47(^ EEPOET UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



these, employed in building and for fuel, in time disappeared, when the 

 soil became so dried as not to be able to afford the requisite conditions 

 for rainfall- We have not only to look to Germany, to France, and 

 to Oriental countries, but our own country affords numerous exam- 

 ples where the gradual cutting away of timber has so affected the annual 

 rain-fall as to injure crops very materially, and to the extent of thou- 

 sands of dollars. Dr. G. A. Boardman, of Maine, has had a large 

 spring disappear entirely within a period of about twenty years merely 

 through the clearing of one or two small hills. Within twelve years, 

 streams of considerable size have nearly disappeared from the same 

 cause in Eastern Pennsylvania. In this locality the crops are more 

 affected by blight, mildew, and other diseases of a similar nature than 

 formerly, and the farmers are beginning to realize the danger incurred 

 through this wilful or negligent destruction of forests. 



Upon the fragments of pottery found throughout Arizona there ap- 

 pears to be a similarity of designs. The styles of ornamentation upon 

 those found at Postal's Eanch correspond in every particular with those 

 occurring in and about the cliff dwellings near Camp Verde, 70 miles 

 east. That the Cliff-Dwellers occupied this valley for raising their crops 

 and for agricultural purposes generally seems evident from the fact that 

 it is the only really favorable district, but one, found within convenient 

 distance from the cliff remains, and also the nearest patch of irrigable 

 land upon which we find any traces of former occupation. 



The cliff dwellings appear to have been occupied during the winter sea- 

 son or in times of danger from hostile incursions of neighboring tribes. 

 A description of the most important is given elsewhere. 



Fragments of pottery collected in the valley from Postal's Eanch 

 southward to near Prescott, on the banks of the Colorado Chiquito, 

 near the mouth of the Eio Puerco, and along Beaver Creek from near 

 Camp Yerd^ up to Montezuma Wells, show a general similarity of con- 

 sistence and ornamentation. Most of the pieces have a smooth exterior, 

 frequently, or I might say usually, enamelled, sometimes having the de- 

 signs cut into the material as if it had been done with a pointed stick.* 

 Imprints of finger-nails sometimes occur, as well as the impressions of 

 the wicker-work in which the vessels were found. The specimens are 

 now in the National Museum, and bear an exact resemblance to those 

 figured by Mr. Thomas Ewbank.t The glazing or enamelling is gener- 

 ally of a dark bluish-black or brown color, although other tints are not 

 of unfrequent occurrence, such as gray, red, and, rarely, white. The 

 most remarkable feature in the designs is, that there are numerous fac- 

 similes of those found upon the walls of the ruins at Mitla, in ancient 

 Anahuac. This gives one reason to presume that the Moqui, Zuiii, and 

 Pueblos were more closely allied in remote times, and that to this alli- 

 ance belonged the Cliff Dwellers, whose identity appears to have merged 

 with the Aztecs.i: The general styles of architecture and the ceramic 

 art seem very closely allied between that of the Moquis, Pueblos, and 

 Cliff-Builders, and with better reason than that the Seviches and Hual- 

 pais should be two of the ancient Moqui-Pueblos, which is well proven 



* Fragments bearing similar indentations and impressions occnr in the remains of 

 the "Old Ree Villages" at Grand River, D. T. See "Ancient Hearths acd Mod. Ind. 

 Remains," etc., Pro. Bos. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. xviii. Dec. 15, 1675. pp. 209-212. 



t Lieutenant Whipple's Report upon the Indian Tribes, pp. 48, 49. <Pac. R. R. Report, 

 vol. ill, 



t The Aztecs point to the northwest as the source of their migrations, and Von Hum- 

 boldt, ignorant of the existence of any ruins, supposed them to have come from that 

 direction. 



