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limited territory reserved for them, and tlie Moquis will probably 

 be allowed to die in peace. Their towns, which are built of stone 

 and adobe, on lofty mesas, will slowly ci arable, as the inhabitants 

 decrease in numbers, and eventually another series will be added to 

 the ruins of the Rocky Mountain region. 



Some of the existing ruins are in a comparatively good state of 

 preservation. They are what may be termed the recetit ruins. 

 That is, they are the remains of those dwellings which were last 

 occupied. But what time has elapsed since they were abandoned 

 is unknown. I should say not less than two hundred years for 

 those immediately along the Colorado and San Juan rivers; while 

 others farther north, that are almost shapeless masses of debris, are 

 certainly, at the very least, five hundred years old ; even a thousand 

 years does not appear irrational. AVeathering, in the Eocky Moun- 

 tain region, is an exceedingly slow process, especially in the valleys. 



Some of the least disintegrated ruins that I remember are situ- 

 ated on the Colorado, only a short distance below the mouth of the 

 Dirty Devil River. The canon walls at this point are low, and 

 beaten trails that lead down on both sides indicate that it was an 

 old and well-known crossing. The ruins, then, were doubtless 

 once the stronghold of a Shinumo outpost. The most prominent 

 building stood upon a cliff — a rocky promontory rising about two 

 hundred feet above the river on the south side. At the base was a 

 long narrow strip of alluvial soil, fringed by willows, and two or 

 three feet above ordinary high-water mark. 



This must have been cultivated by the inhabitants of the houses ; 

 for by this time they must have learned to utilize the water of the 

 river in fostering their crops, and were not entirely dependent on 

 the scanty rainfall. Broken pottery, chips of chalcedony, and 

 fragments of arrowheads, were strewn thickly about, but more 

 particularly immediately at the foot of the cliff. The summit was 

 gained by ascending a talus and huge fragments of the topmost 

 stratum. 



The situation was admirably adapted for defense, and commanded 

 an extensive view in every direction. The lookout house, standing 

 almost upon the brink of the precipice, was red sandstone, rectan- 

 gular, and some eighteen feet long. It had been two stories high^ 

 Three walls, twelve or thirteen feet in height, still remained stand- 



