ae as 
FEWKES] RUINS ON THE UPPER VERDE RIVER 197 
On approaching Palatki from Black’s ranch by the trail at the 
base of the cliff a number of natural caves are encountered that evi- 
dently were formerly used by the Apache, as their smoke-blackened 
walls are decorated with characteristic Apache pictographs.! No 
indications of house walls were discovered in these caves, and there 
is only scanty evidence of occupancy prior to that of the Apache, 
which was clearly very recent. 
CLIFF-HOUSE AT THE Moutu or Biack’s CANYON 
The small cliff-house at the entrance to Black’s Canyon, on the west 
side, is one of the interesting forms of cliff-houses in the Red Rocks, 
differing from any yet described in the Verde region. The ruin (pl. 
87) spans a narrow crevice, resting partly on the top of a detached 
Fic. 60. Ground plan of cliff-house at the mouth of Black’s Canyon. 
bowlder and partly on a ledge under the wall of the cliff above; in 
other words, the house is situated in part of a recess out of which the 
bowlder has fallen: 
Many pictographs, consisting of zigzag figures, dots, and parallel 
lines, resembling ‘‘counts” and rude faces, occur in the neighborhood 
of this ruin; these are not pecked in the rock surface, as are most 
ancient Pueblo pictographs, but are painted in white, red, or other 
pigments. The ground plan of this ruin is shown in the accompany- 
ing illustration (fig. 60) and its general appearance viewed from the 
hills back of the camp in plate 87. This ruin is much dilapidated, 
most of its walls having fallen; a considerable section, however, 
containing a doorway or window, can still be seen. The house is 
1 Most of the clifi-dwellers’ pictographs are incised, while those made by Apache are painted. 
