In the Land of Cave and Cliff Dwellers — Edition Insights

A Two-Part Journey: From Ruins to Living Dwellers

The book is organized into six chapters that trace a clear geographic arc: from northwestern Chihuahua and the ruins of Casas Grandes (which Schwatka calls a 'Toltec Babylon') through Sonora and central Chihuahua, then into the Sierra Madre where the living cave and cliff dwellers are found. The first half of the text deals largely with ruins, Mormon colonies, and mining towns; the second half shifts to the Tarahumara Indians, both the 'civilized' agriculturalists and the 'savage' cave dwellers who 'fly from all white people like so many quails.' This movement from archaeological remains to contemporary inhabitants gives the narrative a layered quality, as Schwatka repeatedly compares the old cliff dwellings of the north (Arizona, Colorado) with the less perfect ones he encounters in the Sierra Madre, suggesting a possible migration of peoples driven south by Apache aggression.

Recurring Images: Caves, Cliffs, and Vertical Landscapes

Throughout the excerpts, the landscape is described in terms of verticality: cliffs, caves, barrancas (canyons), and falls. The title itself foregrounds the cave and cliff dwellers, and the text returns again and again to the physical settings of these habitations—'in the heart of the Sierra Madre range,' 'down the Urique Barranca—from pine to palm.' Schwatka notes that the wild Tarahumaris live in caves or cliffs, wear only rawhide sandals, and worship the sun while hoping for Montezuma's return. The vertical geography is not merely scenic; it structures the human geography, with the most isolated groups occupying the most inaccessible cliffs. The repeated mention of the 1,239-foot Becorachic Falls (in the frontispiece) reinforces this sense of a landscape defined by dramatic drops and hidden recesses.

Movement Between Scenes: Mule Trains and Shifting Perspectives

Schwatka's narrative moves by mule-back and rail, and the text reflects this constant motion. Chapter headings track progress: 'From Deming, N. M., to Casas Grandes,' 'Along the Sonora Railway,' 'On Mule-back Westward from Carichic,' 'Down the Urique Barranca.' The prose itself shifts between broad geographic description and close-up ethnographic detail, often within the same paragraph. For instance, a discussion of Apache migrations and archaeological theory gives way to a specific observation about Tarahumari legal autonomy—their ability to 'conduct all administration of justice... wholly by officers of their own selection.' This rapid switching between scales (from continental movements to local customs) mirrors the traveler's own experience of moving through varied terrains and encountering different modes of life.

Speculative Archaeology and the Question of Continuity

Schwatka engages in explicit archaeological reasoning, comparing the cliff dwellings of the U.S. Southwest with those of the Tarahumaris. He notes that the southern dwellings are 'in general less perfect' than those in Arizona or the Mancos Canyon, and he hypothesizes that a defeated people, driven into a new territory, will reproduce their material culture in a cruder form. He also speculates on the relationship between the 'dead and departed northern cliff dwellers' and the living Tarahumaris, suggesting that the Apaches may have driven the northern cliff dwellers southward, where they merged with or overwhelmed the southern population. These inferences are clearly labeled as probabilities ('it seems not unlikely,' 'it is still more probable'), and Schwatka explicitly calls for a scientist to devote 'a few years to their thorough study,' as Catlin did with the Sioux or Cushing with the Zunis. The reader is left with a vivid sense of unresolved questions about migration, cultural continuity, and the effects of warfare on material culture.

Schwatka's account is best approached as a document of its time—a late-nineteenth-century explorer's narrative that blends travelogue, amateur ethnography, and archaeological speculation. Readers interested in the Tarahumara (Rarámuri) people will find early descriptions of their cave dwellings, social organization, and resistance to Mexican authority, though these observations are filtered through Schwatka's own cultural assumptions. The book's strength lies in its concrete details of landscape and material culture, not in its theoretical conclusions. Pay attention to the way Schwatka moves between ruin and living community, and note where he distinguishes between what he has seen and what he infers.

I’ve often set Schwatka’s cave dwellers beside the more restless journeys of early wanderers, and there’s a quiet kinship there—both are records of people moving through a land that refuses to be tamed. Schwatka’s Tarahumara seem almost rooted in their cliffs, while Buttrick’s voyages, 1812-1819; Evans's Pedestrious tour, 1818 — Background and Themes recalls footsteps not yet settled. Buttrick's voyages, 1812-1819; Evans's Pedestrious tour, 1818 — Background and Themes lingers like an echo of that same old ache for elsewhere.