MESA VEEDE PUEBLO FEWKES. 467 



From its highest rooms the corners of the four States of Utah, Ari- 

 zona, New Mexico, and Colorado — the only case in the country where 

 four States meet in one point — can be seen far to the southwest. 

 Sleeping Ute Mountain, Ship Rock, once called the Needles, and 

 distant mountains of Arizona, rise on the horizon to the south 

 and west. In the less distant foreground, beyond a forest of 

 cedars, one can trace several important canyons of the Mesa 

 Verde, among which may be mentioned Navaho, Mancos, and Soda. 

 When the wind is faA^orable, the flag at Spruce-tree camp can be 

 seen as a speck waving above the trees; the course of Spruce-tree 

 Canyon can be traced without difficulty through its whole length. 

 The surface of the land south of the ruins is covered with a dense 

 forest of cedars and pinon trees sloping to the south. Looking back 

 from the well-known tower at the head of Navaho Canyon or across 

 country from the fine ruin, Spring House, one could make out the 

 workmen on the ruin, with a good glass. Not many feet (80) from 

 the southwest corner of the court there is in view a large mound 

 pleading for excavation which may have an interesting story to 

 impart regarding aboriginal culture. Two mounds in the group are 

 situated in the cedars beyond, and a third, of large size, lies just 

 south of the edge of the sagebrush clearing. The site of the pueblo 

 is the most prominent one in the southeast corner of the area, and in 

 a way this pueblo may be said to dominate the others. It was 

 probably the largest, the most populous and important. 



When excavation work was begun, the entire surface of this 

 mound, like all of the group, was covered with sagebrush (pi. 3) 

 and, like them all, showed a deep circular depression in the interior 

 strewn with stones and debris. Some seeker after curiosities had dug 

 a shallow trench on the highest point of the north side, revealing 

 a fragment of a well-made wall and the sides of a doorway. From 

 this a trench had been dug across the mound to what was even- 

 tually found to be the south side. This excavation had not de- 

 termined the form, size, or height of the building, and probably did 

 not reward the workmen with the small objects they sought. 



Almost every visitor to the pueblo while the excavation was in 

 progress remarked on the quantity of debris that filled the rooms 

 and naturally asked whence it came. Many visitors were swre it 

 indicated a great age; that a long time had elapsed to fill the 

 rooms. The writer has also given much thought to this condition 

 and concludes that this alone does not prove a great antiqity. It is 

 difficult to explain this condition and to draw conclusions therefrom, 

 but an examination of the arrangement or stratification of debris in 

 the rooms is significant. For several feet below the surface the 

 debris consists mainly of fallen stones mixed with adobe, resulting 

 from the overturned tops of the walls. Penetrating deeper or below 



