616 ARCH^OLOGICAL FIELD WORK IN ARIZONA IN 1897. 



plastered on a base of cobblestones. The upright walls, separating 

 the rooms, were very smooth and thick. Excavations in this mound 

 revealed little of archaeological value, and no house burials were found. 



The rooms north of this central mound had been thoroughly dug out 

 by the adobe seekers, and it was said that pottery of fine make had 

 been taken from this place. The surface of the ground in the immedi- 

 ate neighborhood was strewn with worked stoues, metates, grinding 

 stones, and fragments of decorated pottery left there by the workmen. 

 Among the objects thus abandoned were some of the finest metates 

 that I have ever seen, and it would not be extravagant to state that 

 there were over fifty rubbing stones in sight on the surface of one 

 of these mounds. The more valuable objects and all whole pieces of 

 pottery had been removed by the Mexican workmen. 



The road from Solomonville to San Jose bisects Epley's ruin with 

 mounds on both sides, connected by sections of walls visible in the 

 roadbed. There are large quantities of broken pottery on the surface 

 of all elevations in the immediate neighborhood. The cluster of mounds 

 on the farm adjoining Epley's belongs, no doubt, to the same composite 

 settlement, and between both these places and the Gila Eiver there are 

 many small hillocks indicative of former habitations. In fact, the 

 whole country from Solomonville to San Jose is thickly dotted with 

 mounds, as if formerly densely populated. 



EUINS NEAR THACHER AND SAFFORD. 



There were several house clusters near the present village, Thacher, 

 although at present little evidence remains above ground of their 

 former position. Perhaps the best preserved mounds are at Mr. L. 

 Place's farm, especially in the cut of the road near his house, where 

 traces of walls can yet be seen. They are being rapidly leveled, and 

 in a few years will disappear completely. Several ancient ollas have 

 been found while excavating irrigation ditches in this neighborhood. 



There are two large ruins at Safford which are worthy of note. One 

 of these is on Mr. Peter Anderson's farm, but the mounds have been 

 leveled and are hard to trace. The ruin at Beebe's place is well 

 marked, and many beautiful specimens of ancient pottery have been 

 taken from this locality. The mounds indicate that the ruin here was 

 very extensive, and although considerable excavation has been carried 

 on much of it has been unsystematic. The original form of the ancient 

 cluster of houses has been well-nigh obliterated, but profitable results 

 are possible, especially in the lowlands surrounding the mounds. 



From an examination of Emory's " Notes" and i^lan of his march it 

 seems probable that he camped not far from this ruin on October 2Sth, 

 1846. A visit to the mounds in this vicinity was disap]3ointing, for 

 most of them had been plowed down to the level of the surrounding 

 plain. There was, however, a small elevation in the midst of a corn- 

 field which probably belonged to the collection referred to by Emory. 



