Water at 2000 feet? "Above a shelf which hid it from view from the river, was the mouth of the cave. There are steps leading from this entrance some thirty yards to what was, at the time the cavern was inhabited, the level of the river. G. E. Kincaid, "Arizona Gazette", April 5th, 1909 This statement by Kincaid creates yet another mystery to unravel. Kincaid had at this point climbed up approximately 2000 feet above the riverbed.He had for some reason, determined that the river level was.. at a certain historical point, up that high into the canyon walls and slopes. The Grand Canyon has had flooding at points in it's geological history. There was a period possibly eons ago when the volcanoes around the canyon had actually spewed enough running lava to dam the water flow through the canyon and creat in one instance, a flood up to the 2000 foot level which had created a natural lake backed all the way up to the site of present day Moab, Utah. That is quite some distance and the lake created would have been very large. You can read about one of these Volcanic Lava fields here: Uinkaret Volcanic Field, Western Grand Canyon, Arizona Lava cascades near Vulcan's Throne. View is to the northeast This event (according to conventional scientific thinking) occured eons ago in geological time. Certain creationist ideas however ascribe much more recent dates to the lava dams and the flooding. You can read these theories for yourself here Institute for Creation Research . I am not taking a side here on the issue of dating the dams or the resultant lakes and I am not promoting or criticizing any religous ideas. I am simply presenting evidence for natural flooding of the canyon with speculation on it's possible relevance to Kincaid's statement on "the level of the river". Was Kincaid aware of the geological "floods"?... or did the group of scientists in 1909 have other information on water levels in the canyon, that they had found from studying the "cave"? Also, how old is this "cave" the "installation" and it's apparent human habitation? It would stagger the imagination to speculate on it's habitation many eons ago in geologic time. There are unique and somewhat solitary controversial relics and objects found in various parts of the world in very old geological layers which appear human made and thus apparently point to a far greater age and origin in prehistory of the human race, an origin unnacepted by conventional scientific thinking. You can read about such finds and theories suggesting a greater antiquity of the human race at the web site: Michael Cremo and Forbidden Archeology Etc. (the web site is in no way affiliated with this web site) I provide the link strictly for reference. Was the flooding more recent as the creationists suggest? Was the cave inhabited in more recent geological times (yet ancient in "historical" terms) by Chinese Buddhists, Hindus, or Egyptians or another yet unknown group? ...or was this "cave" successively occupied in history by such groups including native Americans? If this were so, were these groups aware of the previous occupants? Some of the native American tribes of Arizona say that the cliff dwelling Anasazi (ancient ones) are an unknown people (to them) while other tribes claim the Anasazi as ancestors. The Hopi are known to trace their ancestory back to the Grand Canyon area, thousands of years! They also speak of their origins and the origin of the human race as coming out of the "underworld" in the Grand Canyon! It has been postulated that Chinese words exist in the Navajo (Dineh) language, and suggested there are words which even speak of "Buddha". Both the Hopi and the Navajo live near the site of this "cave". On the excellent web site "Grand Canyon Exlporer" there is a quote "The Havasupai (a western Grand Canyon tribe who still live in the canyon) know that the Grand Canyon is the origin of the human race, so it is a sacred area." In the original 1909 article it is stated: "Over a hundred feet from the entrance is the cross-hall, several hundred feet long, in which are found the idol, or image, of the people's god, sitting cross-legged, with a lotus flower or lily in each hand. The cast of the face is oriental, and the carving this cavern. The idol almost resembles Buddha, though the scientists are not certain as to what religious worship it represents. Taking into consideration everything found thus far, it is possible that this worship most resembles the ancient people of Tibet. Did the Chinese or other groups from across the seas make there way across the North American continent and build a fantastic "installation" settlement or place of worship, a temple perhaps, carved into the walls of the Grand Canyon of Arizona? These questions are all pieces of an enigmatic puzzle which I am trying to put together through research and the help of our team members. On an interesting side note: I have a copy of an obscure analysis (written near the same time as the 1909 story) of a very old Chinese manuscript which speaks of "The Great Luminous Canyon" (or "Ta-Ho") (translated in the article as "Grand Canyon") beyond the eastern sea (from China) a distance of 30,000 le (10,000 miles) (the distance to California) and then the canyon is placed in a land 10,000 le (some 3,000 miles) wide (North America). It also describes a voyage made by ancient Chinese through Grand Canyon of Arizona in a large ship. One of the things mentioned about the ancient visit is that there existed a "middle park" in the canyon, an area that was filled by a "bottomless lake". "Ta" - (great) "hoh" - ("a bed of a torrent, a deep gully or wady; a valley") . - Jack Andrews copyright 2001 may be only used in it's entirety with this notice clearly visible.