^^^?^f/°^l CLIMATE AND EVIDENCE OF CLIMATIC CHANGES 47 



drainage by cutting down of outlet, withdrawal of water from tribu- 

 tary streams for irrigation, and prevention of run-off from adjacent 

 territory into the lakes by the cultivation of the soil; or the change 

 in area may represent merely temporary fluctuation in climate, as is 

 known to occur mth more or less regularity in cycles of a few years, 

 so that in any given case it is well to refrain from hasty conclusions 

 without sufficient acquaintance with all the facts. However, after 

 all proper deductions are made, there still remains much evidence 

 of recent changes of climate in various parts of the world. This 

 subject is pursued somewhat further in the section on Geological 

 Evidence of Change of Climate. 



Archeological and Historical Evidence of Change of Climate 



It has often been suggested by archeologists and others that the 

 great number of ruins scattered throughout the Southwest in regions 

 now deserted, apparently because of insufficient -moisture to support 

 a large population, points to the probability that ^\'ithul compara- 

 tively recent times the whole region has experienced great desiccation. 

 It was a matter of almost universal comment among early as well 

 as more recent explorers in the Southwest that the population was 

 formerly much greater than now, and numerous traditions concerning 

 the decrease in rainfall are reported. Loew * says: 



All the Spanish records, though sometimes very untrustworthy, agree in one point — 

 the large number of inhabited towns. If the statements of the Spanish writers are 

 founded on truth, the number of these towns was ten times that of the present pueblos, 

 or Indian towns, while, by a close examination, we arrive at a number about four 

 times as great. Some Spanish writers estimated the whole pueblo population at 

 about 50,000; others, however, that of a single province at 25,000. As a proof of Span- 

 ish exaggeration, however, I may mention Castaiieda's description of Acoma, a town 

 which, according to his estimate, was inhabited by 5,000 persons, and waf; built in 

 three parallel rows of houses. Now, I have visited this town and found the three 

 rows of houses still existing. . . But these rows of houses, which could never 



have been any longer, could not have held more than about 1 , 000 people . At present the 

 population of the town is 800. Still it is an undeniable fact that New Mexico had a 

 much greater Indian population formerly than now — a fact clear to anyone on viewing 

 the numerous ruins. . . . Upon asking my Indianguide whether the former inhab- 

 itants of this town [near Jemez] were obliged to descend the steep and dangerous 

 pathway every day to the creek to procure water, he replied that there were cisterns 

 on the mesa, in which rain, formerly plentiful, was caught. 



General vague Indian and Mexican traditions concerning the 

 former abundance of water are of little value; these may have been 

 suggested by the same physical phenomena as suggest the idea to 

 modern white travelers. Definite traditions of the former existence 

 and drying up of particular springs and streams, on the other hand, 

 may have some value. 



1 Loew, Oscar, Report on the Ruins of New Mexico, in Ann. Rep. U.S. Geog. Eipl. A Surv. H'. of 

 100th Meridian for 1875, pp. 174-78, 1875; Fiivil Report of same Survey, vol. \ti, 337-45, 1879. 



