jackson.] ANCIENT RUINS IN S. W. COLORADO. 379 



a great central tower and smaller surrounding buildings. They cover 

 the whole breadth and length of the land ; and, turn which way we 

 would, we stumbled over the old mounds and into the cellars, as we 

 might call them, of these truly aborigines. The same painted, glazed, 

 and otherwise ornamented ware, of which I have spoken, accompanies 

 each settlement, and we were continually picking up new designs and 

 forms. 



Starting down the canon, which gradually deepened as the table-land 

 rose above us, we found upon each hand very old and faint vestiges of 

 the homes of a forgotten people, but could give them no more atten- 

 tion than merely noting their existence. Half a dozen miles down, 

 and we came upon several little nest-like dwellings, very similar to those 

 in Figs. 5 and 7, but only about 40 or 50 feet above the valley. Two 

 miles farther, and we came upon the tower shown in Fig. 9, standing 

 upon the summit of a great square block of sandstone, some forty feet 

 in height, detached from the bluff back of it. The building, upon its 

 summit, is square, with apertures like windows upon two faces, looking 

 east and north, and very much ruined, but still standing in some places 

 about 15 feet above the rock on which it is built. At the base of the 

 rock is a wall running about it, a small portion only.remaining, the rest 

 thrown down and covered with debris from the house above. 



About here we crossed the boundary-line into Utah, and then, two 

 or three miles farther, we came upon a very interesting group. The 

 valley, at this place, widens out considerably, and in the center stands 

 a solitary butte of dark-red sandstone, upon a perfectly bare and smooth 

 floor of the same, dipping down to the center of the valley at a slight 

 inclination. The butte, a remnant of a former mesa, worn down by 

 time to its present dimensions, is about 100 feet in height and 300 in 

 length ; an irregular mass, seamed and cracked, and gradually going 

 the way its former surroundings have traveled. Eunning about its 

 base, iii irregular lines, are remains of walls, but whether for defense or 

 habitation would be hard now to determine. At the back of the rock, 

 a view of which is had in Fig. 10, are the remains of two quite consid- 

 erable walls, one above the other ; the lower portion — one corner only of 

 a square building, all traces of the remaining portions having entirely 

 disappeared — seemed to serve as a sort of approach to the larger build- 

 ing above, the top of which came up nearly to the summit of the rock. 

 It is about 18 feet in length and 12 feet in height. Portions only of the 

 side-walls, connecting it with the rock, remain. The stones of which it 

 is built are very uniform in size, angle, aud finish, more so than any yet 

 seen, but, like all similarly-exposed buildings, the mortar is washed or 

 worn away entirely from between the outer layers; farther in, it is 

 intact as usual. In front is a single aperture of about 18 by 24 inches, 

 whether for door or window would be hard to guess. The only access 

 to the top of the rock was through the window of this house. On top 

 are evidences of some sort of mason- work, that covers it from one end 

 to the other. All the irregular gaps and crevices have been walled up, 

 probably to make an even surface. But few of the stones remain in 

 position ; in one or two places, three or four courses, all the rest are 

 thrown down and scattered. 



In the rear, about fifty yards removed, are other ruins belonging to 

 the group, surrounding the rock. The better-preserved portions consist 

 of a square tower, with one round corner, about 12 feet in diameter, aud 

 upon the lowest side — which stands in a dry run — about 20 feet in 

 height. The walls are 18 inches in thickness with no signs of apertures. 

 Adjoining this ruin is another, but so much thrown down as to be almost 



