Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Glimpses of our National Monuments

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  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-10700.jpg
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  • OUR NATIONAL MONUMENTS 43 The gorge below is filled with tall, slender quaking aspen, alder, and birch, while the opposite slope is studded with pines. Kitsil is the largest of the cave pueblos, and is appropriately named, as the open spaces between the apartments are strewn with broken pottery of the finest type produced by the ancient cliff dwellers. ' The village completely fills a cave 350 feet long and 50 feet deep. There are 148 rooms in all. Several circular ceremonial chambers or kivas at the front of the cave and below the level of its floor indicate the tribe occupying it was different from the clan that lived at Betatakin, as in the latter there are no rooms of this type. Kitsil is situated in a wooded canyon, the walls of which are warmly colored. The rich greens of the foliage and bright flowers create a picturesque setting in an atmosphere of peace and simplicity. The Navajo Monument is reached from Flagstaff, Ariz., on the Santa Fe Railroad and National Old Trails Road by a fair dirt road running northeasterly and crossing the Little Colorado River on a suspension bridge into the Navajo Indian Reservation. Just before the bridge crossing a new road from the left comes from Grand Canyon National Park, which is now also a point of departure. Tuba City is reached 80 miles from Flagstaff and abouc the same distance from Grand Canyon Village. Sixty-five miles farther takes one to Marsh Pass and 18 miles farther to Kayenta, a post office and trading post, which is an outfitting point for the saddle and pack horse trip to the monument. John Wetherill, of Kayenta, is the custodian of the monument, and a reliable outfitter. Indian guides are engaged for the trips. The Betatakin, " ruin is 8 miles north of Marsh Pass; Kitsil is about 7 miles from Be- takin, and Inscription House about 40 miles to the west of Kitsil and Nitsie Canyon. Nitsie is formed by a series of deep-cut canyons, whose courses zigzag in every direction like the tentacles of some huge devil fish, their rounded points and sides shimmering in the sunlight as though pulsating with life. At the rim one pauses in astonishment at this riot of color and form spread out below. The monument covers an area of approximately 360 acres. PAPAGO SAGUARO NATIONAL MONUMENT The Papago Saguaro National Monument, located in the Salt River Valley, Ariz., exhibits a typical bit of the desert as it appeared before the famous Roosevelt Dam stored up the water that has made the desert bloom. When created January 31, 1914, the monument contained approximately 2,050 acres, but the area was reduced by Executive order of December 28, 1922, to 1,940.43 acres. However, contiguous to it lie the State Rifle Range, containing 320 acres, and
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