174 TWO SUMMERS WORK IN PUEBLO RUINS [eth. ann.22 



out its entire length, from Biiena Vista to Pima, and the indications 

 are that the population was larger and had a greater number of acres 

 of land under cultivation than at the present time. 



In a valley which was so densely i">opulated we should expect to 

 find a large number of antiquities, stone implements, oUas, and other 

 forms of pottery. From all that can be learned compaiatively few 

 specimens have been dug out of the ground, although there are sev- 

 eral private collections of some size. Different farmers have told the 

 author of plowing off the necks of rows of buried vessels, and work- 

 men on the irrigating ditches report finding pottery in aliundance in 

 several places far from mounds; l)ut the large majority of i-elics are 

 still under ground, and probably will remain there for years to come, 

 now that the fields above them are cultivated. The only collections 

 of any size which have found their way to public institutions, and 

 are therefore available for study, are one of a few specimens in Tucson 

 and that which was brought back to the National Museum. 



Changes in the Valley Since 1847 



Great changes have been wrought in the appearance of Pueblo Viejo 

 since Emory passed through it in 184(3, for if any white man lived 

 there at that time he says nothing about him. There were evidently 

 no settlements, for he wrote : 



Everywhere there were marks of flowing water, yet vegetation was so scarce 

 and crisp that it would be difficult to imagine a drop of water had fallen since last 

 winter. . . . The dust was knee-deep in the rear of our trail; the soil appeared 

 good, but for whole acres not a sign of vegetation was to be seen. Grass was at 

 long intervals, and, when found, burnt to a cinder. 



In a prophetic way he added : 



The whole plain, from 3 to 6 miles wide, is within the level of the Gila, and 

 might easily be irrigated, as it no doubt was by the tenants of these ruined 

 houses." 



Ancient mounds, in much the same condition as those in Pueblo 

 Viejo formerly were in, still remain in the long stretch of country 

 between Geronirao and Dudleyville, across the southwestern corner 

 of the Apache reservation, wherever there are plains along the Gila, 

 but white settlers have worked marvels in other parts of the valley, 

 which may now be said, using a familiar simile, to "blossom as the 

 rose." At present Pueblo Viejo, from Buena Vista to Pima, which 

 towns mark the limits of the author's acquaintance with it, is one 

 succession of cultivated farms of corn, alfalfa, and melons, a garden 

 of Arizona in which any crop can be raised. 



It seems incredible that in fifty years such great changes should 

 have taken place, yet it was to be expected, for in prehistoric times 



11 Notes of a Military Reoonnoissance, Washington. 1848, p. 68. 



