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Show 29 From the camp at the pueblo Mr. Chittenden, of Mr. Holmes's division, rode np the Hovenweep some eight miles, to where it divided equally into two branches, and upon the point between these forks he found the remains of a round tower, commanding an extended . view, down the main canon. No other ruins were noticed. The parties, under the guidance of Mr. Gardner, camped one night near the head of the Hovenweep, and found there an important group of rains, described as follows by Mr. Adams: uThe first of these we met are situated at the upper edge of the side of the caiion, about one- third of the distance from the top, on a ledge about 300 feet long and 50 wide. On this small space were crowded some 40 houses, as well as we. could judge from the ruins. The general plan of structure was circular, varying in size, but geuerally from 10 to 13 feet in diameter. The stone was dressed to three times the size of an ordinary brick aud in the same shape. • • * The whole arrangement of the little town was for defense; perched up high above, on the summits of bowlders, were little watch- towers, which commanded the plateau above."' Between the Montezuma and the Hovenweep is a high plateau run- Ding north and soutb, from the Sau Juan to the Dolores; the southern portion a level sage- covered plain, while the northern is more undulating and covered with junipers and piiion pine. Upon this we found the remains of many circular towns, generally occupying slight eminences, and in but one or two cases, as far as we observed, were so entirely demolished that not one stone remained upon another. In one of these exceptions, about half the circumference only of a tower remained, 15 feet in height and of average masonry. Broken pottery was but sparingly scattered about, showing them not to have been occupied as much as the very similar remains in the valleys below. This in£ sa, averaging 500 feet in height above the surrounding country, does not contain a spring or drop of water, except such as may remain in the holes in the rocks after a shower. The soil is thin and sandy, blown off clean to the bed- rock in places, yet what there is is well grassed, and sage- brush flpurishes luxuriantly. As cultivation was out of the question, and permanent residence improbable, it is very likely these towns were lookouts or places of refuge for the shepherds, who brought their sheep or goats up here to graze, just as the Navajos used to, and the TJtes do at the present time. Rude huts of a later day are oow found scattered over its surface, by the side of the washes where water would be likely to collect. ID traveling down the San Juan, from the mouth of the McElmo, there are not within the first ten or twelve miles any ruins that would claim attention upon a rapid reconnaissanoe. Indistinguishable mounds of earth frequently occur along the bottom- lands, surrounded by the ever-present fragments of pottery, showing them to be the sites or the remains of habitations; the quantity of pottery, domestic utensils, and arrow- points helping somewhat to determine the length of time they * ere occupied. Crossing the mouth of the broad sandy wash of the Montezuma, that 3 here bordered with groves of brilliantly- green cottonwoods along its arid course, we pass about three miles below, and find camp under a grove of patriarchal . trees within a well- grassed bend of the river. A vide gravelly bench, some 50 feet in height, and running back to the bluff line, rises up abruptly from the bottom- lands; a few rods below Qmp, the river in its meandering sweeps close to the foot of this bench, producing an almost perpendicular face. Upon the top of the bench at |
