Aztec Ruins Administrative History

Earl Morris's involvement with work at Aztec Ruins came obliquely through an association with some amateur archeologists from St. Louis. One was John Max Wulfing, importer and wholesale grocer, who bought a pottery collection from Morris gathered from the La Plata district north of Farmington. That stimulated Wulfing to join with David L. Bushnell, owner of a seed store, and George S. Mephan, operator of a chemical dye plant, in bringing some guests west to Aztec for an archeological holiday during the summer of 1915. The party stayed in a local hotel so as not to inconvenience the ladies with tenting. Morris arranged with an Animas valley settler for the exploration of a 39-room pueblo on his land located about three-eighths of a mile northeast of Aztec Ruins. There the neophyte archeologists were instructed in the fine art of digging. Morris cleared the site prior to their arrival so that the "riches" could be exhumed with little physical exertion. Among tangible rewards for the Middle Westerners to take home were 40 complete pottery vessels. Some were burial offerings placed next to the dead beneath house floors. Morris apologized that the artifact returns were limited because the site had been probed earlier by others. [5] Even so, the enthusiasm of the visitors convinced him that they might support more serious excavations in the area.

Earlier that summer, a stroke of luck put Morris under the guidance of Nels C. Nelson. Nelson was an internationally recognized scholar on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His career previously centered on European prehistory and the use of stratigraphic analyses to determine relative chronological positions of cultures as they evolved over long periods of time. In 1915, Nelson hoped through work in New Mexico to demonstrate the value of such methods in studying the briefer American prehistory. A personal relationship between the director of the museum at the University of Colorado and the curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History led to selection of Morris to be his field assistant.

A second lucky happenstance was that in 1915 Nelson was asked to locate a suitable classic Pueblo site to be excavated by the American Museum of Natural History under the patronage of Archer M. Huntington. Huntington, heir to the Southern Pacific Railroad fortune, was a generous contributor to the museum's research in the Southwest. Upon learning of this, Morris seized his golden opportunity. He persuaded Nelson to come to Aztec Ruins at the end of the digging season to see for himself the possibilities they afforded. "By coming to my camp," he wrote Nelson, "you would have the opportunity to examine the great pueblos and to familiarize yourself with the culture of this immediate vicinity more easily and more satisfactorily than would be possible if you were to make only a brief stop at Aztec." [6] The museum already had an enviable Anasazi collection from Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon as a result of the Hyde Exploring Expedition during the late nineteenth century. The observable architectural and ceramic remains at Aztec Ruins appeared to be another manifestation of that Chaco culture. They would help further elucidate the prehistory of the eastern San Juan Basin. Nelson was sufficiently impressed with what he saw of the size and relative lack of vandalism that he assured Morris he would recommend prompt excavation of the Aztec Ruins.

Discouraged over following months of no word from the American Museum, in February, 1916, Morris contacted Wulfing. He suggested that the Missouri Historical Society, of which Wulfing and his friends were members, sponsor excavation of Aztec Ruins. Morris estimated that the job of clearing what he believed to be the largest of the mounds could be done for $7,500. As a lure, he called Wulfing's attention to the 7,000 pieces of turquoise and large numbers of earthenware pots recovered at Pueblo Bonito by the Hyde Expedition. To further press his case, and to play on the current desire on the part of professionals and public alike to amass objects, Morris persuasively wrote Wulfing, "I do not hesitate to say that the excavation of the Aztec Ruins would yield a larger and better collection than has ever been taken from one site in the Southwest." [7]

Meanwhile, to prepare for the possible acceptance of his proposal, Morris approached landowner Abrams. He explained, "I am drafting plans to put before the St. Louis people for the excavation of the largest ruin, and I wish to ask if you would grant them the right to excavate upon the terms which were extended to the Phillips Academy [the Moorehead party of 1892]. If the plans are received with any favor at all, I shall go to St. Louis to endeavor to clinch the deal." [8]

At the time these negotiations were going on, an agent of the American Museum was in Aztec to confer with Abrams about an excavation concession. Abrams, however, had no knowledge of the museum. Immediately he got in touch with Morris, the only trained archeologist he knew, to find out if the American Museum were a reputable institution. [9] Indeed it was, Morris replied. At the same time, Morris made subtle inquiries of Abrams regarding his own possible future role in the project. [10] He yearned for the assignment but did not want to appear too eager.

Within the next six weeks, the enduring identification of Morris with Aztec Ruins was assured. In April, Abrams granted the American Museum permission to proceed with its proposed endeavor. Meantime, the Missouri Historical Society withdrew from the picture. The American Museum hired Morris to serve as its field supervisor at a salary of $100 a month and expenses. Abrams directly notified Morris of his decision to allow work to go forward and, as a good father looking out for his children, added, "...the boys [of which there were three] may want to do some of this." [11]

The president of the University of Colorado knew Morris as a museum assistant at that institution and gave him a glowing recommendation. He remarked to Clark Wissler, curator of anthropology at the American Museum and administrator of the Southwestern archeological programs, "I told Morris before he left for the field that I felt you were offering him a very great opportunity to show what he is worth, and I know he intends, if the arrangement is consummated, to throw himself into the work with all the vigor he has. The more I see of the quality of the man the more favorably I am impressed." [12]

At last, Morris's childhood dream seemed about to materialize. Enthusiastically, within days he sent the museum estimates of costs to include a modern photographic kit and a plan of operation. Graciously he said, "To excavate the `Aztec Ruins' is a dream which has endured from my boyhood, and I wish to express my appreciation of the fact that you see fit to give me a part in it." [13]

Prior to beginning the Aztec work, Morris met Nelson at Chaco Canyon. The 65 miles from Aztec was then a six-day wagon trek or three days by automobile. Together, the men fruitlessly trenched what they regarded as a great trash heap at the southern front of Pueblo Bonito in hopes of finding stratified deposits and, in the process, expended one-third of the year's appropriation for Aztec.

Back on the Animas in late July, Morris and Nelson immediately initiated work there by hiring a crew. An early frost had ruined the season's fruit crop, making the $2.00-per-day wages attractive to a number of local farmers. [14] A consequence of their employment was that excavation of the ruins was viewed as a community effort. Like Morris, most of the crew at one time or another had prowled the regional sites. They were familiar with the constructions and the general range of imperishable artifacts to be expected from them. Moreover, the men had a proprietary curiosity about this greatest monumental pile that long had been a fixture on their horizon. Under Morris's tutelage, many became first-class, reliable diggers who continued to work for him in Aztec and elsewhere. They, in return, taught Morris a number of handy man skills.