jump at a victim, hence its other name, “jumping cactus.” Cholla spines penetrate deeply and are very painful to remove; remember—people who stay on the trail stay out of the way of the cholla. The noisy cactus wren somehow makes use of the teddybear as a nesting site, and the woodrat drags cholla joints home with which to barricade his burrow.

16 CEMENTED ROCK. This rock broke away from the cliff above and rolled here. The diagram explains the geology; broken, faulted Dripping Spring Formation rocks, here mostly quartzites, were overlain by a layer of limestone; water percolating through the limestone dissolved materials which then seeped down through the fragmented rocks and, drying, cemented the broken bits together, as in the boulder here.

Sketch of Geological Cross-section.
Showing: Mescal Limestone, Dripping Springs Quartzite, The Lower Ruin, Mudstone, “Cemented Rock”, Recent Talus

Overhanging roof of natural cave preserved the ruin.

17 FORMATION OF THE CAVE. Under the shattered quartzite was a layer of soft mudstone. Rain and seepage dissolved the mudstone, removing support below the quartzite, which then fell away from the cliff. Gradually this natural erosion enlarged the cave you see today. When the Salado came seeking a protected place to live they found a natural cave some 50 feet deep, 40 feet high, and 85 feet long, littered with all the building stone they needed.

18 BASEMENT ROOMS. Outside and below the cave were 3 or 4 “basement” rooms, probably houses identical to those in the cave and the Annex. The cave village itself contained about 20 rooms originally, the exact number uncertain because rooms toward the front of the dwelling have weathered away. With the Annex, basement rooms and cave village counted together, there were about 40 rooms (houses) in this immediate area. While population estimates are difficult to make with accuracy, probably between 40 and 60 people lived here long ago.

Fragmentary walls of the “basement” rooms.

19 THE ORIGINAL ENTRY. Above you is a V-shaped notch which was probably the only original entrance to the village. A ladder from the roof of a basement room led to the passage above, where projecting rocks are polished from long use as handholds and footrests. When the Indians wanted to close the village door, they simply pulled up the ladder.

The notch which was the original entry.

Salado children who scrambled in and out of this entryway knew the dangers of these loose rocky slopes, but our children are much less aware of the slope’s hazards. For your children’s safety, please keep them with you. Leaving the trail or running on it invites injury.

As you go up the modern stairs, note the retaining wall; it is probably closely similar to the original wall. The village once extended out as far as the retaining wall, rooms dividing what is now open space at the front of the cave, but the original rooms and wall have eroded away.