Grass Mesa, a plateau with precipitous sides overlooking the Dolores
River, is about 10 miles down the river from Dolores on the right
bank of the stream. There remain few signs of former buildings at
this place, but very many artifacts, pottery, stone implements, and
fragments of well-worn metates occur at various places, some of which
are among the best ever seen by the author. This bluff seems to have
been the site of a settlement, possibly pre-Puebloan, like that on
McElmo Bluff, with rough walls, resorted to for refuge, and later used
as a cemetery. It is well adapted for these purposes, its top being
almost inaccessible on the river side. There are many other similar
sites of Indian settlements farther down the river, but this is one of
the most typical. The scenery along the road that follows the banks
of the river from Dolores is ever to be remembered on account of high
cliffs on each side.