﻿7 TO SMITTTSOXTAN >r TSCRTJ-ANFOUS COLI.F.rTlOXS \"Ol.. "- 



The west wall had settled considerably, more toward the outer end 

 than near the cliff, and at the top the wall had leaned away from the 

 latter fully eii^ht inches. The front wall had split away from the 

 west wall, and the entire southeast corner had fallen except for a 

 short distance at the very top. Evidently the upper half of this corner 

 had come down since Mindeleff made his report of the site (j6th 

 Annual Report. Bur. Am. Ethn.. p. 114). 



As for the cracks in the west wall, they were noticeably wider in 

 Noveml)er, 1924. than they were a year previous. The condition of 

 the unconsolidated mass beneath the front wall was such that the 

 removal of half a dozen shovelfuls of earth would have loosened the 

 large block just beyond its western end, the temporary wedging of 

 which, alone, had prevented the entire collapse of the masonry. In 

 addition to the periodic action of the wind, each visitor who passed 

 from the eastern to the western part of the cave detached a portion of 

 the loose mass below the wall farther down the slope, and sent clods 

 and pebbles rattling over the cliff'. Thus before many }ears it was 

 inevitable that the block would have been loosened, and the Tower 

 would have gone down to its destruction. Hence it was considered 

 that the first remedial effort should be centered upon ])roviding a 

 secure foundation for the ancient masonry. 



To this end Mr. Morris and his party devoted Noveml>er 11 to 

 14, inclusive. The force consisted of three white men and six 

 Indians, with a seventh on the last day. There was no difticulty in 

 obtaining stone, as plenty of it from fallen walls was strewn down the 

 slope at the west end of the eastern section of the cave. Satisfactory 

 adobe was found only in the stream bed several hundred yards away. 

 Owing to the arduous climb, the Indians were scarcely able to provide 

 enough material to keep the masons busy. During the five days, but- 

 tresses were built beneath and enclosing the large blocks under the 

 west end of the Tower, and under the undermined portion of the 

 latter, continuing back to the limit of undermining, and extending 

 well forward of the masonry. At the junction of the two, wedges 

 were driven to knit the new work firmly to the old. From the east 

 end of the buttress a retaining wall was built to connect with the 

 remnant of the old one on the brink of the ledge, and the space 

 behind it was filled, thus providing a platform instead of the former 

 steep slope at the southeast corner of the Tower. 



The total length of walls built was 26^ feet, and their average height 

 was 4I feet. The thickness, of the buttresses varied with the space 

 they were to occupy. From a minimum of i^ feet, they ranged to a 



