At the place where I measured, the upright posts stood at about 1.39 m.—4 ft. 6 in.—from each other; the projecting wall was 2 m.—6 ft. 6 in.—long, and 0.63 m.—2 ft.—thick; the retreating wall 1.40 m.—4 ft. 6 in.—long, and 0.33 m.—13 in.—thick. The posts themselves were sometimes, but not always, backed, or even encased in adobe sheaths, built up like little chimneys in the wall itself. This mode of construction was possibly peculiar to the western side alone, and gives it a slight appearance of ornamentation, as well as more strength, the projecting walls acting like buttresses.

The whole structure, taking the sides of the debris as they are now scattered, extends nearly north and south 140 m.—460 ft.—and east and west about 16 m. to 26 m.—50 ft. to 80 ft.—thus forming a rectangle of 140 m. x 20 m.—460 ft. x 65 ft. To determine the exact size of the building I proceeded to measure each compartment for itself, judging that the total number of these apartments, adding to their sizes the thicknesses of the walls, would finally give, within a few decimetres, the exact length and width of the house. On the ground plan I have numbered this building B.[103]

Beginning at the north-west corner, I ran my line almost due east to within 10 m.—33 ft.—of the circumvallation, where I found the north-east corner indicated by a broken post of wood. Along this line I met the following sections from west to east: 2.92 m.—9 ft. 6 in.; then a gangway, 1.55 m.—5 ft.; chamber, 3.22 m.—11 ft.; gangway, 1.21 m.—4 ft.; and three chambers, 2.09 m., 2.72 m., and 2.72 m.—7 ft., 9 ft., and 9 ft.—respectively, thus giving, adding to it eight walls of a uniform thickness of 0.33 m.—13 in.,—a total width of 19.07 m.—63 ft. Its length was easily found to be 8.56 m.—28 ft.; the northern appendix, therefore, forming a rectangle of 8.5 m. x 19 m.—28 ft. x 63 ft.,—and containing, as the ground-plan shows, ten rooms and two corridors, the latter running through the structure from north to south. It will also be noticed that the two middle rooms are the largest, measuring each 4.28 m. x 3.22 m.—14 ft. x 10 ft. I must also advert, here, to the fact that this structure is extremely ruined, and that the east part of it exposes the surveyor to dangerous errors.

The line a b, and its continuation eastwardly to c, appears to form the main northern wall of the whole structure. Here the annex, just described, terminates. This wall is of unequal thickness. In the north-westerly projection from a to b, a length of 8 m.—26 ft.,—its thickness is 0.63 m.—2 ft.; from b to c, on the eastern line, it is only 0.33 m.—13 in.—thick. This inequality indicates also a division of the structure to the southward, as far as the line d d d, into two longitudinal sections. The western one, whose four corners are respectively a b d d in the diagram, contains eighteen rooms of equal size, measuring each 3.71 m. x 2.25 m.—12 ft. x 7 ft.; it is consequently, inclusive of the rear wall and the sides, 24.24 m. x 8.08 m.—80 ft. x 27 ft. The eastern division, comprised within the area b c d d, has fifteen rooms, or five longitudinal rows of three, whereas the western has six rows of three. The rooms east must therefore be larger than those west, and we see that they measure from east to west respectively, 2.25 m., 2.28 m., and 2.28 m.—7 ft., 7 ft. 6 in., and 7 ft. 6 in.: from north to south, 3.60 m., 5.07 m., 4.43 m., 4.13 m., and 3.43 m.—12 ft., 17 ft., 15 ft., 14 ft., and 11 ft. It is a rectangle, or rather trapezium, 22.31 m. x 7.81 m.—70 ft. x 25 ft.,—consequently the width of the building B is somewhat less on the line d d d than on the line a b c. The cause of this singular contraction I have found, and shall afterwards indicate.

Then follows a transverse section (d d d e e), containing two rows of six rooms each, or twelve in all, of very unequal sizes, as the ground-plans show. This entire section appears to be trapezoidal. The line d d d is 15.89 m.—52 ft.—long; the line e e 16.33 m.—53 ft.; d e measures 7.42 m.—24 ft.—along the west, and 8.04 m.—27 ft.—along the east. Rooms marked II and III are particularly irregular, having, as the diagram shows, not less than six corners.

From e e to f f, another transverse section, this time of four rows of six each, or twenty-four cells in all, those of each row being of equal length, to wit 3.65 m.—12 ft.; and in width from east to west, respectively: 2.25 m., 2.78 m., 3.18 m., 2.63 m., and 4.40 m.—7 ft., 9 ft., 10 ft., 9 ft., and 14 ft. (the last measure being the aggregate of the two eastern compartments, the longitudinal partition being nearly obliterated). To the south of f f a further slight change occurs, inasmuch as the three eastern rooms, instead of being respectively 2.68 m., 2.20 m., and 2.20 m.—9 ft., 7 ft., and 7 ft.,—now become 2.25 m., 2.33 m., and 2.32 m.—7 ft., 8 ft., and 8 ft. From f f to g g, the southern limits of the structure, the whole structure is badly ruined; and while the rooms can be counted, measurements are possible only in a few places. Still I am satisfied that no great error lies in the assumption that they were, taken longitudinally, all equal to the six rooms contained in the transverse row south of the line f f, that is, 3.65 m.—12 ft.—from north to south; and in width, counting the cells from west to east, respectively, 2.25 m., 2.78 m., 3.18 m., 2.25 m., 2.33 m., and 2.32 m.—7 ft., 9 ft., 10 ft., 7 ft., 8 ft., and 8 ft. The section, f f g g, which forms the southern and largest portion of the house (B), contains, therefore, twenty-two transverse rows of six chambers each, or one hundred and thirty-two apartments on the ground-plan; and it forms a rectangle running from north to south and east to west respectively of 80.30 m. x 15.11 m.—260 ft. x 50 ft.

The general dimensions of this building (B), therefore appear as follows:—

Length from north to south, east side 133.81 m.—440 ft. " " west side 134.92 m.—442 ft. Width of northern appendix 19.07 m.— 63 ft. Width along line a b c 19.07 m.— 63 ft. " " d d d 15.89 m.— 52 ft. " " e e 16.33 m.— 53 ft. " " f f 15.24 m.— 50 ft. Width of line g g, approximated 15.70 m.— 51 ft.

From the appearance of the ground-plan, as I have been compelled to give it, it would result that the "first floor" contained two hundred and eleven cells, or rooms. Such is, however, not the case. The builders of this extensive fabric had not the means of preparing the hard rock foundation by removing it wherever it protruded over an average level. While giving a uniform height to their structure, they accommodated its ground-plan to the sinuosities of the rock. Out of this accommodation the irregularities noticed in the construction have mainly arisen. Pl. II., Figs. 1, 2, 3, will illustrate this statement.

Pl. II., Fig. 1.—Cross-section of B along the line a b c, north end; a b, actually visible top-line; c d e f g h, rock; i k, top of probable highest story, now destroyed.

I have every reason to assume that this cross-section holds good for the entire division (a b c d d). From d d on to f f the distance between the rim of the mesilla to the east and the house is greatest; the top-rock bends also to the west about e e, and there the irregularities noticed on the diagram about the chambers (II and III) come in. They evidently result from an effort to conform the general plan to both the lateral and vertical deviations of its base. About the line f f, while the same number of chambers (six) remains in every transverse row, there is but one story below the general surface to the east. I may safely assume that south of the line f f all the rooms of the first floor were on the same level. Pl. II., Figs. 2 and 3 will illustrate this point. As far as I could detect, the line e e can be admitted as the one where one of the two lower stories disappears, and but one remains on the east side lower than the rest.



I have everywhere assumed four stories. It is at least certain that there were not less than four. When Coronado visited the pueblo in 1540, he found "the houses with four stories."[104] Sr. Mariano Ruiz told me that "they all were of three stories;" but then he mentioned, below, the "casas de comodidad," thus indicating that the lowest story was used for store-rooms. It is very apparent from the ruins that, as I have indicated in the cross-sections, the western wall was unbroken, whereas from the east the stories rose in four retreating terraces. The western wall already mentioned was given additional strength, by means of the buttresses, of which I have given a small outline. The winds blow very fiercely over the mesilla, especially from the north-west; there is no tree to be seen on or about it, not even a cedar-bush, higher than a couple of feet at most. Against such blasts the solid wall was necessary, while the many intersecting partitions inside gave additional strength. It was a very solid structure as against winds, notwithstanding the comparative thinness of the walls,—0.63 m.—2 ft.—being their greatest width, and 0.33 m.—13 in.—their average.

With reference to the cross-sections, it now becomes possible to approximate the total number of chambers, apartments, or cells, contained in the entire building; a point impossible even to estimate from the ground-plan alone.

Leaving aside the northern appendix, about whose elevation I have not even means of conjecture, it becomes evident that the section whose four corners are marked respectively a, c, d, d, had the following number of compartments, starting with the lowest story, and remembering that, as above stated, one longitudinal row had six, and the other five, rooms:—

Lowest story 5 Second story 5 Third story 3 x 6 + 5 23 Fourth story 3 x 6 18 —- Total 51 rooms.

Brought forward 51 rooms.

The section d d e e had probably the same arrangement, and therefore, there being but two transverse rows, it contained in all 18

Section e e f f contained on lower story 4 Second Story. 5 x 4 20 Third story. 4 x 4 16 Fourth story. 3 x 4 12 — 52

Section f f g g:— Lower story. 22 x 6 132 Second story. 22 x 5 110 Third story. 22 x 4 88 Fourth story. 22 x 3 66 — 396 —— Total number of rooms contained in building B 517

These rooms are very nearly of equal size, the largest one being III. 2.85 m. x 4.78 m.—9 ft. x 16 ft.—on one side, and 3.71 m.—12 ft-on the other, with an entering angle; the smallest room adjoining to it measuring 2.25 m. x 2.70 m.—7 ft. x 9 ft. The entire structure, therefore, presents the appearance of a honeycomb, or rather of a bee-hive, and perfectly illustrates, among the lower degrees of culture of mankind, the prevailing principle of communism in living, which finds its parallel in the lower classes of animals. Tradition, historical relation, and analogy, tell us that this house was used as a dwelling,[105] and that consequently it was, to all intents and purposes, a communal house.

The height of the various stories it is almost impossible to determine. I have measured walls which appeared to be perfect, and they gave me an average of 2.28 m.—7 ft. 6 in.—elevation. Should such be the rule, the western wall of the building, at its greatest height south, would have risen about 11 m.—36 ft.

The northern appendix I have ignored in the above computation, because its whole appearance gives no ground for definitive statements. It seems really to be an annex, and in fact the whole building seems to have progressed, in its construction, from south to north, in point of date and time.

The southern portion of the building—the one which appears to have been erected on a plane surface—was, in all probability, the one first built. The northern portions were added to it gradually as occasion required. This is further shown by the fact that in these northern sections, along the line a, b, c, parts of the third story wall are patched with regular adobe bricks, about half as large as those in the church, but still made by the same process.[106] The rest of the structure is exclusively composed of stone.

It is to all intents and purposes a stone house. Two kinds of rocks predominate among the material; a slaty, gray and red, sandstone,—highly tabular, easily broken into plates of any size,—and a sandstone conglomerate, containing small pebbles from the size of a pea up to that of a small hazel-nut,—the whole rock of a gray color. When freshly broken or wetted, this conglomerate becomes very friable, and so soft that goats have left the impression of their feet on scattered fragments. When dry it becomes hard, and is always very heavy. Both kind of rocks are found in the vicinity of the mesilla. Besides these, loose pieces of stone from the bluff itself, boulders from the creek, of convenient size, enter into the composition of the walls. Sometimes the latter consist exclusively of slabs of sandstone superposed; again there are polygonal fragments of rocks piled upon one another, with courses of tabular sandstone, forming, so to say, the basis for further piling; the foundations are usually boulders and the hardest rocks, also of greater width. There are no walls of dressed stone, but the rocks are broken to a suitable size, as may be done with any stone maul or sledge, or even by smashing with the hand and another rock. In fact the whole stone-work must be termed, not masonry, but simply judicious and careful piling.[107] In performing it, great attention has been paid to having the vertical surfaces as nearly as possible vertical; but this end could be reached without the use of the plumb-line, and with the aid of mere ordinary eyesight, for the rooms are so small, and the partitions so thin, that anything not "true" could, and can yet be, "shoved" into position by a mere steady, slow push; carefully watched on the opposite side. The same applies to the angles, although they are tolerably accurate. As a general thing, the transverse walls appear to be continuous, and the longitudinal partitions to have been added afterwards, but there are also instances of the contrary. In this respect the sinuosities of the rocky foundation seem to have determined the mode of action. To fill up the gaps between the stones, and to coat them with a smooth surface within the chambers what appears to be earth from the surrounding bottoms has been flung into the crevices, thus forming a natural mortar, and at the same time a "first coat" of plaster of varying thickness. This in turn is covered with a thin white layer (now of course turning into gray, yellow, and flesh-red) much resembling our plaster, but whose composition I am unable to determine. (Specimens of the mud, containing small gravel and minute particles of mica, are sent with the other collections, also fragments of the white coating for analysis.[108])

The woodwork proper appears not to have had any connection with the strength or support of the walls, but simply to have been erected within and among the walls as a scaffold for the ceilings, which are also the floors of the higher stories. Upright posts of cedar and pine, stripped of their bark, but not squared, are, as I have already shown, set inside of the stone wall, at more or less even distances. As far as I could ascertain, these distances are regulated by the size of the rooms. These posts are coarsely hacked off at the upper end, and over them other similar beams are laid longitudinally, sometimes fitted over the posts with chips wedged in. Such is the case in a room in the northern wing of the building marked A, of which I shall hereafter speak.[109]

On these longitudinal beams other ones rest, laid transversely, and imbedded in the wall on the opposite side. On these again longitudinal poles are placed, also at intervals varying according to the dimensions of the chambers, and on them transversely, a layer of brush, or splinters of wood, closely overlapping each other; and the whole is capped by about .20 m.—8 in.—of common clay or soil. Pl. III., Fig. 1, is a front view of the wooden scaffold in a lower story room, and of the ceiling which it supports.

a, clay and lower seam of brush or splinters.

b, transverse poles or beams, in case the beams are lacking.

c, longitudinal beam.

d, upright posts.

In most cases, however, the beams are transverse and the poles longitudinal, and this is where the beam (c) is lacking, as in the interior apartments, where the ceiling appears as in Pl. III., Fig. 2: a, clay; b, brush or splinters; c, poles; d, beams; e, wall.[110]

The diameter of the upright posts is, on an average, 0.28 m.—11 in.,—but even sometimes as great as 0.33 m.—13 in.,—the longitudinal and transverse beams are scarcely less thick, whereas the poles are about 0.05 m.—2 in.—across. The splinters seem to have been obtained by splitting a middle-sized tree, and tearing out thin segments.



Pl. III., Fig. 4, is a ground plan of the floor of room marked I on the diagram. This room is on the eastern row of the third floor, therefore an outer room.

c, longitudinal poles.

d, the end of the transverse beams projecting from the other room.

e, the transverse beams, resting in the wall on both sides.

On the latter rested a thin layer of brush and a compact mass of clay, 0.20 m.—8 in.—thick. The clay, or rather soil, is very hard and was probably stamped or pounded.

As far as I have been able to detect, the upright posts are not found inside of the house, except, perhaps, on the rear wall of the outer chamber, as in one room of building A, to which I shall hereafter refer. If this is the room, then the skeleton of the wood-work (upright and transverse posts and beams) would present nearly the appearance shown in Pl. III., Fig. 3, when viewed from the side, and admitting the house to be four stories high.

a, horizontal beams.

b, upright posts, along the western wall, and in the three upper stories. These posts are hypothetical, and therefore only indicated by dotted lines. (It may be also that every cell had its front and its rear posts, but I have not been able to detect any except in the outer rooms.)

With the exception of one chamber in building A, I nowhere met anything like a roof. This one appears to be nothing else than a ceiling-floor, but of nearly 0.75 m.—2 ft. 6 in.—in thickness. It is, as Pl. VIII. shows, much covered by fallen stones, and its original height may have been increased by debris; but at all events it was thoroughly impermeable, and such as would be required in a climate where, indeed, it seldom rains, but "whenever it rains it pours."

There is a certain air of sameness cast over the entire structure which has strongly impressed me with the thought that not only was it used as a dwelling for a large number (as the reports, indeed, establish), but also that all its inhabitants lived on an equal footing,—as far as accommodations for living were concerned. There are no special quarters, no spacious halls. The few rooms of somewhat larger size are naturally explained by the mode of construction, adapting the house to the configuration of the rock, and not conversely as we do. It was, therefore, a large joint-tenement structure, harboring, perhaps, when fully occupied, several hundreds of families.

In regard to ingress and egress, not only have I found no doors in any fragments of exterior walls, but the many persons I have asked have always assured me that there had been none, that the house was entered by means of ladders, ascending to the top of each story in succession, and descending into the rooms also by ladders and through trap-doors in the roofs. They have also assured me that each room of each story communicated with the one above and below, also by means of trap-doors and ladders. It is quite certain that there are no staircases nor steps, and that consequently ladders were used, in the same manner as they are still used by the Indians of the pueblos of Zuni, Moqui, Acoma, Taos, and others. Ingress and egress, therefore, must have taken place, not horizontally "in and out," but vertically "up and down." I have not been able to identify any one of the trap-doors referred to, but I should not be surprised to hear that they have been subsequently found in the north-west corner of each room. By referring to the diagram of the floor (Pl. III., Fig. 4), it will be seen that the rectangular spaces between the beams and overlying poles are almost everywhere large enough, if the superstructure of splinters (or brush) and clay is removed, to give passage to any man. The ladders themselves have completely disappeared.

On one and the same floor, I found in the side walls at a few places, the remains of low and narrow openings through which a man might pass in a stooping position and "sidling." Nowhere could I see the full height of these small doorways, so that I do not know whether there was a lintel, or whether they terminated in an open angle, like the doorways of Yucatan. I have seen openings showing the peculiar so-called "aboriginal arch" of Yucatan on a small scale, and I also have seen that an accidental "knocking-out" of one or two stones from the walls produced a hole or gap very similar in shape to the doorways at Uxmal and other pueblos of Southern Mexico, though of course on a small scale. It is self-evident that, the coincidence being accidental, I do not place any stress upon it in view of "tracing relationships." The coincidence is of ethnological, and not of ethnographical, value. As far as I could ascertain, they were certainly 1 m.—3 ft. 3 in.—high, whereas their average width may have been 0.45 m.—18 in. (Those I measured averaged between 0.42 m. and 0.48 m.—16 in. and 19 in.) Their appearance is shown in Pl. II., Fig. 5.

a is what might be termed a door-sill, a smooth oval stone, evidently from the drift, probably dioritic, at all events a dark-green hornblende rock. In the present instance one was not long enough to fill the gap left between the walls, and two were superposed. I saw no traces of wooden lintels or sills. These doorways appeared to be generally about 0.50 m.—20 in.—above the floor, but if we deduct 0.20 m.—8 in.—for the clay (measure having been taken from the timbers), 0.30 m.—12 in.—will remain as their approximate height over the chambers.

The few doors that I could observe are all in the longitudinal walls, and none of them in the transverse; that is, they all open from east to west. But not all the longitudinal partitions have doorways. It cannot, therefore, be admitted that every transverse row was occupied by one family, still less that the family apartments were arranged longitudinally. I rather suspect that this arrangement was vertical, or perhaps vertical and transverse. This surmise is given, however, for what it may be worth. Windows I could not find, although small apertures undoubtedly existed in all the outer walls, both for light and for air.

The chambers being all very much ruined, the lower ones filled with the stones and decayed ruins of the superposed stories,—of these stories themselves but part of the walls, denuded and often twisted, remaining,—I have not been able, with one single exception, to secure or even see any of what we would call the "furniture." Small fragments of grinding-stones (metates) are sparsely scattered over the entire ruins, otherwise the only object of daily use as articles of furniture met with by me has been a hearth, which I found or dug out in situ, in room I, and which, complete, forms part of the collections sent by me to Cambridge.

The place where this hearth was situated is marked on the diagram in room I. It stood on the floor against the north wall, and is composed of three plates of stone, originally ground and polished (as the specimen found in building A will show, which is a fragment only), and, judging from new fragments found, of diorite or other hornblende rock. There are three plates,—a basal one, 40 m.—16 in.—long and 20 m.—8 in.—wide, and two sides, placed vertically east and west of the base,—all three resting against the north wall of the room. Pl. III., Fig. 4, is a diagram of the room, the floor timbers, and the hearth.

The basal plate was covered with 0.10 m.—4 in.—of very white ashes, which I have also secured, and the rear of the hearth, which is formed by the original "first coat" of earth daubed over the wall, is thoroughly baked by the heat produced in front of it, as the samples sent will show.[111]

Of course, I looked at once for an opening where the smoke arising from the hearth, etc., could have escaped. I am sorry to say, however, that I utterly failed in finding anything like a chimney,—not only in B, but in all the other buildings. Still, in the ruined condition of the place, this is no proof of their non-existence.[112]

I will refer to subsequent pages to such articles of mechanical use and of wearing apparel which I was fortunate enough to meet. I shall also return hereafter to the almost omnipresent pieces of painted pottery, of two distinct kinds, and to the very numerous chips of obsidian, jet-black on the face, but transparent as smoky glass; of black lava; and to the flint, jasper, and moss-agates, broken mechanically by man, and scattered over the premises. These premises have been thoroughly ransacked by visitors, and every striking object has already been carried off. I had heard mentioned, among such samples, flint, agate, and obsidian arrow-heads, stone hatchets and hammers, and copper (not brass or iron) rings used for ornamental purposes,[113] but my luck it was not to find any. Therefore the harvest is perhaps slim in that respect. It is beyond all doubt that judicious digging among the lower stories of the structures will reveal treasures,—not money, as the tale current among the inhabitants has it, but things of archaeological and ethnological value. For such an undertaking I was, as the Institute well knows, not prepared. I attempted to dig, indeed, though quite alone, but soon came to the conclusion that the time consumed in excavating one metre of decayed and crumbling stones and earth would be more satisfactorily employed in other directions; paving the way for the exhaustive labors of better situated archaeologists.

I have been very lengthy in my expose of facts and data regarding this particular house B, for the simple reason that, as far as the principles of architecture, based upon a knowledge and want of "how to live," are concerned, it is typical of the rest. Many details become therefore unnecessary in subsequent descriptions.

To return to the structure itself, its general plan and its mode of construction in detail more and more forcibly remind me of an extraordinarily large honeycomb. The various walls, a few of the outer walls excepted, have little strength in themselves (as the rapid decay shows), but combined altogether they oppose to any outside pressure an immense amount of "inertia." There is not in the whole building one single evidence of any great progress in mechanics. Everything done and built within it can be built and made with the use of a good or fair eyesight only, and the implements and arts of what was formerly called the "stone age." This does not exclude the possibility that they had made a certain advance in mechanical agencies. They may have had the plummet, or even the square; but such expedients, applied to their system of building, might at most have hastened the rapidity of construction. Necessary they were not at all, still less indispensable. As the bee builds one cell alongside of the other and above the other,—the norm of one and the "habitat" impelling the norm of those above and alongside,—so the Indians of Pecos aggregated their cells according to their wants and the increase of their numbers; their inside accommodations, the wood-work, bearing the last trace of the frail "lodge" of a former shifting condition.

Leaving B for the present, I turn to the other ruins on the so-called "neck" of the mesilla.

4 m.—13 ft.—west of the N.W. corner of the northern annex, I struck stone foundations indicating a structure (whether enclosure or building I do not venture to tell) 10.21 m.—33 ft.—from E. to W., and 6.60 m.—22 ft.—from N. to S.[114], 49 m.—160 ft.—to the north-west of its north-easterly angle there is a mound about 2 m. or 6 ft. in diameter, thence 20 m.—65 ft.—further N.W. or N.N.W. the southern ruins of the east wing of A are reached.

Parallel to B, longitudinally, and at an average distance of 28 m.—90 ft—to the west from it, there is a row of detached buildings or structures, of which only the foundations and shapeless stone heaps indicating the corners remain. Pl. I., Fig. 8, conveys an idea of their position and size. The walls are reduced to mere foundations, or to heaps in the corners; but these remnants indicate that the rocks used were similar in kind and shape to those composing the walls of all the other kinds of construction in the mesilla north of the church.

For what purpose these buildings were erected, and in what relation they stood to B, I am unable to determine. Some of them appeared to have doors opening to the east.[115] Beyond f the ground rises suddenly. The floor of those structures is, in some instances, formed of a black or red loam. I excavated one of those, or, rather, dug into it, to the depth of one metre. The surface had shown traces of a fire built in the centre, and I found also, at the depth of nearly two feet, that the dark soil was traversed by a band of charcoal, fragments of burnt and blackened pottery, and some splinters of bone. Below it the soil was dark red. Whether there was a buried hearth at that depth, or whether the traces of fire were due to an original destruction of woodwork through combustion, the debris subsequently covering them with clay, I am unable to judge.[116] In all of them, of course, pottery and obsidian were found.

I have already stated that the mesilla dips to the south-west; that there is a depression along the northern end of its "neck;" and that from f the rocks bulge upwards again. All this contributes to concentrate the drainage of the entire cliff-top, as far north of the church as it was inhabited, in the hollow where the gate of the general enclosure is placed. This gate was therefore not only a passage-way, but also the water-gap or channel through which the mesilla was finally drained into the bottoms of the Arroyo de Pecos.



20 m.—65 ft.—to the N.N.W. of the mound i, there rises before us the huge pile of ruins which, on the plat as well as on the diagram, I have designated by A. It crowns the highest point of the entire mesilla, and covers the greatest portion of its top. In ruins like B, its general aspect is yet somewhat different Instead of forming, like the latter, a narrow, solid rectangle of 140 m. x 20 m.—460 ft. x 65 ft.—, the building A is (taking, of course, the outlines of the entire debris) a broad hollow rectangle of 150 m. x 75 m.—490 ft. x 245 ft. Its interior is occupied by a vast court or square, containing three circular depressions, and surrounded on all four sides by the broad ruined heaps of the former dwellings. On the east side, between the circumvallation and the eastern line of the structure, there are two more circular depressions similar to those within the court. The latter is entered by four passageways,—one on the S.E. corner, 4 m.—13 ft.—wide and about 12 m.—40 ft.—long from S. to N.; one through the eastern wing, 3.40 m.—11 ft.—wide and about 14 m.—46 ft.—long from E. to W.; one in the N.W. corner and another from the S.W., both 2 m.—6 ft. 6 in.—across. I have designated these four gateways respectively as R, E, G, and N. R and E enter straight through the wall; G forms a semicircle almost from W. through N. to S.; N describes a right angle from S. by N. to E. The distribution of decay in this house is the same as in B,—the southern parts are on all sides almost totally obliterated; the N.W. corner is very nearly perfect; the northern and western walls are tolerably fairly preserved; but the eastern outline of the east wing, the southern outline of the south wing, and the southern ends of both east and west have almost completely disappeared under hills of rubbish, a few posts alone assisting the explorer. The path of destruction has in both buildings lain in the same direction,—from S.S.E. to N.N.W.,—and across both its effects have decreased from south to north. Still, while the similarity in that respect is astonishing, and while there are apparently more walls in A standing than in B, there is, owing to the very uneven surface of the rock upon which it is built, much more confusion among the ruins of the former than among those of the latter. B is built on a gradual slope or ridge; A caps a generally convex surface, scooped out in the middle, and sloping eastward.[117] Hence comes the division of the whole structure into four separate and distinct buildings, and hence, also, the complicated manner in which the whole or each part is ruined, even walls still standing being twisted out of shape and out of position. Actual measurements were much less efficacious here than in B; and, although I have worked with not less zeal and conscientiousness, the result in neatness and precision is certainly less satisfactory. This explanation will, I hope, induce subsequent explorers to look up my inaccuracies and correct them.

It is needless, of course, to detail the methods of work. They are on a larger scale, and in more tedious ways, a repetition of the proceedings in the case of B. The results are as follows, starting from the line f f northwards: The space comprised between the corners (e, e, f, f) forms a rectangle, containing 18 longitudinal rows of 6 rooms each. These rows are all on the same level, except the most easterly one, which lies on the slope. The cells, as far as measured and still measurable, appear to be of the same size in length, namely, 2.87 m.—9 ft. 6 in.,—and their widths are respectively from W. to E., or 2.83 m., 2.00 m., 3.14 m., 2.70 m., 2.53 m., and 2.53 m.—9 ft., 6 ft. 6 in., 10 ft., 9 ft., 8 ft., and 8 ft. The whole area is therefore 51.66 m. x 15.73 m.—170 ft. x 51 ft. Still, I believe that a sensible narrowing (possibly of nearly 2.0 m.—6 ft. 6 in.—) may have taken place up to ee; but this is compensated by the strengthening of the corners, which there are rounded outwards, so that the line e e presents about the same length as f f. Thereupon follows the open passage E, which is 3.40 m.—11 ft. wide, and north of it a rectangle of 3 longitudinal rows of 3 apartments, two of which rows are on the eastern slope. The width of the rooms appears to be the same as that in the former section, whereas their length from N. to S. is respectively 6.10 m., 4.27 m., and 5.44 m.—20 ft., 14 ft., and 18 ft. It is therefore a rectangle of 15.81 m. x 15.73 m.—51 ft. x 51 ft. North of it is an open space marked C, 3.13 m.—10 ft.—wide, in which I could detect no longitudinal partition, except one closing its western outlet towards the court. I have therefore left it an open question, and marked it as an alley or corridor. It may yet prove to have contained six rooms on the ground; but, as this is uncertain, the rooms that may have existed are not included in the computation of cells. North of the line b b begins the section a B b b, which is very badly ruined. This forms also the north-east angle of the whole building, and whose northern line (a B) shows the partitions of six chambers, each 2 m.—6 ft. 6 in. wide, each one indicating a longitudinal row of 4 rooms, respectively 2.83 m.—9 ft.—each from N. to S. It would indicate a rectangle of 11.32 m. x 12.00 m.—37 ft. x 40 ft. Of its six rows of rooms, three are on the slope.

From a to A extends the main northern wall of the structure. It is very strong, .78 m.—2 ft. 6 in.—wide, and constructed as follows, Pl. V., Fig. IX.:—

a, the outer wall, is 0.33 m.—13 in.—wide.

b, filling of mud, is 0.17 m.—6 in.—wide (this filling is both earth and gravel).

c, inner wall, is 0.28 m.—11 in.—wide.

The width of the inner wall being the average thickness of all the other walls in the whole house, the suggestion is not improbable that it was built first, and the outer one, which is made of larger stones, added subsequently for additional strength, and the interstice filled up as the work rose.

The line a A is 17.28 m.—56 ft.—long. From A it runs down to the south for 8.10 m.—27 ft.—, thence east, 17.28 m.—56 ft.—, to connect with the north-east corner of the eastern wing. It thus forms an aisle, and at the same time closes the court to the north. A rectangle of 8.10 m. x 17.28—27 ft. x 56 ft.—consists of 4 longitudinal sections of 3 rooms each, which, while their length is uniformly 2.70 m.—9 ft.—(from N. to S.), have widths from W. to E. of 5.46 m., 3.18 m., and 3.62 m.—18 ft., 10 ft., and 12 ft. All the rooms are on the same level, and they are the largest and best preserved of any in the entire area of ruins. Room I has even an unimpaired roof.

The north wall of a A stands out boldly on the highest crest of the mesilla. Below it northwards, a small hill of stones, from which timbers occasionally protrude, forms a tumbled and confused slope of inextricable ruin; and beyond this slope there extend the foundations of walls on the level mesilla up to 10 m.—33 ft.—from the northern transverse part of the general circumvallation, which there is 45 m.—148 ft.—from a A, and 30 m.—100 ft.—long from W. to E. It thus appears that the building A had its northern annex as well as the house B. To this annex I shall hereafter return.

West of line A n there runs alongside of it the interesting gateway G, 2 m.—6 ft. 6 in.—wide, its bottom somewhat higher than the floor of the adjoining rooms,[118] and forming, as before stated, the north-westerly entrance to the great inner court. It is perfectly straight on the east as far as r; but then a heavy bank of stones and gravel starts out like a lower continuation of the wall a A, and winds down, curving, till close to the western circumvallation on the edge of the mesilla. It thus forms a northern embankment to the gateway. Almost parallel to it, on the opposite side of n r, the conical mound or tower H constitutes the western and southern wall of the passage G. This passage is therefore nearly semicircular. It is level from n to r, and thence descends steeply towards the edge of the mesilla.



The mound H describes about two-thirds of a circle. Its base at the south is 6 m.—20 ft.—from E. to W.; its diameter, 6.85 m.—23 ft; its actual height, about 1.5 m.—5 ft. It is conical, and appears to be a round heap of earth and rocks encased with neat and judicious piling of well-selected stones. This naturally gave the stone-work a slanting surface; the higher it reaches, however, the more it becomes vertical, until at last it juts out above the surface of the mound like a circular breastwork, or a hollow round tower on a conical base. I refer to Pl. X. for an excellent view of its vertical aspect and structure. This mound, or tower, while it commands an extensive view to the west, north, and even north-east, is also the most northerly "spur" of the western wing of the great house A. This wing extends in an unbroken length of 62 m.—203 ft.—from the base line of H to the entrance N, and is divided into 3 transverse sections, all connected, and all having 3 longitudinal rows of rooms or cells. The width of each cell is the same in every section, to wit, from E. to W. 2.58 m., 2.58 m., and 3.22 m.—8 ft. 6 in., 8 ft. 6 in., and 10 ft. 6 in., respectively.

Section k l l m has 3 x 5 apartments; in length from N. to S., 2.51 m., 3.86 m., 2.35 m., 3.71 m., and 3.72 m.—8 ft., 13 ft., 8 ft., 12 ft., and 12 ft. It was therefore 16.15 m. x 8.38 m.—53 ft. x 27 ft. Probably all the ground-floor cells were on the same level.

Section l l h h has 3 x 12 apartments, each 2.53 m.—8 ft.—long. Consequently, it was a rectangle of 30.36 m. x 8.38 m.—100 ft. x 27 ft. The eastern row of chambers was on the slope.

Section h h N 3 x 4 long, respectively 2.77 m.—9 ft. each, therefore 10.98 m. x 8.38 m.—36 ft. x 27 ft. There were two eastern rows on the slope.

This entire wing (forming a rectangle of 62 m. x 8.38 m.—203 ft. x 27 ft., if we add to the spaces given the thicknesses of the transverse partitions, this time not included in the measures) has given me more trouble than the rest of A and B combined. Nowhere are the walls so twisted and out of range as here. Besides, there is an unfinished air about it that is almost bewildering. The height of the stories does not agree with that of the other sections,—the western wing would be one story lower. Furthermore, it contains in several places squared beams of wood inserted in the stone-work lengthwise. These beams (of which there is also one in the opposite wing similarly embedded) are identical and apparently of the same age with the (not sculptured) beams still found in and about the old church. Entire walls of chambers, or rather sides, appear to be new; the mud or adobe is fresh, whereas almost everywhere else it has disappeared, out of the crevices even; the stones are almost laid in courses. As I shall hereafter relate, there are at several places adobe walls, the adobe containing wheat-straw! And all this right among chambers showing sides as uncouth and old as any of the pueblo, though still as high as their more recent and better preserved neighbors. Here there is evidently patchwork of later date, and patchwork executed with material unknown to the Indians previous to the advent of the Spaniards. I am even convinced that it was done after 1680; for the beams evidently came from the church or the convent, which buildings we know were sacked and fired by the Indians in the month of August of that year. If this conclusion be correct, the south-western part of A, its entire westerly wall, was somehow destroyed after 1680, and partly rebuilt with materials unknown to the Indians at the time when Pecos was first erected.

I say partly, because there is evidence that the western wing, from H to N, was originally much broader. As it now appears, the wall m h presents itself as the western line of the structure. But there are, still further out, although distinctly connected with it, remains of buildings which were at least attached to it. These are the ruined enclosures designated on the ground-plan by I, K, and L.

Nothing besides foundations, heaps of stones defining corners, and upright posts protruding along the western limits of L and K inside, remain of these structures. L L are of the size of the ordinary chambers; K K are four times larger. Their interior shows no partition whatever: the soil is level, somewhat depressed in the centre of each apartment; and on the whole they present very much the same appearance as those structures on the "neck," which lie to the west of B, but are not connected with the latter. Besides, the enclosures are on a lower level than the two rows of rooms immediately east of the wall m N. This wall itself is a double wall, each single one being of the size of the ordinary partition; the total width is therefore 0.56 m.—22 in.,—as proven by actual measurement. The idea is therefore suggested—very naturally—that the entire western wing of the building A was originally a double house,[119] terraced both towards the east and the west. In sketching the cross-sections, I have taken due notice of this very probable, if not positive, fact.

The double wall m N shows no trace of lateral passages. It therefore divides the whole structure from H to N into two longitudinal sections. The western one, from o to p, consisted of but one row of 5 rooms; from p to N it had two rows of 16 chambers each. The ground slopes still further to the S. and S.W. outside of the trapezoidal enclosures, I I, and is covered with debris; so that I presume that, from ll to N, there was an additional row of 3 rooms on the outside. The entire division was at one time very completely razed to the ground, so that its owners never attempted to rebuild it after the original plan.

The western division was also badly damaged in its southern half, but the damage was subsequently repaired with the aid of material and mechanical arts postdating the Spanish conquest of New Mexico. Pl. V., Fig. 3, gives a view of the western end, along the line h h.

I would recall here the fact already noticed, that the northern part of building B is also mended in places with adobes of the same make as those used in repairing the western wing of A, and that, while the squared beams are wanting, the stone-work there in places appears also of a more recent date. The suggestion may therefore not be uncalled for, that the same destroying power which spent its main force on A, distinct from the general decay, and moving in a direction from S.W. to N. E., reflected or glanced off upon the northern portions of B. This question will, however, be discussed hereafter.

The annexes I I are trapezoidal enclosures of stone-work as high as a man's breast, and respectively of the sizes indicated on the ground-plan. The northern one is divided lengthwise into two compartments; the southern is open to the south. Both appear to be new and unfinished. From the centre of the last one protrude two well-squared heavy timbers. These timbers are in a singularly unfit position; they cannot be accounted for, and convey the impression that they were carried hither from some other totally different construction. They look almost forlorn. Whence they came, and for what purpose they were brought,—what was the object in erecting the enclosures I I,—I do not intend to speculate upon, unless they are recently constructed store-rooms ("Almacenas").

Across the passage-way N, both southward from the line g g and eastward from I, fitting into it to the east and barring access to the great court from the "neck," lies the south wing of A,—a rectangle of 27.25 m.—90 ft.—from W. to E., and 13 m.—43 ft.—from N. to S., including the walls. It is much decayed and overturned; the northern side is far less so than the southern; nowhere are there any signs of repairs. Here the rows of rooms must be taken transversely (from W. to E.). There are 5, each with 7 chambers, measuring in succession from N. to S. 2.00 m., 2.00 m., 3.09 m., 2.40 m., and 2.00 m.—6 ft. 6 in., 6 ft. 6 in., 10 ft., 8 ft., and 6 ft. 6 in; and from W. to E. 3.61 m.—12 ft. each. Two of these transverse rows appear to be on the southern slope, and three on the upper level towards the court.

Here I have again reached the passage-way R, my original point of departure. Before entering into an examination of the other particulars of the building, as well as of its annexes and surroundings, I shall make once more a rapid circuit, to give an idea of its size, and also attempt a rude computation of the number of rooms it contained.

Lengths of the eastern wing from f to B (E. side N. and S.) 51.66 m.—170 ft. 3.40 m.— 12 ft. 15.81 m.— 52 ft. 3.13 m.— 10 ft. 11.32 m.— 37 ft. 7.84 m.— 25 ft. ————————- Adding 28 walls a 0.28 m.—11 in., total 93.16 m.—306 ft.

Brought forward 93.16 m.—306 ft.

Lengths of the north side from B to a 12.00 m.— 40 ft. from a to A 17.28 m.— 57 ft. 6 transverse walls a .28 m.—11 in. 1.68 m.— 6 ft. ———————— 30.96 m.—102 ft.

Length from A to n 8.10 m.— 27 ft. n to m 8.38 m.— 27 ft. m to o 2.51 m.— 8 ft. o to W. corner of L (estimated) 5.00 m.— 16 ft. W. corner of L. to p 16.17 m.— 53 ft. p to y 2.10 m.— 7 ft. y, southward, to line g g 33.44 m.—110 ft. passage-way N .00 m.— 6 ft. 6 in.

Width of western section of W. wing (about) 7.48 m.— 25 ft. Length of south wing 13.00 m.— 43 ft. 28 transverse walls a .28 m.—11 in. 7.84 m.— 26 ft. ———————— 106.02 m.—348 ft. 6 in.

Width of S. wing 27.25 m.— 90 ft. Passage R 4.00 m.— 13 ft. From R to f (about) 4.00 m.— 13 ft. Line f f 15.73 m.— 52 ft. 8 longitudinal walls a .28 m.—11 in. 2.24 m.— 7 ft. ———————— Total length to f, my point of departure 53.22 m.—175 ft. ————————— Entire length of circuit of building A 283.36 m.—928 ft.

Adding to this 15 m.—49 ft.—for the probable periphery of mound H, and 64 m.—210 ft.—for the perimeter of a southern annex to the south wing, which I have not yet described, we reach a perimeter of 362 m.—1,190 ft.—in all. Comparing these figures with those given about the great ruins of the Rio Chaco by Dr. W. H. Jackson,[120] and of the pueblo of Las Animas River by my friend the Hon. L. H. Morgan,[121] it will be seen that this building, A, at Pecos is probably the largest aboriginal structure of stone within the United States so far described, and that it will even bear comparison with many of the aboriginal ruins of Mexico and Central America.[122]

The size of the interior court can now be easily determined. It is 64 m.—210 ft.—from N. to S., and 19.28 m.—63 ft.—from E. to W. Its area covers therefore 1,235 sq. m.—13,230 sq. ft.,—or about one fourth of an acre; whereas the entire debris, measured as well as possible, scatter over more than two acres of ground.

For the computation of the number of rooms in the whole pile, cross-sections are necessary. (Pl. V., Figs. 1-8.) The height of each story is about the same as in B, to wit, 2.28 m.—7 ft. 6 in.

Fig. 1, section of west wing about l l, from west to east.

Fig. 2, lines b b and a B.

Fig. 3, section of west wing along h h.

Fig. 4, line d d, north, up to south line of C.

Fig. 5, section of west wing along line g g.

Fig. 6, line f f, southern boundary of east wing, and for the entire rectangle up to E.

Fig. 7, cross-section of north wing, line A n, from north to south.

Fig. 8, south wing, from north to south.

It is possible that the second row, from S. to N., had two superposed chambers, but I am not positive of it, and therefore do not include it in the computation of rooms which will follow.



It will be seen that, according to the ground plan and sections, the east wing had five stories, the north wing two, the west wing successively two, three, and four, and the south wing four. Looking at the buildings from the great court, the south presented an unbroken front of a two-story wall, the east successively walls of four, three, and two stories; the north side formed two, and the west side, from north to south, in succession, two, three, and four terraces. In this manner, not only was the building remarkably well accommodated to the great irregularities of the surface, but even a tolerably uniform height was attained, well agreeing, therefore, with the description of "Cicuye," as Castaneda saw it in 1540. "The houses have four stories, terraced roofs all of the same height, along which one can make the circuit of the entire village without meeting any street to intercept the passage.[123] Here we must remember that the widest gateway is 4 m.—13 ft.—wide,—an expanse easily spanned by common beams used by the Indians in their house architecture.

An attempt to compute the number of rooms in A results as follows:—

Rectangle f f e e, 18 longitudinal rows of 6 rooms and 5 stories. 1st story 18 2d story 5 x 18 90 3d story 4 x 18 72 4th story 3 x 18 54 5th story 2 x 18 36 —- 270 rooms.

(d d c c) 1st story and 2d story on the slope, and 3 rooms per row. 1st story 3 2d story 3 3d story 4 x 3 12 4th story 3 x 3 9 5th story 2 x 3 6 — 33 " ————- Carried forward 303 rooms.

Brought forward 303 rooms.

(b b a B) 6 rows of 4 rooms, and 3 stories on the slope. 1st, 2d, and 3d story, each 4 12 4th story 3 x 4 12 5th story 2 x 4 8 — 32 "

(North wing) 2 stories, easily computed as 20 " (k m l l) 1st story 5 x 4 20 2d story 5 x 2 10 — 30 "

(l l h h K) Lowest story 12 2d story 12 x 4 48 3d story 12 x 2 24 — 84 "

(h h K g g I) Lowest story 4 2d story 4 3d story 4 x 4 16 4th story 4 x 2 8 — 32 "

(South wing) From E. to W. Lowest story 7 2d story 7 3d story 7 x 3 21 4th story 7 x 2 14 — 49 " Adding for the southern annex a probable number of 35 " ————- Building A contained in all not less than 585 cells.

Turning now to the inside of the building itself, I am compelled to acknowledge here an important omission in my survey of B. It relates to the vertical connection of the walls. They are all, with few exceptions, as far as their dilapidated condition admits of observation, continuous from bottom to top; that is, the sides were everywhere carried up above the ceiling (or floor), and then, after the beams had been embedded in the stones, another wall was piled up on it as straight as possible. In this manner it became possible to add each cell separately.

There are several doors visible in A, as marked on the ground-plan. Those in the eastern and western wings open from east to west, those in the northern wing from north to south; therefore transversely to the length of each structure. But I have also seen longitudinal walls without passages. The tops of the doors are all gone; the rest is everywhere similar to the sample found in B, and already figured. In some cases even the sills are gone. Windows I could not find, nor trap-doors or ladders; there was no trace of steps, and, unfortunately, no clew to any chimney or vent. Of furniture I secured pieces of new hearth-stones; of other articles, broken "metates," part of a fine maul of stone, flint chips, celts, stone skin-scrapers, and, of course, painted pottery and obsidian. But not one specimen is entire; every striking implement, etc., has been carried off by amateurs, of whose presence besides broken beer bottles, with the inscription "Anheuser-Busch Brewing Co., St. Louis, Mo.," give occasional notice.

Room I, in the S.W. corner of the north wing is very well preserved: so well, indeed, that it is nearly certain that there was no entrance to it from above. On the contrary, the entrance appears to have been from the front, as shown in Pl. VIII., where this room stands in full view. It is perfectly plain inside; eight posts of wood, round, and stripped of all bark, support the ceiling and roof, whose composition I have elsewhere described. These posts (which are also shown in Pl. VIII.) are so distributed as to have one in each corner, and two between, on each longer side of the room. In the S.E. quarter of the ceiling the splinters covering the rafters or poles are removed, and fresh straw (or rather very well preserved) protrudes, as having formed a layer with the brush. I was at first inclined to take it for wheat-straw, but other parties insisted that it was mountain grass. For the latter it appears to be very long, and it has a marked head. I have not, as yet, seen any wheat-plants grown at these elevations.[124]

Otherwise this chamber appears nearly perfect. In the middle of the north wall a hole is knocked out, but the two coats of plaster (dark and white) are almost everywhere preserved. Great interest attaches to this apartment, from the fact that, according to Sr. Mariano Ruiz, the sacred embers ("braza") were kept here until 1840, in which year the five last remaining families of Pecos Indians removed to their cognates at Jemez, and the "sacred fire" disappeared with them. Sr. Ruiz is good authority on that point, since, as a member of the tribe[125] ("hijo del pueblo"), he was asked to perform his duty by attending to the embers one year. He refused, for reasons which I shall hereafter state. The facts—that the fire was kept in a sort of closed oven, and that the front opening existed—made it unnecessary to search for any other conduit for smoke and ventilation. The fire was kept covered, and not permitted to flame.

I now come to one of the most interesting features of the court,—the three circular depressions marked P on the diagram. Two of them are in the N. E. corner,—the northern one close to the northern wing, and the other 2.65 m.—9 ft.—to the S. S. E. of it. Both are perfect circles, and each has a diameter of 7.70 m.—25 ft. In the S.W. corner, near to the passage N, is the third, with a diameter of only 6 m.—20 ft. They look like shallow basins, encased by a rim of stone-work piled up in the usual way, and forming a wall of nearly 0.35 m.—14 in.—in thickness. This wall is sunk into the ground, but at the northern basin it certainly, as former excavations plainly show, did not reach the depth of 1 metre; and it appears that at about that depth there were flat stones laid, like a rough stone floor. These basins were the "Estufas," or council chambers, where, as late as 1840, the meetings of the poor remnants of the tribe were still held. Although an adopted son of Pecos, Sr. Ruiz was never permitted to enter the Estufa. Across the northern one a very large and very old tree, nearly 0.75 m.—2 ft. 6 in.—in diameter, is lying obliquely. Its thick end is towards the N.E. wall. It looks as if uprooted and fallen upon the ruins. But how could a tree of such dimensions ever have grown there? Again, for what purpose, and how, could the Indians of Pecos have carried it hither?

Outside of the building A, the narrow ledge separating its rubbish from the eastern wall of circumvallation, a rim 150 m.—192 ft.—long by 32 m.—105 ft.—wide at the south, and 12 m.—40 ft.—at the north, shows the basins D and F, respectively 10 m.—33 ft.—and 8 m.—26 ft.—in diameter. They hug the rock of the mesilla very closely, and look completely like the estufas in the court. These buildings, according to Sr. Epifanio Vigil, of Santa Fe, were barns or store-houses (round towers 10 to 11 feet high), in which the Indians preserved their gathered crops, forage, etc. Still, it is not unlikely that they were tanks, built for collecting rain-water.

On the south side of the eastern wing, and so close to it that the heaps of rubbish touch, are two circular depressions surrounded by large masses of stones. They are marked S S on the plan. Their shape and size cannot be accurately determined, and their object is unknown.



Nearly the same must be said of a rectangular space, dotted and intersected with foundations and upright beams marked T T, and lying out in front of the south wing on the denuded and thinly soiled apron forming the southern spur of the "body" of the mesilla. Its eastern line, a double stone wall sunk 0.50 m.—20 in.—into the soil, is 8 m.—26 ft.—long from N. to S. From its southern extremity similar foundations run to the west 37 m.—120 ft.,—thence 8 m.—26 ft.—north, and 37 m.—120 ft.—east back to the first line. Thus a rectangle of 8 m. x 37 m.—26 ft. x 120 ft.—is formed, within whose area, especially in the western portion, upright beams start up in something like a semicircle, which would indicate that the structure was once a building. A metre and a half to the north, a foundation wall runs about 20 m.—66 ft.—E. and W.; and at both of its extremities a corridor ascends towards the south wing of A. The nature and object of these fabrics are equally a mystery to me.

Attached to the S.W. corner of the south wing is the annex of which I have already spoken. It is an elevated rectangle of 24 m. x 9 m.—80 ft. x 30 ft., and is clearly divided into compartments of 3-1/2 m. x 3 m.—12 ft. x 11 ft. The whole is not much more than a stone mound of oblong shape, but it contained on its ground-plan 21 chambers. I presume, from the mass of debris, that it had an upper story. Its eastern row of cells is a direct continuation of the most westerly row of the S. wing. Due south of this annex, and almost touching it, there are two structures marked O O which are very remarkable. They are octagonal. The most easterly one is best preserved, and appears to be the largest. Its two lateral walls are each 4 m.—13 ft.—long, the transverse 5.34 m.—18 ft.,—and the corners are cut off sharply by intersections of 0.86 m.—3 ft.—in length, so as to give the whole eight sides. The walls are well defined; the corners sharp and still one metre high. They are of the usual thickness. The other structure is so ruined that it appears round. These buildings, according to Sr. Vigil, were store-houses also; and they favor the suspicion that those marked S S south of the east wing had the same shape. As they now appear, they look like the ruins of octagonal towers. The stone-work is like that of the estufas, but they are erected exclusively above the ground, and still cannot have been very high.

I have now reached the utmost south-westerly point of ruins on the "body," where its drainage leads us into the often-mentioned depression and to the broad gateway of the circumvallation. From this gate the enclosure-wall creeps up along the edge of the mesilla N.W. and N., in all 104 m.—340 ft.,—to a point 44 m.—144 ft.—due west of the S. W. corner of the annex; and here we find a distinct stone enclosure 27 m.—89 ft.—long from N. to S., and 15 m.—50 ft.—wide, with an entrance of 3 m.—10 ft. wide, and terminating at the circumvallation. North-east of this, and about 28 m.—92 ft.—west of i on the middle wall of western wing, another enclosure begins 20 m. x 8 m.—66 ft. x 26 ft.; and 3 m.—10 ft.—south of this a small ruin 10 m. x 8 m.—33 ft. x 26 ft. Adjacent to L L, etc., around from o to y, a curved enclosure of stone extends, 42 m.—140 ft.—long, and thence east 6 m.—20 ft.—back to the N.W. corner of K. It appears like a garden, or corral, and shows no partitions. These are, as far as I could see, all the remains west of the building A. The edge of the mesilla rounds into the north-western corner of the latter, almost closing up with it; the slope is very steep and covered with huge rocks, broken and tumbled down along the declivity.

The small northern plateau between the transverse circumvallation and the top-wall of A is therefore nearly shut out from communication to the S.W. This plateau is a trapezium 45 m.—148 ft.—long from N. to S.,—50 m.—164 ft.—wide on the S., and 30 m.—98 ft.—on the N. It holds but few ruins; but, among these, a valuable find was made a short time ago by Mr. Harry Dent, of Baughls.

These ruins, in the main, can be described as follows: The slope descending from the top-wall is a heap of rubbish with shrivelled posts of wood, impossible to disentangle without excavations. North of this debris, and 29 m.—95 ft.—from A a B, stands a knoll, or mound, covered with stones. Looking south from this, I thought I noticed that it stood in the line of the second row of chambers of the east wing of A, counting from E. to W.; and retracing my steps in that direction I found, indeed, traces of stone foundations disappearing under the great debris, which indicated a corridor, or perhaps series of rooms, about 2 m.—6 ft. 6 in.—wide. It therefore looked like a northern annex to A. From the mound, which I have designated by V (Pl. I., Fig. 5), other foundations radiate to the W. and N.W. Those west soon disappear, but to the N.W. they are plainly visible for 14 m.—46 ft.—to another mound, or knoll T, similar to the first, whence another line of foundations vanishes to the west also. This appears to be the utmost limit of structures north, except the wall of enclosure, from which to T on the south is about 10 m.—33 ft. About the N.W. corner of A large heaps of rubbish descend in shapeless terraces outside and merge into the slope of the mesilla. They are, like the entire slope itself, covered with fragmentary pottery. About their eastern declivity, also, I thought I saw foundations, but could not be sure whether or not they connected with those extending westward from the two mounds just mentioned.

In the eastern section of mound V, Mr. Dent has, as I was informed and saw, dug down one metre into the dark loamy clay and stones of which the knoll is composed, and has thus exposed a small stone chamber, or flue, walled in to the north, west, and south in the ordinary manner, and closed with earth, etc., at the east. Whether there was any stone top other than rocks heaped up above the hillock I could not learn; neither did I, in digging down further, find any floor. This chimney-like structure is 1.32 m.—3 ft. 8 in.—wide from E. to W., and 0.70 m.—2 ft. 3 in.—from N. to S. It is therefore too large for a chimney, or flue, and too small for a room. Out of it Mr. Dent, whom I could not find personally, as he was absent at the time, extracted a human skeleton and much fairly preserved pottery. Of course, I was unable to see what he carried off (among which was the skull), but I saw and dug further in the same excavation, removing out of it bone splinters and the best preserved pottery piece of the entire collection. They are, in part, very similar to the yellow bowls still made by the Indian pueblo of Nambe (a Tehua tribe); but many of them have been so charred and blackened that it is impossible to make out their color. The pottery is all thin. Among it were also bits of charcoal and of rotten wood. The structure therefore appears to have been a grave, in which the body was placed in a sitting posture with its face to the east. Subsequent information and discovery have fully confirmed this view. I shall return to this on a subsequent page, and only state here that my efforts to find another skeleton in the same location failed.

The aboriginal remains encircled by the great wall of circumvallation and north of the old church are now exhausted, so far as my work among them goes, and the surroundings of the mesilla shall therefore become the subject of report.

The slope towards the east and south-east is rocky on the top, covered with sandy soil growing grama and very few cedar bushes, studded with ant-hills, and devoid of all remains of human structures so far as I could see. Pottery and obsidian are ever present, but become perceptibly less and almost disappear further east. The rills which drain the eastern slope carry much of this broken stuff into a small arroyo that winds to the left of the mesilla. About one quarter of a mile east of the building A, on a bare sunny and grassy level, are, quite alone, the foundations of a singular ruin. They run N. and S., consist of three rows of stones laid aside of each other longitudinally, and have the shape shown in Pl. V., Fig. 10.

Its length from N. to S. is 25 m.—82 ft.,—and its width about 10 m.—33 ft. From its form I suspect it to have been a Christian chapel, erected, or perhaps only in process of erection, before 1680. Not only is it completely razed, but even the material of the superstructure seems to have been carried off. Stones are scattered about the premises, but I found neither obsidian nor pottery. It stands protected from the north by the extremely rocky ledge terminating the mesilla towards the east, and appears without the least connection with the Indian pueblo proper.

It is the almost circular bottom on the west of the mesilla, encompassed by the north rock of A to the north, by the whole length of the mesilla to the east, by the gradual expanse below the church on the south, and by the Arroyo de Pecos on the west, that contains the aboriginal remains. Much better than a description, a diagram will illustrate their extent and shape. Pl. I., Fig. 5.

The distances are not very correctly given, and the shape of F is slightly exaggerated in irregularity.

A and B being the respective large buildings, C the church, D the great gate of the circumvallation; E is a stone or rubble wall of undeterminable length running along the foot of the mesilla in a slight curve till near the "wash-out" sallying from the gate, and F is an irregular lozenge, or trapeze, enclosed by a heavy low stone or rubble wall which might in some places be called an embankment. The corner l is 50 m.—165 ft.—from the border of the creek-bottom, which there is cut off abruptly from 1 m. to 3 m.—3 ft. 3 in. to 10 ft.,—presenting a section of red clay and gravel with pottery fragments. The line l r m runs W.N.W. to E.S.E., and is 138 m.—452 ft.—long; the line m s n measures 121 m.—398 ft.,—n o p 146 m.—480 ft., and p l 100 m.—330 ft. From r to s an embankment of earth and stone runs almost in a circle, and the whole triangle r m s forms a slightly elevated platform, in the centre of which is a pond (estanque) t, which, even at the present time, is filled with water. Viewed through the gate from above, this pond appears, with a part of the enclosure, as seen in Pl. IX. Several gullies (barrancas) have cut through the western and southern parts of the enclosure.

This enclosed area, now covered with tufts of grama, occasional cactuses, knolls and scattered drift and pottery, was according to Sr. Ruiz, the former huerto del pueblo; that is, the fields of the inhabitants of the pueblo, where they planted and raised Indian corn, beans, calabashes, squash, and, after the advent of the Spaniards, also wheat, melons, and perhaps other fruit. Not a vestige of former cultivation is left; but the platform r m s, with a pond in the centre, at once explains their mode of securing the water for irrigation. Through the gateway D the drainage of the mesilla was conducted directly to the platform r m s, where the pond t acted as a reservoir, out of which the fields themselves could be very easily and equitably supplied with moisture. Whether this was done by channels radiating from below the curve r s over the area F, or by carrying the water, I cannot tell, neither my informants nor the appearance of the area giving any clew. But I could not escape being forcibly struck by this plain and still very forcible illustration of communal living. Not only did the Pecos Indians live together, and build their houses together, but they raised their crops in one common field (though divided into individual or rather family plots, according to Ruiz), irrigated from one common water source which gathered its contents of moisture from the inhabited surface of the pueblo grounds. "The lands," said Mariano Ruiz, "belong to the tribe, but each man can sell his own crops." ("Las tierras son del pueblo, pero cada uno puede vender sus cosechas.") It forcibly recalls the system of "distribution and tenure of lands" among the ancient Mexicans.

I now cross the Arroyo de Pecos, and on its western bank, in the triangle formed by the creek with the military road to Santa Fe, nearly opposite the site of the old church, I met with a ruined enclosure and with remains of structures whose purposes are yet unexplained to me.

The distance from M to the arroyo is 40 m.—130 ft. Its E. line is 75 m.—246 ft.,—the S. line 70 m.—230 ft.,—the W., up to where the curve begins, 55 m.—180 ft. The distance from M to N is 15 m.—50 ft. At the north end of N is a mound of stone and debris, like a conical tower, 5 m.—16 ft.—in diameter; the other lines are distinct foundations only. Both M and N are scattered over with broken pottery, chips of obsidian and flint, and I also found a fragment of a stone implement.

Mariano Ruiz told me that the enclosure M was the corral of the pueblo; that is, the enclosure where they kept whatever herds they possessed. It was at all events but an enclosure, and no building. Still, why were their herds, their most valuable property, kept on the opposite side of the creek, so far from the dwellings themselves?

There are other ruins yet further south on the western bank of the arroyo, which, however, I shall not mention here. They are so important as to deserve special discussion in a later portion of this report. I therefore cross the creek back again to its eastern shore, and thence to the south side of the old church, proceeding thence southwards. From the church a grassy slope, very gentle and with almost imperceptible undulations, extends to the road which runs almost due W. and E. from the creek towards the Rio Pecos. The distance is about 300 m.—1,000 ft.,—of which 74 m.—240 ft.—are taken up by the embankments, walls, and foundation lines already described as pertaining to the church building. Plate I. shows the position of this section, its northern limit being about 34 m.—112 ft.—N. of the southern lines of the church annexes (or 42 m.—138 ft.—S. of the temple itself) the southern limit being the road itself, while on the west the creek-bed forms the boundary.

H, Corral-like structure, very plain, about 50 m. x 20 m., or 163 ft. x 65 ft. I understood Sr. Ruiz to say that it was the garden of the church ("la huerta de la iglesia"), but believe that he probably meant G, not having my field-notes with me at the time.

I, rectangle of foundation lines 30 m.—98 ft.—from A; 30 m. x 31 m.—98 ft. x 100 ft.—divided into 2 compartments, the western one 9 m. x 30 m.—30 ft. x 98 ft.

J, trapezium, with mound at S.W. corner 18 m. x 21 m., or 60 ft. x 70 ft.

K, rectangle 25 m. x 36 m.—82 ft x 118 ft.—open to the west, and only recognizable from the semicircular mound of not 0.50 m.—20 in.—elevation, dotted out as leaving a depression in the centre.

L, circular depression 36 m.—118 ft.—in diameter; ground always wet.

O, circular mound 10 m.—33 ft.—in diameter, 1.5 m.—5 ft.—high.

k, shapeless mound, possibly part of a hollow rectangle.

In many cases the foundations (which are the only remains visible) are themselves obliterated,—or at least overgrown. They are sometimes of 0.27 m.—10 in.—in width; again, two rows, even three rows, of stones compose them longitudinally. The mound is regular, but the soil is everywhere so hard and gravelly that I desisted from excavating. The basin L looks much like an estufa: there are few scattered stones on its surface, and this surface is moist; but I did not notice any trace of stone encasement. In general, there is no rubbish at all over the area. Stones are scattered about, and evidently they were once used for building purposes; but they nowhere form heaps. Then there is not the slightest trace of pottery or obsidian. In this respect the area just described forms a remarkable exception. All around it in every direction the painted fragments cover the soil; this particular locality, as far as I could find, has none. It only reappears in I, opposite the church annexes, and also in the enclosure H, whereas the church grounds are again strewn with handsome pieces, and some of the finest obsidian flakes were found on them.

Across the road to the south, the ground becomes covered with shrubs of cedar, and the eastern slope hugs the creek-bed. Upon reaching the creek, the road divides,—one branch crossing over directly to the west, and the other proceeding along the arroyo about 200 m.—630 ft.—to the south ere it turns across. The main military line of travel intersects there-about the one to the Pecos River, and thence, striking almost due south, forms a very acute angle with the creek. In this angle ledges of rock protrude, sheltered by a fine group of cedar-shrubs; and here, in what may be termed a snug little corner, the rocks bear some Indian carvings.

Expecting daily a supply of paper for "squeezes," I have until now deferred taking any exact copies of these vestiges. Therefore this report contains but superficial notice of them. It would have been useless labor to make sketches and take measurements when I knew that, within the period of time I shall spend in New Mexico, I should certainly be able to secure fac-similes. The carvings are certainly old; they are much worn, and represent mainly so-called footprints (of adults as well as of children), turkey tracks, a human form, and a circle formed by small cup-shaped holes, of the patterns about which I hope that my friend Professor C. C. Rau, of Washington, will by this time have finished his elaborate and very interesting work. The human figure is as rude and childlike an effort as any represented on the plates accompanying the reports of General Simpson and of my friend Mr. W. H. Holmes; the footmarks are fair, and the circle is rather perfect. Something like a "diamond" appears within its periphery, but I am not yet quite certain whether it is a carving or the result of decay. Some of the tracks seem to point to the high mesa, others to the north.[126] By the side of these original efforts there are recent additions, destined, perhaps, to become at some future time as successful archaeological frauds as many of the most interesting products of excavation in the States of Ohio and Iowa. About the sculptured stones I again met with fragments of painted pottery. Still further down, on the east bank of the Arroyo de Pecos, about a mile from the church in a southerly direction, and on a low promontory of red clay jutting out into the creek-bed, there are vestiges of other ruins,—a low, flat mound covered with stones. I saw no pottery about it.

Directly opposite the sculptured rocks, on the other bank of the arroyo to the west, the cliffs of clay bordering it form a huge cauldron, out of which the contents seem to have been originally removed, leaving a semicircle of vertical bluffs of clay and drift about 3 m.—10 ft.—high. It is out of this locality that I suggested the clay for the adobe of the church might have been secured. The faces of the slope cannot have been washed out, for the creek runs straight far to the east, hugging closely that side of its banks; there is no trace of an old stream-bed winding to the westward, neither is there any sufficient drainage from the west in the shape of gulches or branches. It appears as if there had been an original start, at least, given to the present basin by a removal of earth in a curve, subsequent wearing and weakening enlarging the cauldron to its actual form and size. This size is constantly increased by decay and by the work of diggers; for this bluff has been of late a favorite resort for them, from the fact that in its face human bones—nay, complete graves—have been found.

I consequently started to examine the bluff, and finally noticed a plain wall jutting out at about one fourth of the length of the western curve from N. to S. This wall seemed at first to be a corner. It is well made, and its stone-work is much like that figured by Mr. Holmes from the cliff-dwellings on the Rio Mancos in South-western Colorado. Still the stones are not hewn, but only were carefully broken, the rock itself having a tabular cleavage. The surface is true. I am unable to say whether it was a corner or not; the thickness of the side (east) is 0.65 m.—2 ft.,—and it looks like a strong outside line running almost due N. and S., perhaps a little to the E.

The height of the wall is 0.94 m.—3 ft.; its depth beneath the surface, 0.52 m.—21 in. The sod (covered with grama) looks undisturbed; it is hard and coarsely sandy on the top, but beneath the clay is softer and loamy. Under the wall there is red clay to the bottom of the bluff with bands of drift. Clambering along the cliff to the northward, I soon perceived, at a depth nearly agreeing with the base of the wall, a layer of white ashes, similar to those found over the hearthstone in building B, mixed with charcoal and charred pottery. This layer was continuous along the exposure of the bluff; it formed a regular seam, intersected horizontally by bands of charcoal, and, at the lower end, a continuous stratum of pottery totally different from that found hitherto, except one fragment in the drift of the creek and another one among the adobe rubbish of the church. Instead of being painted, it was corrugated and indented, and identical with the corrugated and indented ware from the Rio Mancos and from South-eastern Utah, so beautifully figured by Mr. W. H. Holmes. There were also a very few pieces of painted pottery: but these, which became more numerous towards the top of the bluff, or cliff, appeared to have been washed in; whereas the corrugated fragments were a distinct, continuous band, most of the convex surfaces being downwards; and this band, except where ledges of the cliff projected far out into the bottom, or where the clay had tumbled down recently in front of the exposure, was visible from 50 m.—165 ft.—N. of the wall to 62 m.—203 ft.—S. of it on a line of 110 m.—360 ft. It was everywhere accompanied by the ashes and charcoal.

A, little barranca, exposing ashes, etc., which contained corncobs, and, in the upper parts of the clay, human bones.

a, grave found by Mr. E. K. Walters, of Pecos; obliterated now.

B, wall.

b, place where skeleton of child was partly secured, five metres S. of B.

C, southern barranca; no remains found.

c, last sign south of pottery, ashes, and charcoal.

W, rock carvings on west bank of the arroyo.

The following are sections at four different places:—



Specimens of every section have been sent with the collection. It has struck me that the stratum of ashes, charcoal, and pottery, while visible always inside,—that is, to the west of a supposed lateral extension of the wall from B,—still appears to run below it. The human remains, however, protrude about at heights where the wall, if in existence, might have been in front of them. There were bones lying on rubbish in front of C,—there were also bones within the ashes, even at A; but the action of wear and washing being everywhere visible and very complicated, I do not venture any surmise in these cases beyond expressing the conviction that the human remains originally rested above the layers of charcoal, ashes, corncobs, and corrugated pottery.

While at Sr. Ruiz's, I had diligently inquired of the old gentleman about the graves of the Pecos Indians. He finally replied (after he had for a time insisted upon it that they were at the church) that before they became Christians ("antes que fueron cristianos") they buried their dead on the right bank of the Arroyo de Pecos, where he had often seen the skeletons (las calaveras, the corpses) washed out of the cliffs and strewn about. At Mrs. Kozlowski's, this also appeared to be a known fact; but an examination of the creek banks showed no trace of bones, and showed no other structures except the mound already mentioned on the left shore. In the cliffs of the basin which I have now described I met with the first sign of what Sr. Ruiz called "El Campo-Santo de los Indios, antes que fueron Cristianos." Still it is not at all positive, because the surface of the level west of the bluff shows extensive but flat and low mounds, covered with stones used for building, and with painted pottery, showing that at least adjoining the human remains a very large building, if not several, had stood at some very remote time. The wall would then stand towards that ancient structure in the same relation as the mound or chamber V stands towards the ruin A on the mesilla; and it would indicate the custom on the part of their inhabitants of burying their dead around their houses, or at least in sight of the rising sun, and in little chambers of stone. This view is corroborated by the statement of Mr. E. K. Walters, of Pecos, that at a place which I have marked a (therefore to the north of the wall) he dug out, very near the edge of the bluff, a stone grave, and with it a human skeleton. The grave was a rectangle, walled up on four sides, with stones on the top and no floor. The western side was rounded, so as to present the following plan:—