216 ANTIQUITIES OF THE VERDE AND WALNUT CREEK [bTH. Ann. 28 
or central building, higher than the surrounding structure, at the very 
top of the hill, in the midst of a level inclosure, protected by a wall, 
while fragments of other walls are found on the sides of the hill. 
About 3 miles down the river from Frog Tanks stand several ruins 
still more important than that just mentioned. One of the most 
imposing of these is on the right of the road to Glendale, on an 
upheaval of rocks the tops and sides of which are surrounded by many 
walls of stone, as shown in plate 102. These walls are nowhere very 
high, but the sides of the outcrop are so steep and the walls so numerous 
that it is evident the place was a well-fortified stronghold.! 
Near a ranch about a mile away are many mounds, evidently 
remains of houses and surrounding walls, indicating the former exist- 
ence of an inclosure of stone, resembling a compound. Many speci- 
mens of stone implements, fragments of pottery, pictographs on 
scattered bowlders (pl. 101), and other examples of aboriginal handi- 
work are said to have been found in this locality. The site of these 
mounds is a gravelly river terrace like that of the rancherias of Walnut 
Creek. Each locality has a place of habitation, and a fortified place 
of refuge in case of attack—the two essential features of ancient 
aboriginal settlements in this part of Arizona. 
CONCLUSIONS 
Kunsuip of Earty INHABITANTS OF WALNUT CREEK AND UPPER 
VERDE VALLEYS 
Very little is known of the kinship relations of the aborigines who 
inhabited the caves and erected the buildings now in ruins in the upper 
Verde and Walnut Creek Valleys. From traditional sources it seems 
probable that some of their descendants, of mixed blood, are to be 
looked for among the Yavapai, Walapai, and Havasupai tribes. The 
Hopi also claim, however, that certain of their clans once lived in the 
Verde Valley, and there are archeological evidences in support of this. 
The structures whose ruins lie to the west of the upper Verde, and 
those situated in the Chino, Williamson, and Walnut Creek Valleys, 
are probably too far west to have been the product of Hopi clans; 
but although their former inhabitants were not Pueblos they built 
dwellings similar in type to those of the latter. 
According to Whipple, Ewbank, and Turner? (Pacific Railroad 
Report, vol. m1, pt. 3, pp. 14-16, Washington, 1856)— 
The vast region toward the south [of San Francisco Mountains], lying between Rio 
Verde and the Aztec Range of mountains, is occupied by Tontos; while west and 
northwest of that range, to the mouth of Rio Virgen, are found a tribe calling them- 
selves Yabipais, or, as sometimes written, Yampais. Their numbers are estimated 
at 2,000 each. Leroux and Savedra believe these three to be allied tribes; but there 
exists some doubt upon the subject. The language of the latter proves that they have 
1 The writer's attention was drawn to this ruin by Mr. Batre, who has extensive mineral claims in this 
neighborhood. 
