29 



From the camp at the pueblo Mr. Chittenden, of Mr. Holmes's divis- 

 ion, rode up the Hovenweep some eight miles, to where it divided equally 

 into two branches, and upon the point between these forks he found the 

 remains of a round- tower, commanding an extended view down the 

 main caiion. No other ruins were noticed. 



The parties, under the guidance of Mr. Gardner, camped one night 

 near the head of the Hovenweep, and found there an important group of 

 ruins, described as follows by Mr. Adams : 



" The first of these we met are^ituated at the upper edge of the side 

 of the caiion, about one-third of the distance from the top, on a ledge 

 about 300 feet long and 50 wide. On this small space were crowded 

 some 40 houses, as well as we could judge from the ruins. The general 

 plan of structure was circular, varying in size, but generally from 10 to 

 15 feet in diameter. The stone was dressed to three times the size of 

 an ordinary brick and in the same shape. * * * The whole arrangement 

 of the little town was for defense ; perched up high above, on the sum- 

 mits of bowlders, were little watch-towers, which commanded the plateau 

 above." 



Between the Montezuma and the Hovenweep is a high plateau run- 

 ning north and south, from the San Juan to the Dolores ; the southern 

 portion a level sage-covered plain, while the northern is more undulat- 

 ing and covered with junipers and piiion iDine. Upon this we found the 

 remains of many circular towns, generally occupying slight eminences, 

 and in but one or two cases, as far as we observed, were so entirely 

 demolished that not one stone remained upon another. In one of these 

 exceptions, about half the circumference only of a tower remained, 15 

 feet in height aud of average masonry. Broken pottery was but spar- 

 ingly scattered about, showing them not to have been occupied as 

 much as the very similar remains in the valleys below. This mesa, 

 averaging 500 feet in height above the surrounding country, does not 

 contain a spring or drop of water, except such as may remain in the 

 holes in the rocks after a shower. The soil is thin and sandy, blown 

 off clean to the bed-rock in places, yet what there is is well grassed, 

 and sage-brush flourishes luxuriantly. As cultivation was out of the 

 question, and permanent residence improbable, it is very likely these 

 towns were lookouts or places of refuge for the shepherds, who brought 

 fheir sheep or goats up here to graze, just as the Navajos used to, 

 and the IJtes do at the present time. Rude huts of a later day are 

 now found scattered over its surface, by the side of the washes where 

 water would be likely to collect. 



In traveling down the San Juan, from the mouth of the McElmo, there 

 are not within the first ten or twelve miles any ruins that would claim 

 attention upon a rapid reconnaissance. Indistinguishable mounds of 

 earth frequently occur along the bottom-lands, surrounded by the ever- 

 present fragments of pottery, showing them to be the sites or the re- 

 mains of habitations; the quantity of pottery, domestic utensils, and 

 arrow-points helping somewhat to determine the length of time they 

 were occupied. 



Crossing the mouth of the broad sandy wash of the Montezuma, that 

 is here bordered M'ith groves of brilliantly-green cottonwoods along its 

 arid course, we pass about three miles below, aud find camp under a 

 grove of patriarchal trees within a well-grassed bend of the river. A 

 wide gravelly bench, some 50 feet in height, and running back to the 

 bluff line, rises up abruptly from the bottom-lands ; a few rods below 

 camp, the river in its meandering sweeps close to the foot of this bench, 

 producing an almost perpendicular face. Upon the top of the bench at 



