There are some good pictographs on the foundation rocks of that great
pinnacle of red rock, called the Court-house, not far from Schürmann's
ranch.[25] Some of these are Apache productions, and the neighboring
caves evidently formed shelters for these nomads, as ash pit and
half-burnt logs would seem to show. This whole land was a stronghold
of the Apache up to a recent date, and from it they were dislodged,
many of the Indians being killed or removed by authority of the
Government.
From the geological character of the Red-rocks I was led to suspect
that cavate dwellings were not to be expected. The stone is hard and
not readily excavated by the rude implements with which the aborigines
of the region were supplied. But the remarkable erosion shown in this
rock elsewhere had formed many deep caverns or caves, with
overreaching roofs, very favorable for the sites of cliff houses. My
hurried examination confirmed my surmises, for we here found dwellings
of this kind, so similar to the type best illustrated in Mancos canyon
of southern Colorado. There were several smoke-blackened caves without
walls of masonry, but with floors strewn with charred wood, showing
Apache occupancy. No cavate dwellings were found in the section of the
Red-rocks visited by our party.
The two largest of the Red-rock cliff houses to which I shall refer
were named Honanki or Bear-house and Palatki or Red-house. The former
of these, as I learned from the names scribbled on its walls, had
previously been visited by white men, but so far as I know it has
never been mentioned in archeological literature. My attention was
called to it by Mr Schürmann, at whose hospitable ranch I outfitted
for my reconnoissance into the Red-rock country. The smaller ruin,
Palatki, we discovered by chance during our visit, and while it is
possible that some vaquero in search of a wild steer may have visited
the neighborhood before us, there is every reason to believe that the
ruin had escaped even the notice of these persons, and, like Honanki,
was unknown to the archeologist.
The two ruins, Honanki and Palatki, are not the only ones in the lone
canyon where we encamped. Following the canyon a short distance from
its entrance, there was found to open into it from the left a
tributary, or so-called box canyon, the walls of which are very
precipitous. Perched on ledges of the cliffs there are several rows of
fortifications or walls of masonry extending for many yards. It was
impossible for us to enter these works, even after we had clambered up
the side of the precipice to their level, so inaccessible were they to
our approach. These "forts" were probably for refuge, but they are ill
adapted as points of observation on account of the configuration of
the canyon. Their masonry, as examined at a distance with a field
glass, resembles that of Palatki and Honanki.
I was impressed by the close resemblance between the large cliff
houses of the Red-rocks, with their overhanging roof of rock, and
those of the San Juan and its tributaries in northern New Mexico.
While it is recognized that cliff houses have been reported from Verde
valley, I find them nowhere described, and our lack of information
about them, so far as they are concerned, may have justified
Nordenskiöld's belief that "the basin of the Colorado actually
contains almost all the cliff dwellings of the United States." As the
Gila flows into the Colorado near its mouth, the Red-rock ruins may in
a sense be included in the Colorado basin, but there are many and
beautiful cliff houses higher up near the sources of the Gila and its
tributary, the Salt. In calling attention to the characteristic cliff
dwellings of the Red-rocks I am making known a new region of ruins
closely related to those of Canyon de Tségi, or Chelly, the San Juan
and its tributaries.
Although the cliff houses of Verde valley had been known for many
years, and the ruins here described are of the same general character,
anyone who examines Casa Montezuma, on Beaver creek, and compares it
with Honanki, will note differences of an adaptive nature. The one
feature common to Honanki and the "Cliff Palace" of Mancos canyon is
the great overhanging roof of the cavern, which, in that form, we miss
in Casa Montezuma (figure 246).[26]
[Illustration: FIG. 246--Casa Montezuma on Beaver creek]
We made two camps in the Red-rock country, one at the mouth of a wild
canyon near an older camp where a well had been dug and the cellar of
an American house was visible. This camp was fully six miles from
Schürmann's ranch and was surrounded by some of the wildest scenery
that I had ever witnessed. The accompanying view (plate XCVIII) was
taken from a small elevation near by, and gives a faint idea of the
magnificent mountains by which we were surrounded. The colors of the
rocks are variegated, so that the gorgeous cliffs appear to be banded,
rising from 800 to 1,000 feet sheer on all sides. These rocks had
weathered into fantastic shapes suggestive of cathedrals, Greek
temples, and sharp steeples of churches extending like giant needles
into the sky. The scenery compares very favorably with that of the
Garden of the Gods, and is much more extended. This place, I have no
doubt, will sooner or later become popular with the sightseer, and I
regard the discovery of these cliffs one of the most interesting of my
summer's field work.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY