RUINS.—MOJAVE DWELLINGS. 
23 
concave stone, upon which, they grind corn or grass seed to flour, is the only utensil or article of 
furniture that they do not remove in their wanderings. Visits to the houses of Mexicans, or 
their more enterprising Indian neighbors, excite no desire to improve their condition by the erec¬ 
tion of more comfortable habitations. Tents they do not use, even when robbed from Mexicans 
or some poor party of emigrants surprised and murdered. The Tontos, Yampais, and most of 
the Apache Indians within New Mexico and California are equally barbarous and rude in the 
construction of their habitations. 
Plate 9 is intended to give some idea of the faint traces of ancient adobe dwellings, as they 
now frequently appear in the Zuni country, upon Rio Gila, upon Pueblo creek, upon the 
Colorado Cliiquito (Flax river) and at other places in the vast region between longitudes 
108 and 113, and between 32° and 35^° north latitude. Large fields in the valley of Rio Gila, 
and many spots among the Pinal Lena mountains,, are thus marked with the foundations of 
decayed adobe houses. In Canon de Chelly, near the San Francisco mountains, and upon 
Rio Verde, there are ruins of more permanent structures of stone, which in their day must have 
excelled the famed pueblos of New Mexico. Those found near the cascades of the Colorado 
Chiquito are represented in Captain Sitgreaves’s report. Others have already been referred to 
in the Itinerary. 
Plate 9. 
Vestiges of ancient dwellings. 
Plate 10 represents one of the dwellings of the Mojaves. The large cottonwood posts, and 
the substantial roof of the wide shed in front, are characteristic of the architecture of this 
people. This particular house appears to run into a sand-bank, and is peculiar. Others are 
formed in the valley, with all their Avails supported by posts ; and the longitudinal beams 
have their interstices filled up Avith straAV or mud mortar. The cylindrical structure in front is 
tastefully made of osier twigs, and thatched so as to be impervious to rain. It is used as a store¬ 
house for grain and fruit of the mezquite. The large earthen jar, figured by the side of the 
granary, is also a receptacle for corn. The interior of the houses consists of a single room with 
thatched roof, sandy floor, and Avails so closely cemented by mud as to be nearly air-tight. It 
has no window, and receives no light except by the door which leads to the shed, and by a small 
hole at the top which gives egress to the smoke of fires. Structures similar to this are common 
throughout the lower portion of the Colorado valley, and may be found also among the Coco- 
Maricopas and Pimas of Rio Gila. With the latter, however, the circular hut, described by 
Mr. Bartlett, is much in vogue. In such gloomy abodes the Indians seek shelter from cold. 
