—-1878.] - The Ancient Pucblos. $27 
_ more thorough exploration of this country during the next sea- 
son. The results of this expedition were so flattering, and the 
report of the photographist, Mr. Wm. H. Jackson, so full of © 
interest, enthusiasm and valuable information, that several parties 
were ordered to the field in the summer of 1875. 
_In passing through this portion of the west, the traveler is first 
impressed with the great extent of the territory over which the 
ancient remains occur. Generally speaking, they occupy the 
great valleys drained by the San Juan river and its tributaries, the 
-Rio Grande del Norte, and the Colorado of the west, covering an 
area of probably 200,000 square miles. 
Pica fuk WF ee 
The communities, it is evident, sprung up along the banks and 
valleys of the once well-watered streams, and as many of these 
= are now entirely dry, this fact would suggest the idea that the 
entire character of the country has undergone a great physical 
change. A calculation as to the time required to effect such an 
alteration might assist us in arriving at the approximate age of 
_ these remains. On further investigation, it will be discovered that 
not only the larger water-supplies have failed since these struc- 
tures were occupied, but the lesser ones also, in the form of 
springs, reservoirs and lakes; because in the majority of instances 
to-day,nota drop of moisture exists within a radius of twenty-five or 
thirty miles from many of the more important ruined villages. The 
entire country must at one time, and during the prosperity of the 
race, have been well-watered and fertile. The beds of the 
parched flood-washes must formerly at times have conveyed the 
= Waters of overflowing torrents, as everything yet indicates, and 
_ the valleys were productive of corn and the indigenous vegetables, 
for the very farms and torn-fields are still traceable in the river- 
Oe Re ee oe eee ee te ee eee eae ee 
_ growth of a hardy species of Helianthus. A great blight must 
_ have swept over the land, scorching and parching every green 
thing, and lapping up every particle of moisture, transforming the _ 
luxuriant valleys into deserts of rocks and sand. : 
The ruined buildings of this portion of the west may be 
_ arranged under two general heads: First, Valley Remains; Sec- 
ond, Chiff Houses. Sigh 
The former class consists of those which were built on level 
-Cafions; and these may be subdivided into two classes : KF irst, : 
bottoms, laid out in rectangles, and well defined by the dense _ 
round, either in the river-bottoms or at the feet of ravines and ) 
