Departure of the Cliff Dwellers

By Paul W. Richard

This is a forested green mesa in southwest Colorado, and the year 1298, a time of great stress for these Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi). In this beautiful setting, young kids, Uco and Ela, are involved in the struggle of staying or leaving their ancestral home. By accident they obtain amulets of mystery leading to adventure filled efforts in helping The People as they are uprooted and seeking a new home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Dec 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781490779621

Paul W. Richard

Paul W. Richard grew up loving Colorado mountain rivers and outdoor ranch life leading him to an eventual professorship in biological science at the University of Northern Colorado. He happily taught junior high, high school, and university students for thirty years. He also conducted science research in both the Arctic and Antarctica on scientific polar expeditions. As a retired professor emeritus of biological science, he lives and writes in Greeley, Colorado.

Book preview

Copyright 2016 Paul W. Richard.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-7961-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-7960-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-7962-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016920698

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Trafford rev.   12/12/2016

33164.png     www.trafford.com

North America & international

toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

fax: [phone]

Contents

Chapter 1    Raid

Chapter 2    Aftermath

Chapter 3    Chase

Chapter 4    Prophesy

Chapter 5    Water

Chapter 6    Harvest

Chapter 7    Ceremony

Chapter 8    Scouting

Chapter 9    Decision

Chapter 10    Departure

Chapter 11    Spirits

IMAGES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

BOOK FRONT COLORED COVER………………………. TRYING TO HERD TURKEYS

ENDORSEMENTS

If you have ever wondered about what happened to the Anasazi people of Mesa Verde, wonder no more. This beautiful tale gives a clear picture of the ancients who lived in and then abandoned those places. As you read this, you will come to feel the reality of what life must have been like for those cliff-dwelling people.

– Helen Williams, publisher of Walden Press and author of Sing to Me in Spanish

From the exciting beginning through the challenges faced by two children from the Ancestral Pueblo people to the solving of a mystery, Departure of the Cliff Dwellers thrills and informs. Paul Richard has created an engaging story of how a brave sister and brother survive war, hunger, and their own vulnerabilities to help save not only themselves but also their entire community. This story combines engaging young characters, high action, and a mystery to imagine what might have happened to these resilient people. Uco and Ela must use all their strength and courage to face the challenges, both natural and human, that threaten their very existence.

– Dr. Joyce Lackie, English professor and author of I Don’t Cry, But I Remember

This exciting coming-of-age story of a brother and sister is informed by a deep understanding and keen awareness of Anasazi life.

– Dr. Marshall S. Clough, history professor in UNC and author of Mau Mau: History, Memory, and Politics

Departure of the Cliff Dwellers provides an engaging adventure, a realistic portrayal of the challenges facing Native Americans in the Southwest a thousand years ago, and a sympathetic examination of a unique ancient culture.

– Dr. Charles Olmsted, professor of environmental studies, University of Northern Colorado

They struggle to survive and preserve their parents, community, and culture in a now well-documented period of deadly drought, attacks by nomads, and starvation. Young adults (and older adults as well) will find this book a dynamic, rich introduction to a distant time in human history that is both alien and startlingly familiar to our lives today. Their struggles closely reflect what we know of that time and the travails of modern Pueblo people’s ancestors.

– Dr. Bob Brunswig, archaeology professor University of Northern Colorado

The descriptive landscape, character development, depiction of cultural traditions, dwellings, possessions, and life in the cliffs and on the mesas make this a historical narrative and an educational tool. This enchanting story is a great class read-aloud and a personal silent read.

– Cathy Olmsted, reading teacher in Greeley Public Schools in Colorado.

BOOKS BY PAUL W. RICHARD:

Exploring the Galapagos Islands

Colorado’s North Park, History, Wildlife, and Ranching

Growing up Wild: A Mountain Ranch Childhood

Smokey: A Dog of My Own

Let us pause and remember these ancient Native Americans who lived long before us and had lives so different from ours. These people surely had deep, loving feelings about their lives, families, and homes as we people do today.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am most grateful to the National Park Service at Mesa Verde for arranging my long-ago visit to the wonderful Mug House Cliff Dwelling, which ignited my thinking for this book. Artist David Hartman also researched, planned, and had young kids model as characters for this book, using his great painting talents in bringing about an ancient view of these long-ago mystery people. I thank him for his stunning work and immense talents.

All the following read and reviewed my story and gave advice, suggestions, and help where I was off base in potential accuracy: Doctors Marshall Clough, Julia Richard, Bob Brunswig, Joyce Lackie, and Charles Olmsted. Other helpful reviewers were Helen Williams, Becky Brunswig, Cathy Olmsted, Robert King, and Emily Richard.

I am honored by the detailed editing done so wonderfully accurate by Jhelene Shaw, Julia Richard, and Marshall Clough, who kept me on a correct path.

CHAPTER 1

RAID

A harsh ear-splitting cry of Raiders, Raiders echoed across a peaceful cliff-dwelling village.

That warning stabbed Uco with terror as he raced with his sister, Ela, to pull up the heavy, rough wooden ladder, the only exit and entry from their second-story stone home to the next level of houses below.

Uco and Ela each grabbed a side of the ladder and, hand over hand, pulled it up as their father had taught them. But the ladder suddenly stopped. Peering over the edge, they saw a huge feathered man with a twisted, white-and-green painted face holding a stone axe in one hand and the end of their ladder with the other.

Pull, Ela! cried Uco. We can’t let him up here! Uco knew the man spelled death or slavery for them both, and he pulled with all his might. But two children could not match the raider’s strength. Slowly, he overpowered them and lowered the ladder, although he had to drop his axe and use both hands to do it.

Ela, grab the metate and strike him when he starts up! yelled Uco as he released the ladder and sought the mano stone. Ela’s metate grinding stone struck the man’s shoulder and caused him to lurch to one side of the ladder. Yet he hung on, though he screamed, apparently for help. Then Uco hurled the smaller mano stone downward with all his might. It struck the man above his right ear, knocking him from the crude ladder onto the stone floor below.

Get the ladder up! Uco yelled. They began to raise the ladder again while the man sprawled still on the ground below. When the ladder was over halfway up, another raider suddenly appeared and grabbed for it but missed. He jumped and touched it but couldn’t hold on. Though he screamed and shook a bloody war club at them, they pulled the ladder over the edge and dropped it on their balcony. The face of the man below was half black and half red; he was naked from the waist up, except for a quiver of arrows and a bow slung across his back. Ela saw black and yellow stripes painted across his legs and body. He had two feathers in his greasy black hair and blood on one hand. He was now bent over the other man.

He jumped to a stiff upright position, releasing a blood-chilling yell louder than any other coming from across the noisy village. He strung his bow quickly and notched an arrow. Uco and Ela scuttled back from the balcony edge before he could release the stone-tipped shaft.

Into the house, ordered Uco, wishing his parents weren’t away this day.

What will we do if they try to get in?

If they try, I’ll crouch on the ledge above the door and strike them with the woodcutting axe. It’s what Father always said to do. You stay behind the large water pots, watch, and raise your hand high if one enters.

Uco watched Ela nod and hide in the darkened corner behind three moist water storage pots. He knew his lame little sister could see the small lighted rectangular door framed by rocks, and the juniper trees across the deep valley.

He was sick to his stomach as he crouched above the door on a tiny ledge, holding the family’s long-handled stone axe. It was nearly half his height. Its tapered head was always kept sharp by their father’s chipping and flaking its black face.

I’m so afraid, Uco. Will they kill us?

"If they get past me, they might. That’s why you must give me the hand signal if