The original article published in the "Arizona Gazette" in 1909 said the following about the "hieroglyphics":

"On all the urns, or walls over doorways, and tablets of stone which were found by the image are the mysterious hieroglyphics, the key to which the Smithsonian Institute hopes yet to discover. These writings resemble those on the rocks about this valley. The engraving on the tablets probably has something to do with the religion of the people. Similar hieroglyphics have been found in the peninsula of Yucatan, but these are not the same as those found in the Orient. Some believe these cave dwellers built the old canals in the Salt River Valley. Among the pictorial writings, only two animals are found. One is of prehistoric type."

The version of the 1909 article circulating on the Internet, in almost all cases, says the following about the "hieroglyphics":

"On all the urns, or walls over doorways, and tablets of stone which were found by the image are the mysterious hieroglyphics, the key to which the Smithsonian Institute hopes yet to discover. The engraving on the tables probably has something to do with the religion of the people. Similar hieroglyphics have been found in southern Arizona. Among the pictorial writings, only two animals are found. One is of prehistoric type. "

I have often wondered why the original article has been modified.I have heard speculation on a conspiracy cover-up theory on this cave story (the apparent "death" of the story and subsequent information on it, after the 1909 article), and it has been suggested that the modification relating to the hieroglyphics found in the Yucatan might indicate a deliberate attempt to delete a reference to 1909 archaeological studies in the Yucatan which may have yielded information that verifies the reality of the Grand Canyon story. Iin order to verify such a deliberate attempt at deletion of the Yucatan reference, it would be necessary to find and question the person or people who deleted the reference.

As to the reference about the "cave dwellers" who "built the old canals in the Salt River Valley", I have as yet to come up with a reason for this reference being deleted. There are, however, what appear to be canals (or unusual regularly spaced lines), near the actual site of this cave, up on the rim. These canals can only be seen looking at IR (Infra Red) satallite imagery of the area and they were found quite by accident by a team member. Maybe the reference to ancient canals in the Phoenix "Valley of the Sun" area is linked somehow to these rim "canals". It may be the very reason in 1909 that speculation was made about canal building. It might be possible that the apparent canals seen at the rim above the site were more visible in 1909, before nearly 100 years of wind and rain and runoff had hidden them from easy view today. If you go back to the 1909 story and links by closing this window, you will see a link to the "canals" as: "Some believe these cave dwellers built the old canals in the Salt River Valley." There I discuss, my opinion on the "canals" with reference to USGS images . - Jack Andrews copyright 2001 may be only used in it's entirety with this notice clearly visible.