THE CLIFF VILLAGES OF THE RED ROCK COUNTRY. 5G7 



While the eastern part of the ruin, which is that figured by Minde- 

 ieff, undoubtedly supports his conclusion that this portion was "built 

 about three sides of a rectangular court," had he recognized the origi- 

 nal form, as shown by the western mounds, he would doubtless have 

 modified his conclusions, for this part shows that the original Awatobi 

 was a compact pueblo, destitute of an inclosed plaza or rectangular 

 court, and that the eastern end, including the Mission of San Bernardino, 

 is of comparatively recent construction. 



When Tobar, the lieutenant of Coronado, with a handful of men, 

 discovered the Tusayan towns, in 1540, the village of Awatobi was the 

 first which he saw. and was one of the most j)opulous. At that time, 

 with the exception of Oraibi, it was the only Moki pueblo which was 

 perched on a mesa top, all the others being in the plains or among the 

 foothills. Tobar approached the town by stealth, during the night, 

 and when discovered in the morning the intrepid Spaniard had his first 

 encounter with a people who, uncontvuered by his successors save for a 

 comparatively brief period, preserved their independence to the time 

 Arizona passed under the control of the United States. 



Awatobi joined with the other Moki towns in the great rebellion of 

 1680, when every Spaniard who was not killed was driven back into 

 Old Mexico. In the early part of the seventeenth century, through the 

 zeal of Padre Porras many Awatobeans had been converted to Chris- 

 tianity, and while other Moki towns hardened their hearts against the 

 long-gowned men, as the priests were called, there lurked in the minds 

 of the people of Awatobi a desire for the return of the priests. In 

 1G92 Vargas came to the reconquest, and baptized many children at the 

 spring near the ruin. What the hated Spaniards did not do, the other 

 Mokis did. They combined together, and at the close of the year 1700 

 Awatobi was burned and razed to the ground. There can hardly be a 

 doubt that this deed can be traced directly to the too cordial way in 

 which, as they looked at it, Awatobi had received the dreaded Span- 

 iards and the new religion which they taught. The tragic destruction 

 of the place was a martyrdom of a town of 800 souls for its acceptance 

 of Christianity, and had a similar tragedy, for a like cause, happened 

 almost anywhere else save in the United States, or to any other race 

 than Indians, its startling history would have been universally known. 



The story of the destruction of Awatobi, thus forgotten by all save 

 descendants of the actors, is the overthrow of a town of 800 people; 

 a somber tragedy, where men were massacred in their sacred rooms 

 after having been tortured with burning fagots and fumes of red 

 peppers; captives, men and women, mutilated and slain, with all the 

 barbarity known to a savage, because they looked with favor on 

 Christianity. If the histories of our country were written from the 

 Indians' point of view, this episode would long ago have attracted the 

 attention of our historians. But historical documents are very meager 

 in regard to the destruction of Awatobi. From scanty records we can 



