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280 NAVAJO HOUSE-BUILDING—SHUFELDT, : 
and slightly bury their heavier ends in the periphery of the excavation. © 
This primary framework is now strengthened by adding to it other 
pieces, care being taken to leave a proper aperture for a door on the 
side least exposed to the prevailing winds, and an opening at the apex 
to allow the escape of smoke. Soon there is but little left to do, as far 
as the woodwork is concerned, except to fill in the interstices between 
the larger pieces of timber with the lighter poles. 
To give the frame additional strength, pieces of rock are now placed 
here and there, both inside and out, at the lower ends of those pieces of 
timber which, from some cause or other, are the least secure, or are likely 
to slip. Plastering with mud is next in order, and this is thickly laid on 
the outside, filling in as much as possible all the spaces between the 
logs and poles, and piling it up all the way around the base, externally. 
This operation is performed with the naked hands, though occasionally 
a smooth piece of bark may be used in lieu of a trowel, but this is an 
exception. The top of the doorway is squared off with a stout stick as 
a crosspiece, and sometimes the chimney is finished up a little with flat 
stones, as may be seen in the hut in the distance in pl. XL1, and a blanket 
is invariably hung as a door. A few branches are now laid all over the 
outside, as a simple means of protection against dogs and children, who 
might otherwise run over the fresh mud. These are eventually blown 
away, or burned inside. Often an old condemned piece of canvas comes 
into play, being laid over the exterior as far as it will go, and admira- 
bly protecting the plaster against the elements. This finishes the con- 
struction of the primitive Navajo house, and in the spring of 1885 these 
Indians had advanced no further in the construction of their dwellings. 
In pl. xur a Navajo and his sister are seen in the doorway of one of 
the huts heretofore described, and it will be seen that the woman is 
dressed in a somewhat civilized costume. Sheis the only Navajo squaw 
in that part of the country that ever did so, and she both received and 
courted the attention of the soldiers of the garrison, and was withal a 
remarkable character. 
During the following year some of these Navajos commenced build- 
ing in a little more sheltered situation, close to but to the westward of 
the fort. Although they used similar materials to those mentioned in 
my previous description, the form of the house was by no means the 
same. Its sides upon the east and south were vertical; the roof was 
horizontal, while its side to the west was slanting. Moreover, they had 
gotten hold of some old pieces of stove joints and passed them to the 
rear outside where their free end was again turned upwards, and there — 
plastered and stoned up as a chimney (see pl. XL). In many particulars 
this house was far more comfortable and roomy, and as a study it was — 
exceedingly interesting, for it not only showed improvement, but was 
remarkable, inasmuch as it combined that improvement with their — 
pristine notions of house-building, which we see in the slanting west 
side of the structure. In fact it would be difficult to conceive of a 
