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:--
[Illustration: Clay Pit Area]
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.