374 GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



of former habitations, similar to those already described; tne greater 

 majority occurring in the level bottoms and on the low spurs of the 

 escarpment. 



Two or three miles below the house in Fig. 12, we discovered a wall 

 standing in the thick brush upon the opposite side of the river. Con- 

 siderable difficulty was experienced in crossiug; in some places having 

 to cut our way through the entangling vines with our belt-knives, and 

 then, when the bed of the stream was reached, had to follow it some 

 distance before an opportunity occurred to emerge. 



The walls before us were a portion of an old tower, (see Fig. 1, Plate ,) 

 in the midst of a group of more dimly marked ruins or foundations, 

 extending some distance in each direction from it. As seen in the 

 figure referred to, the tower consists of two lines of walls, the space 

 between them divided into apartments, with a single circular room in 

 the center. The outside diameter of all is 25 feet, that of the inner 

 circle 12* feet, and as the walls were respectively 18 and 12 inches in 

 thickness, left a space of 4 feet for the small rooms. This outer circle 

 was evidently divided into six equal apartments, but only the divisions 

 marked in the diagram could be distinguished. In the places where 

 they should have occurred, the walls are so broken down and covered 

 with debris as to render all details indistinguishable. Where the walls 

 are standing, they show small window-like doors opening into the inner 

 circle. The highest portion of the inner wall is now not more than 8 

 feet, and of the outer about 15. From the amount of debris, it could 

 not have been much higher — not more than 20 feet at the most. The 

 space between the walls is filled with debris, while outside there is very 

 little, except where the wall is totally ruined. 



The stones of which this tower was constructed are irregular in size 

 and shape, but with the outer face dressed to a uniform surface, and of 

 the same average size as those already described. The mortar and 

 "chinking" had been worn out entirely from the more exposed portions, 

 giving the wall the appearance of having been dry-laid; but upon pull- 

 ing away some of the stones to a little depth, they were found to have 

 been well cemented. 



Passing on down the canon, not stopping now to notice the more ordi- 

 nary forms of ruins, we passed the mouths of numerous side-canons, 

 down which come great freshets during the rainy season, gouging out 

 deep arroyos, and strewing the surface with the collected debris of pinon 

 and cedar, sage-brush and cacti. About the mouth of Coal Canon, par- 

 ticularly, the whole surface of the " wash" was covered with lumps of 

 fine-looking bituminous coal, as though a thousand coal-carts had trav- 

 eled that way with their tail-boards out. 



We camped at sunset at what our guide called the Battlesnake Bend, 

 within a half dozen miles of the outlet of the carion. We had not dis- 

 covered any more of the high cliff-houses during the day; but there is 

 no doubt that, if we had had a good field-glass with us, many more might 

 have been found along the crevices near the summit of the escarpment. 

 To have verified our suppositions by a personal inspection would have 

 involved a great deal of labor, and more time than we could have spared 

 from our very scanty store. In the vicinity of our camp, the caiion 

 changed much in appearance; instead of the long slope of talus capped 



* These dimensions were estimated from the photograph after leaving the locality, 

 not having the time or appliances for accurate measurement while there. The same 

 ruin has since been examined by Mr. Holmes and accurately measured, with the follow- 

 ing results: Diameter over all 43 feet; of the inner circle, 25 feet. Mr. Holmes also 

 makes out ten apartments instead of sis. Bulletin No. 1, vol. 2, p. 11. 



