All is quiet
and still. The change is startling m its suddenness. The wind may be
blowing far above you, and if you listen, you will hear its effect in the
trees, but here, where you stand, you are protected and sheltered.
Diversity of Color. Perhaps the greatest difference between the rim and the
interior of the Canyon is found in the diversity in color and feature
between them. While there is a fascination to the long, wide stretches of
plateau on the rim, and the forest has its attractive points, there are not
many prominent features (looking away from the Canyon) that would occupy
the attention of travellers. There is little striking in color, in scenery,
in rocky contour. Plains, trees, sky, clouds, sunset, - and nearly all is
said. But immediately one stands on the rim and looks below, all is
changed. Here is feature after feature that compels not only attention but
reverent homage. Color such as is seen nowhere else in the world on such a
grand scale; massive walls that have no counterpart; rock forms that dazzle
and bewilder; and an unfoldment of the stone book of creation that is alike
a joy and a pain, a delight and a sorrow, a something seen at a glance, and
that requires a lifetime to comprehend.
CHAPTER XV. The Hopi House
The Harvey Collection at El Tovar. In the Hopi House, opposite the El Tovar
entrance, is installed one of the most interesting Indian collections of
the world, - a collection that would grace the National Museum of Great
Britain, France or Germany. The more intelligent the visitor to the Grand
Canyon, the more he will find he can learn in this wonderful storehouse
provided for his instruction and recreation.
The Hopi House. The building itself is a perfect model of a block in the
village of Oraibi, one of the seven Hopi pueblos. It is three stories high,
and contains many rooms. The original is supposed to accommodate forty-five
families. It is built of the chips of sandstone and other rock in
accordance with Hopi custom, rudely and irregularly laid in mortar. It is
of the terraced style of architecture, each story receding from the one
below it, so that the "second story front" finds a ready courtyard on the
roof of the "first story front," and the "third story front" on that of
the "second story front."
Houses that were Forts. In the old houses, found when the white man first
visited the pueblos, there was no means of entrance to the first stories
save by means of the ladders which stood outside against the walls, and
thence through hatchways made in the roofs. This was for the purpose of
defence against hostile tribes, who were constantly warring with these
home-loving Indians in order that they might steal from them the fruits of
their persistent labor and thrift.
