ANASAZI SUNSET

By Neil A. Calderwood

IT'S A STORY OF A FAMILY OF THE PUEBLOAN PEOPLE WHO BUILT AND LIVED IN THE DWELLINGS (KIVA) IN MESA VERDE AND OTHER AREAS IN THE REGION BEFORE COLUMBUS, THE SPANIARDS ETC CAME. THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER TRAVEL TO THE PALISADE (SEE HOVENWEEP) TO DELIVER SUPPLIES TO THE WARRIORS STATIONED THERE. THEY ARE ATTA

• Language: English
• Publisher: Urban Publishing Club
• Release date: Apr 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869330765

Book preview

ANASAZI SUNSET

Final_DraftLorraine CalderwoodLENOVO5411942023-10-19T15:23:00Z2024-02-26T23:27:00Z2024-03-14T18:54:00Z24744910255990Aspose213360030030015.0000dd9608ff4aaeefc71af572fb60b5b7bef935e6d299f4a9d945094f40ef774683

ANASAZI SUNSET

BY

NEIL A. CALDERWOOD

Forward

The places described here actually exist, although I have changed the names. Taya's village today is called Mesa Verde, in Colorado. The Palisade is called Hovenweep in SE Utah. (You can google them to get a better idea of the area.) The Kolorad River is of course The Colorado River (Before it gets to the Grand Canyon) Cedar Point (in the story is now called Dead Horse Point near Moab, Utah.) These locations don't match up this close to each other geographically in real life but are placed in the story to make it more relevant.

During my research for this project, I found that most archaeologists are in a quandary as to why these Cliff Dwelling people built and moved into these homes, and why they left suddenly without explanation. This work is fiction but offers a plausible explanation.

In the Navajo language the word Anasazi translates to Those who do things differently. The Hopi people are said to be the progeny of those same Puebloan peoples. They consider the phrase Anasazi as derogatory. I certainly mean no offense at using that term in the title.

About The Author

Neil A. Calderwood grew up in SE Idaho next to the Grand Teton Mountains. Raised on the family farm, he learned the skills, hardships, and victories associated with farm life. At 19 he moved to SLC, Utah to become a master auto repair technician. He married his wife Lorraine Aug/26/1877.

At age 49 he applied for a teaching license with the Utah State Board of Education and taught high school auto shop for many years. He coached youth soccer for nearly 30 years. He lives in Taylorsville, Utah with his wife Lorraine and enjoys his grandchildren and lifelong friends, neighbors, and extended family.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to my mother Elma Weeks Calderwood. She instilled in me a love for literature and storytelling. She was an avid reader and taught me most of what little I know about how to tell a story. I grew up at her knee while she read to me and my siblings.

Acknowledgment

I would like to acknowledge Lola Woolstenhulme, Tresha Beard, Trudi Kaufman, Joan Thompson Harris, Jalyn Wade, and of course my dear wife, Lorraine Calderwood for all the help in the advice, tips, editing, and support during the writing of this book.

The illustrations were contributed by my dear friend and neighbor of 45 years, Beth Ann Bock.

The Publishing was done by the Urban Publishing Club one of the best in the business.

Table of Contents

Forward

About The Author

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 1

Taya awoke with a start from the unusual noise outside her window. She quickly arose and peered out, searching for the source of the sound. Far below, she saw several of the people scurrying up from the canyon. They appeared to be in full panic, scrambling up the ladders to safety.

What's going on? she whispered to herself.

Finally, she recognized the alarm drum that was sounding. Her village had agreed upon this signal as an early warning of an impending attack.

She quickly dawned her tunic and ran out to secure the top of her family ladder so it would not topple as her family climbed up from below.

Mom! Dad! she shouted. The robbers are raiding again!

She was just in time as her little brother and her mother started up.

Be careful! she called to them.

We will! her mother replied.

No doubt her father would be defending the lower levels. He would come later by way of the rope designed for this very purpose.

She felt several emotions as she waited. Fear, sorrow, and anger were the foremost of these.

I hate those robbers! she thought. They've killed so many of our people.

These attacks were always stressful, eliciting fear that she or her family would be attacked. She felt sorrow because so many of the people she knew and loved had died at the hands of these attackers.

The anger was due because these attackers were all once part of the Puebloan people. Many of whom were from her village. She paced back and forth as she waited, feeling anxiety for the unknown.

I can't believe they've turned against us, she thought. They're our people.

As her brother and then her mother came off the ladder after ascending to their family’s level, Taya swung it up and secured it to the mooring with the straps provided. This removed any access from below. All the other families were swiftly doing the same, making it impossible to climb up. This was their security. No invaders could enter the village from below, or from above due to the massive overhang of rock.

Good work, Taya, her mother said. You're a brave girl.

Thanks, Mom, Taya replied.

Her father would give a prearranged signal when he wanted to climb up. Only then would Taya lower the rope so he could climb. She waited, pacing back and forth upon the rock shelf that served as a sort of patio in front of their dwelling.

I hope Dad's okay, she said.

Relief came by way of a huge breath as she realized they were safe within their house on the rock wall. Her father, however, was still in her thoughts. She felt concerned while waiting for him.

I'm sure he's fine, her mother said. He's a strong warrior."

The robbers were former tribesmen who had been seduced by their leader, Fuldi. The band would prey upon villages and pillage their food supplies, steal women, and murder nearly everyone else. They were a scourge, heaping terror upon everyone and everything. Fuldi promised his recruits an easy life of leisure. Surprisingly, many had joined his ranks.

I hate Fuldi, Taya said. He's a monster.

I know, her mother said. But we have to stay strong. We have to protect our village.

Numerous attempts have been made to remove this scourge by any and every means possible. Several communities of the people had joined together. Their best warriors hunted these robbers trying to obliterate them. So far, all their efforts had been to no avail. Their raiding parties would flee into the mountains or into the wilderness and disappear.

We have to do something, Taya said. We can't let them keep terrorizing our people.

I agree, her mother said. But what can we do? They're too powerful.

We have to find a way, Taya said. We can't give up.

Whenever one of them was caught they were brought before the elders and when it was proven that they were Fuldi’s robbers, they were banished or executed, depending on the seriousness of their crimes.

I hope they execute them all, Taya said. They deserve to die.

I know, her mother said. But we have to be careful. Fuldi is a dangerous man. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Taya was 15 years old and by all standards a woman. Most young women were already mothers at her age. She was tall and slender and considered by many to be the loveliest girl in the village. She had long dark-brown hair that glistened in the sun, quick, brown eyes that spoke of high intelligence. Her light-brown colored skin was without blemish, but she had a bit of a sharp tongue that some villagers said would be her undoing.

Taya, you're so beautiful, her mother said. You'll make a wonderful wife and mother someday.

I don't think I want to get married, Taya said. I just want to travel and hunt and catch fish.

I thought every young girl dreamed of being a bride? her mother asked. Don’t you want to have your own family one day?

Yes of course, Taya said. I just don’t think that way about any man.

You will, dear one, said her mother. The right one will come along. Then you will understand.

Having been taught from her earliest days the use of the bow and weapons by her father did not make her more desirable to young suitors. Her beautiful smile, when anyone saw it, could melt many a heart. She was for the most part uninterested in becoming a wife, let alone a mother. It was not as though she was opposed to young men, but she had simply not met one who interested her.

Nearly all the boys in her village scorned her because she had better skills with weapons than they did. She did not know whether they looked down on her, or if they were merely jealous. Either way, the result was the same.

Taya, you're too good for those boys, her mother said. You deserve someone who will appreciate you for who you are.

I know, Taya said. But I'm not interested in getting married right now. I just want to focus on having adventure.

Taya loved adventure. She was better at hunting wild game than most of the young men of her generation, and that did not sit well with the boys, nor their parents. No one liked being shown up by a mere girl, pretty or not. She was very intelligent, could read signs, and hunt as well as any man. Even though she was very strong she was still a young girl. She could defend herself through cunning and quick reactions. She was a flat-out master with a bow and arrow, which she used to assist her father in the hunt.

Though she was an expert at tracking wildlife and using terrain and camouflage, she owned all the skills for making a home and preparing food as well, but she sought every opportunity to be outside in the wild.

Taya, you're amazing, her mother said. I'm so proud of you.

Thanks, Mom, Taya said. I just wish the other villagers would see me for who I am, instead of just a girl.

After what seemed like a long time, Taya heard the prearranged signal from her father. She quickly moved to the coiled and secured rope and lowered it down to the next level. She felt the weight on it increase as he climbed upward to their house on the cliff. She was greeted with a bright smile as her father stepped onto the landing. Thank you, daughter, you are as diligent and wonderful as ever.

She was once again impressed with her father’s agility and strength. He was able to climb the rope hand over hand without any obvious struggle. Taya wondered how he was able to retain his strength when other men who were several years younger could not do so. Gratitude replaced her fear, but anger and resolve accompanied them as well.

Did the robbers catch any of us? asked Taya.

No, our scouts gave us ample warning again, said her father. Those boys sure do their jobs as lookouts. We are fortunate to have them. The adolescent boys of the village were tasked with sentry duty, and did so with glad hearts, happy at the opportunity to venture out of the canyon and the freedom it offered. They know that all our lives depend upon their keen eyes and ears.

Life would be so much easier if we could move back on top of the mesa, said Taya in frustration. Sometimes I wonder whose side Hastazha Oh Wan is on. It doesn’t seem like he is protecting us very often. My prayers go unanswered it seems.

Ahh, my daughter, what a great blessing prayer is. Of all his blessings, prayer is perhaps his greatest gift. Imagine, a wishing star that could grant you recovery from any illness, injury, or disease. Anything you need is but a prayer away. All your problems, desires, or needs are at your fingertips. All you need is prayer and a little faith. Oh, and some patience. What greater gift could he grant than this?

  Taya looked at him with no small degree of frustration on her face. Prayer hasn’t helped much with Fuldi’s robbers… She felt some degree of frustration that the Puebloan people could not seem to drive off the robbers. They were a constant source of danger and frustration.

Ahh, but it has… We are successful in surviving, are we not? We have lived in this canyon for ten generations. Even though we have been harried by past enemies and now by Fuldi’s rodents, have we not? Do you think The Giver of Peace has abandoned us? asked Ehab. You know as well as I that he has not. And do not forget that perhaps the most important part of the blessing of prayer is comfort. None of us needs to mourn for lost loved ones, nor for those who have ventured to join the robbers. We lie down to sleep at night with the belief that we will enjoy all our blessings tomorrow, as always.

We were forced to move into the cliffs and abandon the top of the mesa, or are not the stories of the elders, correct? asked Taya. She often became angry that the people of the village were forced to live in the cliff dwellings, rather than on the mesa top. Life would be much easier if they could return there. The frustrating part was that they could never defend themselves if they all moved back to the mesa.

Yes, dear one, we did, said Ehab. And with that, we have secured our families, our beliefs, and our freedoms. All our enemies have been frustrated in their desires to enslave our people. We were able to find water even within the caves here on the rock wall and carve out huge storage pits for it. We’ve stored food to last many days while under siege by our enemies. We found the secret fields in the Lost Canyon to grow our maize, melons, squash, and wheat. Yes, The Leader of the Twelve Holy People watches over us every day. You know this as well.

Taya understood her father and knew all too well that he was as wise as his forty-five years. She was always in wonder of him and all he had accomplished in his lifetime. Ehab was raised in the very same dwelling where they now lived, and had risen to become a skilled hunter, warrior, and village elder. He was chief among the people, as well as within their extended tribe. He was renowned as a young boy and promoted to chief of the scouts when he was a mere boy of 12 years. Then at age 17, he was noted as a top warrior, and soon after he was voted by the people as the village leader.

Ehab was tall and slender and full of muscle. His black hair was greying at the temples, and he had some worry wrinkles near his eyes, yet Taya knew he was considered a handsome man.

It’s time for our evening supper. Let us go and enjoy the fine meal that your mother has prepared for us. Please don’t burden her with these concerns. She has enough to worry over, said Ehab. With that, they both went into the living quarters to join Taya’s mother, Soha, and her younger brother, Ochoi.

After the meal was over and the cleanup was completed, Taya went outside on the ledge of her usual chair to watch the sun setting over the opposite canyon wall. She often came out to sit and watch the beautiful scene before her.

The sunsets played themselves out on the canyon opposite the one where the cliff houses were located. Since the surrounding area was desert, there was not much vegetation. Mostly cedar trees, mixed with sagebrush, and some patches of quaking aspen when there was water enough for them to live. In some places, there were pine trees, of which the Bristlecone was predominant.

All these species played themselves out on the canyon wall she was so fond of observing. Together with the setting sun, the red and gold gigantic rocks, the desert grama grasses and the trees made a beautiful panorama. Taya loved the changes in scenery as the summer sun raised its