All the modern settlements of the lower portion of the Verde valley are
located on terraces or benches, and such localities were also regarded
favorably by the ancient builders, for almost invariably where a modern
settlement is observed traces of a former one will also be found. The
former inhabitants of this region were an agricultural people, and their
villages were always located either on or immediately adjacent to some
area of tillable soil. This is true even of the cavate lodges, which are
often supposed to have been located solely with reference to facility of
defense. Owing to the character of the country, most of the tillable
land is found on the eastern side of the river, and as a consequence
most of the remains of the former inhabitants are found there also,
though they are by no means confined to that side. These remains are
quite abundant in the vicinity of Verde, and less so between that point
and the mouth of the river. The causes which have induced American
settlement in the large area of bottom land about Verde doubtless also
induced the aboriginal settlement of the same region, although, owing to
the different systems of agriculture pursued by the two peoples, the
American settlements are always made on the bottom lands themselves,
while the aboriginal settlements are almost always located on high
ground overlooking the bottoms. Perched on the hills overlooking these
bottoms, and sometimes located on the lower levels, there was once a
number of large and important villages, while in the regions on the
south, where the tillable areas are as a rule very much smaller, the
settlements were, with one exception, small and generally insignificant.
The region treated in these pages is that portion of the valley of Rio
Verde comprised between its mouth and Verde, or Beaver creek, on the
north. It was entered by the writer from the south; it is not proposed,
however, to follow a strict geographic order of treatment, but, on the
contrary, so far as practicable, to follow an arrangement by types.
The domiciliary ruins of this region fall easily into three general
classes, to which may be added a fourth, comprising irrigating ditches
and works, the first class having two subclasses. They are as follows:
Stone villages.
_a_. Villages on bottom lands.
_b_. Villages on defensive sites.
Cavate lodges.
Bowlder-marked sites.
Irrigating ditches and works.
[Illustration: Plate XIV.
RUIN AT MOUTH OF THE EAST VERDE.]
The ruins of the first group, or stone villages located on bottom lands
without reference to defense, represent in size and in degree of skill
attained by the builders the highest type in this region, although they
are not so numerous as those of the other groups. They are of the same
type as, although sometimes smaller in size than, the great valley
pueblos of the regions on the north and south, wherein reliance for
defense was placed in massive and well-planned structures and not on
natural advantages of location. In the north this class of ruin has been
shown to be the last stage in along course of evolution, and there is a
suggestion that it occupies the same relation to the other ruins in the
Verde region; this question, however, will later be discussed at some
length. The best example of this type on the lower Verde is a large
ruin, located in a considerable bottom on the eastern side of the river,
about a mile above the mouth of Limestone creek. This is said to be the
largest ruin on the Verde; it is certainly the largest in the region
here treated, and it should be noted that it marks practically the
southern limit of the Rio Verde group.
The ruins of the second subclass, or stone villages located on defensive
sites, are found throughout the whole of this region, although the type
reaches its best development in the northern portion, in the vicinity of
Verde. The separation of this type from the preceding one is to a
certain extent arbitrary, as the location of a ruin is sometimes
determined solely by convenience, and convenience may dictate the
selection of a high and defensible site, when the tillable land on which
the village depends is of small area, or when it is divided into a
number of small and scattered areas; for it was a principle of the
ancient village-builders that the parent village should overlook as
large an extent as possible of the fields cultivated by its inhabitants.
A good illustration of this type of ruin is found a little way northeast
of Verde, on the opposite side of the river. Here a cluster of ruins
ranging from small groups of domiciles to medium-sized villages is found
located on knobs and hills, high up in the foothills and overlooking
large areas of the Verde bottom lands. These are illustrated later.
Another example, also illustrated later, occurs on the eastern side of
the river about 8 miles north of the mouth of Fossil creek. The village,
which is very small, occupies the whole summit of a large rock which
projects into the stream, and which is connected with the mainland by a
natural causeway or dike. This is one of the best sites for defense seen
by the writer in an experience of many years.
Cavate lodges are distributed generally over the whole northern portion
of the region here treated. At many points throughout this region there
are outcrops of a calcareous sandstone, very soft and strongly laminated
and therefore easily excavated. This formation often appears in the
cliffs and small canyons bordering on the streams, and in it are found
the cavate lodges. The best examples are found some 8 miles south of
Verde, in a small canyon on the eastern side of the river, and it is
noteworthy that in this case stone villages occur in conjunction with
and subordinate to the cavate lodges, while elsewhere within this region
and in other regions the cavate lodges are found either alone or in
conjunction with and subordinate to stone villages. To this latter type
belong a number of cavate lodges on the northern side of Clear creek,
about 4 miles above its mouth. The cavate lodges of the Verde differ in
some particulars from those found in other regions; they are not
excavated in tufa or volcanic ash, nor are the fronts of the chambers
generally walled up. Front walls are found here, but they are the
exception and not the rule.
Bowlder-marked sites are scattered over the whole region here treated
although they are more abundant in the southern part than in the
northern. They are so abundant that their locations could not be
indicated on the accompanying map (plate XI). These constitute a
peculiar type, not found elsewhere in the experience of the writer, and
present some points of interest. They vary in size from one room to
considerable settlements, but the average size is two or three rooms.
They are always located with reference to some area, generally a small
one, of tillable land which they overlook, and all the data now
available support the inference that they mark the sites of small
farming or temporary shelters, occupied only during the farming season
and abandoned each winter by the inhabitants, who then return to the
main pueblo--a custom prevalent today among the pueblos. These sites are
found on the flat bottom lands of the river, on the upper terraces
overlooking the bottoms, on points of the foothills, in fact everywhere
where there is an area of tillable land large enough to grow a few hills
of corn. They often occur in conjunction with irrigating ditches and
other horticultural works; sometimes they are located on small hillocks
in the beds of streams, locations which must be covered with water
during the annual floods; sometimes they are found at the bases of
promontories bordering on drainage channels and on the banks of arroyas,
where they might be washed away at any time. In short, these sites seem
to have been selected without any thought of their permanency.
Irrigating ditches and horticultural works were found in this region,
but not in great abundance; perhaps a more careful and detailed
examination would reveal a much larger number than are now known. Fine
examples of irrigating ditches were found at the extreme northern and
the extreme southern limits of the region here treated, and there is a
fair presumption that other examples occur in the intermediate country.
These works did not reach the magnitude of those found in the Gila and
Salt river valleys, perhaps partly for the reason that the great fall of
Verde river and its tributaries renders only short ditches necessary to
bring the water out over the terraces, and also partly because
irrigation is not here essential to successful horticulture. In good
years fair crops can be obtained without irrigation, and today this
method of farming is pursued to a limited extent.
[Illustration: Plate XV.
MAIN COURT, RUIN AT MOUTH OF THE EAST VERDE.]