One of the towers figured by Holmes in 1877 is still among the best
preserved in this region and can be visited by following up the Mancos
Canyon from the west about 10 miles from where the Cortez road crosses
the Mancos River before going on to Ship-rock. There is at this point a
bridge and near the crossing an industrial farm of the Ute Reservation
where accommodations were obtained. The Mancos Valley widens after
leaving the canyon, the southern side of Mesa Verde appearing as a
series of high mesas separated by canyons. In the neighborhood of the
western end of Mesa Verde are lofty buttes, one called Chimney Rock,
another the Ute Woman. This valley and the canyons extending into the
Mesa Verde contain numerous piles of stone indicative of buildings of
rectangular shape with numerous circular depressions. No cluster of
mounds like those in Montezuma Valley was seen, but about 40 sites of
buildings were distributed at intervals. None of these have standing
walls above ground.
Following up the Mancos Canyon is a wagon about 9 miles an arroyo was
encountered and from there horses were taken and the river crossed to
its south bank, above which, on the shelving terrace, is the Holmes
Tower, visible many miles down the canyon. This tower (pl. 29, _a_) is
in much the same condition as when sketched by Holmes over 40 years
ago. It is circular in form, about 10 feet in diameter, and about 16
feet high, with a broken window on the north side. The sky line is
irregular. It is one of the best preserved towers, but not as high or
as well constructed as some of the Hovenweep specimens.
Accompanying this tower on the north there are mounds indicative of
rooms and two circular saucer-like depressions. Excavations revealing a
few human bones, including a well-worn human skull, have been made in a
burial place southeast of the tower, where the surface is covered with
fragments of pottery. Except in size Holmes Tower does not differ from
others already described, but, like them, is connected with rectangular
rooms. Farther up the Mancos Canyon there are other towers, one of
which, Great Tower, is mentioned by Holmes in his report.
On the way up the canyon, perhaps two-thirds of the distance from the
bridge to the Holmes Tower, midway in the alluvial plain and on the
right bank of Mancos Creek, stands a circular ruin which conforms to
Holmes’s description of Great Tower but is too poorly preserved to be
positively identified. All that now remains of this building is a large
pile of rocks with a central depression, but no signs of radiating
partitions, although such may have existed when it was constructed and
for many years after it began to fall into ruin.