The collection of mounds (pl. 3, _b_), sometimes called Burkhardt
Ruin, situated at Mud Spring, belongs to the McElmo series. This
ruin, in which is the “triple-walled tower” of Holmes, for uniformity
with Mitchell Spring Ruin and Aztec Spring Ruin, is named after a
neighboring spring. Like these, it is a cluster of mounds forming a
village which covers a considerable area. The arroyo on which it is
situated opens into the McElmo, and is about 7 miles southwest from
Cortez, at a point where the road enters the McElmo Canyon.
The extension of the area covered by the Mud Spring mounds is
east-west, the largest mounds being those on the east. These latter
are separated from the remainder, or those on the west, by a shallow,
narrow gulch. There are two towers united to the western section
overlooking the spring, the following description of one of which, with
a sketch of the ground plan, is given by Holmes.[18]
[18] Op. cit., pp. 398-399.
“The circular structures or towers have been built, in the usual
manner, of roughly hewn stone, and rank among the very best specimens
of this ancient architecture. The great tower is especially
noticeable.... In dimensions it is almost identical with the great
tower of the Rio Mancos. The walls are traceable nearly all the way
round, and the space between the two outer ones, which is about 5 feet
in width, contains 14 apartments or cells. The walls about one of these
cells are still standing to the height of 12 feet; but the interior can
not be examined on account of the rubbish which fills it to the top.
No openings are noticeable in the circular walls, but doorways seem to
have been made to communicate between the apartments; one is preserved
at _d_.... This tower stands back about 100 feet from the edge of the
mesa near the border of the village. The smaller tower, _b_, stands
forward on a point that overlooks the shallow gulch; it is 15 feet in
diameter; the walls are 3½ feet thick and 5 feet high on the outside.
Beneath this ruin, in a little side gulch, are the remains of a wall
12 feet high and 20 inches thick.... The apartments number nearly a
hundred, and seem, generally, to have been rectangular. They are not,
however, of uniform size, and certainly not arranged in regular order.”
Morgan[19] gives the following description of the same ruin which seems
to the author to be the Mud Creek village:
“Four miles westerly [from Mitchell ranch], near the ranch of Mr.
Shirt, are the ruins of another large stone pueblo, together with an
Indian cemetery, where each grave is marked by a border of flat stones
set level with the ground in the form of a parallelogram 8 feet by 4
feet. Near the cluster of nine pueblos shown in the figure are found
strewn on the ground numerous fragments of pottery of high grade in the
ornamentation, and small arrowheads of flint, quartz, and chalcedony
delicately formed, and small knife blades with convex and serrated
edges in considerable numbers.
“This is an immense ruin with small portions of the walls still
standing, particularly of the round tower of stone of three concentric
walls, incorporated in the structure, and a few chambers in the north
end of the main building. The round tower is still standing nearly
to the height of the first story. In its present condition it was
impossible to make a ground plan showing the several chambers, or to
determine with certainty which side was the front of the structure,
assuming that it was constructed in the terraced form.... The Round
Tower is the most singular feature in this structure. While it
resembles the ordinary _estufa_, common to all these structures, it
differs from them in having three concentric walls. No doorways are
visible in the portion still standing, consequently it must have been
entered through the roof, in which respect it agrees with the ordinary
_estufa_. The inner chamber is about 20 feet in diameter, and the
spaces between the encircling walls are about 2 feet each; the walls
are about 2 feet in thickness, and were laid up mainly with stones
about 4 inches square, and, for the most part, in courses. There is a
similar round tower, having but two concentric walls, at the head of
the McElmo Canyon, and near the ranch of Mr. Mitchell [Mitchell Ruin].”
As the name Mud Spring is locally known to the natives, especially
to employees of livery stables and garages, the ruin is here called
Mud Spring. The tower and the other circular buildings are united to
other rooms as in similar groups of mounds. The presence of surface
depressions, thought to indicate circular kivas,[20] shows that the Mud
Spring mounds are remains of a village of the same type as the Mummy
Lake group, but with towers united to the largest mounds.
[19] Op. cit., p. 190.
[20] Although the kivas of Mud Spring Ruin have not been excavated
there is little doubt from surface indications that they belong to the
unit type.
The time the author could give to his visit to the Mud Spring Ruin
(pl. 3, _b_) was too limited to survey it, but he noticed in addition
to the two circular buildings already recorded, a large mound situated
on the west side of the gulch, and numerous small mounds on the
east side of the same, each apparently with a central depression
like a kiva. All these mounds have been more or less mutilated by
indiscriminate digging, but many mounds, still untouched, remain to
be excavated before we can form an adequate conception of the group.
The “triple-walled tower” is now in such a condition that the author
could not determine whether it was formerly circular or D-shaped; the
“small tower” is in even worse condition and its previous form could
not be made out. The Mud Spring mounds cover a much larger area than
descriptions or ground plans thus far published would indicate.
Originally Mud Spring Ruin consisted of a cluster of pueblos of various
sizes, each probably with a circular kiva and rectangular rooms,
combined with one or more towers at present too much dilapidated to
determine architectural details without excavations. Like the other
clusters of pueblos in the McElmo and Montezuma Valley, the cemetery
near Mud Spring Ruin has suffered considerably from pothunters, but
there still remain many standing walls that are well preserved.