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| THE CLIFF-DWELLERS - Near the Anthropological
Building, in the southern part of the park, was the striking
reproduction which is portrayed in the engraving. It represented
Battle Rock Mountain, in the Mac Eimo Valley of Colorado. It had the
appearance of rock and earth, though built of timbers, iron, staff,
stone and boards, and paint was used to simulate nature. The
entrance was into a cavern, made to give the effects of a canyon, and
in niches, high up, were the miniature houses of the ancient men who
once peopled the mesas and table lands of the southwestern
territories. These houses were built one-sixth of the real size, but
portions of the real houses were also displayed, in order to give a
clear and truthful impression to the visitor. In another room was a
museum of relics, showing remains of the cliff-dwellers and their
implements, weapons and pottery. The reader is to know that, ages
ago, a people, for reasons unknown, sought niches in the cliffs, now
hundreds of feet above the rivers, and there, in places almost
inaccessible, built their houses and villages. Ledges of rock were
shown in a fallen state, with houses crushed beneath, and houses
again built above them. Tortuous paths led up the cliffs and through
to the outer air, whence the visitor might ascent to the summit, as
seen in the engraving. A fee of twenty-five cents was charged to
enter this instructive exhibit, which was one of the worthiest
entertainments of the Exposition. |
