Chapter XI: The Pueblo Country.1 (1)

Description of the Pueblo Country—Historical outline—Description
of Zuñi—Definition of a Pueblo—Old Zuñi—Inscription Rock—Pueblo
of Jemez—Historical notice of Pecos —Description of the Moqui
tribes—The Estufa—Description of the San Juan country—Aztec
Springs—In the cañon of the McElmo—The Ruins of the Rio Mancos—On
Hovenweep Creek—Description of a Cliff-house—Cliff Town—Cave
houses—Ruins on the San Juan—Cave Town—The Significance of
Cliff-houses—Moqui traditions—Ruins in Northern New Mexico—Ruins
in the Chaco cañon—Pueblo Bonito—Ruins in South-western
Arizona—The Rio Verde Valley—Casa Grande—Ruins on the
Gila—Culture of the Pueblo Tribes—Their Pottery—Superiority of
the Ancient pottery—Conclusion.

We have hitherto been describing people and tribes that have
completely vanished. We have peered into the mysterious past and
sought as best we could to conjure back the scenes of many years
ago. The line between the known and the unknown, between the
historic and prehistoric, is not far removed from us in the new
world. Not yet four centuries have passed since the veil was
lifted, and America, with her savage tribes of the North, and her
rude civilization of the South, was revealed to the wondering
eyes of Europe. But with a knowledge of this new land came also
wondrous stories of wealth, and in consequence an army of
adventurers were soon on her shores. Then follows a short period
of war and conquest. The Indian race could not withstand the
whites. European civilization, transplanted to America, has
thriven. But whatever advance the native tribes have made since
the discovery, has been by reason of contact with the whites.

Map of the Pueblo Country.

There was no single birthplace of American culture. Advance took
place wherever the climate was mild and the soil fertile, and
thus an abundant supply of food could be obtained. One such
locality was the valley of the San Juan, in what is now the
southwestern part of the United States. It is quite allowable to
suppose that here the mild climate and bountiful soil suggested
agriculture, and with a knowledge of this, rude though it was, a
beginning was made in a culture which subsequently excited the
admiration of the Spaniards. However that may be, we know this
section contains abundant ruins of former inhabitants. And yet
again we find in this same country the remnants of this former
people, doubtless living much the same sort of life as did their
forefathers. American scholars, with the best of reason, think
this section affords the best vantage ground from which to study
the question of native American culture. It presents us not only
with ruins of past greatness, but in the inhabited pueblos, gives
us a picture of primitive times, and invites us, by a careful
study of their institutions, to become acquainted with primitive
society.

Travelers and explorers describe the scenery of the Pueblo
country as a very peculiar one. It is bleak without being
absolutely barren. The great mountain chains form picturesque
profiles, which in a measure compensate for the lack of
vegetation. No country on the face of the globe bears such
testimony to the power of running water to wear away the surface.
The rivers commenced by wearing down great cañons. They occur
here on a grand scale. The cañon of the Colorado River, having a
length of two hundred miles, and through the whole, nearly
vertical walls of rock, three to six thousand feet in height.
Nearly all the tributary streams of the Colorado empty into it by
means of gorges nearly as profound. What is true of the Colorado
is true, though in a lesser degree of the Rio Grande and of the
Pecos, as only portions of these streams are cañon-born. But,
besides digging out these cañons, the entire surface of the
country has in places been removed to the depth of several
hundred feet, leaving large extent of table-lands, called mesas,
with generally steep, or even precipitous, sides, standing
isolated here and there.

Though thus bearing evidence of more extended rainfall, and of
the action of water in the past, it is essentially an arid
country now. Most of the minor water-courses laid down on the map
are dry half of the year, or have but scattered pools of water;
so a description of the surface of the country would tell us of
deep river valleys, in many cases narrow and running through
rocky beds, in which case we call them cañons; in other cases
very wide, but having generally precipitous sides; the country
often mountainous and great stretches of table-land, but
generally dry and desolate, except in the immediate vicinity of
rivers. The river valleys themselves are generally very fertile.

Such is the country where we are to investigate native American
culture. The history of the country since its first occupation by
the Spaniards is not devoid of interest. It did not take the
Indians of Mexico long to learn that what the Spaniards most
prized was gold, and that the surest way to curry favor with them
was to relate to them exaggerated stories of wonderful wealth to
be gained in distant provinces. About 1530 the viceroy of New
Spain (Mexico) learned from an Indian slave of seven great cities
somewhere to the north; and of their wealth it was said they had
streets exclusively occupied by workers in gold and silver.

Though expeditions to the northern provinces of Mexico speedily
dispelled the illusions in regard to them, the wonderful story of
the Seven Cities flitted further north. Six years later these
stories were invested with new life by the arrival in Mexico of
Cabeza De Vaca and three companions. The story of their
remarkable wanderings reads like an extract from a work of
fiction. They were members of the unfortunate Spanish expeditions
to the coast of Florida in 1528. After the shipwreck and final
overthrow of the expedition, these four men had wandered from
somewhere on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, first north, and
then west, passing through, probably, portions of Texas and New
Mexico, until finally they were so fortunate as to meet with
their own countrymen near Culiacan, in Mexico. The story they had
to tell fell on willing ears. They stated to the viceroy that
they had carefully observed the country through which they had
passed, and had been told of great and powerful cities containing
houses of four and five stories, with the usual accompaniments of
great wealth.

The next incident was the journey of three Franciscan friars and
a negro (who, by the way, had been with De Vaca in his
wanderings), sent out by the Governor Coronado, with orders to
return and report to him all they could learn by personal
observation of the Seven Cities. This expedition did not
accomplish much. Arriving near Cibola (the Spanish name for the
country of the Seven Cities), they sent the negro on ahead to
gain the good will of the Indians. Instead of this, he was killed
by them. On hearing which, the monks contented themselves with
gazing on the pueblo (which they describe as “more considerable
than Mexico”) from a safe distance, and then hurriedly returned
to Culiacan. They gave Coronado a most glowing account of all
they had discovered.

Coronado now thought the time had come for decisive action.
Accordingly, with the viceroy’s permission, he organized his
forces, and in 1540 set out on his memorable march in search of
the Seven Cities of Cibola. We do not propose to give in detail
the series of conquests beginning with this expedition and
finally ending with the subjection of New Mexico in 1598. It is
needless to say that the Spanish forces found no cities teeming
with wealth. What they did find was a country much the same as at
present. The cities were the communal houses, or combination of
houses, known as pueblos. The pueblo of Zuñi is the remaining one
of the mystical seven. The ruins of at least six other pueblos
are known to be in the immediate vicinity.2

\ Pueblo of Zuñi.

This historical account, short and imperfect as it is, introduces
us to a most interesting people. If we would know more of them we
can not do better than to adopt the advice of Hosta, ex governor
of Jemez, to Dr. Loew: “If you wish to see what a great people we
once were you must go upon the mesas and into the cañons of the
vicinity, where ruins of our forefathers are numerous.”

One of the most important pueblos yet remaining inhabited, and
one of the first that Coronado encountered in his expedition, is
Zuñi. The present pueblo is considered as the remaining one of
the Seven Cities—at least, by the majority of Americanists.
Whipple describes Zuñi as follows: “Treading an opening between
rocky bluffs, . . . we entered the valley, several miles in
width, which leads to Zuñi. The soil seemed light, but where
cultivated it produced fine crops without the aid of irrigation.
. . . Within the valley appeared occasional towers, where herders
and, laborers watch to prevent a surprise from Apaches. Near the
center of this apparent plain stood, upon an eminence, the
compact city of Zuñi.3 By its side flowed the river which bears
the same name. It is now but a rivulet of humble dimensions,
though sometimes said to be a large stream. . . . Passing beneath
an arch, we entered a court, . . . entirely surrounded by houses
of several receding stories, which were attained by means of
ladders loading from one to another. . . . From the top the
pueblo reminds one of an immense ant-hill, from its similar form
and dense population. . . . Going down from its outer side into
the street, we encounter five stories of descent.”4

In order to prevent confusion, we will state that a pueblo, which
is the Spanish name for these old Indian towns, may be one of
several different types. A common form of village consists of but
one or two, seldom three, large buildings, so arranged as to
surround an interior court. Sometimes there is but one large
building, which is nearly in the shape of a half circle; instead
of being really circular, it has a number of different sides. In
some cases a village consists of a number of these large houses
irregularly arranged. But the tendency is always to inclose a
square.5

In the modern villages the buildings forming the square do not
meet, but in some cases are connected by bridges or covered
gangways, and in some instances the houses project over the
streets below, which, being narrow, are thus given an underground
appearance.6

Ground Plan and End View. The buildings, or communal houses, for
one house contained sometimes five hundred rooms, are generally
from three to four hundred feet long and about one hundred and
fifty feet in width at the base. The lower story is divided by
cross-walls into a mass of cell-like rooms, as shown in the
illustrations which represents the ground plan of a pueblo having
four ranges of rooms. Each story in height has one less range of
rooms, so that, looking directly at the end of this building, it
would present the appearance shown by this cut: The only means of
getting from one terrace to the other is by the aid of ladders.
In some cases these terraces run from both sides of the building;
in others they face the inclosed space; and in others still they
face outside. Most of the inhabited pueblos are built of
adobe—that is, sun-dried bricks. The majority of the ancient
ruins were built of stone set in adobe mortar. With this
digression, we will now return to Zuñi.

Old Zuñi.

Ruins testifying to the former greatness of these people are
scattered around them. Three miles to the east of the present
pueblo of Zuñi, on the bluff seen in the cut, are the ruins of a
larger pueblo, which is called Old Zuñi. Mr. Whipple, who
explored this field of ruins, thus describes his visit: “The
projecting summit of the cliffs seemed inaccessible. . . . We
followed a trail which, with great labor, had been hammered out
from seam to seam of the rocks along the side of the precipice.
At various points of the ascent, where a projecting rock
permitted, were barricades of stone walls, from which the old
man7 told us they had hurled rocks upon the invading Spaniards.
Having ascended one thousand feet, we found ourselves upon a
level surface, covered with thick cedars. . . . The top of the
mesa was of an irregular figure, a mile in width, bounded upon
all sides by perpendicular bluffs. . . . The guide hurried us on
half a mile further, where appeared the ruins of a city, indeed.
Crumbling walls, from two to twelve feet in height, were crowded
together in confused heaps, over several acres of ground. . . .
Upon examining the pueblo, we found the standing walls rested
upon ruins of greater antiquity.8 The primitive masonry, as well
as we could judge, must have been about six feet thick. The more
recent was not more than a foot or a foot and a half, but the
small sandstone blocks had been laid in mud mortar with
considerable care.”9

The descriptions of ruins have so much that is similar that
repetitions become tiresome. We will not, therefore, delay much
longer with Zuñi. A few miles east of Old Zuñi we come to Pescado
Springs, near which are the ruins of several pueblos. “This
spring bursts from a broken point of the lava bed, and at once
becomes a pretty stream, glittering with great numbers of the
finny tribe, which gives name to it. The circular wall which once
inclosed the fountainhead is now partly broken down. Upon each
side, and almost tangent, are ruins of pueblos so ancient that
the traditions of present races do not reach them. They are
nearly circular in form, and of equal dimension. One measured
three hundred and fifteen short paces, about eight hundred feet,
in circumference. They were of stone; but the walls have
crumbled, leaving only a heap of rubbish.”10

Following up this stream, other ruins were found. It seems, then,
that in the pueblo of Zuñi we have left a pitiful remnant of a
numerous people. When the Spaniards first appeared on the scene
they were apparently prosperous. The rapid decrease of the Pueblo
tribes was owing to several causes. In 1680 they made an attempt
to throw off the Spanish yoke. At first this was successful. But
inter-tribal warfare at once set in. At this time also the
inroads of the Apaches and Navajos became so troublesome that the
Pueblo tribes could not successfully cultivate their land. At
this time also a succession of dry years set in, and famine was
the result. Their customs and manners we will describe in another
place. There are many reasons for supposing that the country had
been inhabited for a very long period, even before the Spaniards
invaded it. Some places must have been even then in ruins, or, if
inhabited, it is very strange that the Spanish records do not
mention them. Such, for instance, is Inscription Rock, about
fifteen miles east of Old Zuñi, which the Spaniards must have
passed when on their way back and forth to Zuñi.

Inscriptionn Rock.

The small mesa here ends with a bold front of white sandstone
rock, rising almost vertically two hundred and fifty feet high.
This cut gives us a view on the top of the table-rock. We see
here the foundations of two old buildings. A deep ravine nearly
divides this little plateau into two portions. As we have said,
this rises with a bold, precipitous front from the plain. At one
place this front is completely covered with inscriptions. Here
the Indians, unknown years ago, made their strange hieroglyphics
which, presenting to our eyes only a senseless combination of
forms of animals and men and meaningless figures, may have
conveyed to them knowledge of important events. A great many
Spanish inscriptions have also been carved on the rock. Whipple
calls attention to the fact that though Spanish inscriptions
placed there nearly two hundred years ago, seem but slightly
affected by atmospheric action, still some of the Indian
hieroglyphics are “almost wiped out by the fingers of time.” A
number of centuries have probably rolled away since they were
inscribed.

It may be interesting to know the reading of some of these old
inscriptions. A translation of one of the earliest and longest is
here given, with the exception of a few words which could not be
made out: “Bartolome Narrso, Governor and Captain-general of the
province of New Mexico, for our lord, the king, passed by this
place on his return from the pueblo of Zuñi, on the 29th of July,
of the year 1620, and put them in peace, at their petition,
asking the favor to become subjects of his majesty, and anew they
gave obedience; all of which they did with free consent, knowing
it prudent as well as very Christian, . . . to so distinguished
and gallant a soldier, indomitable and famed; we love . . .”11

It is somewhat strange to meet thus in the interior of the United
States with the record of a military expedition some months
before the Puritans landed at Plymouth. There seems to be nothing
especial to describe about the ruins. Both Simpson and Whipple
notice that the masonry seems to be unusually good. As it must
have been very difficult to procure water, the location must have
been chosen solely for the protection it afforded. The early
Spanish accounts contain the names of one hundred and twenty-six
pueblos. Some are, however, mentioned two or three times. Mr.
Bandelier has succeeded in identifying every one. The Rio Puerco
Valley was never a very prosperous one, and the river is scarcely
a permanent one. At present a few ruins at Poblazon, for
instance, are to be seen, and the valley looks poor and barren.

The valley of the Rio Grande River was occupied by a number of
Pueblo tribes, and there are at present eight inhabited pueblos
along this river, in New Mexico, and one in Texas. The region
around Bernalillo was a prosperous section. At intervals, up and
down the river, and along its tributaries, we can still trace low
crumbling ruins, evidence of an old pueblo. If the statements of
the Spanish writers are to be believed, the number of inhabited
towns, at the time of the conquest, was at least ten times that
now existing. The population could never have exceeded forty
thousand. At present it contains about nine thousand. Still
making all allowance for Spanish exaggeration, we are convinced
that it was a thickly populated country at the time of the
conquest.

One of the most interesting pueblos in New Mexico is Jemez, on a
river of that name, sixty miles west of Santa Fe. We speak of it
here because it is the center of a most interesting group of
ruins. Like the pueblo of Zuñi, it is a remnant only of a
prosperous people. The reports of Coronado’s expedition
frequently mention Jemez, though it may be doubtful whether they
refer to the pueblo of that name now, or to one of the numerous
ruined ones in the immediate vicinity. Jemez is a prosperous
pueblo, having fine fields, large irrigating ditches, and
extensive flocks of sheep.

Simpson describes it in 1849 as follows: “The pueblo of Jemez is
an Indian town of between four and five hundred inhabitants, . .
. and is built upon two or three parallel streets, the houses
being of adobe construction, and having second stories disposed
retreatingly upon the first, to which access is had by means of
ladders. . . . About the premises are probably a dozen acres
covered with apricot and peach trees. . . . The Rio de Jemez,
upon which the pave lies, is an affluent of the Rio Grande,
varies from thirty to fifty feet in breadth, is of a rapid
current. . . . Patches of good corn and wheat skirt it here and
there along its banks, and the extent of cultivable land
bordering it may be estimated at about a mile in breadth.”

We are more interested, however, in ruins testifying to past
greatness. “Six miles up the river you come to the union of two
cañons—the Guadalupe and San Diego. Where the mesa between these
cañons narrows itself to a point, are the ruins of two pueblos,
one upon the lower prominence of the mesa, the other upon the
mesa proper, and only approachable by two narrow, steep trails,
the mesa everywhere else being nearly perpendicular, and seven
hundred and fifty feet high. The view from the mesa is
picturesque and imposing in the extreme. Far beneath, to the
right and left, a stream makes its way between the colossal walls
of the sandstone upon the narrow width of the mesa; near
frightful precipices are the ruins of a town of eighty houses,
partly in parallel rows, partly in squares, and partly perched
between overhanging rocks, the rim and surfaces of which formed
the walls of rooms, the gaps and interstices being filled in
artificially.”

“Nearly every house had one story and two rooms. The building
material was trachytic rock as found upon the mesa. Broken
pottery, charred corn, and millstones for grinding corn, were
found in some of the rooms. The roofs had all fallen in, and so
also had many of the side walls, in the construction of which
wood was but little used. Piñon trees have taken root within many
of the former rooms. Upon asking my Indian guide whether the
former inhabitants of this town were obliged to descend the steep
and dangerous pathway every day to the creek to procure water, he
replied there were cisterns upon the mesa, in which rain,
formerly plentiful, was caught. He then called my attention to
some conical heaps of stones along the rim of the precipice which
was the material for defense.”12

This description introduces us to another class of ruins—that is,
detached separate houses, different from the great communal
structures we have already described. What connection exists
between these two forms of houses will be studied in another
place. As a rule, the rooms in the detached houses are larger
than in the communal houses. Exceptions occur in some of the
inhabited pueblos.13 This is only one of many towns in ruins
thereabouts. According to Dr. Loew there are no less than
twenty-five or thirty.

It is not our purpose to describe any more of the pueblos of this
section of New Mexico than is required to enable us to understand
the customs, manners, and habits of the Pueblo tribes. We learn
that in New Mexico we are brought face to face with feeble
remnants of former tribes, and that these were probably in their
most flourishing condition when the Spaniards first invaded the
country, and though in a few instances the ruins imply a great
antiquity, as at Inscription Rock, still we may be reasonably
sure that the majority of them date but a few centuries back. The
ruins of Catholic churches established by the Franciscan monks in
the sixteenth century occur in several places, five being found
around Jemez.

The story of the decline of the Pueblo tribes may be illustrated
by the history of Pecos. This pueblo was situated on the Rio
Pecos, about twenty-five miles south-east of Santa Fe. With the
exception of the present inhabited town of Taos, it was the most
eastern point reached by the pueblo building tribes. This, though
a very large pueblo, has nothing especial to attract attention,
except that the entire mesa was inclosed by a stone wall about
six feet and a half high, and twenty inches thick, having a total
length of three thousand, two hundred and twenty feet.14 Its
history is, however, interesting and instructive. Coronado, with
his army, visited Pecos before he abandoned the country in 1543.
His reports mention it as a prosperous pueblo. Several raids were
made into New Mexico by Spanish parties, but the conquest proper
occurred in 1598, when the Pecos pledged fidelity to the crown of
Spain.

The Catholic Church at once set about establishing missions at
various pueblos. The Pecos Church was established in 1629, though
missionary work had been done here before that time. One of the
priests who accompanied Coronado remained behind at Pecos. He was
never afterwards heard from. This church became one of the most
renowned in New Mexico. The inhabitants became herders as well as
agriculturists. It was prosperous. In 1680 the Pueblo of Pecos
sheltered two thousand Indians. “But a storm was brewing from
whose effects the Pueblo tribes never recovered.” In 1680 the
Indians rose against the Spanish and drove them from New Mexico.
The priests were murdered, the churches were sacked. From this
time doubtless date the ruins of the churches seen around Jemez.
At Pecos and many other places intertribal warfare set in. Bloody
battles were fought.

Neither were the Spaniards idle. In 1682 one expedition was made,
and at least two pueblo towns were destroyed by them. In 1689 the
entire country was reconquered. Some tribes were nearly
exterminated, and all more or less weakened and a great many
ruins date from that time. It was the beginning of a decline for
the Pueblo tribes, and this decline was hastened by intertribal
warfare, by drought, and by ravages from wild Indians. As to the
drought, it is sufficient to state that some ruins are now
fifteen, and even twenty, miles from permanent water. The
Comanches were the scourge of the Pecos. On one occasion they
slaughtered all the young men but one. This was a blow from which
they never recovered. Finally reduced by sickness to but five
adults, the Pecos sold their lands and, at the invitation of
their brethren at Jemez, went to live with them, and the pueblo
of Pecos speedily became the ruins we now find it.15

No doubt a similar history could be written of many other ruins.
“Our people,” said Hosta, “were a warlike race, and had many
fights, not only with the Spaniards, but also with other Indian
tribes the Navajos and Taos, for instance and were thus reduced
to this pueblo of Jemez, which now forms the last remnant.” New
Mexico is now becoming rapidly “Americanized,” and it will soon
be brought to a test whether the Pueblo tribes can withstand this
new influence and retain their peculiar civilization, or whether,
like many other races, their life force is nearly spent, in which
case they will live only in history.

We must not overlook the Moki Pueblos in Arizona. They are
situated one hundred miles northwest of Zuñi. The Spaniards
discovered them, and called their province Tusayan. They are much
like the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico, only they have been much
less disturbed by outside influence. There are a number of ruined
towns in this vicinity. We wish to refer to them because of their
intimate connection with the ruins to the North. Their houses are
built of stone on precipitous mesas.

Wolpi. (Maj. Powell)

Lieut. Ives, who visited them in 1858, has left quite a full
description of them. He states that “each pueblo is built around
a rectangular court, in which, we suppose, are the springs that
furnished the supply to the reservoirs. The exterior walls, which
are of stone, have no openings, and would have to be scaled or
battered down before access could be gained to the interior. The
successive stories are set back, one behind the other. The lower
rooms are reached through trap-doors from the first landing. The
houses are three rooms deep, and open upon the interior court.”16
He was much pleased with the manner in which they had terraced
off the bluff of the mesas into little garden patches, irrigating
them from the large reservoirs from the top.

There is one feature common to all the Pueblo tribes which is
necessary to refer to here, from its connection with the ruined
structures further north. In all of the inhabited pueblos there
is a structure known as an Estafa, some pueblos having several.
They are usually circular, but occasionally (as at Jemez)
rectangular. They are generally subterranean, or mostly so. They
are great institutions among the Pueblos. “In these subterranean
temples the old men met in secret council, or assembled in
worship of their gods. Here are held dances, festivities, and
social intercourse.”

Another common feature, represented in this cut, is the
watch-tower. It is either round, as in this case, or rectangular.
It may be interesting to recall in this connection the signal
mounds of the Mound Builders. They were not always in the
immediate vicinity of other ruins. Neither can we state that
there was a system in their arrangement, one answering to another
at a distance, and yet it was noticed where the rains were
numerous that several were in view from one point.17 In
dimensions these towers range from ten to fifteen feet in
diameter, and from five to fifteen feet in height, while the
walls are from one to two feet thick. They are in many cases
connected with structures rectangular in form.

Watch Tower.

We will now leave the inhabited pueblos and the ruins in their
immediate vicinity and, going to the north, explore a section of
country that shows every evidence of having sustained a
considerable population some time in the past. To understand this
fact clearly, it will be necessary to fix the location of the
places named by means of the map. From time to time confused
reports of the wonders to be seen in the San Juan section of
Colorado had appeared in the East, but the first clear and
satisfactory account is contained in the reports of Messrs.
Jackson and Holmes, members of the U.S. Geographical and
Geological survey of the territories under Dr. Hayden for 1874
and 1876.

In the south-western portion of Colorado is a range of mountains
known as the San Juan. Stretching from their base west to the
Sierras is a great plateau region, drained by the numerous
tributaries of the San Juan River. It would, perhaps, be more in
keeping with the facts of the case to say “had been drained some
time in the past,” for this is now such an arid, semi-desert
country that the majority of the streams are dry, or have but
scattered pools of water in them, during a large portion of the
year; and yet, at times, great volumes of water go sweeping
through them. This whole plateau is cut up with long, cañoned
valleys, presenting, in effect, the same surface features that we
have already described in New Mexico. Yet this precipitous,
cañon-marked section of country is literally filled with the
crumbling ruins of a former people. The situation in which they
occur is in many cases very singular, and the whole subject is
invested with great interest to us, because we see in them the
remains of a people evidently the same as the Pueblo people
to-day.

One of the most extensive ruins in this section is situated at
Aztec Springs. This, it will be seen, is about midway between the
Rio Mancos and the McElmo. Mr. Holmes found the site of the
spring, but it contained no water. He was told, however, by those
familiar with the locality that there had been a living spring
there up to within a few years. It was evidently a place of
considerable importance once. Mr. Holmes describes the ruins as
forming the most imposing pile of masonry found in Colorado. They
cover an area of over ten acres. This includes only the ruins
around the springs. But all about this central portion are
scattered and grouped the remnants of smaller structures. So that
nearly a square mile is covered with the ruins of this ancient
pueblo. Most of the stone used was brought from the Mesa Verde
(Green Plateau), a mile away, and must have been a great work for
a people so totally without facilities.

Ruins at Aztec Springs. It will be seen that immediately to the
right of the Springs is a large rectangular ruin in better
preservation than the rest. This now “forms a great mound of
crumbling rock from twelve to twenty feet in height, overgrown
with artemisia, but showing clearly, however, its rectangular
structure, adjusted approximately to the four points of the
compass.” This house, from its massive walls, must have had an
original height of at least forty feet. “The walls seem to have
been doubled, with a space of seven feet between; a number of
cross-walls at regular intervals indicate that this space has
been divided into apartments, as seen in the plan.” Two low lines
of rubbish cross the square, probably partition walls.

Surrounding this house is a net-work of fallen walls, so
completely reduced that none of the stones seem to remain in
place. Mr. Holmes was at a loss to know whether to call them a
cluster of irregular apartments, having low, loosely built walls,
or whether they are the remains of imposing pueblos. In the group
of ruins to the left of the spring are two well-defined circular
estufas. Below the main mass of ruins, connected by low walls of
ruins, is another great square, nearly two hundred feet in
dimensions. One wall seems to have consisted of a row of
apartments; the other walls served to simply inclose the square,
near the center of which was another large estufa.

Several important conclusions can be drawn from a study of this
locality. The spring, now dry, was once evidently the source of a
considerable stream. Whether the group of low ruins were
collections of small houses, or remains of imposing pueblos, we
need not doubt that the walls of the square inclosures were
composed of pueblo houses. The estufas were probably in all
respects similar to those of the present inhabited pueblos. The
country around, now so dry and barren, must once have supported
considerable population. As to the period of abandonment, we have
nothing to guide us. Being an agricultural settlement, it was
probably abandoned at an earlier date than the cave-dwellings and
cliff-houses of the cañons of the vicinity. The reason for this
will appear subsequently. The site of this ruin, as well as for a
long distance around, is covered with pieces of broken pottery.
We notice that the spring has only lately gone dry. This
illustrates the changes now taking place all through the country.
It is drying up, and this process has been in operation for a
long while.

Ruins in the McElmo Cañon. Many groups of ruins are now in
localities where the people could not hope for subsistence. About
six miles to the north of these ruins, about a mile from the
McElmo, is the group of ruins here represented, which may throw
some light on the remains at Aztec Springs. The principal feature
is the triple walled tower, of which a plan is given. The tower
has a diameter of about forty-three feet, and a circumference of
about one hundred and thirty-five feet. The walls are traceable
nearly all the way around, and the space between the two outer
ones, which is about five feet, contains fourteen apartments or
cells. The walls about one of these cells were still standing at
the time of Mr. Holmes’s visit, but the cell was filled with
rubbish from the fallen walls. A door-way, opening into this
apartment, could still be seen. The inner wall was probably never
very high. It simply inclosed the estufa.

The ruins surrounding this tower consist of low, fallen walls,
scarcely traceable. The apartments number nearly one hundred, and
were generally rectangular. They are not of a uniform size, and
were certainly not arranged in regular order. Now, as Mr. Holmes
observes, it would certainly seem that, if they are the ruins of
such structures as the pueblos of the south, there would be some
regularity of size, and some systematic arrangement. He says
that, in reality, they are more like a cluster of pens, such as
are used by the Moqui tribes for keeping sheep and goats.

Since these surveys were made, Mr. Bandelier, as agent for the
Archæological Institute, has made important researches. He finds
that the small, detached houses, such as we described in the
ruined village near Jemez, are found in Arizona, with a small
court-yard or inclosure attached to them. If we understand the
description of the ruins just mentioned, and those at Apache
Springs, they are villages of these small houses and their
inclosures. In such villages the inclosures meet each other, so
as to form a checker-board of irregularly alternating houses and
courts. The houses are easily discernible from the fact of little
rubbish mounds having accumulated where they stood. Around these
parts of the wall can still be traced. This combination makes a
strong, easily defended position. Each of such villages contains
one or more open spaces of large size, but they are irregularly
located.

We must notice one point more: Each village of this nature, that
was of any size, contained a larger ruin in the center. This was
noticed in the ruins at Aztec Springs. This larger building was
in the nature of a citadel, and there the inhabitants could
retire when the approaches were carried by the enemy. This
central building ultimately swallowed up all the others, and so
developed into the pueblo structures we have noticed. The little
walled inclosures surrounding the houses were largely in the
nature of defenses. Tradition asserts that in many cases they
were garden plats, and appearances sometimes confirm this. “They
may also have been the yard proper for each family, in which the
latter slept, cooked—in fact, lived—during the heat of the Summer
months.”18

Referring once more to the ruins near the McElmo, we are told
that every isolated rock and bit of mesa within a circle of miles
of this place is strewn with remnants of ancient dwellings. We
presume these were small, separate houses. They may have been
outlying settlements of the tribe whose main village was at Aztec
Springs. We must also notice the small tower in the corner. This
was a watch tower. It was fifteen feet in diameter, walls three
and a half feet thick, and in 1876 was still five feet high, It
overlooked the surrounding country. The rainfall in the past must
have been more abundant, to support the population we are
justified in thinking once lived there. The nearest water is now
a mile away, and during the dry season some fifteen miles to the
north, in the Rio Dolores, and yet we have every reason to
believe these old inhabitants were very saving of water. They
built cisterns and reservoirs to store it up against the time of
need.

Tower on the Rio Mancos. We give a cut of the tower of the ruins
of a similar village, or settlement, to the one just described,
which occurs twenty miles to the southeast in the cañon of the
Rio Mancos. Being so similar, we will mention it here. In this
case the tower had only two walls. Mr. Holmes says the diameter
of the outer wall is forty-three feet, that of the inner
twenty-five feet. The space between the two circles is divided by
cross-walls into ten apartments. This tower is placed also in the
midst of a group of more dimly marked ruins or foundations,
extending some distance in each direction from it. Mr. Holmes,
however, states that there are no ruins of importance in
connection with this tower, but that there are a number of ruins
in the immediate vicinity. In this case, then, the citadel (if
such it was) was not directly connected with other ruins.

The Rio Mancos, that we have just mentioned, was a favorite place
of resort for these old people. This stream, rising in the La
Platte Mountains, flows through beautiful valleys to a great
table-land known as the Mesa Verde. Mr. Jackson explored this
valley in 1874, and he reports as follows: “Commencing our
observation in the park-like valley of the Mancos, between the
mesa and the mountains, we find that the low benches which border
the stream upon either side bear faint vestiges of having at some
far away time been covered with dwellings, grouped in communities
apparently, but so indistinct as to present to the eye little
more than unintelligible mounds. By a little careful
investigation, however, the foundation of great square blocks of
single buildings and of circular inclosures can be made out, the
latter generally of a depressed center, showing an excavation for
some purpose.”

From this description we can not quite make out whether these
ruins are great communal buildings, like the modern pueblo, or
clusters of separate houses. We incline to the latter opinion,
however. The circular depressed area was doubtless used as an
Estufa, the place of religious meetings for men alone. “The
greater portion of these mounds are now overgrown with artemisia,
pinion-pine, and cedar, concealing them almost entirely from
casual observation.” “We found the surest indication of their
proximity in the great quantity of broken pottery which covered
the ground in their neighborhood. The same curiously indented,
painted, and glazed ware, was found throughout New Mexico and
Arizona. It was all broken into very small pieces, none that we
could find being larger than a silver dollar.” Specimens of this
pottery will be figured in its appropriate place.

“Nowhere among these open plane habitations could we discover any
vestige of stone-work, either in building material or implements.
It is very evident that the houses were all of adobe, the
mound-like character of the remains justifying that belief.” In
this last respect we note a difference between these remains and
those already described. The mesa verde is one of those elevated
plateaus we have so often described. Through this the Mancos has
cut a cañon nearly thirty miles in length, and from one to two
thousand feet deep. The description we have already given is of
the valley of the river before coming to the cañon.

Entering the cañon, Mr. Jackson continues: “Grouped along in
clusters, and singly, were indications of former habitations,
very nearly obliterated, and consisting mostly, in the first four
or five miles, of the same mound-like forms noticed above, and
accompanied always by the scattered, broken pottery. Among them
we find one building of squared and carefully laid sandstone, one
face only exposed of three or four courses, above the mass of
_debris_ which covered every thing. This building lay within a
few yards of the banks of the stream, was apparently about ten
feet by eight, the usual size, as near as we could determine, of
nearly all the separate rooms or houses in the larger blocks,
none larger, and many not more than five feet square. The stones
exposed are each about seven by twelve inches square, and four
inches thick, those in their original position retaining correct
angles, but, when thrown down, worn away by attrition to
shapeless bowlders.”

“As we progressed down the cañon the same general characteristics
held good. The great majority of the ruins consisting of heaps of
_debris_ a central mass considerably higher and more massive than
the surrounding lines of sub-divided squares. Small buildings,
not more than eight feet square, were often found standing alone
apparently, no trace of any other being detected in their
immediate neighborhood.” We would call especial attention in this
description to the character of the ruins, the central, higher
mass surrounded by other ruins; also to the houses found
occasionally standing alone. We notice they are of the same
general character as the ruins at Aztec Springs.

We are finding abundant evidence that this section was once
thickly settled. Going back to the triple-walled tower on the
McElmo, Mr. Jackson says of the immediate vicinity: “On the mesa
is group after group upon the same general plan, a great central
tower and smaller surrounding buildings. They cover the whole
breadth and length of the land, and, turn which way we would, we
stumbled over the old mound and into the cellars, as we might
call them, of these truly aborigines.” We believe, however, that
no excavation for cellar purposes are found in the entire region
covered by these ancient ruins.

“Starting down the cañon (the McElmo), which gradually deepened
as the table-land rose above us, we found upon either hand very
old and faint vestiges of the homes of a forgotten people, but
could give them no more attention than merely noting their
existence.”

Mr. Morgan has shown the existence of regular large houses in the
valley of Aminas River, east of the Mancos;19 and he also speaks
of the ruins at the commencement of McElmo cañon as being large
communal buildings. We should judge from Mr. Jackson’s report
just given that these ruins were rather small clusters of houses
of the same design as the ruins at Apache Springs.

Near the Utah boundary line we notice the Hovenweep Creek joining
the McElmo from the north. The mesa, narrowing to a point where
the two cañons meet, is covered with ruins much like what we have
described already. The Hovenweep is appropriately named, meaning
“deserted valley.”

Ruins in the Hovenweeep Cañon.

Further west still is the Montezuma Valley. Mr. Jackson’s party
found the ruins so numerous as to excite surprise at the numbers
this narrow valley must have supported. He says, “We camped at
the intersection of a large cañon coming in from the west. . . .
At this point the bottoms widen out to from two to three hundred
yards in width, and are literally covered with ruins, evidently
those of an extensive settlement or community, although at the
present time water was so scarce (there not being a drop within a
radius of six miles) that we were compelled to make a dry camp.
The ruins consist evidently of great solid mounds of rock
_debris,_ piled up in rectangular masses, covered with earth and
a brush growth, bearing every indication of extreme age—just how
old is about as impossible to tell as to say how old the rocks of
this cañon are. This group is a mile in length, in the middle of
the valley space, and upon both sides of the wash. Each separate
building would cover a space, generally, of one hundred feet
square; they are seldom subdivided into more than two or four
apartments. Relics were abundant, broken pottery and arrow-points
being especially plenty. At one place, where the wash held
partially undermined the foundation of ore of the large
buildings, it exposed a wall of regularly laid masonry, extending
down six feet beneath the superincumbent rubbish to the old
floor-level, covered with ashes and the remains of half-charred
sticks of juniper.”

Lower down, the valley was noted for little projecting tongues of
rock extending out into the cañon, sometimes connected with the
main walls of the cañon by narrow ledges of rock, and in cases
even this had disappeared, leaving detached masses of rock
standing quite alone. “Within a distance of fifteen miles there
are some sixteen or eighteen of these promontories and isolated
mesas of different height, every one of them covered with ruins
of old and massive stone-built structures.”

We have been somewhat full in our description of these ruins, yet
their importance justifies this course. So far we see but very
little to remind us of the pueblo towns. On the other hand, the
buildings seem to be often single houses, or a few houses grouped
together. In some locations they were built of stone, in others
of adobe. It is to be observed, however, that the houses are very
small—not larger than the rooms in the modern pueblos. We
evidently have here quiet scenes of agricultural life. They of
course had enemies, and guarded against their attacks by the
watch-towers, of which an example is given in the McElmo ruins.
The country must have been better watered than now, the soil
productive the seasons kind; and who can tell how long these
agricultural tribes held the land? Under these conditions, time
must have been rapidly bringing them civilization. But we must
now turn to a sorrowful chapter in their history, and trace the
dispersion of these tribes, their unavailing attempts to hold
their own against a savage foe, and the desperate chances they
took before leaving the land of their fathers.

This brings us to a consideration of cliff-houses—that is, houses
so placed that manifestly the only reason the people would have
for putting them where found would be of a defensive nature; and,
for a similar reason, we may be very sure they are of a later
date than the majority of the ruins in the valley or in the
cañons. People would never have settled in the valley in the
first place if they had felt the necessity of seeking
inaccessible places in which to build shelters as a resort in
time of need. We can not do better than to refer once more to Mr.
Jackson’s exploration in the valley of the Rio Mancos. We have
already referred to it in reference to the larger ruins.

Two-storied House in the Mancos Cañon.

This cut gives us a general view of the first cliff-house
discovered in this valley. This was far up on the cliff. Mr.
Jackson says, “We had no field-glass with the party, and to this
fact is probably due the reason we had not seen others during the
day in this same line, for there is no doubt that ruins exist
throughout the entire length of the cañon, far above and out of
the way of ordinary observation.” Subsequently Mr. Holmes proved
this supposition to be true. The sides of this cañon have nearly
all their ledges occupied by these houses.

Every advantage was taken, both natural and artificial, to
conceal them from view. “Cedars and pines grew thickly along the
ledges upon which they are built, hiding completely any thing
behind them. All that we did find were built of the same
materials as the cliffs themselves with but few, and then only
the smallest, appertures toward the cañon, the surface being
dressed very smooth, and showing no lines of masonry. It was only
on the very closest inspection that the houses could be separated
from the cliff.”

View of Cliff in which the House is situated. To illustrate the
singular position in which this house was located, we introduce
this cut. It is seven hundred feet above the valley. “Whether
viewed from below or from the heights above, the effect is almost
startling, and one can not but feel that no ordinary
circumstances could have driven a people to such places of
resort.” As showing the difficulty an enemy would have to
approach such a house, we give Mr. Jackson’s account of his climb
to it:

“The first five hundred feet of ascent were over a long, steep
slope of _debris,_ overgrown with cedar, then came alternately
perpendiculars and slopes. Immediately below the house was a
nearly perpendicular ascent of one hundred feet, that puzzled us
for a while, and which we were only able to surmount by finding
cracks and crevices into which fingers and toes could be
inserted. From the little ledges occasionally found, and by
stepping upon each other’s shoulders, and grasping tufts of
yucca, one would draw himself up to another shelf, and then, by
letting down a stick of cedar or a hand, would assist the
others.”

“Soon we reached a slope, smooth and steep, in which there had
been cut a series of steps, now weathered away into a series of
undulating hummocks, by which it was easy to ascend, and without
them almost an impossibility. Another short, steep slope, and we
were under the ledge on which stood our house.” By referring to
the first cut, we see that the house stands on a very narrow
ledge, and that the rocks overhang it so as to furnish a roof. It
will also be noticed that the ledge is rounding, so that the
outer walls of the house rise from an incline. Piers, or
abutments, had also been built along the ledge, so as to form an
esplanade.

Plan of the House.

The house itself was only about twelve feet high, but this had
been divided into two stories. Whether it ever had any other roof
than the overhanging walls of rock is doubtful. The plan is shown
in the preceding cut. The curved apartment at the right is a
reservoir, capable of holding about five barrels. A series of
pegs were inserted in the wall, so as to form a means of descent
from a window to the bottom. A number of doorways are seen in the
plan; a cut of one is presented in this figure.

Doorway of the House.