THE MOQUIS INDIANS OF ARIZONA. 351 



THE MOQUIS MDIANS OF AEIZOjSTA 



By Dk. OSCAR LOEW, 



CHEMIST TO WHEELEK'S SmVEYIXO EXPEDITION. 



AMOXG the aboriginal tribes of the Southwest is that of the 

 MoQuis, an isolated remnant of a former wide-spread nation. 

 These Indians are of particular interest, especially as a study for the 

 ethnologist, on account of their peculiar manner of living, strange 

 customs, etc., as well as in being little known and seldom visited by 

 the white man. 



While the literature of American ethnology teems with interest- 

 ing accounts of the aboriginal race of this country, and is replete with 

 the history of the various other tribes, but little is said regarding the 

 singular and romantic branch of the Pueblos who call themselves 

 " Moquis." Year after year military expeditions have traversed the 

 far West, yet few have been led to the hidden recesses of this tribe ; 

 moreover, theirs is a region seldom visited by civilians, and of these 

 the few coming thither are principally New-Mexicans. 



It was the sixth day after leaving Fort Defiance, that our party, 

 under Lieutenant Russell (of the "Expedition for Explorations and Sur- 

 veys west of the One Hundredth Meridian," in charge of Lieutenant 

 George M. Wheeler, IT. S. Engineers), began to near the Moquis vil- 

 lages, concerning the inhabitants of which we had listened to so many 

 thrilling and marvelous stories. Immediately before us was spread a 

 wide, sandy basin, whose loose, dusty surface offered no verdure to 

 delight the eye, or relieve the wearisome monotony of the barren land- 

 scape. Ten miles away over this trackless desert loomed up, on the 

 western horizon, wide and precipitous cliffs whose heights it would 

 seem impossible to climb. " On those cliffs," said our Navajo guide, 

 " live the Moquis." A few hours later, and we had crossed the sterile 

 waste, and were at the base of the sandstone masses whose outline we 

 had previously traced in the far distance, there to find perched on 

 lofty summits the habitations of the singular people we had come so 

 far to see. 



As we approached, human beings began to throng the rim of the 

 precipitous blufife, their dusky features betraying curiosity over an 

 event so novel and unexpected as the presence of white men at the 

 very threshold of their citadel. We now began the ascent to the vil- 

 lages ; a narrow path led, by a serpentine route, up the dizzy heights, 

 and, in single file, we soon gained the summit; not, however, until we 

 had passed several Moquis posted, sentinel-like, along the approach. 

 Once up the steeps, we were soon surrounded by Indians, when, no- 

 lens volens, a hearty hand-shaking ensued, and friendly intercourse 

 forthwith began. 



