NINETEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 73 



hundred feet from the western mound, and the other mounds in the crescent are 

 about eighty feet apart. The western mound is thirty feet in diameter, and when 

 discovered was three and a half feet in height. The eastern mound is twenty feet 

 in diameter, and when discovered was two feet in height. The other two mounds 

 are twelve feet in diameter, but have been nearly obliterated by the ravages of time, 

 by the burrowing of animals, and by the despoliation of curious people. 



These mounds were discovered by John Davis, Esq., of Junction City, who for- 

 merly owned the land on which they are located. In the year 1879, he employed a 

 man to open the mounds, who spent several days in exploring them. Selecting the 

 largest mound, he dug a trench from the circumference through the center, care- 

 fully removing the dirt and stones, which, without order, were packed together in a 

 mass. The limestones in large number, packed with the dirt, have evidently been 

 taken from a stratum of the same, which outcrops lower down the bluEf. 



It proved to be a mound of sepulture. The bodies seemed to have been laid on 

 the surface of the ground, without any order, and the mound of mingled dirt and 

 stones raised over them. The mound has been well dug out, and the interior now 

 presents a mass of limestones of all sizes promiscuously thrown upon each other. 

 The stones and some of the bones still retain evidences of heat having been applied 

 when the bodies were buried. The number of teeth found would indicate that per- 

 haps eight persons had been interred. Numerous fragments of the most primitive 

 pottery — apparently urns — were found in the mound. Probably a hundred beads of 

 soft limestone, and of encrinites, were taken from the mound. The teeth found 

 were generally sound; although some were worn to the gums, but one tooth was found 

 decayed. It is almost a certainty that one mound-builder had the toothache. There 

 was one pipe found, in the shape of a double moccasin, three inches in length from 

 toe to toe. The bowl of the pipe was in the center an inch deep. The stem entered 

 at one toe; the other toe had no orifice. This pipe was accidentally broken. Prob- 

 ably a dozen or two arrowheads were found. Some of the bones bore marks of the 

 teeth of wild animals. Possibly a skirmish may have taken place between hostile 

 parties at this point. After the bodies of the slain had lain on the field, and been 

 partly devoured by wild animals, the remains may have been gathered up and buried 

 in these mounds. 



RESULTS OF SOME EXPLORATIONS AMONG THE PUEBLO RUINS IN 



NEW MEXICO. 



BY ,T. R. MEAD, WICHITA. 



In western New Mexico, twenty miles north of Grant station, on the Atlantic <fc 

 Pacific Railroad, there rises to the height of over 11,000 feet the burnt volcanic moun- 

 tain known to the Mexicans as San Mateo, and to the Americans as Mount Taylor. 

 This mountain is associated with the mythology, traditions and superstitions of the 

 Zunis, the Acomas, the Lagunas and Navajoes, who inhabit the country now, as they 

 did in 1539, when Friar Marcos de Nieza and Stephanus first came to spy out their 

 country. In the apex of this mountain is a natural cavity, in which the pueblo people 

 believe the Deity of rain and thunder resides, for around its peak the clouds first 

 gather which send their life-giving floods into the valleys below; and annually parties 

 from each of the pueblos visit the summit of the mountain, and in the cavity deposit 

 their offerings of meal, beads, and bundles of curiously-ornamented sticks and painted 

 feathers, after which they perform their religious ceremonies with as sincere devo- 

 tion as their Mexican neighbors kneel before the cross. From the cavity three paths, 

 kept open and clear of leaves and grass, spread out to the southwest like a huge 



