24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 68 



Canyon pictures here reproduced. Mr. Owen, the official farmer of 

 the Ute reservation, and an Indian boy accompanied us, the former 

 as guide, the latter as driver. In penetrating this secluded country 

 we were obliged to camp along the way, but were hospitably received 

 by the few ranchmen along the route and made our home for a few 

 days at Taylor s lower ranch while making our excursions to the ruins. 

 It is a great pleasure to acknowledge this aid and especially that of 

 Mr. Kneale, who aided us in outfitting at Ouray. 



The best preserved examples of characteristic Hill Canyon Ruins 

 belong to the second type, or those not isolated from the neighboring 

 plateau, the most striking of which belong to the mushroom type. 

 Both have a general similarity in circular form and massive walls, 

 recalling&quot;, except in poor quality of masonry the so-called &quot; towers &quot; 

 of the McElmo Canyon. They resemble the &quot; Tower ruin,&quot; found 

 by Prof. Montgomery, in Nine Mile Canyon, on the western slope 

 of the range. Their masonry is composed of natural slabs of rock, 

 rudely fashioned by fracture, but rarely dressed in cubical blocks, as 

 in the towers on the McElmo Canyon. Their exposure to the elements 

 has led to considerable destruction, the adobe in which the walls were 

 laid having been washed out of the joints. The lower courses of 

 stone, as seen in the view of the large ruin perched high above the 

 ranch house, were of larger stones than the upper, and showed more 

 evidences of having been dressed than the flat stones piled one on 

 the other, which form the upper courses. 



RUINS NEAR TAYLOR S LOWER RANCH 

 RUIN A 



The two large buildings near Taylor s lower ranch, ruins A and B, 

 are typical of the first group, the most conspicuous of which, ruin A, 

 is shown in the accompanying figures (pi. 7, b, pi. 8, a). This ruin 

 stands on the point of a high cliff, inaccessible except on the west 

 side. Although the special features of the masonry are somewhat 

 obscured by fallen sections, and the form (fig. 5) is hidden, it is a 

 circular enclosure about 25 feet in diameter, its wall being about 

 13 feet high, at the highest point. Between this high outer wall 

 (fig. 1 1 ) and that of the inner circle, there are remains of a banquette 

 or bench, surrounding the chamber very much broken down. The 

 lower stones are much larger than the upper, similar in this respect 

 to the walls of certain cliff dwellings. The circular room and 



