466 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



also appear on top of the mounds. It may be mentioned that there is 

 no evidence of a sagebrush clearing in the area about Sun Temple, 

 which supports the theory that it was unfinished and uninhabited. 

 Had Sun Temple been a domicile we would expect what we find in 

 the neighborhood of Mummy Lake, some evidences of cultivated 

 fields. 



The sagebrush clearings are very fertile and throughout the 

 summer months are carpeted with flowers, the most abundant of 

 v.hich is the " Indian paint brush " ; later these plants, rare or un- 

 known among the cedars, are succeeded by various species of asters. 

 On account of the large number of flowering plants in the sage- 

 brush clearings, unusually tame humming birds are very common, 

 but with the advent of autumn they likewise vanish and the leaves 

 of the scrub oaks change their colors and the mesa top is brilliantly 

 painted with bright yellow and red. Almost everywhere, especially 

 over the surface of the mounds, fragments of pottery are abundant, 

 and here and there on the level surface between the mounds are re- 

 mains of low stone walls, suggesting pit-houses,^ gardens, or irri- 

 gating ditches. 



There are several clusters of mounds visible from near the Mummy 

 Lake group. On the side of Soda Canyon there is an elevated out- 

 crop, called Steamboat Eock, which protects a cluster of mounds, 

 with sunny southern exposure, from the north winds. In a clearing 

 on hills near the head of Soda Canyon there are also mounds or 

 sites of former pueblos. It is important to note that these groups 

 of mounds always occur in sagebrush clearings; their occurrence 

 among cedars, where they are smaller, is common but less conspicu- 

 ous. The many flowers blooming in these localities show that the 

 land is rich, and it is probable that Indian corn could still be grown 

 on the Mesa without artificial irrigation. 



MOUND EXCAVATED. 



The moimcl in the Mummy Lake group chosen as a type for ex- 

 cavation to determine the character of Mesa Verde pueblos is situ- 

 ated four miles and a quarter due north of Spruce-tree House, and 

 is one of sixteen scattered at intervals on both sides of the GoA^ern- 

 ment road. It stands about an eighth of a mile east of this road, 

 a few steps from the rim of Soda Canyon. This pueblo (pi. 4) might 

 be called Far View House, for the distant southern outlook from it 

 is very fine and has been commented upon by almost every visitor.^ 



1 It would be futile in the present state of our knowledge to speculate on the number 

 of the inhabitants of these buildings long ago fallen into ruins, if simultaneously Inhab- 

 ited. There is no d«ubt it was large, much greater than suspected by early investigators. 

 We are on the threshold of a great research and every year's field work will advance us 

 a step in deciphering the history of this interesting race. 



2 The name Far View House, which calls attention to this fact, was suggested by one of 

 my workmen, Mr. Jason Myers. 



