Cosmos Mindeleff (1863–1938) started his career as assistant to his brother Victor Mindeleff, who was employed by the

Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Departme ...

to conduct studies of

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

architecture in the 1880s. In 1882, James Stevenson and the Mindeleffs visited

Canyon de Chelly Canyon de Chelly National Monument ( ) was established on April 1, 1931, as a unit of the National Park Service. Located in northeastern Arizona, it is within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lies in the Four Corners region. Reflecting ...

and Canyon del Muerto. In later years, Victor and Cosmos Mindeleff continued their research in Canyon de Chelly and Cosmos published the first authoritative archeological map of White House Ruins in 1893.

Career in archaeology and ethnology

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

hired Cosmos and his brother Victor in 1881, when Powell was the director of the

in Washington, D.C., to come west for the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

and survey the great pueblos of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. After years of field-work, the Mindeleffs' field-party returned in 1888 to Washington, D.C., with their scientific findings, including many valuable archaeological artifacts. In 1890, Victor left the Smithsonian to pursue a career in architecture. In 1891, Cosmos came to Arizona to complete the stabilization of the

Casa Grande Casa Grande ( O'odham: ''Wainom Wo:g'') is a city in Pinal County, approximately halfway between Phoenix and Tucson, in the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city was 55,653. It is named after the Casa ...

ruins until there was a shortage of money and the work was stopped. Cosmos left Casa Grande and began to research the extensive ruins found along the

Verde River The Verde River ( Yavapai: Haka'he:la) is a major tributary of the Salt River in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is about long and carries a mean flow of at its mouth. It is one of the largest perennial streams in Arizona. Description The ri ...

instead. Accompanied by his wife Marion, Cosmos surveyed the river from its confluence with the Salt River, north to the

Verde Valley The Verde Valley (; ) is a valley in central Arizona in the United States. The Verde River runs through it. The Verde River is one of Arizona's last free-flowing river systems. It provides crucial habitat for fish and wildlife, fresh water fo ...

and its confluence with Beaver Creek. By the time he finished, he had catalogued more than 50 major sites. His study of the indigenous cultures of the Verde Valley was published in 1896.

Later life

After his Verde Valley study, Cosmos left the Bureau of Ethnology and became a newspaper reporter, working for the

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jo ...

, the

New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 ...

, and the

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American conservative news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) online-only publisher of political and economic opinion pieces, as we ...

, for whom he traveled extensively, living in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

, and serving as the foreign editor. He also reported from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

during the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

and from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After leaving from the newspaper business, Cosmos and Marion retired to

Carmel, New York Carmel (pronounced ) is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town had a population of 33,576. The Town of Carmel is on the southern border of Putnam County, abutting Westchester County, ap ...

, where Marion died in 1933. Cosmos died five years later, in 1938.

Publications

''A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola''
with Victor Mindeleff * ''The Cliff Ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona''
''Navaho Houses''
* '' Casa Grande Ruin'' * ''The Repair Of Casa Grande Ruin, Arizona, in 1891'' * ''Aboriginal Remains in Verde Valley, Arizona''

References

External links

*
Manuscripts and Photographs by Cosmos Mindeleff on Smithsonian Institution Research Information Systems

Photograph of Victor and Cosmos Mindeleff building models
in

Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...

collections
Entry on Cosmos Mindeleff
at Find A Grave
Entry on Victor Mindeleff
at Find A Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Mindeleff, Cosmos 1863 births 1938 deaths Writers from Arizona American male journalists 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American archaeologists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers