35 



tbe Hue of bluffs, to the valley of a small tributary, tlieu over another 

 divide across the upturned edges of the great fold spoken of in the first 

 part of this article, to quite an expansion of the valley of the Chelly, 

 about one rpile square, covered with sage-brush and drifted sand, 

 on the upper or right-hand side of which we are fortunate enough to 

 find two springs of cool, fresh water, a most delicious luxury where the 

 temperature of the water of the San Juan was SO degrees, and the coldest 

 to be had, and the temperature of the atmosphere away up in the hun- 

 dreds during the day-time. 



The surface of this valley, or small plain, contains indications of old 

 ruins, about which we picked up many arrows, knives, and other stone 

 implements, with the ever-present pottery. The wash of the Chelly 

 skirts one side of the valley, with perpendicular bluffs 200 to 400 feet 

 high, closely bordeiing its other bank. Above and below the opposite 

 bluffs rise up again, throwing the wash into deep canons. An exami- 

 nation of the exceedingly tortuous course of the wash and its accom- 

 panying bluff-line for a distance of 5 miles up and down revealed but 

 one ruin (Plate 19), a very important and interesting one, however. 



This cave-town occurs in a great bend of the encircling line of bluffs, 

 where the wash makes a wide detour, perched upon a recessed bench 

 about 70 feet above the valley, and overhung by a solid wall of massiv'e 

 sandstone extending up over 200 feet farther. The left-hand side of the 

 bench supporting the buildings sweeps back in a sharp curve about 80 

 feet under the bluff', and then gradually comes to the front again until, 

 on the extreme right hand, the buildings are built upon a mass of debris, 

 but partially protected overhead. The total length over the solidly- 

 built portion of the town is 545 feet, with a greater width in no place 

 of more than 40 feet. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 

 rooms upon the ground-plan, with some uncertainty existing as to 

 many of the subdivisions on the right hand in the vicinity of d and e ; 

 but in the cave-built portion every apartment was distinctly marked. 

 Midway in the town is a circular room of heavily and solidly built 

 masonry, that was probably intended for an estufa or council hall ; 

 that is, if we can reasonably assume any similarity in the methods of 

 building or worship to those of the Pueblos of New Mexico. Start- 

 ing from this estufa is a narrow passage running back of the line of 

 houses on the left to the two-story group, a, where it ends abruptly, 

 further access being had through the back row of rooms, or over the 

 roofs of the lower front row, probably the latter, for it is likely that 

 these roofs served as a platform from which to enter the rooms back 

 of it. At the extreme end a still higher ledge occurs, with the over- 

 hanging wall coming down close over it, its outer edge inclosed by 

 a wall, and a little store-room in its farther corner ; it was reserved, 

 probably, -as an out-door working-room. All the buildings of this half 

 are of one story, with the exception of the group a, the residence prob- 

 ably of the chief or of some other important family in the community. 

 The rooms just back of it are the store-rooms of the family, where the corn 

 and squashes were put away for the winter's consumption. At the place 

 marked h, near these store-rooms, there are two half-round inclosures of 

 stone-work, that are very likely the remains of small reservoirs or 

 springs. The rock back of them is dug out beneath, and had, even in 

 the dry season, when we were there, a damp appearance, as though 

 water was not far removed, and might easily be coaxed to the sur- 

 face. The front line of wall of this left side of the town is built upon a 

 steep angle of smooth rock, with the interior of the apartments filled 

 up with earth so as to make their floors level, bringing them a little 



