South Rim Drive
 The
South Rim Drive is not a through
road but offers more dramatic vistas than the north road.
Seven miles along the drive is the White House
Trail trailhead. The only trail in the canyon that does not require a guide,
the White House Trail leads to ruins that date from about 1200 A.D. -- some
of the oldest in Canyon De Chelly National Monument.
The South Rim Drive ends at the canyon's most spectacular viewpoint, the Spider
Rocks Overlook. The twin 800 foot towers of rock isolated from the canyon walls
are a site of special significance for the Navajo. According to legend, the
Spider Woman, who taught the Navajo women to weave, lives on top and keeps the
bones of her victims there. Beyond the towers, the main canyon continues for
many miles.
North Rim Drive
The North Rim Drive offers
several impressive overlooks, including Massacre Cave Overlook. It was from
this vantage point that the Spanish soldiers may have fired upon the Navajos
during the infamous "massacre of 1803." Spanish accounts describe a battle against
Indians "... entrenched in an almost inaccessible point ..." and the killing
of 90 warriors and 25 women and children. The Navajo, however say many men were
away hunting at the time. Thus the dead were mostly women, children, and old
men who had sought refuge from the invaders.
The Navajo call the alcove Adah Aho' doo' nili - Two Fell Off - referring
to a brave Navajo woman who grappled with a soldier and tumbled to her death,
dragging the enemy with her. |
