22 TWO summers' work in pueblo ruins [eth. ANN. 22 



lloiiiololii tliis t'arin was green with alfalfa and various market vege- 

 tables. 



A failure of the rain and the corn crop is distinctly mentioned as 

 one of the causes which led the Patki and other southern Hopi clans 

 to leave their settlements along the Little Colorado, l)ut it is also 

 stated that they were afllicted by a kind of gnat or sand flea in some 

 of their earlier halting places. Possibly their dwellings became so 

 infected with vermin as to lead to their abandonment." 



The Little Colorado river was dry during the work at llomolobi, and 

 was crossfMl and recrossed almost anywhere, the sole obstruction being 

 the steep banks, which were several feet high. Late in the summer, 

 however, it became a raging torrent, imjjassable save in one or two 

 places, and even these were dangerous on account of the many quick- 

 sands. It is not improbable that the gi'eat freshets of the river may 

 have had an important iiiHueuee in the altandonment of the second 

 ruin of the Homolobi group, one side of which is completely worn 

 away, although of course it is not unlikelj^ that this happened after 

 its abandonment. Evidence of similar ercjsion is also apparent on the 

 river side of ruin 1 of the Homolobi group; cemeteries on that side, 

 if they ever existed, have long since disappeared. 



Ruins near Winslow 



As has been noted, the Hopis say that the ancestors of the Patki 

 or Water-house* people lived in the far south. This tradition is very 

 definite, and it eveii declares that they once inhabited a pueblo 

 called Homolobi, stating tliat the position of this ancestral dwelling 

 was near where the railroail crosses the Little Coloi-ado, not far from 

 the town called Winslow. With this exact statement as a guide the 

 aixthor went immediately to that town, having made arrangements 

 with some Hopi workmen to join him thei'e. 



The ruins on the Little Colorado near Winslow were identified as 

 the Homolol)i group by Mr Cosmos Mindeleff, who mentions 10 ruined 

 pueblos in this immediate vicinity, but his refei'ence to them is brief, 

 and includes no attempt at description. The best-informed inhab- 

 itants of Winslow were ignorant of the existence of ruins near their 

 village, and but for the confidence he had in the legends of the Hopis 

 the author also would have doubted their existence. 



The site of Homolobi was found to be exactly where the Hopi stories 

 placed it, arid archeological results confirmed the identification. The 

 author found not onl}'IIomolol)i, butalso three other ruins in the imme- 

 diate neighborhood of Winslow, and before a month had passed demon- 



" The trail from Beaver Head in tlie Verde valley to Flagstaff, especially not far from Rattle- 

 snake Tanks, has a very bad reputation for the small ^nat, which gives much annoyance to 

 travelers. 



f' The name Water-house means cloud, and the membei"s of this clan are called both the rain 

 .and the clotid people. 



