ANASAZI BOGHAN of Navajo Nat'l Monument

"ANASAZI BOGHAN OF NAVAJO NAT'L MON.

Glittering sunshine on the new translucent leaves of stately quaking aspen, banks of newleafing gambel oaks, juniper and piñon, and against the sheer 500 foot cliff across the canyon stand tall Douglas Fir trees trying to reach an azure blue sky above the salmon pink sandstone canyon wall.

Such was the spring time picture any Anasazi who happened to live in Betatakin could see through his front peep-hole. His closer view might have been box-elders and large broad leaf yuccas; his potential sandals, floor mats, rope, string, pot-rings, cornmeal sifters, paint brushes (for decorating pottery) a good shampoo from the root and an edible fruit. An even closer view might have revealed wild orchids which are in greater numbers this year than any previous year on record.

The name Anasazi has been applied to these Pueblo Indians by the comparatively newcomers, the Navajos, to mean the "Ancient Peoples," sometimes translated as "Those who are gone." Gone from these deep canyons of sandstone for about 700 years but their homes remain in the best state of preservation of any prehistoric pueblo in the United States in fact there are more prehistoric rooms with their prehistoric roofs in the Navajo National Monument than in all the rest of the less perfectly preserved ruins in Arizona.

It was because of this remarkable state of preservation and the scenic value of the area that President Taft proclaimed it a National Monument in 1909. The same year Betatakin was first seen by white men-Dr. Byron Cummins and Hosteen John Wetherill the proclamation was issued.

That name Betatakin taken from, or given by, the Navajos means Hillside House and it's one of the finest pre-Columbian villages in Arizona. However the size of Betatakin (with its 60 living rooms, 26 storage rooms, 13 open courts, six rectangular kivas (ceremonial rooms), two grinding rooms and more than 30 rooms of undetermined use) is not the outstanding feature of this ruin. It's the incomparable setting that widens your eyes and drops your chin in awe.

This whole village rests on the sloping floor of a terrific cave. Carved by wind and water it is as symmetrical as Rainbow Bridge but larger. The arch abutments are 297 feet apart and from this level (the canyon floor is some 150 feet below, hence the Hillside House) the arch reaches a height of 236 feet, and the cave is 135 feet deep! You could place the leaning tower of Pisa in the cave and have 57 feet to spare!

We haven't said Betatakin is the largest cliff dwelling in Arizona, we haven't said it is the best state of preservation, we haven't said it was the most remote or the least visited because of its inaccessibility, we haven't said you'd get the same feeling the original discoverers got and we haven't said that less than 1,000 white people have ever seen Beta takin. The reason we haven't said those things is because they belong to Keet Seel. The village that looks as though it might have been abandoned two years ago in a cave 350 feet long with a 40 foot ladder to reach the dwellings. More than 150 rooms, some of them circular Kivas, some of them storage rooms still heavily strewn with prehistoric corn-cobs! On ledges we find whole vessels of prehistoric pottery and, just as they were abandoned, manos and metates galore.

Keet Seel is eleven miles from the headquarters area of Navajo National Monument and because of the rough terrain a horseback trip is indicated. The trail follows old Navajo switch-backs until it gets into the upper reaches of Keet Seel Canyon above the high water-falls, and there it fades out. Horses and a guide to Keet Seel are obtainable through the Custodian.

You've seen the "closed-down"-type dis-play window, haven't you? Walled-up or opaqued to leave only a small brightly illu-minated opening for the display of a special gem. That's Inscription House. A special gem is a "closed-down" window. The tall walls of Nitsin Canyon are interrupted by a small aperture and like a gem on plush Inscription House shines out.

Display window, haven't you? Walled-up or opaqued to leave only a small brightly illuminated opening for the display of a special gem. That's Inscription House. A special gem is a "closed-down" window. The tall walls of Nitsin Canyon are interrupted by a small aperture and like a gem on plush Inscription House shines out.

The smallest of the three major ruins in Navajo National Monument Inscription House is still larger than any other cliff-dwelling in this state of many cliff-dwellings. Named Inscription House because of a name with the date 1661 inscribed in Room 34. Ambiguous deciphering of this inscription runs from "S-hapeiro Ano Dom 1661" to "Ghas Arnod 1661."

But there is no doubt about the building accomplishments of the Anasazi who decided to live in this cave. Had there been no inscription on the walls of this cozy little ruin it might well have been named "Architectural Demonstration House." Here in Inscription House we find many different types of construction, wattle and daub walls (those thin space-saving partitions made by binding slender sticks together with yucca leaves and plaster with mortar), a bundled-grass brick, adobe, coursed Ashlar masonry and the native sandstone cliff. Look at Room 21 as described by Charlie Steen, junior Park Archeologist who stabilized Inscription House in 1930: East wall-wattle and daub, South walladobe, West wall-masonry, North wallcliff.

Here lived a bunch of fellows with architectural appreciation with a preconceived plan for getting the most they could into the small cave and with rooms whose T-shaped doors provided a scenic view of the canyon below. It's architecture, that's what it is. Why else would they plan and build two small T-shaped peep-holes?

The only mistake these planners made was to build it so far from the railroads!

BETATAKIN ★

Betatakin, which in Navajo means "Hillside House," one of the finest pre-Columbian villages in Arizona, is famed for its incomparable setting. The whole village rests on the floor of a great cave, in which you could place the leaning tower of Pisa and have 57 feet to spare.

of Living Things SAGUARO

In the sun-drenched desert near Tucson is Saguaro National Monument, an area set aside and dedicated to the Saguaro Cactus. Here for all time will a portion of our desert remain unchanged and untouched for the pleasure of travelers to come. This is an area of living things, of plant and animal life, and in this setting is staged a mighty drama the drama of living things surviving in a land where life itself is conflict with the elements, amid the beauty of the primitive and the natural.

ORGAN PIPE

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, south of Ajo, half as large as Rhode Island State, is a desert wilderness area. From the weird, ghostly organ pipe cactus does the area get its name. Through here passes El Camino del Diablo, "The Devil's Highway", which figured in the history of early day traveling and exploration of the West, and whose pathway was marked once with the bones of travelers who perished from thirst along the road. In spring, when the upsurge of life returns and the desert growth comes to bloom, this area is transformed to a rich, colorful garden.

of Ancient People TUZIGOOT

Throughout the vast expanse that modern man calls Arizona, there lived an ancient civilization. Marks of that civilization can be found today in almost every part of the state. Tuzigoot, near Clarkdale, is one of the ancient cliff dwellings that has been uncovered by recent excavation. The people who lived here were peaceful farmers. Their dwellings rested on the top of a hill overlooking the rich valley of the Verde River, and in the broad valley below they cultivated the land.

NAVAJO

Navajo National Monument, deep in the heart of the Navajo country, is an area of cliffs, canyons and prehistoric ruins. One of the largest is Betatakin, which was built in a great stone arch, part of a mighty cliff. Other ruins are Keet Seel and Inscription House. The Navajo of today is part of this scene that recalls yesterday.

CANYON DE CHELLY

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, near Chinle, contains within its borders Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. There are many ruins to be found here, but the monument is noted as well for its spectacular scenery and its significance in the story of the Navajo People. In Canyon del Muerto, "Canyon of Death", a band of women and children were trapped in a cave and slaughtered. Here, too, Kit Carson and the soldiers rounded up the last of the warring Navajos and they were started on their "Long Walk" to exile.

TONTO RUINS

In a high cliff overlooking Apache Trail, not far from Roosevelt Dam, are the Tonto Ruins. The prehistoric people who built these dwellings sought protection in the lofty location. They farmed the lower valley.

MONTEZUMA CASTLE

Montezuma Castle, overlooking Beaver Creek in Verde Valley, is one of the most beautiful cliff dwellings to be found in this country. The ruin was built as an apartment house, and the location afforded protection against enemies and ravages of the weather. Examination of the ruin shows that the people who planned these dwellings were fine builders.

WUPATKI

Wupatki was a trading center for people of ancient times. The villages flourished after Sunset Crater erupted, when the Indians found that volcanic ash held moisture and made it easier for them to farm. Abandonment of the center followed years of severe drought and adverse weather changes.

WALNUT CANYON

Beautiful Walnut Canyon, near Flagstaff, is part of an interesting national monument. In the walls of the canyon, under overhanging ledges can be found a series of prehistoric Indian ruins, whose builders have long since perished into the mysterious past. Where did they come from, these people, and why did they leave? Scholars are still searching for the answer.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Grand Canyon is many things to many people. To all people it is a memorable experience, an experience that touches the heart and soul as well as sight. You do not only see the Grand Canyon. You feel it. You grope for words to try to describe it but the words are not there because the feeling it inspires is too deep and intimate to be put into words. Grand Canyon is beyond the mind and the intellect; it is emotion and reverence. Here is a Shrine at which to worship, to reaffirm your faith in the creed that God's in His Heaven and all's right with the world. A person must be a very bitter and lonely person, indeed, who can stand on the rim of Grand Canyon and not admit the presence of God and a Divine Plan. Somehow words are inadequate garments with which to clothe such a feeling of reverence and awe.

The sharp tools of time and the weather, the sun and the river made Grand Canyon. The story began in some distant age when Earth ceased to be a gaseous mud ball, foot loose and fancy free, tossed madly about the universe. Out of chaos came the canyon, and it was born when time began. The walls of the canyon are a diary of the very Earth, each chapter a geologic age. When you jog down the Bright Angel Trail, on the back of one of the learned mules, each hoof beat as you descend ticks off centuries of time. Grand Canyon is a calendar of all creation.

Grand Canyon is a paint pot of color, vivid, vibrant shifting color, as evanescent as sunshine. The color changes with each minute of the day, with each season, with each passing cloud. All the delicate nuances of the weather are recorded within the canyon walls but the hues will not wait for the painter's brush, to the everlasting despair of all artists who have attempted to capture the canyon's color. The earthen spires and temples that inhabit this great canyon do tricks with the sunshine, breaking it up into fantastic patterns of shadow; so the canyon itself is light and shadow, shadow and light, shifting, restless, changing, a living tableau of light, shadow and color. The rich green vegetation of the rim country surrounding the canyon artistically blends with the color of the canyon and when the sky is bright blue with perhaps a cloud or two of snowy whiteness to lend variety then you have earth and sky at its loveliest.

Over a thousand square miles of this canyon and the bordering rim make up America's outstanding scenic attraction Grand Canyon National Park. This is only part of the canyon. Of the 217 miles of Colorado River that has carved and is still carving this canyon, over a hundred miles of the river is in the park area, the property of all Americans of today and of uncounted generations of Americans to come.

Visitors number in the hundreds of thousands. During the summer season both the North and South Rims are packed to capacity as far as existing accom-modations are concerned but the area is so vast even the thousands who come at one time fade into the spaciousness of the place. The voices and footsteps of the multitude who have come are lost in the deep shadows of the canyon. The coming of man has left the canyon unmarked. The silence of the canyon is unbroken because it is the result of the quiet, patient handiwork of time with the sharp tools of wind, sun, weather and river digging and carving, digging and carving, digging and carving since the world began.

of Ancient Times SUNSET CRATER

Sunset Crater National Monument, near Flagstaff, comprises an area that was the scene of volcanic activities hundreds of years ago. Even today, long after the terrestrial forces have been spent and the lava flow has cooled, the evidences of the disturbances that shook the surrounding country can be plainly seen. The visitor, to whom even extinct volcanoes may be a new experience, cannot help being awed at Sunset Crater and perhaps wondering when the earth will be rent again.

CHIRICAHUA

Not far from Douglas, in Cochise County, the Chiricahua Mountains rise picturesquely from the desert. Part of this range has been set aside as the Chiricahua National Monument, popularly known as Wonderland of Rocks. The area is famed for its pleasant weather, its "nusual plant and animal life, and the grotesque and utterly unbelievable rock formations within its boundaries.

CASA GRANDE

Casa Grande Ruins, near Coolidge, contained within a national monument, whisper of the past. This imposing structure was the center of a prehistoric farming community and in all directions there stretched fields of growing crops. A happy, contented tribe of Indians lived thereabouts with only two worries scarcity of rain and hostile mountain tribes. In order that there might be a vantage point and a fortress for all the people of the tribe, these Indians built Casa Grande. From the towering building, lookouts could scan the desert for miles about and give the alarm when the enemy approached. Thick adobe walls proved bastions of defense and under its comforting protection the tribe was secure. The centuries hang heavily over the ruins today, and a visit there is a reminder of fleeting time and the brevity of man's life on earth.

PETRIFIED FOREST

The Petrified Forest National Monument, near Holbrook, is in many respects one of the most interesting scenic areas in the West, but it is more than scenery. It is an absorbing textbook wherein can be read a story of the very formation of the world. These great stone logs, that were once living trees, were formed millions upon millions of years ago. The monument consists of the largest petrified forest in the world and also includes a considerable portion of Arizona's Painted Desert, itself an outstanding scenic attraction. The word "painted" is the most apt term to describe this desert area. It rolls along for miles, a rolling sheet of color, the colors changing with each mile. The color comes from the multihued sand and soil of the region.

TUMACACORI

Tumacacori Mission, in the rich and lovely Santa Cruz Valley just north of Nogales, records a chapter in the Spanish colonization of the West. When the Padres came along carrying the Word of Christ into a harsh wilderness they found in the Santa Cruz Valley a tribe of Indians who were peaceful farming folk. The Mission was built as part of a crusade to Christianize these Indians and to have a fitting place to worship for the faithful who wandered into the wilderness. The Padres who lived here taught the Indians many useful things, including methods to improve crops. The life of the community revolved around the mission, which was the center of peaceful, prosperous area. Fierce nomadic Indians were a constant threat and most probably influenced its eventual abandonment.