Black Diamond Ranch is 13 miles north of Hosta Butte. Mr. Bruce Draper,
who owns the ranch, pointed out near the mouth of a neighboring canyon
several comparatively large ruins. In one of the largest of these (pl.
3, _b_) near the ranch house, no walls are visible above ground, but
the surface presents abundant evidence of a buried ruin. In one corner
of this ruin (pl. 3, _b_) Mr. Bruce dug out a small room which has good
plastered walls, several feet high, and found decorative bowls, some
of which are here figured (figs. 4, 5). About 50 feet south of this
ruin, a low mound suggests a cemetery, and about the same distance
still farther south, a depression on the surface indicates a circular
subterranean room or reservoir.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.—Spherical bowl, Black Diamond Ranch. 7⅜ by 5
inches.]
Following up this canyon nearly to its head, there is a small ruin
hardly worth mentioning save for a spiral incised pictograph 3 feet in
diameter identical with the snake symbols widely distributed throughout
the Southwest.
In all the region north of the high ridge of eroded Wingate sandstone
there are several other groups of ruins with most of the walls very
much broken down. It would probably be conservative to state that there
were over 200 ruins, large and small, in this region, showing evidence
of a considerable population, if they were inhabited simultaneously.
Fragments of pottery occur on almost every ridge overlooking the
trails, especially along the road from Gallup to Crown Point. The forms
of these ruins vary and can be made out only by systematic excavation.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.—Mug with decoration half completed. 5½ by 4½
inches.]
So far as limited exploration about Gallup has gone, the investigations
by the author show that the ruins were inhabited by Zuñi clans, as
indicated in the structure of the buildings and the symbols on the
pottery. It would be important to determine the relative age of
these ruins compared with those about Zuñi; as to whether they were
peopled by colonies from Zuñi, or whether their inhabitants joined the
Zuñi population after deserting these houses. Although there is not
sufficient evidence to prove the latter proposition, the author is
inclined to accept it.