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_The National Park Service is dedicated to preserving the scenic,
scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit
and enjoyment of its people. Help protect your Park from its new exotic
the “LITTERBUG.”_

    [Illustration: At work]


THE INDIANS OF CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK

by

JACK R. WILLIAMS

Cover by Phyllis Freeland Broyles




CONTENTS


                                                                    Page
  Acknowledgements                                                     2
  The Indians of Carlsbad Caverns National Park                        5
  Early Man                                                            9
  The Carlsbad Basketmakers                                           10
  The Mescalero Apaches                                               25
  The Comanches                                                       34
  Bibliography                                                        38
  Footnotes                                                           38




                            ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


This booklet was prepared as an elementary basis for those interested in
the Indians of this section. It is far from complete but if it answers
only one question—the effort was well spent.

It is rare that research into any subject is done alone. This is no
exception, for many are responsible in their contributions.

First, without the help, comments and criticism of Erik Reed this paper
would have been nought. Then thanks must go to Charlie Steen and Stanley
Stubbs for their pottery identification which helped establish the
various time phases.

The persons listed in the bibliography represent the true basis of
learning and I unhesitatingly refer one and all to them.

To Lynn Coffin for his encouragement and comments, grateful
acknowledgement is made. To Bob Barrel for his help—talk, photos and
all—thanks are extended.

Especial thanks must go to Mary Pauline Smith for taking care of the
grammatical errors as well as typing the manuscript. And, to Phyllis
Broyles for her art work.

The map, head sketches and photos not credited are by the author.


This is dedicated to my wife, Marie.


        Copyright 1956 by Jack R. Williams, Carlsbad, New Mexico

    [Illustration: _Map showing distribution of Indian groups_]

    [Illustration: _Natural entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns_]




                             THE INDIANS OF
                     CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK


The Indian story of the Park is quite complicated for several reasons.
First, we cannot confine our story to the man-made boundaries of today,
but to the natural geographic features which are mainly the Guadalupe
Mountains. Second, we must deal with more than one group of people and
outside cultural influences of each group. These groups, however, will
be confined mostly to New Mexico and north and west Texas. Then, too,
long periods of time must be taken into consideration.

So, let us start our story with man’s first entry into the new world
some 15 to 25,000 years ago. Most archaeologists agree that man came
from Asia via the Bering Straits, perhaps by a land bridge or over the
ice. Undoubtedly many migrations over a long period of time were made by
various small groups of peoples. These first people were nomadic
followers of game and perhaps gatherers of seeds. Steadily moving
southward, they eventually reached what is now southeastern New Mexico
and north and west Texas. How long they lived here, where they went and
who their ancestors were are unknown. Theory plus material evidence
suggest that they may have evolved into what archaeologists call the
Cochise complex to Basketmaker to Pueblo, with deviations in all groups.
Yet, at the present time there is not enough evidence this last happened
that simply, so we shall attempt to present the evidence as interpreted
for each group or groups coming into contact with Carlsbad Caverns
National Park and adjacent areas.

There appears to be a long time-lag between Early Man and our next
group, the Basketmakers. Positive proof indicates that the Basketmakers
were here before 900 A.D., and possibly as early as 4000 years ago. Our
Basketmakers, which are not to be confused in any manner with the San
Juan Basketmakers, were a rather isolated group and tended to remain
that way through numerous outside influences. While Pueblo groups to the
west and north were progressing in agriculture, architecture, and
esthetic arts, our group, because of their environment, remained more or
less stable in their mode of life—hunter, and gatherers of seeds—in an
area totally unsuitable for agriculture.

Next to enter our area were the Apaches from the north after 1300
A.D.(?) Whether they exerted pressure on the Basketmakers we do not
know. After the Apaches acquired horses from the Spanish, thus making
them mobile, different groups moved to other parts of New Mexico and
Arizona. Branching to the south and southeast were the Mescalero and
Lipan bands. The Mescalero band settled in an area which included the
Guadalupe Mountains and surrounding districts whence they raided the
Pueblo Indians and the Spanish until about 1725, when another Plains
group, the Comanches, came into the country from the northeast. By
pushing the Apaches north and west, the Comanches controlled a
tremendous portion of the Southern Plains.

Quite probably all of the mentioned Indian groups knew of the entrance
to the Carlsbad Caverns. However, physical evidence that they did was
left by only one group—the Basketmakers. On the south wall of the
natural entrance may be seen pictographs or paintings of some weather
worn figures in red (ocher) and black (probably carbon). On the surface
just above the cave mouth is a distinct “midden circle” or cooking pit.
Many of these midden circles are found throughout the entire area and
will be explained more fully in the chapter on the Carlsbad
Basketmakers.

There is little physical evidence that any of the Indians went into the
cave beyond the entrance which they obviously used as a means of
shelter. It is very unlikely that they ventured beyond the now Bat Cave
section of the cave for several logical reasons. Light is the paramount
factor in cave exploration, and the Indians’ only means of light would
have been from rather crude torches of bark, grass, or wood, none of
which gives off much light, nor burns for any appreciable length of
time. Probably the young and agile only would attempt the precarious
descent, if only to break the humdrum of everyday existence.

Upon first viewing the Caverns entrance, one readily notices the steep
slope downward and the sheer drop to the floor of the Bat Cave section,
and how, at the bottom of this drop, there is built up a sizeable pile
of rubble. From this rubble and the bat guano deposits that led away
from it in all directions have come numerous skeletal remains, burnt and
worked stone, and fragments of woven articles, such as bags, sandals,
and baskets. Burials were also found in the small solution pockets or
holes seen in the vicinity of the paintings in the entrance proper.[1]

The Indians living any length of time in this area were concerned
primarily with obtaining food, and this was a constant struggle. So,
from this practical point of view, they wouldn’t have any business going
into what we now call the scenic sections of the cave. On the other hand
we cannot say they did not go down, because we know man’s curiosity can
get the better of him sometimes. It is very logical to assume that, over
the long period of time man has been in and around the area, someone
climbed down and looked.

Some people are of the assumption that the superstitious nature of the
Indians kept them out of the cave. True, man has always been somewhat
afraid of the dark and will probably always be so. That the Indians were
superstitious of the bats, which fly out the entrance each summer
evening in search of night-flying insects, is very questionable. First
of all, if the people were afraid of the bats they would not have lived
under the entrance overhang. This writer could find only one instance
where bats were regarded other than “little brothers,” and this was a
myth among the Guiana Indians of South America that concerned “big bats
that suck humans dry of blood,” and also a “large bat that would carry
people off.” The bats and night owls raided together, but the people
overcame their fear and killed them.

Animals did not, as a rule, inhabit the cavern, so the Indians would not
be down there hunting. Animals did from time to time stumble in; and, in
1946, there was found the skeletal remains of an extinct ground sloth.
Beneath the entrance have been found skeletons of many small animals
that died either from the fall or starvation.

Thus, we cannot say that the Indians went into the cave any distance,
nor can we say that they did not, simply because we do not know.

To fully understand and appreciate the story of any group or groups of
people, one must be acquainted somewhat with the country in which they
lived. The country inhabited by the Indians of Carlsbad Caverns National
Park has a wide temperature and altitude range, and four life zones
(Upper and Lower Sonoran, Canadian, and Transition). The Guadalupe
Mountains developed from a limestone reef laid down in a shallow sea
during the Permian period of the earth’s history, over 200 million years
ago. They are cut with many deep canyons containing numerous caves, but
have little permanent water. Plant and animal life are abundant and
varied. Due mainly to the lack of water, agriculture was not practiced
in this particular area. The economy was one known as “hunting and
gathering.”

Perhaps a brief description of each group that lived, hunted, and
visited in this area will best picture how and why they did.




                               EARLY MAN


About all we can say for Early Man and the Park is that he was here. The
only material remains found was a Folsom-like projectile point. This
point was discovered in Burnet Cave in the Guadalupe Mountains in direct
association with extinct animal bones.

What he looked like, we have no idea; but he was apparently a nomadic
hunter and follower of game. Because he followed game is probably the
main reason he arrived here from Asia in late Pleistocene times—15 to
25,000 years ago. He hunted the now extinct bison (_antiquus_), two
species of the American horse (_Equus fraternus_ and _E. complicatus_),
a rare four-horned antelope (_Tetrameryx_), the California condor,
camel, ground sloth, and a muskox or caribou-like animal (_Bootherium_
sp.). Undoubtedly these old ones utilized plants for food too.

It is safe to assume that he dressed in skins, if he dressed at all.
Whether caves were used as shelter we do not know; but quite probably
they were, as the climate was pluvial.

The method of projection for the point mentioned likely was done either
via a lance or the atlatl (spearthrower and dart). The latter is nothing
more than a stick with a nock for the dart on one end. It extends and
gives more leverage to the arm for throwing.

Where did he go? Some call him Folsom man; others say he is of the
Cochise complex. He may have stayed where his descendants later became
what we now call the “Basketmakers.”




                       THE CARLSBAD BASKETMAKERS


    [Illustration: Human head]

The true occupants of Carlsbad Caverns National Park were a group of
Indians known as “Basketmakers.” They may have been descendants of the
early people, or perhaps a new and distinct group. This name was applied
because these people made excellent baskets and other woven objects, and
had some similarity in culture traits to the San Juan Basketmakers or
Anasazi of the Four Corners area. Moreover, there is some similarity in
culture traits to the Big Bend Basketmakers of Texas and the Ozark Bluff
Dwellers. Perhaps the name best suited for this group would be “cave
dwellers,” as they used caves of all sizes, from small overhangs to
those of huge proportions, for shelter. Yet, it must be remembered that
seasonally they lived in the open. However, to avoid later confusion, we
shall refer to them as the Carlsbad Basketmakers.

The Carlsbad Basketmakers were an unusual group only “here and there
adopting a few cultural traits from their neighbors, but essentially
remaining food gatherers and hunters,” a rather simple state of culture
as compared to their contemporaries.

Our group was in contact with the Mogollon people to the west before 900
A.D., and possibly 600 years earlier. Pottery found here indicates this
as well as other contacts. (See Map.) Pottery is somewhat like a
fingerprint. There are certain features about it which are peculiar to
only one particular area, and that is the area within which it was made.
Consequently, pottery can show time, trade, contact, and movement of
ceramic-making prehistoric peoples. At about this same time, social
intercourse was also being carried on with the Hueco Basketmakers to the
west and the Big Bend Basketmakers to the south.

    [Illustration: _The combined use of metate and mortar was found
    here_]

After 1200, we find Chaco or true Anasazi influence coming into the Rio
Grande valley to Gran Quivera, thence to southeastern New Mexico. This
influence represents the Pueblo Indians who apparently changed the
Carlsbad Basketmakers’ way of life more than any other. This continued
until sometime between 1500 and 1600, when a drastic and complete change
came over all the aboriginal peoples in this section.

The Spanish entered the Southwest, bringing the horse, which prompted
this change. The Apaches had slowly been working their way southward
from sometime after 1300 A.D. By trade and theft they acquired horses
from the Spanish, and, in so doing, the long and bloody career of the
Apaches got under way. This freedom and rapidity of movement afforded by
the horse allowed them to raid, pillage, and murder Indians and Spanish
alike. It is about this time that we lose track of our Basketmakers.

    [Illustration: _A small cave dwelling in Walnut Canyon_]

What happened to them is pure supposition. The Carlsbad Basketmakers,
for defense or economic reasons, probably joined the Pueblo groups of
either the Gran Quivera or El Paso areas and became completely absorbed.
Many Pueblo traits found here contribute to this supposition, such as
pottery changes and physical changes of the people themselves. For
example, the early Carlsbad Basketmakers were long-headed individuals
(dolichocephalic). Near the end of their era the head shape changed by
artificial deformation, or flattening, brought about by the use of a
hard cradle board, to a broad head or brachycephalic type. All along the
line there was an admixture of physical types, with the three types
being present; long, medium (mesocephalic), and broad.

The Carlsbad Basketmaker would very likely fit into practically any
present Pueblo group and not be noticed. He was of medium stature, about
5′4″-5′6″ in average height. His life span was between 30-35 years, and
he suffered from arthritis, bad teeth, and broken bones quite often.

The material culture of a people is, perhaps, their most important
characteristic, as it represents the utilization of the natural
resources in a particular area or environment. Caves were used for a
number of purposes: burial, ceremonial, transitory living, etc. It is
from these caves that archaeologists dig out the material objects left
by prehistoric people and are able to reconstruct the story of the
occupants.

As previously mentioned, the name of our Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Indians was applied because they made excellent baskets and woven
objects. Coiled baskets of yucca with grass, sotol, or twigs of flexible
wood as the binder were the most common. Most baskets have designs of
various colors woven into them. Red-brown dye was probably made from
mountain mahogany. The black was strips of Devil’s Claw (_Martynia
arenaria_). Baskets were waterproofed by smearing pine pitch or mesquite
gum on them.

Sandals of yucca and grasses are found in abundance. The square-toed
sandal is the most prominent, although the round fishtailed type is
common. Both were woven with a variety of ply-thicknesses. They ranged
from 5 to 11 inches in length, and 2½ to 4 inches in width. The only
known sandal fragment found in the natural entrance to the Caverns is of
the square-toed type and is classed as a two warp-two ply.

    [Illustration: _The Basketmaker paintings on the south wall of the
    natural entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns_]

    [Illustration: Basketmaker paintings]

Yucca seems to have been the most-used plant for weaving. Mats of yucca
and beargrass were woven in a variety of ways. A coarse cloth netting
and cordage of yucca fiber was used for snaring rabbits and other small
game, and large bags of yucca fiber cordage were made for burial
purposes. These cone-shaped, twine-woven bags were sometimes quite
elaborately woven of red and white cords with horizontal black and
yellow bands running completely around them.

Cotton was grown to the west, and some combination of cotton and yucca
fabrics was made here. Clothing or blankets of animal fur (usually
rabbit) and feather (turkey) cloth was common. (This turkey cloth was
probably traded from the Pueblos.) Too, plain fur, cloth, and skin robes
were used for covering.

Hair was woven into rope, as were mesquite fiber and agave. Raw material
apparently kept on hand as fiber bundles and rings of grass were common
finds. V-shaped cradles were made of grass, and sleeping pits were lined
with it.

Pottery is really incidental; and, for the most part, intrusive to
southeastern New Mexico. It is questionable if the area inhabitants made
pottery, but they probably did to some extent. There is found a
considerable amount of plain brown ware, and it occurs from early to
late times. This ware, although unnamed except for “plain Brown,” is
thought to be of local manufacture. Practically all pottery found here
was fired in the presence of oxygen (oxidizing atmosphere). A number of
types, varying in color from a terracotta, through brown, to reddish
tones, are all classed as brown ware.

The earliest pottery found in southeastern New Mexico is Mogollon in
origin. Mogollon pottery is a derivative from southwestern New Mexico
and southeastern Arizona. The Mogollon brown and red wares found in this
section are definitely pre-900 A.D., and possibly pre-700. These wares
are found to have been used through 1150 A.D.

The big influx of pottery came during late Pueblo III and Pueblo IV
times from 1150 to 1450 A.D. From the west came Mimbres Black on White,
which dates from 1050 to 1200 A.D., Jornada Brown, El Paso Polychrome,
and Brown wares. From the north, northwest, and west, because of Pueblo
expansion, came Three Rivers Red on Terracotta, St. Johns Polychrome
(from the Zuni area), Chupadero Black on White (from Gran Quivira),
Lincoln Black on Red, and Rio Grande glaze wares. It is interesting to
note that pottery changes in this area parallel those of the Mogollon to
some degree.

Our Basketmakers were dependent primarily upon wild plant foods, as corn
seems to be lacking; and they supplemented their diet by some hunting of
game. To the south of the Park is the Black River. In this fertile
valley, with its continuous water supply, it is logical to assume that
corn was probably cultivated; but there is absolutely no evidence to
prove this. Corn was grown about 50 miles north, near Hope, New Mexico,
where Pueblo-like settlements were common from 1150 to 1300 A.D. Corn,
beans, and squash may have been traded to our cave people by the
Pueblos. Lack of practiced agriculture in the Guadalupe Mountain area
was probably due to the scarcity of water. Water from seeps, springs,
and shallow depressions in the limestone was, of course, utilized.

The roasted young bud and heart of the mescal or agave plant apparently
was the paramount food, with the cabbage-like base or heart of the sotol
running a close second. Yucca pulp and seeds, mesquite beans (Tornillo
or screwbean), grass seeds, piñon nuts, acorns, walnuts, cactus fruits
(prickly pear and cholla), wild onions, wild potatoes and other bulb or
tuber-bearing plants, grapes, berries and others were utilized. Herbs
from true sage brush (_Artemisia_), wild tobacco, and possibly soap made
from the roots of the yucca _radiosa_ were used. A favorite quick food
was the young flower stalks of yucca in season.

Mescal hearts and baked sotol leaves were stored in caves in cists lined
with grass, twigs and bark. Stone slab-lined storage cists were known
also.

Mesquite beans were pulverized into meal, as substantiated by the many
mortar holes throughout the area. The meal was probably fashioned by
pounding the beans and pods together, winnowing out the pods, grinding
until fairly uniform, and eating them either raw or molded into cakes
and cooked in ashes, or into soups. Gourds were used for a household
receptacle, probably as a ladle or dipper.

The entire country is dotted with large “midden circles.” The one most
seen by visitors is located at the natural entrance. For years these
circles have erroneously been called “mescal pits” and were thought to
have been used strictly for baking or roasting the mescal plant by both
our Basketmakers and later the Apaches. In remote instances, it is
possible that the Apaches used them, but not as a common practice.

The main difference between the Basketmaker midden circle and the Apache
mescal pit is that the true mescal pit or earth oven is a depression
definitely sunk below the ground level, whereas the midden circle is on
ground level. Consequently, the midden circle had other uses than the
preparation of mescal hearts.

There are three types of midden circles. The most common is the circular
mound, which is found up to an altitude of 7500 feet, and out
considerable distances into the flats. It is of interest to note that no
midden circles of the Carlsbad Basketmakers are found east of the Pecos
River. The circular ones will average from 30 to 35 feet in diameter in
this area.

“The first stage (of development) seems to have begun with the
construction of a fireplace composed of fairly large rocks. When heat
had cracked these into fragments too small to be useful, the broken bits
were then cleared away from a circle about the fire and the hearth
rebuilt with other large stones, which in turn were discarded when
broken down by heat. When this process had been repeated many times, the
cleared circle immediately around the fire was surrounded by a ring
formed by an accumulation of the rejected small stones. In course of
time and with constant additions of ash and discarded rock, the
resulting mound grew to such height that it might even have proved
serviceable as a wind break. That such a method was employed seems quite
probable, because all the stones composing the outer ring show hard
firing, while scattered through the mass are found ashes and rejecta of
a camp. If this hypothesis is accepted, a large number of these
structures would indicate an extended occupation or perhaps repeated
occupation over a comparatively long period.” (Mera)

    [Illustration: _This drawing shows the three stages of development
    of the midden circle_]

The second type is found on ledges or narrow terraces along canyon walls
and was elongated in shape. The third is built out in front of caves and
shelters and takes on a rough half-circle shape. The mescal pit as used
by the Apaches is described in their section.

    [Illustration: _A Basketmaker Midden Circle or cooking pit_]

    [Illustration: _A cut-bank showing an elongated Basketmaker Midden
    in Slaughter Canyon_]

Practically all game was hunted, notably mule deer, elk, and buffalo;
and next, if not the most important, rabbits, both the cottontail and
jackrabbit. Also, antelope, plains white-tail deer, big horn sheep,
peccary (Javelina), mountain lion, bobcat, wolf, fox, coyote, badger,
porcupine, ring-tailed cat, opossum, prairie dog, armadillo, pack rat,
kangaroo-rat, muskrat, field mouse, white-foot mouse, beaver, pocket
mouse, ground squirrel, pocket gopher as well as fish, ducks, hawks,
owls, quail, desert tortoise, pigeons, doves, large terrapin, lizards,
and snakes were utilized.

Our people had the dog and probably ate him in time of famine. Although
some turkey bones have been found, it is quite certain that this bird
was not domesticated here as it was among the Pueblos. Needless to say,
leather was fashioned from the skins of practically all animals and was
used for pouches, snares, etc.

Usually the first thing to enter our minds when stone is mentioned in
connection with aboriginal peoples is arrowheads or projectile points.
Stone was used for many and varied purposes, and it would be difficult
to list these in order of importance. Projectile points were, of course,
important, though used primarily for hunting rather than warfare. Points
of various sizes, shapes and materials were used by the Carlsbad
Basketmakers. First were the dart and lance points, and later, as arrow
points, after the introduction of the bow to the Southwest. Flints,
cherts, and chalcedonies were the most common materials used for points
and small tools, although rhyolite, felsite, etc., have been found.
Stone was worked by grinding, pecking, drilling, and percussion and
pressure flaking.

Mortars were usually cut into stationary rock near camping places such
as those seen near the natural entrance to the Caverns, although small
portable mortars were used to some extent. The pestles were usually made
of granite and were carried from camp to camp, as pestles with yucca
leaf carrying-straps have been found.

    [Illustration: _Projectile points, pottery, decorated sea shell, a
    mano-pestle and a sandal fragment from Carlsbad Caverns National
    Park_
                                         (_National Park Service Photo_)
    ]

Metates or grinding bowls are less common. Metates were made from
limestone, sandstone, and granite, while the mano, the small stone used
for crushing and grinding on the metate, was composed of limestone,
granite, and travertine. The metates are oval, circular, and semi-flat
in appearance, and the manos are of the one-hand type.

Leaf-shaped knives, end scrapers, side scrapers, drills, choppers,
hammerstones, rubbing or smoothing stones, axes and stone pipes were
made and used.

Found throughout the Guadalupe Mountains, sometimes at the head of
canyons, usually on the canyon floors, are small stone cairns and stone
rings or circles. To date, no feasible explanation is given as to their
function. These are not to be confused with the “midden circles”
previously mentioned.

For other than fuel, wood was widely used as clubs, digging sticks,
atlatl, darts, spear foreshafts, bows, arrows, projectile points, fire
sets (drill and hearth), seed storage tubes, fending sticks, throwing
sticks (rabbit sticks), and wooden stoppers for canteens.

    [Illustration: _One of the mortar holes near the mouth of the
    entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns_
                                         (_National Park Service Photo_)
    ]

Woodworking with stone tools consisted of seven methods: chopping,
whittling, shaving and planing, sawing, splitting, gouging and scoring,
scraping and sanding.

Fire was made with the use of a wooden hearth. Friction was created by
revolving the point of a stick with the hands in a small depression in
the hearth, which contained tinder of punk wood, shredded inner bark or
grass. Cedar or juniper bark was probably used for torches.

Animal bone was used for awls, stone flaking tools, jewelry ornaments
and weaving tools; animal horn or antler was used much the same. There
is a slight possibility that bone gaming dice were made and used, as
perhaps were horn ladles and dippers.

In earlier times our Basketmakers used the atlatl as their predominant
weapon or hunting implement. It was composed of two parts; the stick for
throwing the dart, and the dart itself. Later the bow and arrow replaced
this implement in importance. Atlatls were from 19 to 25 inches in
length and were made of oak, mesquite, thorn growth Tornillo, sinew and
buckskin. Occasionally a small stone was attached to add weight and
balance. Atlatl dart shafts consisted of two parts. The foreshaft was of
heavy oak or comparatively hard wood with a stone point. This was
inserted into the main shaft of sotol bloom stalks. The idea being upon
impact that the base would fall away from the foreshaft, thus allowing
full penetration and less chance of the animal or man knocking or
pulling it out. Both the atlatl and dart shafts were sometimes highly
decorated. A variety of stone points were used as was the dart bunt,
which possibly was used as a stunner as its appearance suggests. The
dart bunt was a round wooden knob carved to insert into the main shaft.

Bows and arrows were made of varied hardwoods and reeds. Bows had an
average pull of about 40 pounds and were from 3½ to 5 feet in length.
Arrows were 20 to 28 inches long, and the bowstring was either yucca
fiber or sinew.

The lance or spear, ordinary stick clubs, grooved fending sticks, round
fending sticks, flattened and round throwing sticks found may also have
been used as weapons.

Disposition of the dead was accomplished by burying with offerings in a
flexed or semi-flexed position on the back, or cremated with the burned
remains being buried in bags or baskets.

The graves are usually small and quite shallow. Burials are found in
caves, midden circles, and open sites—practically any place where
digging was easy. Quite often the unburned burials had a “kill hole”
pottery bowl placed over the face. Cremation, from all appearances, was
practiced earlier and was concurrent to inhumation.

The few skeletal remains found in the natural entrance and Bat Cave
section of the Carlsbad Caverns suggest midden type burials or
accidental demise, perhaps by falling.

Possibly one of the most interesting and still visible bits of evidence
of the Carlsbad Basketmakers are the pictographs or paintings on the
south wall of the Cave entrance. These markings are badly weathered, but
one can distinguish what appears once to have been a red figure with
black up-raised arms of a person, and blobs of red and black which may
have been anything.

In other caves over the area have been found other pictographs
(paintings) and petroglyphs (pecked) designs. Paints were made from red
hematite (red oxide of iron); red and yellow ochers; blue and green from
copper carbonates, azurite and malachite; black carbon and white
kaolinite.

Occasionally there are found small pebbles with painted designs or lines
on them, but their function is unknown.

Jewelry consisted of wooden combs and wooden pin hair ornaments, beads
and pendants of white and pink shell, gypsum, black beidellite,
turquoise, bone, squash seeds and sections of reeds. Beads were strung
on hair cord or yucca fiber cord. Bracelets of Glycimeris shell were
worn.

For the most part the shell tells of considerable trade to the Gulf of
Mexico and the Gulf of California by our people. Fresh water mussel
shells common to the Pecos River were also used for ornaments. Trade was
carried on from Mexico into this general region as indicated by the
finds of copper bells and macaw parrot feathers from Pueblo ruins in
southern New Mexico.

Ceremonial paraphernalia finds are rather rare. Fragments of a golden
eagle feather headdress, rattles of gourds, and turtle or tortoise
shells, pahos (prayer sticks), wooden wands and wooden painted tablitas
(headdresses) have been unearthed in Guadalupe Mountain caves. Closely
related to ceremonial purposes, and usually found in close association
with the above, are reed cigarettes and whistles, prayer offerings of
miniature fending sticks, fiber balls, gaming dice (sticks or counters),
as well as possible ceremonial bow sets. As to how the ceremonial
objects were used is, naturally, conjecture.




                         THE MESCALERO APACHES


    [Illustration: Human head]

From the north they came, this much we know, and comparatively recently.
About 600 years ago many tribes of Apaches slowly worked their way
southward, following the game and gathering the wild plant food,
eventually ranging over a great land area from the Pecos River on the
east to the borders of the Papago country in southern Arizona on the
west; from Colorado to northern Mexico, to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas.
The Apaches, members of the Athapascan linguistic family, were first
recorded historically on the southern plains by the Spanish in 1540-41,
who called them Querecho. However, it is entirely possible that Cabeza
de Baca in 1534-35 encountered them. The Mescalero, Lipan, and Tuetenene
(a hybrid of the former two) were living in this area at that time. They
were first called Apaches in 1598 by Oñate.

The Mescalero Apaches ranged from the Rio Grande to the Staked Plains,
and were closely allied with both the western Apache groups and tribes
of the southern plains. The “Natohene” or “Natshene” (mescal people or
water willow people), as they called themselves, were composed of three
bands; the Kahoane, Ni’ahane, and Huskaane.

The Ni’ahane band lived in the Sacramento, Guadalupe, Sierra Blanca, and
Capitan Mountains, an area that included what is now Carlsbad Caverns
National Park. Their name means “people of the terraced mountains.” To
the south of this band were the Tuetenene; and southeast of them, in the
Big Bend country, lived the Lipan Apaches (a true Plains Indian group).

In order to avoid confusion between the various Apache tribes and bands
to frequent the area of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, the term
Mescalero will be used. It should be pointed out that actually very
little is known about this group, so the material presented is far from
complete and is only general information.

Although of a war-like nature, the Mescaleros were never considered as
dangerous as their brethren farther west. Yet, after acquiring horses
from the Spanish, they raided and warred until about 1875, when subdued;
and the Mescalero Reservation was established in the White Mountains
northeast of the White Sands in New Mexico.

Culturally speaking, the Mescaleros, Lipans, and their hybrid, the
Tuetenenes, were basically Plains with some western Apache traits common
only to the Mescaleros.

    [Illustration: _The Painted Grotto, a highly painted Mescalero
    Apache ceremonial cave located in Slaughter Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns
    National Park, New Mexico_]

Actual physical evidence left by the Mescalero Apaches in Carlsbad
Caverns National Park is scant. Their most prominent calling card is
found in a small cave in West Slaughter Canyon. About 4½ miles from the
mouth of the canyon, some 65 feet above the dry stream bed, is the
“Painted Grotto.” This little cave is approximately 57 feet across the
front, 21 feet at the deepest point, and the ceiling slopes from 16 feet
at the front to about 6 feet at the back. On the walls and ceiling are
several hundred multicolored pictographs, all painted with earth ground
ochers in red, yellow, white, golden yellow, and shades of pink. Caves
of this type were used as shrines or media for ceremonies or religious
dances, incantations, etc., and are considered very sacred. This bit of
evidence definitely establishes the Mescalero on the Park proper, and a
legend handed down to the Modern Apaches indicated that they knew of the
main Caverns entrance as well. This legend tells of a medicine man who
went into the cave to make “big medicine.” Supposedly, he was last seen
wandering away from the entrance, beating his tom-tom; and yearly, on
the anniversary of this exploit, the Apaches would come to the entrance
to leave offerings of food for him.

The Mescaleros were attracted to the Guadalupe Mountains area due to the
abundance of plant and animal life and the many springs found here. The
cooking of their favorite food, the mescal, arouses some curiosity.
Found throughout the region are remains of the Carlsbad Basketmakers’
midden circles previously mentioned. In remote instances perhaps the
Apaches cooked in these so-called “mescal pits.” Quite likely though,
they cooked on the surface without the aid of a pit. Today, in many
places along the ridges, can be seen spaces of ground, devoid of
vegetation, covered with rocks which have obviously been broken from
fire. The Chiricahua Apaches to the west tell of a method of baking
mescal without digging a pit. Rocks are heated and scattered on the
level ground; the mescal crowns are put on them, and fresh grass and
dirt are piled over all. This “oven” has the appearance of a mound when
in use; but after the mescal is removed, and time has elapsed, it would
appear to be simply a space of barren ground covered with burnt stones.

To the north of the Guadalupe Mountains is found evidence of true Apache
mescal pits, and they are just that, a pit dug into the ground. The pit
is dug round, about 7 feet across and from 3 to 4 feet deep. “The method
of using these pits is as follows: great fires are first kindled in
them, after which, heated stones are thrown in; on these stones are
laid, agave leaves, sometimes to a depth of 2 to 3 feet. Fire is kindled
over this accumulation and by action of the heat below and above, the
leaves are roasted without being burnt.” (Fewkes) Other plants and meats
were also cooked in this type oven, and many families could and did cook
in one pit at the same time by marking their food in some manner. From
24 to 36 hours were required to cook the mescal heart. Mescal heads
baked in this manner are somewhat like candied sweet potatoes.

    [Illustration: _Close-up of the paintings in the Painted Grotto of
    Slaughter Canyon_ (_photos courtesy of Lynn Coffin_)]

Occasionally the Mescaleros farmed. Most farming was done to the north
of the Park; but Rattlesnake Springs, (source of the Park’s water
supply), about 7 miles south of the Caverns entrance, is said to have
been an Apache campsite, and possibly some farming was done there.

The Mescalero Apaches show a curious mixture of culture traits, both
plains and western Apache. Following is a brief summary of some of these
that may be of interest.

They were great stalkers of game and frequently employed the use of
animal mask decoys, driving, game calls, and the running down or wearing
out of game. They smoked or flooded rodents from their dens, set snares
of rope for game, and hunted from blinds or pits. Communal hunting was
supervised by a hunt master; and game, such as rabbits, peccary, and
buffalo were surrounded by people in a circle and clubbed, shot or
driven to hidden hunters, lassoed or run over a cliff or bank. Dogs were
used for hunting as well as for watch dogs and pets.

Religious ceremony was practiced before, during, and after the hunt.
Prayers, songs, tobacco, pollen, and meat were offered to the hunt
deity; and an amulet for good hunting was worn.

The Mescalero did not, as a rule, eat wildcat, wolf, coyote or turkey
vultures. Dogs, hawks, turkeys and eagles were kept as pets. They were
never eaten and were buried at death. Sometimes plucked eagles were
released alive. Tortoise, turtles, and fish were eaten.

Hardwood digging sticks were used for gathering bulbs, roots, etc., and
a special stone knife was used for cutting mescal. Seeds were collected
on a blanket and carried in a skin bag. Acorns were boiled like beans,
parched (never leached), shelled and ground on a metate or stone mortar
and stored in a skin bag. The meal was eaten with meat stew. Mesquite
and screwbean mesquite pods were pounded either in stone or hide
mortars; and the seeds were thrown away, and the pod flour was soaked or
boiled and the juice drunk, eaten as mush, or stored in cake form.

Mescal heads were pit-roasted as mentioned; a buffalo shoulder-blade was
used as a shovel to scoop coals over the pit. The fire was usually lit
by a lucky person. The cooked head and leaf bases were pounded and dried
on frames and stored dry. Syrup was made from the flowers and the stalk
above the head was eaten.

Yucca fruit was eaten either cooked on coals or dried, and the root
stalk was used for soap. This pertained to practically all of the yucca
family. Most cacti fruit and some of the pulp was eaten.

Pinon seeds were gathered and eaten raw, roasted or mashed into a
butter. Pinon pitch was chewed as gum. Walnuts, wild plums, cherries,
grass seeds, etc., tule and some greens (cooked) were used. Fruit
juices, mescal, mesquite, and sotol juices were drunk either fresh, or
boiled and fermented. In later years a maize wine was made. Salt and
honey were gathered and used.

Meat was sliced, dried and made into pemmican; bone marrow extracted;
blood boiled in paunch and sausages were made in gut. Meat food was
stored either in skin bag, parfleche or pot.

Little agriculture was practiced. Irrigation with ditches from streams
was known. Farming was confined to the sandy soil in the stream bottom
land. All farming was a man’s job except the harvest when women helped.
A two-handed planting stick was used. Corn was eaten green, roasted or
dried and shelled by women. Two varieties of beans, pumpkins, squash and
gourds were grown. Gourds were used as canteens, dishes and spoons.

Mescal harvest camps were sometimes set up in small caves, but tipis or
thatched wickiups were the permanent houses. Tipis were three-pole
foundation, buffalo hide with ventilator flaps, faced east or downwind,
and had a fireplace and smoke-hole in the center. They were pegged to
the ground, had a covered door, and a dew-cloth inner liner. When moved,
they were carried on a travois or drag with horse.

Temporary lean-tos, shades, windbreaks, domed sweat houses, log rafts
and log bridges were built and used. Swimming was done only when
necessary, or when water was available.

Grass and agave hair brushes were made. Horn, wood and shell were used
as containers. Knives, awls, and needles were made from stone and bone.
Wood was worked with stone hammers, mauls, axes and fire. Stone was
flaked, ground and polished. Fire was made by stone or a pump drill.

Bows were made of mulberry, oak, juniper, walnut and other woods. Bow
strings were made of sinew and vegetable fiber. Arrows of willow and
other woods—points were stone. Mescalero arrow points were supposedly
stemmed base, or the base was side notched. These types of projectile
points are common to the Carlsbad Basketmakers, too; so it is impossible
to differentiate the two when found. Undoubtedly, those found on the
Park fit into both cultures. Arrows were feathered with three feathers
from the eagle, hawk, turkey and crow; and arrows were carried in an
open-skinned, sewn quiver of deerskin, mountain lion or wildcat. They
were carried on the back, under the arm, or on the belt.

Spears, shields, warbonnets (short, Plains type), armour of hide and
clubs were used in battle. Rabbitsticks of wood and slingshots were also
used.

Beads and ornaments were of shell, bone, wood, feathers, seeds, claws
and hooves, bear ears, turquoise, red stone, cannel coal (jet), and
porcupine quills. Paint from mineral and vegetable sources was used for
decorating objects or the body, which was painted primarily to prevent
sunburn.

The hair was worn full length by both men and women, but beard and
eyebrows were plucked completely with fingers or tweezers of willowwood.
During periods of mourning, hair was cropped with a stone knife,
sometimes to about the level of the chin by women. Hair was worn loose,
tied in a bunch or with headband, in braids and decorated with pendants,
feathers, flowers, etc.

Ear lobes of children were pierced with a snakeweed stem, and nose
straightening was practiced on babies if nose was too broad. There was
no cradle deformation of the head known among the Mescaleros.

Tattooing of the face and arms by these people was quite an ancient
practice, and was performed with cactus spines and black mineral pigment
only, not charcoal as other tribes might use.

Clothing consisted of fur caps, robes, shawls, ponchos, and capes of
animal skin with the hair either on or off the hide, and woven vegetable
fibers. Highly painted and fringed buckskin-sleeved shirts were worn by
the men. The women wore buckskin gowns or dresses, painted and fringed.
Buckskin belts held up a skin wrapped around the waist to serve as a
kilt for the men, or skirts of buckskin for the women. Hard-soled
moccasins were worn by both sexes, while only the men wore a hip-length
buckskin leggin. Hide overshoes were used in winter.

The winter bed was usually composed of a grass and hide mattress with
hide coverings, whereas the summer bed was a willow rack or mat with a
rawhide twining bedstead supported by four forked posts covered with
skins (Plains type).

Burdens were transported with the aid of a tump line back pack or other
slings, baskets, gourds, pottery, rawhide or leather bags or containers
and horse travois. Baskets (water-proofed with pitch), mats, cradles,
cordage of vegetable and animal materials, including hair and pottery,
were manufactured by both men and women.

A variety of games were played by all, including foot racing, shinny,
hoop and pole, etc. Gambling by adults was done with a hand game of
guessing with bones, moccasin game, drawing straws, dice, and heads or
tails with flat stones (wet or dry). The children played games of war,
wrestled, and had toys of guns, dolls, stones, etc.

Tobacco was gathered and smoked in an elbow pipe. Both tobacco and pipe
were kept in a buckskin bag which was usually highly decorated.

The people assembled at the Chief’s dwelling or in an open space. Unlike
most Plains tribes, the Mescaleros did not carry a medicine bundle but
carried “medicine” inside themselves.

For music and ceremony there were rattles of gourds or horn, drums of
pottery and wood, a musical bow, whistles and flutes.

The calendar was divided into four named seasons with daily and monthly
tallies kept on a notched stick. Counting was done on the fingers, and
some observations of astronomy were made. Various colors were symbolic.
East was black; south, blue; west, yellow; and north, white. Their God,
Nayiizone, when coming from or going to the sky, rode on a black ray to
the east, on a blue horse to the south, on a yellow (sorrel) horse to
the west, and on a white horse to the north.

Mysticism, taboo, and definite procedure governed childbirth, naming,
education of the young, marriage, affinal relations, death, mourning,
labor by both sexes, slaves, land ownership, personal property, war,
scalping, dances, ceremonies, political and clan organizations, peyote,
kinship systems, religion and shaman ritual.

Little is known about Mescalero pottery, except that it was tempered
with vegetable material, made only by women, fired in an open fire, and
made with pointed or rounded bottom for inserting into fire coals, and
perhaps decorated with incised marks near the rim on occasion. The
knowledge of when this art was first practiced is unknown, but is
logically historic and very limited. No known sherds of this pottery
have been found on the Park.

In 1875, the Mescalero Apache Reservation was established for the
Mescalero and Lipan tribes; but in 1913, a band of Geronimo’s
Chiricahuas was released from Ft. Sill in Oklahoma and came to Mescalero
where they now reside.

Locally there is a rumor that the Apaches have a myth concerning the
bats of Carlsbad Caverns. The bats are said to be an ancient lost war or
hunting party, but research has failed to verify this story. Most of the
Western Apaches regard BAT as an excellent horseman. The Chiricahua
Apaches say, “If a bat bites you, you had better never ride a horse any
more. If you do ride a horse after being bitten, you are just as good as
dead.” They were cautious of bats but not superstitious of them.




                             THE COMANCHES


    [Illustration: Human head]

Originally the Comanches lived far to the north of southeastern New
Mexico; but about 1700, moved to the South Plains. By this time they
were well adapted to their relatively new life of mobility brought about
by the acquisition of horses directly or indirectly, and by hook or
crook from the Spanish. With horses it was much easier to follow the
buffalo, fight their enemies, raid, and trade.

Comanche is a Ute Indian word meaning “enemy,” and it is often felt that
they found their way to New Mexico under the tutelage of the Utes. Yet,
sometime between 1747, and April, 1749, the two became deadly enemies.
After 1750, the Utes joined the Apaches to fight the Comanches.

Actually, there are about 20 different names given for Comanche, meaning
everything from “enemies” to “snake people.” The Ute definition is more
fitting, however; for from about 1705 to 1875, they raided and fought
the Spanish, Utes, Apaches, Pueblos, Texans and the U. S. Army among
others. They ranged from Kansas to Mexico in thirteen different bands.

That they were practical and businesslike is perhaps best shown by their
dealings with the French. The Comanches were first contacted about 1725
by the French, who traded them guns and ammunition. Yet the Comanches
would not let the French cross their territory to trade with the Apaches
and others, thus monopolizing the source of firearms.

These Shoshonean speaking people were a true South Plains horse Indian.
They were often considered the finest horsemen of the plains, these
nomadic buffalo hunters who lived in tipis of the skins from this
animal. The Comanche tongue was universally spoken by numerous other
Indian tribes of the South Plains; so little sign language was
necessary, as was the case farther north.

    [Illustration: _A general view of the rough terrain in the Carlsbad
    Caverns—Guadalupe Mountains area_]

Buffalo were reported on the South Plains in 1540-41, by the Spanish. As
there was constant warfare between the Comanches and the Apaches, it may
well have started over the bison.

The words fighting and Comanche go hand in hand. They were spasmodically
at war with most of their neighbors; yet if peace and alliance achieved
a goal, they would concede, as is shown in their relationship with the
Kiowa. Bitter enemies, these two, until 1790, when an alliance was made
which lasted until sometime in the 1870s. Together they raided the
Spanish, Pueblos, Apaches, and their first real enemy, the
Anglo-Americans of Texas.

Although the Park and Guadalupe Mountains area was not part of the
Comanches positive range, which lay north, east and southeast of the
Pecos River, it was frequently crossed by hunting and raiding parties.
There is no reason to assume that the Kiowas did not accompany them from
time to time, especially when raiding into Mexico.

These “Lords of the South Plains,” as they were later called, looked and
dressed every bit the now “Hollywood” Indian. In costumes of buckskins
or buffalo hide, decorated with beads and gewgaws, wearing the typical
warbonnet, the Comanches ruled a tremendous portion of the South Plains
for 175 years. (See Map.) They were fearless fighters who rescued their
dead and wounded in battle, who on occasion used poison from an unknown
plant on their arrow-points, or stuck them in a dead, ripe skunk to
create the same effect; and were great thieves and gamblers. The
successful theft of horses from the enemy was a high mark of prestige to
a man; yet this same man could and did lose his spoils to other
Comanches through the media of dice and hand games.

The Comanches were one of the few tribes of the South Plains who did not
eat dog or human flesh. Their religion contained the belief of an after
life in a “Happy Hunting Ground” beyond the sun. Naturally, these people
utilized many wild plants. One among these that grows in the Park is
mescal, which was used as a drug. (Quite a contrast to the Apaches,
this.)

A valiant but bloody chapter in the history of the Southwest was closed
in June, 1875, when the Comanches surrendered to the U. S. Army at Ft.
Sill, and went on to a reservation in the then Indian Territory of
Oklahoma. It is said the introduction of the Colt revolver, in the hands
of the Texas Rangers, was the deciding factor toward their surrender.

    [Illustration: THE INDIANS OF
    CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK
    TIME RANGE]

  Early Man                    25,000-15,000 B.P.? — 2,000 B.C.?
  Carlsbad Basketmakers        2000 B.C.? — 1750 A.D.?
  Pueblo Culture Influence     1000 B.C.? —
  Mescalero Apache             1300 A.D.? —
  Comanche                     1700 A.D.? —
  Kiowa                        1800 A.D.? —




                              BIBLIOGRAPHY


  Bailey, Vernon—_Animal Life of the Carlsbad Cavern_, 1928.
  Bourke, John G.—_Medicine Men of the Apache_, B.A.E. #9, 1887-88.
  Colton, Harold S. and Hargrave, L. L.—_Handbook of Northern Arizona
          Pottery Types_, MNA, 1937.
  Cosgrove, C. B.—_Caves of the Upper Gila and Hueco Areas in New Mexico
          and Texas_, Papers of the Peabody Museum, 1947.
  Dodge, Natt N.—_Flowers of the Southwest Deserts_, SMA, 1952.
  Ferdon, Edwin N., Jr.—_An Excavation of Hermit’s Cave, New Mexico_,
          1946.
  Fewkes, J. W.—_Casa Grande Arizona, Antiquities of the Upper Verde
          River and Walnut Creek, Arizona_, B.A.E. #28, 1906-07.
  Gale, Bennett T.—_Historical Sketch Carlsbad Caverns National Park_,
          manuscript, 1952.
      _Carlsbad Caverns—An Interpretation of Their Origin and
          Development_, manuscript.
  Gifford, E. W.—_Culture Element Distributions: XII Apache-Pueblo_,
          Anthropological Records, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1940.
  Hawley, Florence M.—_Field Manual of Prehistoric Southwestern Pottery
          Types_, U. of N. M., 1936.
  Henshaw, Henry W.—_Animal Carvings from the Mounds of the Mississippi
          Valley_, B.A.E. #2, 1880-81.
  Howard, E. B.—_Caves Along the Slopes of the Guadalupe Mountains_,
          Bul. Texas Arch. and Pal. Soc., Vol. 4, 1932.
  Jennings, J. D.—_A Variation of Southwestern Pueblo Culture_, Lab. of
          Anth., Tech. Series, Bul. #10, 1940.
  Lehmer, Donald J.—_The Jornada Branch of the Mogollon_, U. of Ariz. SS
          Bul. #17, 1948.
  Mallery, Garrick—_Picture Writing of the American Indians_, B.A.E.
          #10, 1888-89.
  McGee, W. J.—_The Seri Indians_, B.A.E. #17, Part 2, 1895-96.
  Mera, H. P.—_An Outline of Ceramic Developments in Southern and
          Southeastern New Mexico_, Lab. of Anth., Tech. Series, Bul.
          #11.
      _Reconnaissance and Excavation in Southeastern New Mexico_, AAA
          Memoir #51, 1938.
  Mooney, James—_Myths of the Cherokee_, B.A.E. #19, 1897-98.
      _The Ghost Dance Religion_, B.A.E. #14, 1892-93.
      _Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians_, B.A.E. #17, 1895-96.
  Neumann, George—_Analysis of the Skeletal Material_, Lab. of Anth.,
          Tech. Series, Bul. #10, 1940.
  Opler, Morris Edward—_An Apache Life-Way_, 1941.
  Pearce, Dr. J. E.—_Kitchen Middens_, Bul. Texas Arch. and Pal. Soc.,
          Vol. 4, 1932—See also Victor J. Smith.
  Reed, Erik—_Historical Narrative and Archaeological Values_,
          Interpretive Section, Master Plan, Carlsbad Caverns National
          Park.
  Roth, W. E.—_Animism and Folklore of Guiana Indians_, B.A.E. #30,
          1908-09.
  Schmitt, Martin F. and Brown, Dee—_Fighting Indians of the West_,
          1948.
  Swanton, John R.—_The Indian Tribes of North America_, B.A.E. Bul.
          145, 1952.
  Thomas, Alfred Barnaby—_The Plains Indians and New Mexico 1751-1778_,
          1940.
  Wallace, Ernest and Hoebel, E. Adamson—_The Comanches_, U. of Okla.,
          1952.
  Williams, Jack R.—_Papago_, manuscript, 1952.




                               FOOTNOTES


[1]Unfortunately, the National Park Service has been unable to obtain
    any of these burials. However, Vernon Bailey in his _Animal Life of
    Carlsbad Cavern_ points out that they were found. (Also, this has
    been corroborated by writings of the late Carl B. Livingston, well
    known attorney, writer, historian, and an outstanding authority on
    history and prehistory of New Mexico. Too, present and former
    employees of the National Park Service who played an important part
    in the early stages of the development and operation of the Carlsbad
    Caverns National Park are familiar with the evidences of prehistoric
    man found in and around the Caverns. T. Cal Miller.)


    [Illustration: Hunting]

    [Illustration: Early Man, Carlsba Baketmaker, Mescalero Apache,
    Comanche, Kiowa]




      *      *      *      *      *      *




Transcriber’s note:

—Corrected a few obvious typographical errors.

—Transcribed some text from illustrations, for the sake of the text
  versions.

—Added a Table of Contents based on headings in the text.