Chapter XLIX: Section 1

NOTICE OF VISIT, DEPARTURE, AND DIRECTION.

Mr. G. K. Gilbert, of the U. S. Geological Survey, discovered drawings at Oakley spring, Yavapai County, Arizona, in 1878. He remarks that an Oraibi chief explained them to him and said that the “Mokis make excursions to a locality in the canyon of the Colorado Chiquito to get salt. On their return they stop at Oakley spring and each Indian makes a picture on the rock. Each Indian draws his crest or totem, the symbol of his gens (?). He draws it once, and once only, at each visit.” Mr. Gilbert adds, further, that--

There are probably some exceptions to this, but the drawings
show its general truth. There are a great many repetitions of
the same sign and from two to ten will often appear in a row.
In several instances I saw the end drawings of a row quite fresh
while the others were not so. Much of the work seems to have been
performed by pounding with a hard point, but a few pictures are
scratched on. Many drawings are weather-worn beyond recognition,
and others are so fresh that the dust left by the tool has not been
washed away by rain. Oakley spring is at the base of the Vermilion
cliff, and the etchings are on fallen blocks of sandstone, a
homogeneous, massive, soft sandstone. Tubi, the Oraibi chief above
referred to, says his totem is the rain cloud, but it will be made
no more, as he is the last survivor of the gens.

A group from Oakley spring, of which Fig. 437 is a copy, furnished by Mr. Gilbert, measures 6 feet in length and 4 feet in height. Interpretations of several of the separated characters are given in