a massive
bright-red sandstone out of which have been carved "the most striking
and typical features of those marvelous plateau landscapes which will be
subjects of wonder and delight to all coming generations of men. The
most superb canyons of the neighboring region, the Canyon de Chelly and
the Del Muerto, the lofty pinnacles and towers of the San Juan country,
the finest walls in the great upper chasms of the Colorado, are the
vertical edges of this red sandstone."
Of the climate of the plateau country it has been said that in the large
valleys it is "temperate in winter and insufferable in summer; higher up
the summers are temperate and the winters barely sufferable." It is as
though there were two distinct regions covering the same area, for there
are marked differences throughout, except in topographic configuration,
between the lowlands and the uplands or high plateaus. The lowlands
present an appearance which is barren and desolate in the extreme,
although the soil is fertile and under irrigation yields good crops.
Vegetation is limited to a scanty growth of grass during a small part of
the year, with small areas here and there scantily covered by the
prickly greasewood and at intervals by clumps of sagebrush; but even
these prefer a higher level, and develop better on the neighboring mesas
than in the valleys proper. The arborescent growth consists of sparsely
distributed cottonwoods and willows, closely confined to the river
bottoms. On intermediate higher levels junipers and cedars appear, often
standing so closely together as to seriously impede travel, but they are
confined to the tops of mesas and other high ground, the valleys being
generally clear or covered with sagebrush. Still higher up yellow pines
become abundant and in places spread out into magnificent forests, while
in some mountain regions scrub oak, quaking asp, and even spruce trees
are abundant.
In the mountain regions there is often a reasonable amount of moisture,
and some crops, potatoes for example, are grown there without
irrigation; but the season is short. In the Tunicha mountains the Navaho
raise corn at an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet, but they often lose the
crop from drought or from frost. On the intermediate levels and in the
lowlands cultivation by modern methods is practically impossible without
irrigation, except in a few favored localities, where a crop can be
obtained perhaps two years or three years in five. But with a minute
knowledge of the climatic conditions, and with methods adapted to meet
these conditions, scanty crops can be and are raised by the Indians
without irrigation throughout the whole region; but everywhere that
water can be applied the product of the soil is increased many fold.
Near the center of the plateau country, in the northeastern corner of
Arizona, a range of mountains crosses diagonally from northwest to
southeast, extending into New Mexico. In the north an irregular cluster
of considerable size, separated from the remainder of the range, is
called the Carrizo; and the range proper has no less than three names
applied to different parts of it. The northern end is known as the
Lukachukai, the central part as the Tunicha, and the southern part as
the Chuska or Choiskai mountains, all Navaho names. The two former
clusters attain an altitude of 9,500 feet; the Tunicha and the Chuska
are about 9,000 feet high, the latter having a flat top of considerable
area.
On the east these mountains break down rather abruptly into the broad
valley of the Chaco river, or the Chaco wash, as it is more commonly
designated; on the west they break down gradually, through a series of
slopes and mesas, into the Chin Lee valley. Canyon de Chelly has been
cut in the western slope by a series of small streams, which, rising
near the crest of the mountain, combine near its head and flow in a
general westerly direction. The mouth of the canyon is on the eastern
border of the Chin Lee valley. It is 60 miles south of the Utah boundary
and 25 miles west of that of New Mexico; hence it is 60 miles east and a
little north from the old province of Tusayan, the modern Moki, and 85
miles northwest from the old province of Cibola, the modern Zuni. Its
position is almost in the heart of the ancient pueblo region; the Chaco
ruins lie about 80 miles east, and the ruins of the San Juan from 60 to
80 miles north and northeast.
[Illustration: Plate XLII
Map of Canyon De Chelly and Its Branches
Surveyed by Cosmos Mindeleff]
The geographic position of Canyon de Chelly has had an important effect
on its history, forming as it does an available resting place in any
migratory movement either on the north and south line or east and west.
The Tunicha mountains are a serious obstacle to north and south movement
at the present day, but less so than the arid valleys which border them.
Except at one place, and that place is difficult, it is almost
impossible to cross the mountains with a wheeled vehicle, but there are
innumerable trails running in all directions, and these trails are in
constant use by the Navaho, except in the depths of winter. The mountain
route is preferable, however, to the valley roads, where the traveler
for several days is without wood, with very little water and forage, and
his movements are impeded by deep sand.
To the traveler on foot, or even on horseback, Canyon de Chelly is
easily accessible from almost any direction. Good trails run northward
to the San Juan and northeastward over the Tunicha mountains to the
upper part of that river; Fort Defiance is but half a day's journey to
the southeast; Tusayan and Zuni are but three days distant to the
traveler on foot; the Navaho often ride the distance in a day or a day
and a half. The canyon is accessible to wagons, however, only at its
mouth.
The main canyon, shown on the map (plate XLII) as Canyon de Chelly and
known to the Navaho as Tse-gi, is about 20 miles long. It heads near
Washington pass, within a few miles of the crest of the mountain, and
extends almost due west to the Chin Lee valley. The country descends by
a regular slope from an altitude of about 7,500 feet at the foot of the
main crest to about 5,200 feet in the Chin Lee valley, 25 miles west,
and is so much cut up locally by ravines and washes that it is
impassable to wagons, but it preserves throughout its mesa-like
character.
About 3 miles from its mouth De Chelly is joined by another canyon
almost as long, which, heading also in the Tunicha mountains, comes in
from the northeast. It is over 15 miles long, and is called on the map
Canyon del Muerto; the Navaho know it as En-a-tse-gi. About 13 miles
above the mouth of the main canyon a small branch comes in from the
southeast. It is about 10 miles long, and has been called Monument
canyon, on account of the number of upright natural pinnacles of rock in
it. In addition to those named there are innumerable small branches,
ranging in size from deep coves to real canyons a mile or two long.
Outside of De Chelly, and independent of it, there is a little canyon
about 4 miles long, called Tse-on-i-tso-si by the Navaho. At one point
near its head it approaches so near to De Chelly that but a few feet of
rock separate them.
On the western side of the mountains there are a number of small
perennial streams fed by springs on the upper slopes. Several of these
meet in the upper part of De Chelly, others in Del Muerto, and in the
upper parts of these canyons there is generally water. But, except at
the time of the autumn and winter rains and in the spring when the
mountain snows are melting, the streams are not powerful enough to carry
the water to the mouth of the canyon. The flow is absorbed by the deep
sand which forms the stream bed. Ordinarily it is difficult to procure
enough water to drink less than 8 or 10 miles from the mouth of De
Chelly, but occasionally the whole stream bed, at places over a quarter
of a mile wide, is occupied by a raging torrent impassable to man or
beast. Such ebullitions, however, seldom last more than a few hours.
Usually water can be obtained anywhere in the bottom by sinking a
shallow well in the sand, and it is by this method that the Navaho, the
present occupants of the canyon, obtain their supply.
The walls of the canyon are composed of brilliant red sandstone,
discolored everywhere by long streaks of black and gray coming from
above. At its mouth it is about 500 feet wide. Higher up the walls
sometimes approach to 300 feet of each other, elsewhere broadening out
to half a mile or more; but everywhere the wall line is tortuous and
crooked in the extreme, and, while the general direction of De Chelly is
east and west, the traveler on the trail which runs through it is as
often headed north or south. Del Muerto is even more tortuous than De
Chelly, and in places it is so narrow that one could almost throw a
stone across it.
At its mouth the walls of Canyon de Chelly are but 20 to 30 feet high,
descending vertically to a wide bed of loose white sand, and absolutely
free from talus or debris. Three miles above Del Muerto comes in, but
its mouth is so narrow it appears like an alcove and might easily be
overlooked. Here the walls are over 200 feet high, but the rise is so
gradual that it is impossible to appreciate its amount. At the point
where Monument canyon comes in, 13 miles above the mouth of De Chelly,
the walls reach a height of over 800 feet, about one-third of which
consists of talus.
The rise in the height of the walls is so gradual that when the canyon
is entered at its mouth the mental scale by which we estimate distances
and magnitudes is lost and the wildest conjectures result. We fail at
first to realize the stupendous scale on which the work was done, and
when we do finally realize it we swing to the opposite side and
exaggerate. At the junction of Monument canyon there is a beautiful rock
pinnacle or needle standing out clear from the cliff and not more than
165 feet on the ground. It has been named, in conjunction with a
somewhat similar pinnacle on the other side of the canyon, "The
Captains," and its height has been variously estimated at from 1,200 to
2,500 feet. It is less than 800. A curious illustration of the effects
of the scenery in connection with this pinnacle may not be amiss. The
author of Western Wilds (Cincinnati, 1878) thus describes it:
But the most remarkable and unaccountable feature of the locality is
where the canyons meet. There stands out 100 feet from the point,
entirely isolated, a vast leaning rock tower at least 1,200 feet
high and not over 200 thick at the base, as if it had originally
been the sharp termination of the cliff and been broken off and
shoved farther out. It almost seems that one must be mistaken; that
it must have some connection with the cliff, until one goes around
it and finds it 100 feet or more from the former. It leans at an
angle from the perpendicular of at least 15 degrees; and lying down
at the base on the under side, by the best sighting I could make, it
seemed to me that the opposite upper edge was directly over me--that
is to say, mechanically speaking, its center of gravity barely falls
with the base, and a heave of only a yard or two more would cause it
to topple over. (Page 257.)
The dimensions have already been given. The pinnacle is perfectly plumb.
The rock of which the canyon walls are formed is a massive sandstone in
which the lines of bedding are almost completely obliterated. It is
rather soft in texture, and has been carved by atmospheric erosion into
grotesque and sometimes beautiful forms. In places great blocks have
fallen off, leaving smooth vertical surfaces, extending sometimes from
the top nearly to the stream bed, 400 feet or more in height and as much
in breadth. In the lower parts of the canyons the walls, sometimes of
the character described, sometimes with the surfaces and angles smoothed
by the flying sand, are generally vertical and often overhang,
descending sheer to the canyon bottom without talus or intervening
slopes of debris. The talus, where there is any, is slight and consists
of massive sandstone of the same character as the walls, but much
rounded by atmospheric erosion. The enlarged map (plate XLIII) shows
something of this character.
Near its mouth the whole bottom of the canyon consists of an even
stretch of white sand extending from cliff to cliff. A little higher up
there are small areas of alluvium, or bottom land, in recesses and coves
in the walls and generally only a foot or two above the stream bed.
Still higher up these areas become more abundant and of greater extent,
forming regular benches or terraces, generally well raised above the
stream bed. At the Casa Blanca ruin, 7 miles up the canyon, the bench is
8 or 10 feet above the stream. Each little branch canyon and deep cove
in the cliffs is fronted by a more or less extended area of this
cultivable bottom land. Ten miles up the talus has become a prominent
feature. It consists of broken rock, sand, and soil, generally overlying
a slope of massive sandstone, such as has been described, and which
occasionally crops out on the surface. With the development of the talus
the area of bottom land dwindles, and the former encroaches more and
more until a little above the junction of Monument canyon the bottom
land is limited to narrow strips and small patches here and there.
These bottom lands are the cultivable areas of the canyon bottom, and
their occurrence and distribution have dictated the location of the
villages now in ruins. They are also the sites of all the Navaho
settlements in the canyon. The Navaho hogans are generally placed
directly on the bottoms; the ruins are always so located as to overlook
them. Only a very small proportion of the available land is utilized by
the Navaho, and not all of it was used by the old village builders. The
Navaho sites, as a whole, are far superior to the village sites.
The horticultural conditions here, while essentially the same as those
of the whole pueblo region, present some peculiar features. Except for a
few modern examples there are no traces of irrigating works, and the
Navaho work can not be regarded as a success. The village builders
probably did not require irrigation for the successful cultivation of
their crops, and under the ordinary Indian methods of planting and
cultivation a failure to harvest a good crop was probably rare. After
the Harvest season it is the practice of the Navaho to abandon the
canyon for the winter, driving their flocks and carrying the season's
produce to more open localities in the neighboring valleys. The canyon
is not a desirable place of residence in the winter to a people who live
in the saddle and have large flocks of sheep and goats, but there is no
evidence that the old inhabitants followed the Navaho practice.
During most of the year there is no water in the lower 10 miles of the
canyons, where most of the cultivable land is situated. The autumn rains
in the mountains, which occur late in July or early in August, sometimes
send down a little stream, which, however, generally lasts but a few
days and fails to reach the mouth of the canyon. Late in October, or
early in November, a small amount comes down and is fairly permanent
through the winter and spring. The stream bed is even more tortuous than
the canyon it occupies, often washing the cliffs on one side, then
passing directly across the bottom and returning again to the same side,
the stream bed being many times wider than the stream, which constantly
shifts its channel. In December it becomes very cold and so much of the
stream is in shade during a large part of the day that much of the water
becomes frozen and, as it were, held in place. In the warm parts of the
day, and in the sunshine, the ice is melted, the stream resumes its
flow, and so gradually pushes its way farther and farther down the
canyon. But some sections, less exposed to warmth than others, retain
their ice during the day. These points are flooded by the water from
above, which is again frozen during the night and again flooded the next
day, and so on. In a short time great fields of smooth ice are formed,
which render travel on horseback very difficult and even dangerous.
This, and the scant grazing afforded by the bottom lands in winter,
doubtless is the cause of the annual migration of the Navaho; but these
conditions would not materially affect a people living in the canyon who
did not possess or were but scantily supplied with horses and sheep. The
stream when it is flowing is seldom more than a foot deep, generally
only a few inches, except in times of flood, when it becomes a raging
torrent, carrying everything before it. Hence irrigation would be
impracticable, even if its principles were known, nor is it essential
here to successful horticulture.
One of the characteristic features of the canyons at the present day is
the immense number of peach trees within them. Wherever there is a
favorable site, in some sheltered cove or little branch canyon, there is
a clump of peach trees, in some instances perhaps as many as 1,000 in
one "orchard." When the peaches ripen, hundreds and even thousands of
Navaho flock to the place, coming from all over the reservation, like an
immense flock of vultures, and with disastrous results to the food
supply. A few months after it is difficult to procure even a handful of
dried fruit. The peach trees are, of course, modern. They were
introduced into this country originally by the Spanish monks, but in De
Chelly there are not more than two or three trees which are older than
the last Navaho war. At that time, it is said, the soldiers cut down
every peach tree they could find. But, aside from the peaches, De Chelly
was until recently the great agricultural center of the Navaho tribe,
and large quantities of corn, melons, pumpkins, beans, etc, were and are
raised there every year. Under modern conditions many other localities
now vie with it, and some surpass it in output of agricultural products,
but not many years ago De Chelly was regarded as the place par
excellence.
It will be clear, therefore, that prior to very recent times De Chelly
would be selected by almost any tribe moving across the country, and,
barring a hostile prior occupancy, would be the most desirable place for
the pursuit of horticultural operations for many miles in any direction.
The vicinity of the Tunicha mountains, which could be reached in half a
day from any part of the canyons, and which must have abounded in game,
for even now some is found there, would be a material advantage. The
position of the canyon in the heart of the plateau country and of the
ancient pueblo region would make it a natural stopping place during any
migratory movement either north and south or east and west, and its
settlement was doubtless due to this favorable position and to the
natural advantages it offered. This settlement was effected probably not
by one band or tribe, nor at one time, but by many bands at many times.
Probably the first settlements were very old; certainly the last were
very recent.