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I shall ask in this recommendation for but $1,500 for repairs to the park roads, and If even this sum should be allowed annually I believe it would be possible to keep them, as outlined under the heading of "Roads" above, in fairly good shape.

In former annual reports the superintendent who lately had charge of the park recommended the drilling of two artesian wells as delineated under topic headed" Antelope and Buffalo Springs,' the wells to be sunk at locations of these springs. Col. Sneed emphasized the necessity for this in his special report to me when I assumed administration of the park, and placed his estimate of cost for this exploit at $2,500. I, therefore, recommend that this sum be requested of Congress for this purpose.

Col. Sneed advises that it has been his ambition for some years to get Congress to appropriate for a Government owned and operated bathhouse in the park, the esti mated cost of the building, including equipment, not to exceed $25,000. He advises that the supply of water for the bathhouse could be obtained by gravitation from the Hillside Spring, while the sewage could be emptied into the manhole of the flush tank on the south bank of Travertine Creek, which is a part of the siphon to Line B of the park sewer system and a distance of about 300 feet from the proposed bathhouse location. It was his desire to have this bathhouse located north of Hillside Spring and northwest from the Pavilion Springs. I repeat his recommendation.

I should like to have appropriated at least $1,000 for trimming out trees in the park, cutting weeds, and clearing out underbrush.

For my general maintenance fund, I believe I should be furnished with at least $1,000 and $1,000 for repairs to fences; and I suggest that about $750 be provided for my contingent fund.

The former superintendent has several times recommended the improvement of the Beach Springs (three in number), which are located just north of Coney Island Ford, but to this date nothing has been done along this line. He advises that the waters of these springs are preferred to any others by many of the visitors to the park and that they should consequently be improved, protected from the overflow of the high waters of Rock Creek, and a pavilion erected over them. The proposed improvements at these springs, as carefully studied out and delineated by him, consist of confining the three springs under one large inverted funnel, so as to make a combined flow of the three springs from one outlet, the funnel to be constructed of galvanized iron topped by a cement covering, the approximate measurement of the inclosure to be 600 feet. Surrounding the inclosure to the springs proper should be built a square inclosure to prevent overflow of these springs by the creek, this second inclosure to be about 6 feet high at the creek edge and bedded back into the hill, the depth of the side walls gradually decreasing as the hill rises, but the top of the wall remaining level with the wall along the creek edge, the approximate measurement of this entire wall being 540 square feet. On the bottom of the outer inclosure to be laid a cement floor, rising with the hill in a succession of 4-foot steps with 6-inch risers, the approximate surface of this floor measuring about 720 feet.

On the top of the outer inclosure to these springs it was Col. Sneed's plan to erect a pavilion supported by conglomerate rock columns, the size of the pavilion to measure 24 by 30 by 9 feet, finished with a pagoda roof with a small dog house on top. A flagpole or a large electric light could top the dog house. The total probable cost for this improvement would now amount to about $2.500, while Col. Sneed's first estimate for the entire job was $1,000. Lastly, I should recommend the regular appropriation of $4,840 for administration.

SUMMARY.

Briefly, I have asked in my recommendation for an appropriation for this park of $52,040, and I am frank to say that I believe if the Congress of the United States intends to appropriate for the upkeep of this attractive little park it should do so in sufficient amount to make it an ornament to the National Park Service and a credit to the big nation which is backing it and not allow it to grow up into a wilderness and the improvements now within it to fall into decay by default.

The waters of this park are uncommonly beneficial in the cure of diseases, and the park has proven a restful outing place to tired, overworked people, and a haven to the sick and nervous. It is almost always cool in the summer, few mosquitoes are found here, and it is probably the only place in this section of the country where people of moderate means may come for rest and recreation.

In this report I have been guided principally by the information given me by the former superintendent, since I have not been here a sufficient length of time to fully inform myself as to the conditions existing in the park, but I hope that next year Congress will not fail to properly provide for this small member of the big "National Park Service" family.

MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK.

THOMAS RICK NER, Superintendent, Mancos, Colo.

GENERAL STATEMENT.

The Mesa Verde National Park was established by the act of June 29, 1906 (34 Stat., 616). It is situated in the extreme southwestern portion of Colorado, in Montezuma County, and originally embraced an area of 66.2 square miles, or 42,376 acres, but by the act of Congress approved June 30, 1913, the boundaries of the park were so changed as to include an aggregate area of 76.51 square miles, or 48.966.4 acres. This

Mesa Verde is a high table-land dividing the Mancos and Montezuma valleys. mesa is elevated above the valleys some 2,000 feet, and rises abruptly from their floors, with precipitous sides like the walls of a canyon. The northern extremity of this great mesa terminates in Point Lookout, which juts out between the two valleys, a landmark for miles in all directions.

The surface of this mesa is broken by innumerable canyons, which start from the very edge of the mesa on the northern and western sides and, growing deeper and more rugged as they descend, finally open out into the Mancos Canyon. These canyons have many great caverns in their side walls, with overhanging rock for roofs, and in the caverns are found the ruins of the cliff dwellers.

CUSTODIANSHIP.

The custody of the park is delegated by the director of the National Park Service to a superintendent, whose office is maintained at Mancos, Colo., the nearest railroad point to the park. The superintendent is assisted by a limited number of rangers, whose duty it is to act as guides through the ruins and to police the park. The best of order has been maintained, and no violations of the rules and regulations have been reported.

TRAVEL.

The number visiting the park during the season of 1919 will be a little larger than that for 1918, and this number will be greatly increased when good roads from both the north and west have been made. When a number of short distances have been covered by automobile roads, Mesa Verde will be on one of the continental highways, and very few will pass over this road without calling for a few days at the Mesa Verde Park. More and more each year the tourist is coming in by automobile, and few horsedrawn vehicles make the trip. Two thousand two hundred and eighty-seven tourists registered during the season of 1919.

The number of private cars going into the park up to and including October 12 has been 436 and they have come from 20 different States.

CONCESSIONS.

Only one ne concession for a hotel in the park has been granted, and this has been found to be ample for the accommodation of all visitors.

Two concessions have been granted to transportation companies to carry passengers into the park. One concessioner, The Mesa Verde Transportation Co., handles all tourists coming by rail, as well as all local people, and the other, The Merrick-Timberline Tours Co., carries passengers only from Denver and Colorado Springs,

One grazing permit has been granted for the grazing of cattle on all lands remote from the ruins and roads. The cattle are kept in the park in the early spring and the late fall, leaving the park with only a few head of stock during the months of tourist travel.

SPRUCE TREE CAMP.

Spruce Tree Camp is located on the west side of Spruce Canyon, a branch of Navajo Canyon, and commands a fine view of Spruce Tree House, one of the most interesting ruins in the park. The camp is 32 miles from Mancos, and near the more important ruins. The camp consists of a hotel building in which are the dining and service rooms. A picturesque log building, on the verge of the canyon, contains the museum, which is fitted with massive cases for the curios, a large rest room with stone fireplace, and a broad piazza overlooking the canyon and the ruin, Spruce Tree House. Rows of wellfurnished, floored tents, placed on terraces one above another, furnish the sleeping apartments. A large automobile shed gives shelter to the cars. The ranger station is a pretty cottage on rising ground above the camp, and a stone tower contains the water tank from which the camp is supplied with water. Spruce Spring, under the cliff in the canyon, furnishes a supply of fine water, and is pumped to the water tower above the camp. An electric-light plant located at the hotel furnishes the light and adds much to the comfort of the camp.

The museum contains many objects of interest, all of which have been collected from the ruins in the park. There are mummies, pottery of various kinds, implements, sandals, and a rare collection of beads. These last are the most wonderful specimens of the handiwork of these ancient people yet discovered. How they were shaped and perforated is one of the mysteries hard to solve If labor represented in those days any value, these beads must have meant riches to the owner.

RUINS.

Among the best-known ruins and those easiest of access are Spruce Tree House, in Spruce Canyon, directly across from the camp; Cliff Palace, in Cliff Canyon, 21 miles from camp; Balcony House, in Soda Canyon, mile beyond Cliff Palace; Sun Temple, on the mesa between Cliff and Fewkes Canyons, 23 miles from camp; Oaktree House and Painted House in Fewkes Canyon, under Sun Temple Square Tower House, in Navajo Canyon, 3 miles from camp; and Far View House, on Chapin Mesa, only a few rods from the road that leads into the park, and near Mummy Lake, which is supposed to have been an artificial reservoir for the storage of water. Spring House and the natural bridge are reached by trail, about five miles from camp, in Long Canyon. Many tourists make the hike to this interesting point, and many more would go if it could be reached by automobile.

The Rock Spring section has a large number of interesting ruins of various types, some of them very extensive, and when this portion of the park is penetrated by a good road, it will be a valuable addition to the pleasure of a sojourn here.

Cliff Palace, Spruce Tree House, Balcony House, Painted House, Oaktree House, Sun Temple, and Far View House have all been restored, and all parts of them are accessible to the tourist. In the restoration of these buildings no attempt has been made to restore them to their original appearance by constructing the fallen parts. They have simply been cleaned of all fallen stone and rubbish and the unsafe walls strengthened. Nothing new or modern has been supplied and the buildings stand in their ruined condition, only so cleaned out that the visitor can walk about them and in his own mind reconstruct them as his fancy dictates.

Square Tower House, in Navajo Canyon, is now being restored by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes. This ruin has always been of interest to visitors from its individuality so different from other ruins in this section. It takes its name from a five-story tower, the lower story of which is covered by the fallen stone and the rubbish. The tower was fast falling into hopeless decay, but will be repaired where absolutely needed and held to the wall of the cliff by iron bands, making it perfectly safe and saving it from further destruction. In this ruin were found the only kivas with the original covers or roofs intact. Some destruction to these roofs was done in early days by pothunters, but they can be repaired and will show the work of the builders. In a niche in the wall, above and commanding the ruin, is a small fort with loopholes pointing downward, where two men could, with the primitive weapons of that time, hold out against any number.