jackson.] ANCIENT RUINS IN S. W. COLORADO. 381 



struck into an old trail, worn deep into the rocks, winding and twisting 

 among great bowlders, and overgrown and obstructed with rank growth 

 of sage, cedar, and cacti. In its day, the trail had been a good one ; 

 now it was anything but such. Bad as it was, however, it was the only 

 way to the summit, and we were thankful for it. Skirting the edge of 

 the mesa a few yards, we came to the tower, the trail passing back of it 

 and on up to a higher level. A huge block of sandstone has rolled down 

 from the escarpment of the mesa above, lodging upon the very brink of 

 a bench midway between top and bottom, and upon this the tower is 

 built, so that from below both appear as one. They are of the same 

 diameter, about 10 feet, and some 18 feet in height, equally divided be- 

 tween rock and tower. In construction, it is similar to those already 

 described, of single wall. It was evidently an outpost or watch-tower, 

 guarding the approach to a large settlement upon ©r beyond the mesa 

 lying above it. From this point we now struck out for another group 

 of ruins lying upon a nameless stream, some eight or ten miles farther 

 west. Four or five miles we followed the McElmo down, the trail good, 

 the whole surface covered with a dense growth of artemisia and groves 

 of cedar and pifion, with cottonwoods fringing the dry stream. Branch- 

 ing off at right angles, crossing the heads of two canons which opened 

 out quickly into great gorges, and then descending into a valley densely 

 covered with greasewood, we came upon the ruins we were in search of. 

 Through the valley ran a deep gulch, a narrow thread of warm, brackish 

 water appearing at intervals in its bed, and gathering into pools in 

 basins a short distance below the ruins. 



In Fig. 11 of Plate III, is a sketch of a ground-plan of the " city," 

 showing its general arrangement. The stream referred to, and shown 

 in the sketch, sweeps the foot of a rocky sandstone ledge, some 40 or 50 

 feet in height, upon which is built the highest and better- preserved por- 

 tion of the settlement. Its semicircular sweep conforms to the ledge ; 

 each little house of the outer circle being built close upon its edge. Be- 

 low the level of these upper houses some 10 or 12 feet, and within the 

 semicircular sweep, are seven distinctly-marked depressions, each sepa- 

 rated from the other by rocky debris, the lower or first series probably 

 of small community-houses. Upon either flank, and founded upon rocks, 

 are buildings similar in size and in other respects to the large ones on 

 the line above. As paced off, the upper or convex surface measured 100 

 yards in length. Each little apartment is small and narrow, averaging 

 6 feet in width and 8 feet in length, the walls being 18 inches in thick- 

 ness. The stones of which the entire group is built are dressed to nearly 

 uniform size and laid in mortar. A peculiar feature here is in the round 

 corners, one at least appearing upon nearly every little house. They are 

 turned with considerable care and skill, being true curves solidly bound 

 together. 



With this last our observations of these interesting relics came to an 

 end. Our trip was short and rapid, and instituted in the first place, as 

 I have said, in quest of the picturesque, 'and we found it. For a much 

 more complete and faithful exposition of this interesting subject, the 

 reader is referred to a series of photographic views from which the ac- 

 companying illustrations are drawn. 



I cannot close without extending thanks to Capt. John Moss, of La 

 Plata, our volunteer guide, who accompanied us over the route compris- 

 ing the ruins. To his accurate knowledge of their locality, and the best 

 way to reach them, as well as of the language of the Indians, is due much 

 of the success of the trip. 



