58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull, to 



the top of this debris on its southern side stands a well-constructed 

 tower with well-made doorway, the threshold and lintel of which 

 are smooth stones, whose edges project slightly from the surface of 

 the wall. One remarkable feature of this tower is that the doorway 

 has been walled up with rude secondary masonry (pi. 25, a). The 

 south wall of this building has tumbled over, as is usually the case, 

 but the north wall rises several feet above the base. The masonry 

 of the second tower is also broken down on the south side, but the 

 standing remains of the north wall, which is circular, are over 10 

 feet high. The indications are that the ground plan of this building 

 was oval in shape and that it inclined inward slightly from founda- 

 tion to apex. Scattered over the surface are the remnants of fallen 

 walls, and near it there is a well-marked depression, not unlike those 

 found in unit-type mounds, indicating kivas. 



TOWERS OF THE MANCOS 



The author's examination of the towers in the region considered 

 embraced likewise a few in the Mancos Canyon and valley. In all 

 essential features the Mancos towers resemble those of Mesa Verde, 

 the McElmo, and the Yellow Jacket Canyons, and were evidently 

 built by the same people who constructed the towers on Navaho 

 Canyon and elsewhere on the Mesa Verde National Park. A brief 

 reference to two or three of these Mancos Iliver towers may suffice 

 to point out their general structure. 



Holmes Tower 



One of the towers figured by Holmes in 1877 is still among the best 

 preserved in this region and can be visited by following up the Mancos 

 Canyon from the west about 10 miles from where the Cortez road 

 crosses the Mancos River before going on to Ship Rock. There is at 

 this point a bridge and near the crossing an industrial farm of the Ute 

 Reservation where accommodations were obtained. The Mancos 

 Valley widens after leaving the canyon, the southern side of Mesa 

 Verde appearing as a series of high mesas separated by canyons. In 

 the neighborhood of the western end of Mesa Verde are lofty buttes, 

 one called Chimney Rock, another the Ute Woman. This valley and 

 the canyons extending into the Mesa Verde contain numerous piles of 

 stone indicative of buildings of rectangular shape with numerous 

 circular depressions. No cluster of mounds like those in Montezuma 

 Valley was seen, but about 40 sites of buildings were distributed at 

 intervals. None of these have standing walls above ground. 



Following up the Mancos Canyon in a wagon about 9 miles an 

 arroyo was encountered and from there horses were taken and the 

 river crossed to its south bank, above which, on the shelving terrace, 

 is the Holmes Tower, visible many miles down the canyon. This 



