~~~
Park rules required the group to travel back around the Spruce Canyon branch of the Chapin mesa to get around to the Cliff Palace. Rachel, who had said normally they don’t even give guided tours of any site but Spruce Tree House, was quick to identify the liability issues of escorting people around in a Ranger’s vehicle during winter. It was a modification of normal park schedule to bring the small group to the cliff palace after November, but seemed justified as the temperatures were still so pleasant in this, the almost second week of December. In fact, the entire trip on the Mesa so far was devoid of the soul-crushing rainfall Daniel had left behind at home, and the sun had even peered out once in a while.
The parking lot for Cliff Palace was larger even than the one for the museum and Spruce Tree House. Dan found himself looking forward to this part of the tour, imagining that it must be even more spectacular than the last dwelling. Rachel had gone on ahead from the last location and so he had not seen her depart, but he did hear a familiar rumbly car down the road. Its exhaust seemed to be reverberating through the oak forests. When Dan pulled in to the lot there were a few cars, more than the three he had been expecting to see. He had already pinned the big dually pickup for the Smith’s, even before he watched them get back into it. The other couple was apparently driving around in a small cross-over as they were just hopping out of it as he arrived. That meant Rachel either tooled around in the old Chevy pickup he saw there, or one of the two non-descript small cars. Dan figured rangers likely didn’t make a whole lot to afford a new car, so he took comfort in believing that both he and Rachel preferred something reliable with a bed for hauling stuff. Try as he might to remind himself that Rachel was better as a friend…a very young friend, than someone he might have feelings for, so he tucked that happy thought about simpatico pickups into the back of his mind.
A brisk stroll down another pleasant path which featured a closed-for-the-season souvenir and snack shop brought him to a hand-rail enclosed landing with a large boulder at the head. Rachel had taken up position there at the rock to make her next spiel.
“As you can see to my right over the balcony there is a steep incline down to the Cliff Palace. The path down is not too terribly bad, and we’ve never lost anyone yet! But I must warn you that you will be climbing approximately 100 feet of ladders, the longest of which is just about the last one to get back out of Cliff Palace and stands seventeen feet.
Every once-in-a-while we’ll get someone who needs to pause, or needs a little extra help or encouragement. But again, it is a bit of a climb and if you have heart trouble or a fear of heights you might want to reconsider visiting Cliff Palace.”
Rachel glanced around the group, but with none speaking up, she continued.
“Okay. We’re going to go along the path to a small landing with some places to sit almost directly underneath this boulder. Will you all please join me there while we discuss some of the research that has been conducted at Cliff Palace and some of its features.”
A few minutes later the group was assembled and sitting on what appear to be man-made ledges and stairs underneath a boulder. It was well that they had cover as the rain finally did pick up a little, increasing to a slow drizzle.
“Now this particular dwelling housed upwards of 100 people and is the largest single construction in the park. It was found in December 1888 when the Wetherill brothers and a Mr. Mason were looking for cattle and they stumbled upon this site. The mesa next to this one was named after the Wetherills…”
The explanations went on for about ten or twelve minutes. At times one of the other four asked Ranger Rachel some questions and she elaborated in good detail. But the entire time Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off the rooms in the cliff. There were some very high up tucked against the roof of the cave. One room seemed to have three most notable windows and there was some coloring around them as if someone had tried to patch the stonework, or painted over something. He was about to ask when Rachel mentioned it herself in her presentation.
“We think they actually made those windows to look like a face. In fact, there wasn’t a lot of room in that area, and based on what was found there our best guess as to its purpose is that it was a look-out room.
Now, you can see how the area around the three windows have been colored by some pigment. We found that to be a paint or dye made from roots of some local plants. Again, we’re not sure why they would have painted that area, except to make it look like a face.”
“You’re saying the Indians had painted that?” Dan asked incredulously.
“Yes! That’s actually in the original state almost 900 years old.”
The woman from the second couple spoke up for the first time, asking, “Why would they paint it? Is it supposed to look like a face?”
“We think so. All we can figure is that for anyone coming up from the canyon or from the other side from the top would see that as a sign… Perhaps they were telling threatening tribes that they are watching and can see them coming.”
Now the gentleman again spoke up. “So would the people in the other cliff dwellings be a threat?”
“No. From what we can see there was never really any fighting or signs of violence in these dwellings other than just injury from falls and the like. From what we can tell, these mesa dwellers were all one big happy family, and likely traveled at times to Cliff Palace to participate in some of the ceremonies, particularly in the largest kiva you see at the far end.
But we do know that out in the valley near Cortez there were a number of battles. They seem to be fights resulting over resources. We really can’t determine any other reason for these pueblo peoples to have left the mesa except that the resources, such as trees, were clearly disappearing.”
“But it’s like a forest here,” said Mrs. Smith.
“True. But of all the material you see here, whether dead or living only dates back to about 900 years ago. You can see that the main material in their quarters was stone and adobe, and that they even took time to shape the stones. That seems to imply that that was either the best resource, or the most available at the time these buildings were assembled from about 1150 AD to almost 1300 AD. But they did need wood. Can you think of why?”
Rachel had obviously reverted to her summer-time wrote presentation, even posing questions as she might if there were children in the group.
“Fire!” said Mr. Smith. “How else would they have kept warm?”
“You got it. It seems like they burned through their local resources and the most logical explanation of their departure seems to be that they ran out of the ability to warm themselves.
Sweeping her arm across the view of the valley behind her, Rachel continued the thought. “Unfortunately, it takes a good couple-hundred years to grow some of these taller oaks you see around us. As it took longer and longer for them to go out and bring items back to the cave it probably became less of an advantage to live here after that.”
“What about moving back on top of the mesa?” Dan asked.
“Well, it would appear that they had used up most of the resources there too. And, it’s tough to come by enough water up there, whereas down here they could collect pools of water during rain that would pour down from the cave entrance. We know that they also had springs towards the back of the caves where water would seep through the earth and collect in a large number of these dwelling places. It’s probably another reason they moved down here in the first place.”
“So by 1000 AD everyone just packed up and left it all behind?” frowned Mrs. Smith.
“Well…by 1300, really. This particular dwelling we think was started sometime in the 1100s and was likely done with well before 1300.”
Following a quiet Q&A, Rachel led them down to the structures and Daniel noticed she was considerably less comfortable. She pointed out the method of assembly and made a point of indicating the mortar contained urine and other chemicals to help act as a cat
alyst. She showed them were repair work was done, explaining that they had determined it would be better to preserve the dwellings even if modern material was needed than to have them just fall apart. Lastly, she pointed out the largest kiva and an adjoining set of rooms, one with a window just above it. She invited everyone to look into the window where an ancient drawing was found but to not actually enter the room. Daniel noticed an edge the others probably didn’t when she made the request.
While the others poked around and each took a turn looking in the room Daniel simply stood nearby Rachel watching. Both wore an expression of apprehension as if they were awaiting something terrible to happen. A roll of thunder sounded overhead and Dan knew they were not going to be able to extend the visit to Cliff Palace as long as they had at Spruce Tree House. The climb back up the path could become a bit nasty if it rained heavily.
Finally, with everyone else looking into the kiva or taking photos of each nook and cranny, Daniel left Rachel’s side to look inside the room. It was dark. Even on a sunny day it would likely have taken a moment for eyes to adjust. But along the wall opposite the window he peered through there was definitely a collection of markings. They did not appear to be the ancient cave art found in Europe and other locations which Daniel had seen on on TV. These marks looked more modern, more deliberate, and perhaps more stylized. It appeared to be a series of large and small arcs formed together into what might be a face, or a mask. The largest of the markings curved upward and outward from the center and could have represented the horns of a goat or who knows what.
As Daniel gazed he could make out etchings in the wall around the design. None of it made a whole lot of sense to him but it gave him a chill. He thought of ancient peoples sitting here in the room working on the art and wondered if they had any idea who might later be a part of their legacy. When his penetrating stare attempted to center on the design again, a strange bewilderment came over him. He was unable to actually focus his eyes. It was as if a fogged up mirror was preventing him from seeing his reflection clearly. His eyes teared up bit he was not able to pull himself away from the window either. Indeed his frame had been frozen again, just as it had in the museum, and he dreaded what would happen next.
There, across the very small room was the shadow seemingly addressing him again. The most recognizable feature being the glints of red in the center of its head, it wanted him to see something. He could not avert his eyes. The shadow seemed to coalesce into a more discernible shape this time though, the head mimicking the shape of the markings on the wall beside it. Arms lifted from its side in a questioning gesture.
Lightning struck again much closer this time. As it did Dan jumped, the first opportunity to move again, but still unable to withdraw from the room. There were people! Several men and a woman were either standing or sitting near the shadow. The light reflected on their darkened skin and dark hair. As the light faded again he could still see them. They turned and watched Daniel while the shadow slowly turned cocked his head back and forth.
Spittle fluttered from Daniel’s mouth as he tried to speak. In fact, he was attempting to scream but he was still locked by the presence before him. In his mind he considered saying a sort of prayer like he’d done the previous week before first seeing the shadow in his yard and thought better of it. Instead he repeated in his mind what he thought he might be saying out loud to the shadow. The figure extended his right arm to Daniel as he began the recitation.
You can’t hold me! I don’t allow you in my mind!
You cannot hold me! You have no right!
The thoughts were so loud it was no wonder Dan thought he might be saying them out loud. The words virtually echoed about the room until the shadow dropped his arm and released him. Daniel could move again. He began pulling his shoulders out of the window. The other people in the room were gone now as light started filtering in past his own frame. But the shadow was bobbing its head as though he were acknowledging the request Daniel had made, but only reluctantly.
As he stood up, Dan placed his hand against the exterior wall of the room and took a deep breath. He looked about to where the others were. The other four guests were getting ready to return to Rachel, but she in turn had put her hands to her mouth and returned Dan’s worried look. They remained that way long enough for Dan to appreciate she understood what just happened. Then he nodded as he pulled away and started walking towards her.
Rachel became the ranger again and started giving directions as calmly as she could.
“Folks, unfortunately, I promised you several ladders than just the few you see here at the dwelling. Our exit is actually on the southern end of the cliff. Let’s please hurry for your safety before this rain storm really hits hard.”
As the other two couples trudged up the small ravine, Rachel showed them the path up, which consisted of several ladders just as she had promised, each made of thick wooden logs. She took a moment to point out several hand-holds the archeologists supposed had been carved out by the dwelling occupants to make their ascension to the mesa top when they lived here. Soon all but Rachel and Daniel were on the ladders. Daniel gave a cold, forced smile to Rachel and put hands to the ladder to begin his climb.
“You saw, didn’t you?” Rachel asked quietly. Her head was turned down obscuring her face with the brim of the ranger’s hat from the others now nearly at the top of the climb.
“Yes,” Dan replied. “Same room?”
“Yes.”
They did not speak any further until they were all gathered on top.
“Thank you for visiting the park today. We can’t possibly give you all the details of the dwellings at Mesa Verde, particularly of the other 180 locations located throughout the park. But I hope this has sparked your interest. The museum and ticket sales at Far View are closed at this time of year, but I hope you will browse our Spruce Tree House Museum and take a look at our presentations of ancient and modern Native American art there.
As a reminder, particularly since we somehow failed to let the Smiths and Mr. Tremon here know about it, we do have our Luminaria presentation tonight beginning at 4:00PM and running until 9:00PM where we light the path and buildings of Spruce Tree House and host music at the museum and park center. Park entrance is free after 4:00PM and refreshments are free.
Please pass on your experience to friends and family, and as you depart the park, please be sure to travel safely. These storms can bring some surprises sometimes!”
Everyone, including Dan, expressed appreciation. A few questions were asked about the Luminaria Holiday event and it sounded like all were interested. After the other couple headed to their car, Mrs. Smith continued the conversation.
“Honey, Mr. Tremon here offered to make us a delicious bar-b-que this evening for dinner. But as we talked about it I think maybe we’ll put that off until tomorrow for lunch and come see this Luminaria tonight.”
Oh! Great idea!” Mr. Smith replied. “I bet the dwellings are really pretty with the lights on them.”
“Will you be coming tonight, Rachel?” Mrs. Smith inquired again.
“I…” Rachel was a little hesitant in providing an explanation. Dan understood why, he thought, but he was glad to think the Smiths might just put it off as her timidness rather than a fear of anything further.”
“Really, I’m not sure… I wasn’t going to.” She turned to Daniel looking for direction. “How about you?”
Attempting to make the conversation much more natural, he replied, “Ya. I think I will. It could make for some great photos. Besides, maybe you two can teach Rachel and me some classy dance moves if they’re playing music.”
Mrs. Smith chuckled and Mr. Smith outright laughed at the idea saying that he hadn’t danced for nearly thirty years. But an agreement was made all around that they would see each other by about six later that evening. Daniel lingered as the Smiths moved to their own car and drove away. As she was smiling out th
e passenger window at them, he was pretty sure he knew what Mrs. Smith was thinking about him and Rachel waiting to speak. He only wished it was the type of nervous conversation she likely presumed it would be.
“So…” Started Dan.
“Ya…so…” Rachel started walking abruptly back to the beginning of the trail where the tour began. “Did you really see something?”
“Yes. Rachel, there’s something wrong down there.”
Rachel stopped and turned to him, snorting a derisive laugh. “That’s what I’m talking about. I can’t stay here. But I asked a couple other people about it and they just laughed it off.”
“Who did you talked to?” he continued even though she’d turned again and was walking briskly towards the closed shop.
“Oh…just some other rangers.”
“And they didn’t believe you?”
“Well…I think they sort of believe I felt or saw something.”
The walk was so purposeful it pounded Rachel’s frame and Daniel had trouble keeping up even with his long stride. As she continued to talk her voice bounced with the hits and was erratic.
“I guess everyone feels creepy in some of the dwellings, especially that room. But they made fun of me and told other people.”
“I’m sorry,” Dan said. “Hey! Can you hold still for just a minute?”
She finally paused. Both of their breathing was beginning to mist. The rain that had started up also brought some colder air with it. It was finally beginning to feel like fall and both were ready to drop the whole conversation and find somewhere warm to get the tension to release them.
“Are you going to come to this Luminaria thing tonight or not?”
Rachel replied that she would.
“Alright then. Just relax. You’re done here now. Enjoy this evening and then go ahead and move on. It’s not your issue anymore.”
Again Rachel replied minimally, only nodding her head. She withdrew her keys and started walking towards the old pickup Daniel had pegged.
“I’ll see you there,” Dan offered as he raised his hand goodbye. He was at a loss of what to really do to help Rachel. He didn’t really know her that well and he was still having trouble authenticating his own experience he’d just had, let alone have the means of understanding why it was apparently common.
As Rachel’s exhaust echoed away from him, Daniel hopped into his own truck, started it, and awaited it to warm enough for the idle to even out. He returned to camp thinking he’d see both the Smiths and Rachel getting ready to return for the event at the museum a little later, but never did.