92 



S-MITIISOXIAX MISCLLLAXEUUS COLLliC TIOXS 



\()L. 70 



At intervals along" the trail throtigh this country of majestic pic- 

 turesqueness are ancient ruins of considerable size and hidden in the 

 canyon walls are cliff-houses ( fig. 102 ), showing- that in ancient times 

 the environment furnished sustenance for an aboriginal population. 

 Entering Tonto Dasin the landscape assumes a wilder aspect, the 

 region becoming drier and exhibiting a great variety of cacti and 

 thorny growths among bristling rocks. Xorth of the Sierra Ancha 

 the country o]jens out into ])ark-like stretches, in wliich the towns 



Fig. 105. — White Mountain Apaclie, Oak Creek, Arizona. 



of \'oung and I'ayson are located. As the character of the geog- 

 rajjhy changes gradually from h'ort A])ache to I'ayson in the Tonto, 

 it is seen that the ruins re])resent a gradual diminution of culture, 

 those of the northern Tonto I'.asin being ruder in art than those to 

 the east. The latter are generall_\- of large compact ])Ueblos, the art 

 af^liations of which, judging from the pottery, are with those of the 

 north in the basin of the Little Colorado, but i)lainly showing a 

 rather high development. As the exploration proceeded west it was 

 found that coincidences of southern cultm-e a])])eared, while in the 

 northern portion of the Tonto Ilasin the cultiu'e a])pears to affiliate 

 entirelv with the lower ( iila and west of that river. 



