126 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



the prehistoric canals in Salt River Valley. 1 My trustworthy infor- 

 mant was a reformed cowboy who had his information from a pro- 

 fessional hunter who had actually seen the baskets while chasing 

 cougars up and down the mountain side. Now, as a rule, hunters and 

 cowmen are so preoccupied with signs of predatory animals and moss- 

 back steers that they pay little attention to anything else along the 

 trails they travel. But here was a hunter who knew what he had seen 

 and where he had seen it ; and here was a cowboy so enthusiastic over 

 archeology that he made mental note of all available details concerning 

 this particular occurrence. Which information in due course was 

 generously placed at my disposal. Yet it was not until the summer of 

 1931 brought warning that pot-hunters (diggers of curios for the 

 commercial trade) were working toward the isolated region in which 

 I was interested that provision was made for an early reconnaissance. 

 Needless to say, this was undertaken with specific authorization from 

 the Department of the Interior, as required by law. 



In consequence of all this, the first week of September found me 

 in Phoenix ; a few days later, at Sawmill — mere speck on the serpen- 

 tine road from San Carlos Agency to Fort Apache and beyond. With 

 three weeks on horseback immediately in store, Previous Experience 

 suggested that I take advantage of the modest comforts at hand and, 

 while the saddle was getting used to me, examine those caves known 

 to exist in the hills round about. So we rode part way down Sawmill 

 Canyon, which nature never designed as a bridle path, and next day we 

 walked 5 or 6 miles up Bronco Canyon and back again just because 

 a horse with more than two feet could not possibly pick a way between 

 the tumbled boulders. 



Two of the five caves we "" entered in Bronco Canyon had once been 

 inhabited by aborigines. The larger of the two, a huge duplex affair 

 (fig. ii<>), obviously was occupied throughout a considerable period 

 but its entire ceiling has since fallen and permanently buried whatever 

 of material culture lies within. Piled among these tons of broken lime- 

 stone was the nest of a pack rat ; we pilfered from his private museum 

 (as a hobby, every pack rat collects queer curios) a painted bow, sev- 

 eral reed arrows with long wooden tips, potsherds, etc. The small but 

 alluring cave visible in the west wall of the canyon 500 feet or more 



Explorations and field-work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1929, pp. 177- 

 182, 1930. Explorations and field-work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1930, 

 pp. 157-166, 1931. 



2 Throughout his three weeks in the field, the writer was accompanied by 

 Serg. Phillip E. Howard as guide; young Don Thompson of San Carlos, 

 joined us at Ash Creek ranch. 



