. Some strange corners of our country; the wonderland of the Southwest . fromMontezumas Well to Camp Verde, but off thewinding road, is another curiosity, only lessimportant, known as ^^Montezumas is the best remaining specimen of what wemay call the cave-puebloâthat is, a Pueblo Indian com-munity-house and fortress, built in a natural cave. Theoft-pictured ruins in the Mancos canon are insignificant beside it. Here the tiny vaUey of Beaver Creek is very long slope from the south bank lets us look far up to-ward the black rim of the Mogollones, and across the smil-ing
. Some strange corners of our country; the wonderland of the Southwest . fromMontezumas Well to Camp Verde, but off thewinding road, is another curiosity, only lessimportant, known as ^^Montezumas is the best remaining specimen of what wemay call the cave-puebloâthat is, a Pueblo Indian com-munity-house and fortress, built in a natural cave. Theoft-pictured ruins in the Mancos canon are insignificant beside it. Here the tiny vaUey of Beaver Creek is very long slope from the south bank lets us look far up to-ward the black rim of the Mogollones, and across the smil-ing Verde VaUey to the fine range beyond. On the northbank towers a noble limestone cliff, two hundred feet high,beautifully white and beautifully eroded. In its perpendicu-lar front, half-way up, is a huge, circular natural cavity, verymuch like a/giant basin tilted on edge; and therein standsthe noble .;pile of Montezumas Castle. A castle it trulylooks, as you may see from the illustrationâand a muchfiner iiiin than many that people rush abroad to see, along . Jt***. <Jb **»/-^- t. * â -^^22:0, §^V^iJe /â¢: Montezumas castle, seen from beaver creek. THE NEW YORKPUBLIC LIBRARY A8T0R, LENOX ANDTILDEN FOUNDATIONS. MONTEZUMAS CASTLE. 137 the historic Rhine. The form of the successive limestoneledges upon which it is built led the aboriginal builders togive it a shape unique among its kind. It is one of the most pretentious of the Pueblo ruins, as itis the most imposing, though there are many hundreds thatare larger. From the clear, still stream, hemmed in by giant sycamoresthat have doubtless grown only since that strange, giay ruinwas deserted, the foot of the cliff is some three hundred feetaway. The lowest foundation of the castle is over eighty feetabove the creek j and from corner-stone to crest the buildingtowers fifty feet. It is five stories tall, over sixty feet frontin its widest part, and built in the form of a crescent. Itcontains twenty-five rooms of masoni
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectsouthwestnewdescript
