The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona | Page 6

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 Zuñi. 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 Zuñi 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 Tsé-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 Én-a-tsé-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