806 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Many of the pueblos, now in ruins, were at the time of Coro- 

 nado's expedition to New Mexico, in 1541-1542, at the height of 

 their vitality, and a study of a number of these go to show that 

 in their arrangement they were built upon some definite plan. 

 Their ground plans point to the fact that they were laid out upon 

 the quadrate of a circle in some instances, while in others the 

 three sides of a parallelogram were chosen, or roughly the arc of 

 a subellipse, the major axis joining the extremities, and repre- 

 sented by a double tier of houses. In other cases the entire 

 ellipse can be traced from the ruins, but houses were not erected 

 on the lines of its axes, as was the plan in Pueblo Penasca Blanca. 

 Most of these and the more elaborate ones are found upon the 

 Rio San Juan and its tributaries ; others are seen upon the Rio 

 Animas, in the canon of the Rio de Chelly, in the Ute Mount- 

 ains, and elsewhere. 



Of the pueblos yet inhabited the best examples are seen in the 

 Moqui group, in Zuiii, Acoma, Santo Domingo, and Laguna. 

 Apart from the demoralizing influences of the Roman Catholics 

 upon some of them, and the changes brought about by our civili- 

 zation, these pueblos may be taken as fair examples, though by 

 no means of the highest type, of what existed in the country at 

 the time of the discovery. All these tribes have been termed the 

 sedentary Indians, and they enjoy a sort of crude civilization of 

 their own : engage in agriculture, make pottery, weave blankets 

 and many garments of wool, and have many other simple arts 

 and industries. They are the descendants of the inhabitants of 

 the ancient pueblos discovered by Coronado, and in many in- 

 stances are occupying, in the present villages, houses which cer- 

 tainly are as old as his time. Their government, religious rites 

 and ceremonies, their dances and customs, habits and dress, and 

 domestic life are all full of the greatest interest, but can not 

 properly be treated in the present contribution. 



My view in Fig. 2 of some of the houses in the pueblos of 

 Acoma, New Mexico, shows very well their structure and ar- 

 rangement. It will be seen that they are built in three tiers or 

 terraces, one on top of another. The material used is adobe cobble- 

 stone flakes gathered from the country about, and laid in adobe 

 or mud-mortar. The roofs are made of cedar rafters, hewn and 

 brought in by the men, who also fetch in most of the stone material. 

 Plastering, however, is done by the women, who puddle the mud 

 and lay it on with their hands. While thus engaged, its consist- 

 ency is regulated by their squirting water upon it, which they 

 take into their mouths for the purpose. It will be observed that 

 the lower stories of houses have few or no entrances, and this is 

 undoubtedly for the purpose of defense. Their roofs form the ter- 

 race to the second tier, which is reached by the means of ladders. 



