. The top of the continent; the story of a cheerful journey through our national parks. it out of my own imagination. Im not evensure that the Mancos children had dolls. True or not, said Mrs. Jefferson, you have madethis spot very real to my children, and I thank you. The Jeffersons had found the Mesa Verde so differentfrom the Rocky Mountain National Park that everyday was filled with delightful surprises. There wereno lofty mountains, no snow, no glaciers. Instead,they found a dry, fiat, warm country indented withpicturesque canyons and carpeted with asters and thinforests of small, apparen
. The top of the continent; the story of a cheerful journey through our national parks. it out of my own imagination. Im not evensure that the Mancos children had dolls. True or not, said Mrs. Jefferson, you have madethis spot very real to my children, and I thank you. The Jeffersons had found the Mesa Verde so differentfrom the Rocky Mountain National Park that everyday was filled with delightful surprises. There wereno lofty mountains, no snow, no glaciers. Instead,they found a dry, fiat, warm country indented withpicturesque canyons and carpeted with asters and thinforests of small, apparently stunted, pines. It wasstrangely and wonderfully beautiful. Once, as Uncle Tom told them, it was a flat plain,but the melting snows and heavy rains of centuriesof springtimes had washed most of the loose soil awayuntil there were left only occasional elevations a thou-sand or two feet in height. THE MYSTERY OF THE MESA 57 These elevations are called mesas, which is Spanishfor tables, because they are flat on top. Most of themare quite arid, but the mesa which is the national park. Photograph by George L. Beam Lookout Mountain, highest point in Mesa VerdeThe level of the country was once the level of the top of Lookout Mountain. The canyons and theplains beyond were washed away by thousands of years of spring floods is called the Mesa Verde because it has forests on it,Verde is Spanish for green. The canyons or valleys which the rains have washedin the sides of the Mesa Verde became the homes of 58 THE TOP OF THE CONTINENT Pueblo Indians many hundreds of years ago. Theybuilt these homes high up in cavities in the cliffs, hardto reach either from above or below. That is whythey were called Cliff Dwellers. There are many cliffdwellings in the southwestern part of the United States,but none so highly developed as those in the MesaVerde. That is why it was made a national park. But, Uncle Tom, said Jack after a minute ex-amination of the wonderful community dwelling knownas Cliff
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