In a little while we are going to do a very strange thing.

We are, first of all, going to go back seven centuries to the year 1268 A.D. Then we will climb down the trail and stroll into Cliff Palace. Somewhere near the center of the town we will find a comfortable seat on the roof of one of the houses. And for a year we will sit there, quietly and comfortably, watching the people. We will take no part in the activities—we will simply watch the inhabitants of the town as, through the year, they go their daily rounds.

There is no better way to understand what life was like in a cliff dwelling. The ancient structures themselves do not tell the whole story, nor do the artifacts in the museum. The well-built walls and the skillfully made artifacts are ample evidence of the abilities of the people but these articles of stone, bone and wood do not tell us all we would like to know.

The real story is in the people and if we are to understand it, we must see them with our own eyes. So, after setting the scene, we will go back to Cliff Palace in the year 1268 A.D., and take our seats. And when the year has passed, we will understand what life was like in the Mesa Verde when the cliff dwellings were alive.

We shall select Cliff Palace for our experiment because it was the largest of the cliff dwellings: certainly it was the crowning achievement of the Mesa Verde people. To modern man it may seem only a village but to the Indians it was much more than that. Located almost in the center of the great mesa was the largest cave of all. In it was the greatest structure they ever built.

To the people it was the big town, the hub of their small world. In their eyes it was magnified by comparison with the hundreds of smaller cliff dwellings around it. To them it was a city, the greatest they ever knew. Certainly there could be no better place for us to see the life of those eventful days when thousands of people lived in the Mesa Verde.
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Before we take up actual residence in Cliff Palace we should answer one question, a question that is asked very often. How can we know what was happening in a town that was abandoned almost seven hundred years ago? The former inhabitants have disappeared and they left no written records. How will we be able to see the intimate details in the lives of those people?

It is a good question. It is often in the minds of visitors as they walk through the silent city and listen to the stories that are told about the former inhabitants. Intimate details in the lives of the people are laid bare. Assertions are made for which there is no visible evidence. The visitor can scarcely be blamed for wearing a skeptical look in his eyes.

Our knowledge of the intimacies of the ancient life has come from a number of sources. Through intensive study, archeologists, ethnologists and historians have worked out the details that go toward making a complete story. From countless sources they have garnered the bits of information that fit together in jig-saw fashion to give us a picture of life in a cliff dwelling. Unfortunately, some pieces of the picture are still missing; here and there are rather large and distressing holes. In some lines of research, blank walls have been encountered and mystery still enshrouds some of the phases we would like most of all to see.

On the whole, though, the picture is rather complete. By fitting together all of the bits of knowledge that have been given to us by various scientists we can see very well the happenings in one of the ancient villages.

The archeologist has given us the general background of the people of Cliff Palace. Decades of research have revealed the development of the Pueblo Indians during their one thousand year occupation of the Mesa Verde. But the archeologist has gone even farther and, in a general way, has traced the people back through countless centuries to their original home in a far continent. We shall see this long story of development in later chapters.

Originally the people came from Asia, drifting into America across the Bering Sea. From Alaska they drifted south and, after endless generations, reached the Southwest. Up to this time they had lived as roving hunters but somewhere in the 31 Southwest they met other Indians who were farmers. This new life appealed to them and, borrowing the precious seeds, they gradually became a farming people.

At about the time of Christ they moved into the Mesa Verde region and soon some of them were living on the Mesa Verde itself. At first their culture was simple but for a thousand years it developed. Finally it reached its peak in the thirteenth century when Cliff Palace and the other cliff dwellings were built.

In addition to giving us the background, the archeologists have given us the material details of the ancient city. Through their excavations the actual remains have been brought to light, studied and interpreted. When we walk through Cliff Palace we appreciate the tremendous overhanging cave roof that protected the entire city. We see the results of the physical labors of the people; the houses with their smooth walls and bright paintings, the storage rooms, kivas, open courts, narrow winding passageways, firepits, and in the back of the cave, the trash room where the turkeys roosted.

In the nearby museum we see the actual physical remains, the skeletons and mummies, of the people themselves. We see their clothing and their jewelry. There also are the utensils and tools; pottery, basketry, bows and arrows, stone knives, bone awls and needles, grinding stones, fire drills, planting sticks, stone axes and mauls; an endless array of things that were once in common use.

All of this has been given to us by the archeologist. He has shown us the long background of the people and has unearthed, restored and interpreted the actual material things from the ruin. To many people these things seem cold and inanimate. They seem dead; just stone, bone, wood and clay. There is life in them, though, for they are the expressions of the desires, ambitions, loves and hates of the people. Every single article was produced because of some human desire or need.

The person who keeps this in mind is able to walk through Cliff Palace, even today, and see the former inhabitants, for in the results of their efforts they still live. Many visitors forget this and do not see the people. Even the archeologist often fails to see them as he is a scientist who deals only with realities. Sometimes he can not see the people for the walls.
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Historians have also contributed to the story of ancient Indian life. The musty records of the early explorers of the Southwest contain many extremely valuable observations concerning the Pueblo Indians. These the historians have ferreted out.

As early as 1540, the Spaniards began to enter the Pueblo country when Coronado traversed almost the entire area. Other Spanish explorers followed Coronado. Missions were established in many of the pueblos and for three centuries the Spaniards were in close contact with the Indians. Later the American explorers entered the Southwest and they, too, came in contact with the Indians. The chronicles of these explorers, both Spanish and American, contain many passages concerning the life and customs of the Pueblo people. Many of these early records have been translated and compiled and from them we gain knowledge of Pueblo life during the last four centuries. It is true that not all of the observations were accurate. Many were spiced with prejudice and deliberate fallacy but still they have been of value.

The Spaniards came into the Southwest less than three centuries after the Pueblo Indians left the Mesa Verde and drifted to the South. The Indians were still living in terraced pueblos. They were still farmers; corn, beans and squash still dominated the food bowl out of which each family ate. In a material way they had changed little, so it is safe to assume they had changed little in their social and religious customs.

Even after the white men arrived there was little change in the life of the Pueblo Indians until within the last few decades. For that reason the early records, when properly interpreted, add much to our knowledge of the ancient cultures.

Ethnologists have done a vast amount of work that supplements the labors of the archeologist and the historian. The ethnologist is a scientist who makes an actual detailed study of a group of living Indians. Every cultural detail is recorded and there have been ethnologists who knew almost as much about the Indians whom they studied as the Indians knew about themselves.

Some of the ethnologists have lived in the pueblos for long periods of time. In some cases they have been accepted by the 33 Indians and have even been taken into the priesthood. An outstanding example was Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing, an ethnologist who lived in the pueblo of Zuni from 1879 to 1884. He learned the Zuni language, was adopted into the Macaw clan and was initiated into various religious societies. He participated in the religious ceremonies, wore native costume, ate native foods and took part in the various occupations and pastimes. Before he left the pueblo he became the second chief of the tribe and was made the head priest of the Bow, one of the highest religious offices.

Such men as Cushing have given us detailed knowledge of the legends, religion, ceremonies, social customs and daily life of the modern Pueblo Indians. Since these Indians are descendants of the ancient Pueblo Indians, this knowledge has enabled us to answer many questions.

The person who walks into Cliff Palace and views a kiva for the first time has not the slightest chance of guessing its original purpose. It is absolutely remote from anything he has ever seen. But when he is told that these same strange rooms still survive in the present-day pueblos and are used as club rooms and ceremonial chambers, the use becomes immediately apparent. In the center of the ancient kiva floor is a tiny hole that has no obvious purpose. That same hole is still found in some of the present-day kivas and the Indian explains that it is the spirit entrance to the earth. Even the wisest archeologist could never have guessed that.

Without the help of present-day Indians it would be almost impossible to answer questions about such non-material things as religion and social customs. We can dig up the bones of a man, every bone he ever possessed. But who can look at those bones and tell how many wives he had? Some people think it should show but it doesn’t. In order to answer the question we simply go to the descendants of that man. Without doubt they still have the same customs.

From all this it can be seen that the ethnologist has added much to our story. Since the Pueblo Indians of today are the descendants of the Pueblo Indians of a few centuries ago, a thorough knowledge of them is the soundest approach to an understanding of the ancient people.
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In using our knowledge of the modern Pueblo Indians in an effort to picture life in ancient times we are faced with an important question. How much have the customs changed because of the influence of the Spaniards?

As soon as the Spaniards entered the Pueblo country they established missions in the Indian pueblos. The native religion was suppressed and a new religion was forced upon the Pueblo people. In the Rio Grande area in New Mexico this foreign pressure was strongest and there can be little doubt that the native Indian religion and customs have changed to some extent. In the western pueblos of the Zunis and Hopis the Spanish pressure was not so great. Missions were maintained at Zuni only intermittently and among the Hopis for only a short time. As a result the native Pueblo religion and customs of these western pueblos have undergone less change and they will be used, for the most part, in our effort to picture the ancient life of the Mesa Verde.

As we move into Cliff Palace to spend a year with the inhabitants we must not forget the sources of our knowledge. First, we have the cultural background of the people, their rise from roving hunters to stable agriculturists; second, we have the great ruin itself and the things the people left in it; third, we have the interpretations of Indians who are descendants of the ancient people. All these will be added together to complete the picture. We must realize, however, that there are questions still unanswered: some problems will never satisfactorily be solved. But if we use the knowledge that has been gained and remain within the realm of plausibility we shall be able to follow the people very well as they go through their daily lives.

Now we are ready to turn back the centuries. We are ready to walk into Cliff Palace and live with the people. How better can we see the life of the ancient city? We will follow the men, women and children, as they go through the daily round of life. Spring, summer, autumn and winter will pass. We will see the work, the play, the dreams, the desires, the happiness and the bitter disappointments in the lives of the people. We will take no part in the activities. We will merely watch.

What year shall it be?
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Seven centuries ago Cliff Palace was a busy, happy city of about four hundred people
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It makes no difference as long as it is a good year, a normal year, with an abundance of snow and rain. That was the most important factor because of its effect upon the harvests. Tree ring records show that 1261 and 1262 were normal years, also 1265, 1266, 1267, 1268, 1269, 1271 and 1272. All of those were good years and that was the time when Cliff Palace was at its height. The people had been living in the cave for many years and the great city was surely at its peak.

Let’s take the year 1268. It is as good as any. It was a normal, happy year for the people of Cliff Palace.

Let the centuries roll back—it is 1268 A.D.

As we walk into Cliff Palace we find it at the very peak of its development. For generations it has been growing until now it fills the great sheltering cave. There are over two hundred one-room houses in the city; they fill the cave from end to end and rise in terraces to a height of three and even four stories. At the south end and again at the north end the terraced structures rise to touch the cave roof.

Scattered about the city are twenty-three kivas, the underground ceremonial chambers. Their flat roofs serve as courts where many of the activities take place. The roofs of the terraced houses are also the scene of much activity and throughout the city many ladders lean against the walls, leading from one level to the next.

To us Cliff Palace seems like a great two-hundred-room apartment house. To the occupants it is a city of two hundred houses, occupied by scores of families. Over four hundred people live in the city; they swarm about the courts and over the roofs like so many busy brown ants.

As we enter the city we notice immediately the appearance of the people. They are typical Indians. They seem rather short, the men averaging about five feet four inches in height and the women about five feet. They are heavy-set and as we watch them we get the impression that as a rule they are a short, stocky people. The skin color varies from light to dark brown; some of them are so dark they seem almost black. The eyes are also brown and the hair varies from dark brown to a deep lustrous black.
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The people have broad heads and the back of each head is flattened, a deformity caused in infancy by a hard cradle board. The faces are broad and the cheek bones are prominent. Occasionally we notice “slanting” Mongoloid eyes. The people seem to have certain Mongoloid tendencies although they are not a pure Mongoloid type.

This town where we are going to spend the year is simply a large terraced apartment house built in a great cave. In the two hundred or more rooms live at least four hundred Indians, short, stocky, brown-skinned people whom we will know well before the year is over.

The centuries have rolled back to the year 1268 A.D., and we take our seats on a roof.

It is spring.