Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 Part 3

There are some good pictographs on the foundation rocks of that great pinnacle of red rock, called the Court-house, not far from Schurmann'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 ill.u.s.trated 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 Schurmann, 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 gla.s.s, 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 Nordenskiold'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 Tsegi, or Ch.e.l.ly, 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]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 Schurmann'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 G.o.ds, 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCVII

PICTOGRAPHS NEAR CLIFF RANCH, VERDE VALLEY]

On the sides of these inaccessible cliffs we noticed several cliff houses, but so high were they perched above us that they were almost invisible. To reach them at their dizzy alt.i.tude was impossible, but we were able to enter some caves a few hundred feet above our camp, finding in them nothing but charred mescal and other evidences of Apache camps. Their walls and entrances are blackened with smoke, but no sign of masonry was detected.

We moved our camp westward from this canyon (which, from a great cliff resembling the Parthenon, I called Temple canyon), following the base of the precipitous mountains to a second canyon, equally beautiful but not so grand, and built our fire in a small grove of scrub oak and cottonwood. In this lonely place Lloyd had lived over a winter, watching his stock, and had dug a well and erected a corral. We adopted his name for this camp and called it Lloyd canyon. There was no water in the well, but a few rods beyond it there was a pool, from which we watered our horses. On the first evening at this camp we sighted a bear, which gave the name Honanki, "Bear-house," to the adjacent ruined dwellings.

The enormous precipice of red rock west of our camp at Lloyd's corral hid Honanki from view at first, but we soon found a trail leading directly to it, and during our short stay in this neighborhood we remained camped near the cottonwoods at the entrance to the canyon, not far from the abandoned corral. Our studies of Honanki led to the discovery of Palatki (figure 247), which we investigated on our return to Temple canyon. I will, therefore, begin my description of the Red-rock cliff houses with those last discovered, which, up to the visit which I made, had never been studied by archeologists.

PALATKI

There are two neighboring ruins which I shall include in my consideration of Palatki, and these for convenience may be known as Ruin I and Ruin II, the former situated a little eastward from the latter. They are but a short distance apart, and are in the same box canyon. Ruin I (plate XCIX) is the better preserved, and is a fine type of the compact form of cliff dwellings in the Red-rock country.

This ruin is perched on the top of a talus which has fallen from the cliff above, and is visible for some distance above the trees, as one penetrates the canyon. It is built to the side of a perpendicular wall of rock which, high above its tallest walls, arches over it, sheltering the walls from rain or eroding influences. From the dry character of the earth on the floors I suspect that for years not a drop of water has penetrated the inclosures, although they are now roofless.

A highly characteristic feature of Ruin I is the repet.i.tion of rounded or bow-shape front walls, occurring several times in their length, and arranged in such a way as to correspond roughly to the inclosures behind them. By this arrangement the size of the rooms was increased and possibly additional solidity given to the wall itself. This departure from a straight wall implies a degree of architectural skill, which, while not peculiar to the cliff dwellings of the Red-rocks, is rarely found in southern cliff houses. The total length of the front wall of the ruin, including the part which has fallen, is approximately 120 feet, and the alt.i.tude of the highest wall is not far from 30 feet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 247--Ground plan of Palatki (Ruins I and II)]

From the arrangement of openings in the front wall at the highest part there is good evidence of the former existence of two stories. At several points the foundation of the wall is laid on ma.s.sive bowlders, which contribute to the height of the wall itself. The masonry is made up of irregular or roughly squared blocks of red stone laid in red clay, both evidently gathered in the immediate neighborhood of the ruin. The building stones vary in size, but are as a rule flat, and show well directed fractures as if dressed by hammering. In several places there still remains a superficial plastering, which almost conceals the masonry. The blocks of stone in the lower courses are generally more ma.s.sive than those higher up; this feature, however, whether considered as occurring here or in the cliff houses of Mesa Verde, as pointed out by Nordenskiold, seems to me not to indicate different builders, but is due simply to convenience. There appears to be no regularity in the courses of component blocks of stone, and when necessity compelled, as in the courses laid on bowlders, which serve as a foundation, thin wedges of stone, or spalls, were inserted in the crevices. The walls are vertical, but the corners are sometimes far from perpendicular.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCVIII

THE RED ROCKS; TEMPLE CANYON]

The interior of the ruin is divided into a number of inclosures by part.i.tions at right angles to the front wall, fastening it to the face of the cliff. This I have lettered, beginning at the extreme right inclosure with _A_. The inclosure has bounding walls, built on a bowlder somewhat more than six feet high. It has no external pa.s.sageway, and probably the entrance was from the roof. This inclosure communicates by a doorway directly with the adjoining chamber, _B_. The corner of this room, or the angle made by the lateral with the front walls, is rounded, a constant feature in well-built cliff houses. No windows exist, and the upper edge of both front and lateral walls is but slightly broken.

The front wall of inclosure _B_ bulges into bow-shape form, and was evidently at least two stories high. This wall is a finely laid section of masonry, composed of large, rough stones in the lower courses, upon which smaller, roughly hewn stones are built. It is probable, from the large amount of debris in the neighborhood, that formerly there were rows of single-story rooms in front of what are now the standing walls, but the character of their architecture is difficult to determine with certainty. Their foundations, although partially covered, are not wholly concealed.

The front wall of inclosure _B_ is pierced by three openings, the largest of which is a square pa.s.sageway into the adjoining room, and is situated in the middle of the curved wall. A wooden lintel, which had been well hewn with stone implements, still remains in place above this pa.s.sageway, and under it the visitor pa.s.ses through a low opening which has the appearance of having been once a doorway. Above this entrance, on each side, in the wall, is a square hole, which originally may have been the points of support of floor beams.

Formerly, likewise, there was a large square opening above the middle pa.s.sageway, but this has been closed with masonry, leaving in place the wooden beam which once supported the wall above. The upper edge of the front wall of inclosure _B_ is level, and is but little broken except in two places, where there are notches, one above each of the square holes already mentioned. It is probable that these depressions were intended for the ends of the beams which once supported a combined roof and floor.

On the perpendicular wall which forms the rear of inclosure _B_, many feet above the top of the standing front walls, there are several pictographs of Apache origin. The height of these above the level of the former roof would appear to indicate the existence of a third story, for the hands which drew them must have been at least 15 feet above the present top of the standing wall.

The front of _C_ is curved like that of inclosure _B_, and is much broken near the foundations, where there is a pa.s.sageway. There is a small hole on each side of a middle line, as in _B_, situated at about the same level as the floor, indicating the former position of a beam.

Within the ruin there is a well-made part.i.tion separating inclosures _B_ and _C_.

The size of room _D_ is much less than that of _B_ or _C_, but, with the exception of a section at the left, the front wall has fallen. The part which remains upright, however, stands like a pinnacle, unconnected with the face of the cliff or with the second-story wall of inclosure _C_. It is about 20 feet in height, and possibly its alt.i.tude appears greater than it really is from the fact that its foundations rest upon a bowlder nearly six feet high (plate CX).

The foundations of rooms _E_ and _F_ (plate C) are built on a lower level than those of _B_ and _C_ or _D_, and their front walls, which are really low, are helped out by similar bowlders, which serve as foundations. The indications are that both these inclosures were originally one story in height, forming a wing to the central section of the ruin, which had an additional tier of rooms. There is an entrance to _F_ at the extreme left, and the whole room was lower than the floor of the lower stories of _B_, _C_, and _D_.

The most conspicuous pictograph on the cliff above Ruin I of Palatki, is a circular white figure, seen in the accompanying ill.u.s.tration.

This pictograph is situated directly above the first room on the right, _A_, and was apparently made with chalk, so elevated that at present it is far above the reach of a person standing on any of the walls. From its general character I am led to believe that it was made by the Apache and not by the builders of the pueblo.

There were no names of white visitors anywhere on the walls of Palatki, which, so far as it goes, affords substantial support of my belief that we were the first white men to visit this ruin. While it can not be positively a.s.serted that we were the original discoverers of this interesting building, there is no doubt that I was the first to describe it and to call attention to its highly characteristic architectural plan.

The walls of Palatki are not so ma.s.sive as those of the neighboring Honanki, and the number of rooms in both ruins which form Palatki is much smaller. Each of these components probably housed not more than a few families, while several phratries could readily be accommodated in Honanki.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCIX

PALATKI (RUIN I)]

The second Palatki ruin is well preserved, and as a rule the rooms, especially those in front, have suffered more from vandalism and from the elements than have those of Ruin I. The arrangement of the rooms is somewhat different from that of the more exposed eastern ruin, to which it undoubtedly formerly belonged.

Ruin II lies in a deep recess or cave, the roof of which forms a perfect arch above the walls. It is situated a few hundred feet to the west, and is easily approached by following the fallen debris at the foot of a perpendicular cliff. The front walls have all fallen, exposing the rear wall of what was formerly a row of rooms, as shown in the accompanying ill.u.s.tration (plate CI). There are evidences that this row of rooms was but a single story in height, while those behind it have indications of three stories. Ruin II is more hidden by the trees and by its obscure position in a cavern than the former, but the masonry in both is of the same general character.

On approaching Ruin II from Ruin I there is first observed a well-made though rough wall, as a rule intact, along which the line of roof and flooring can readily be traced (plate CI). In front of this upright wall are fragments of other walls, some standing in unconnected sections, others fallen, their fragments extending down the sides of the talus among the bushes. It was observed that this wall is broken by an entrance which pa.s.ses into a chamber, which may be called _A_, and two square holes are visible, one on each side, above it. These holes were formerly filled by two logs, which once supported the floor of a second chamber, the line of which still remains on the upright wall. The small square orifice directly above the entrance is a peephole.

In examining the character of the wall it will be noticed that its masonry is in places rough cast, and that there was little attempt at regularity in the courses of the component stones, which are neither dressed nor aligned, although the wall is practically vertical.

At one point, in full view of the observer, a log is apparently inserted in the wall, and if the surrounding masonry be examined it will be found that an opening below it had been filled in after the wall was erected. It is evident, from its position relatively to the line indicating the roof, that this opening was originally a pa.s.sageway from one room to another. Pa.s.sing back of the standing wall an inclosure (room _A_) is entered, one side of which is the rock of the cliff, while the other three bounding walls are built of masonry, 20 feet high. This inclosure was formerly divided into an upper and a lower room by a part.i.tion, which served as the roof of the lower and the floor of the upper chambers. Two beams stretched across this inclosure about six feet above the debris of the present floor, and the openings in the walls, where these beams formerly rested, are readily observed. In the same way the beam-holes of the upper story may also be easily seen on the top of the wall. Between the rear wall of this inclosure and the perpendicular cliff there was a recess which appears to have been a dark chamber, probably designed for use as a storage room or granary. The configuration of the cliff, which forms the major part of the inclosing wall of this chamber, imparts to it an irregular or roughly triangular form.

The entire central portion of the ruin is very much broken down, and the floor is strewn to a considerable depth with the debris of fallen walls. On both sides there are nicely aligned, smoothly finished walls, with traces of beams on the level of former floors. Some of these bounding walls are curved; others are straight, and in places they rise 20 feet. Marks of fire are visible everywhere; most of the beams have been wrenched from their places, as a result of which the walls have been much mutilated, badly cracked, or thrown down.

There are no pictographs near this ruin, and no signs of former visits by white men.

Midway between Honanki and the second Palatki ruin a small ancient house of the same character as the latter was discovered. This ruin is very much exposed, and therefore the walls are considerably worn, but six well-marked inclosures, indicative of former rooms, were readily made out. No overarching rock shielded this ruin from the elements, and rubble from fallen walls covers the talus upon which it stands.

The adobe mortar between the stones is much worn, and no fragment of plastering is traceable within or without. This evidence of the great weathering of the walls of the ruin is not considered indicative of greater age than the better preserved ruins in the neighborhood, but rather of exposure to the action of the elements. Not only are the walls in a very poor condition, but also the floors show, from the absence of dry soil upon them, that the whole ruin has suffered greatly from the same denudation. There are no fragments of pottery about it, and small objects indicating former habitation are also wanting. A cedar had taken root where the floor once was, and its present great size shows considerable age. If any pictographs formerly existed in the adjacent cliff they have disappeared. There is likewise no evidence that the Apache had ever sought it for shelter, or if they had, their occupancy occurred so long ago that time has effaced all evidence of their presence.

HONANKI

The largest ruin visited in the Red-rock country was called, following Hopi etymology, Honanki; but the nomenclature was adopted not because it was so called by the Hopi, but following the rule elsewhere suggested.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY