REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 189 



supplying its parties in the field and of its business operations in (lie 

 Bast. His relations with the members of both Houses of Congress, dur- 

 ing the many years he appeared before that body in the interests of the 

 U. S. Geological Survey and other scientific organizations, were always 

 pleasant, and the members of Congress, of both parties, had faith in 

 his integrity. Senator Edmunds once declared ou the floor of the 

 Senate, when some Senator proposed a reduction in the salaries of the 

 director and executive officer of the Geological Survey, that Mr. Steven- 

 son was "one of the best workers in the world." 



In 187!) he began the exploration of the prehistoric cliff and cave 

 dwellings of Arizona and New Mexico, unearthing an extended series 

 of buried ruins and making a large invaluable collection of ancient 

 pottery, costumes, weapons, and ceremonial and industrial utensils, 

 now in the National Museum. He made a study of the religious prac- 

 tices of the Zuni tribe of Indians and the history and folk lore of the 

 Navajos and the Moquis. In this latter work he had a faithful assist 

 ant in Mrs. Stevenson, who made an especial study of the domestic 

 and religious side of the Indian character. It was a source of regret 

 to Mr. Stevenson that his duties with the Survey prevented him from 

 completely publishing the investigation he had planned, and it remains 

 for his widow to complete for publication the results of the work which 

 they began together. 



In 1886, while exploring some of the highest mesas of Arizona and 

 New Mexico, he was attacked by that singular disease of those regions 

 known as"mouutain fever," from which he partially recovered after 

 his return to the East. In spite of the remonstrances of his friends he 

 spent the season of 1887 among the ruins iu the Tewan Mountains of 

 New Mexico and at the pueblo of Sia, where he found a rich field for 

 study. He discovered that the Sia, like the Moki, hold ceremonials 

 with the rattlesnake (a secret most jealously guarded by these Indians), 

 and he succeeded in obtaining one of the ancient vases in which the 

 snakes are each year gathered. His collection of idols and fetishes 

 from Sia is the rarest yet obtained from any pueblo. 



When he came East in November he was suffering from valvular 

 heart trouble, and, after a brave fight for life, died in New York City 

 July IT), 1888. 



The full story of his useful life would fill a book. His resources 

 when leading a party through a wild district were limitless, and he was 

 always ready to meet, by quick action and apt understanding, any acci- 

 dent or miscarriage in the field. One of his associates tells the follow- 

 ing incident, which illustrates the readiness of his faculties: 



den. L869, Colorado and New Mexico, with Hay den. 1870, Wyoming and Utah, 

 with Hayden. 1871, parts of Utah, Mali", Montana, and Yellowstone Park. L872, 

 parts of Idaho, Wyoming, and Yellowstone Park. 1873-76, Colorado, under Haydeu. 

 1-7T, Wyoming ami Utah, with Hayden. 187a, Yellowstone National Park, "iili 

 Haydeu. I among the Navajos and Puehlos of New Mexico and Arizona and 



Mission [r.diaus of Southern California, under Major Powell. 



