66 THE CLIMATIC FACTOR AS ILLUSTRATED IN ARID AMERICA. 



where there is so httle water? Missions are usually located in the best places in the 

 country, where villages still prosper. Here, on the contrary, a permanent village was 

 impossible before the days of wells. At most the Indians could only Uve here for a few 

 months during the flood season; their permanent village must have been elsewhere. WTiy, 

 then, should so substantial a mission have been estabhshed? Also why is there no well 

 close to it, but only a canal which is dry most of the year? The only answer seems to 

 be that probably in the latter half of the eighteenth century, when the Spanish fathers 

 came this way, a longer or shorter period of abundant precipitation had produced a supply 

 of water somewhat greater than exists at present. We are far from saying that this indi- 

 cates a change of climate in so short a time as a century and a half; yet it seems to sug- 

 gest that fluctuations of fairly long period are now in progress, and that in the eighteenth 

 century the country was blessed with a period when the rainfall for a while was somewhat 

 more abundant than during the average seasons of the last three or four score years. 



Below Buzani no agriculture is carried on to-day: the floods are too uncertain to 

 make it worth while for any one to attempt to rely on farming, although one or two cattle- 

 ranchers plant a little grain if water happens to be abundant. Nevertheless, about 10 

 miles below Buzani, above the ranch of Alamo San Francisco, we discovered a ruin of the 

 regulation type. The natives apparently knew nothing of it, but by searching along the 

 terrace corresponding to the one where most of the ruins are situated, we found it. For 

 over a mile it stretches east and west beside the dry stream-bed, while the width, as usual, is 

 only about a third of the length. Practically the whole of this large area is thickly covered 

 with artifacts, chiefly pottery of the same type as in the Santa Cruz ruins, but with a few 

 new patterns. Shells of clams and other animals also abound, indicating proximity to the 

 sea. Another notable feature is numerous patches of hard clay about 3 feet in diameter. 

 They are burned to a red color to a depth of from 4 to 6 inches and appear to be fire-places. 

 Judging by modern fire-places, such a depth of burning must indicate prolonged or constant 

 use. Besides these there are numerous other round beds of small cobbles, which may also 

 be fire-places. Often these are in ruins and charcoal is mingled with the stones. The 

 number of inhabitants may have been considerable. The area of the village is greater than 

 that of modern Caborca, whose population, according to Mr. Harrison, may be conservatively 

 estimated at about 1,500. The number of fire-places and the thickness of the pottery suf- 

 ficiently indicate a dense population. If the houses were as near together as at the little 

 village of Sabino near Tucson, which, it will be remembered, was less densely peopled than 

 most of the ruins, the number of families was probably at least 400. 



Another old town, San Francisco, is found 4 or 5 miles below Alamo San Francisco, 

 and still farther from any visible source of water. Its essential features are like those of 

 the neighboring ruin, save that no clay fire-places were noted, only those of cobble-stones. 

 This ruin is smaller than the other, only about 2,000 feet long, and the pottery is not so 

 thickly strewn. 



Below San Francisco we found no pottery or evidences of ancient occupation for about 

 25 miles. Possibly ruins exist and were missed because we followed the sandy wagon 

 trail and could not inspect the edge of the terrace for miles at a time. Finally, at Disem- 

 boque, near the mouth of the river, pottery appears once more. How great an area it 

 covers is not certain, but it is widely spread. A little more than a mile from the sea the 

 dry channel of the Altar breaks through a ridge of sand-dunes 15 to 20 feet high, which 

 apparently mark the line of an old strand located 5 or 10 feet above the present level of 

 the Gulf of California. At places the old strand and that of to-day come close together, 

 but usually they are distinct. Possibly there has not been an actual change in the level 

 of the sea, but merely a building out of a delta by the river. At any rate, when the Hoho- 

 kam dwelt here, the seashore seems to have been farther inland than now. Habitations 

 were built close to it, as is proved by the great abundance of pottery. Here, if one may 



