116 G. F. Ruxton, Esq., on the Migration 



During this migration they are supposed to have made 

 three great halts, the first of which was on the Gila, a stream 

 which, after jeining the Rio Colorado, runs into the Gulf of 

 California. Here they remained a considerable period, build- 

 ing a city, the remains of which are to be seen covering a 

 large space ; the walls of buildings and acequias, or irriga- 

 ting canals of great depth, are still visible; and immense 

 quantities of broken pottery strew the ground. 



The ruins of two other cities, south of the Gila, are as- 

 signed as other halting-places during their migration ; and 

 these remains are identical with those on the above named 

 river. From the great extent of the foundations of these 

 structures, and parts of walls which are still standing, and 

 which shew that the buildings must have been of extra- 

 ordinary size, these remains have been always termed the 

 Casas Grandes, or Great Houses. Now, northward of the 

 Gila, in the province of New Mexico, and over a vast extent 

 of country, extending from the Rio Grande to the main chain 

 of the Cordillera, are found, at the present moment, many 

 tribes of Indians, who build and inhabit towns and houses of 

 the same form as the Casas Grandes of the ancient Mexicans. 

 Those dwelling in the valley of the Rio Grande are called 

 Pueblo Indians, from the fact of their dwelling in towns, 

 whilst beyond the civilised settlements to the north-west, is 

 a tract of country inhabited by the Moquis, of whom but little 

 is known ; but who are reported to enjoy a comparatively 

 high state of civilisation, — that is, compared to the barbarism 

 of the hunting-tribes. 



It, therefore, appears highly probable that, from this re- 

 gion the ancient Mexicans first emigrated ; and it may be in- 

 ferred that they sprang originally from the Indians now 

 known as Pueblos, or that the latter are a branch of the 

 Aztecs, which remained behind at the time of their first great 

 halt. At all events, we must look to the country north of the 

 Gila, extending to the Great Salt Lake, and bounded on the 

 westward by the Pacific, and eastward by the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, as the locality from whence the Aztecs migrated to the 

 south ; for, to the northward of this tract, the salitrose de- 



