74 6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



ness. Indeed, it retained its snow-cap far into the hot summer 

 months. The general course of the river at this point is a little 

 east of south. The eye vainly followed its winding course for 

 miles in either direction in quest of village or solitary dwelling. 

 Not a human habitation could be seen. The handful of soldiers 

 mounting guard upon the parade, to the music of trumpet, fife, and 

 drum, but emphasized the solitude of the place. Trees marked 

 the sinuous course of the stream, but the rest of the valley was 

 bare of vegetation save patches of rnesquite-bushes in the alluvial 

 river-bottom, the ever-present cactus, aloe, and yucca, and a low 

 growth of intermingled weeds and grasses, whose blended hues 

 imparted to the valley a yellowish color. Dwarfed cedars and 

 pinons barely existed upon the arid slopes of the Black Hills 

 range, bounding the valley upon the west, and tall pines crowned 

 their level summits. 



I said there were no human habitations in sight ; but closer 

 scrutiny revealed stone edifices, erected by the hand of man, occu- 

 pying commanding points upon the opposite side of the valley ; 

 huge piles of masonry, whose ruined walls still stand to a consid- 

 erable height. Below these, emerging upon narrow ledges, in the 

 face of the nearest cliffs, were lines of black holes, which I was 

 told were entrances to the cave-dwellings of an extinct race of 

 men. From the hospital piazza a view was obtained of a still 

 more wonderful structure. In the vertical side of the canon, 

 through which Beaver Creek flows, a large building four or five 

 stories high had been built by this people, whose only history is 

 written in monumental ruins. 



Before our departure from Fort Verde in 1888 three railroads 

 had penetrated toward the heart of the wilderness by which we 

 were surrounded. Settlers were thronging in to engage in lum- 

 bering, mining, or stock-grazing in the mountainous portions, or 

 to cultivate the soil of the irrigable valleys. Already the valley 

 of the Verde begins to assume somewhat of the appearance that 

 it presented centuries ago, when irrigated and cultivated by the 

 populous cliff-dwellers. Again the Indian corn rustles in the 

 broad fields in autumn, and golden pumpkins and squashes clus- 

 ter beneath the stalks. Childish voices are borne on the breeze : 

 a new cycle begins. 



Curiosity concerning the people whose stone buildings chal- 

 lenge attention from most of the prominent points along the Verde 

 River and its tributary streams led me to pay some attention to 

 the study of archaeology, and to form a collection of such relics as 

 might shed light upon the history and habits of the builders.* 



• This collection, comprising several thousand specimens, has been donated to the 

 American Museum of Natural History, New York. The human skeletons and crania will 

 be sent to the Army Medical Museum at Washington. 



