Butte record., 1854-03-04
straure Inhabitant. Of the Great R.sin

Strange Inhabitants Of the Great Basin
Captain Walker, the mountaineer. has
furnished an account Of a queer race of
people, living at the Great Basin. He
is said to be the only white man who
has visited them:
Through the very centre Of the Great
Basin runs the Rio Colorado Chiquito, or
Little Red River. 1t takes It's rise in
the mountains that skirt the right bank
of the Rio Gronde, flows almost due west,
and empties into the Colorado at a point
on the same parallel with Walkers Pass.
About one hundred miles north of this
and running almost parallel with it, is
the river San Juan Each of these
streams is about one hundred and fifty
miles long. Between an immense table
land, broken occasionally by Sierras of
no great length, which shoot up above
the general elevation. About half way
between the two rivers, and midway in
the wilderness, between the Colorado and
the Rio Grande, is the country of the
Moquis From the midst of the plain
rises abruptly on all sides butte of con-
siderable elevation, the top which is as
fiat as if some great power had sliced off
the summit. Away up here the Moquis
have built three large villages, where
they rest at night, perfectly secure from
the attacks of the fierce tribes who live
to the north and east of them. The
sides of this table mountain are almost
perpendicular cliffs, and the top can on
ly be reached up deep fight Of steps
cut in the solid rock Around its base is
a plain of arabic land, which the Moquis
cultivate with great assiduity.
Here they raise all kinds Of grain,
MELONS and vegetables. They have also
a number Of orchards, of many kinds of
fruit-trees- The peaches they raise are
particularly fine They have large hocks
Of sheep and goats, but very few beasts
of burthen or cattle. They are harm
less, inofensive race kind and hospita-
bly, to strangers, and make very little re.
resistance when attacked The warlike
Nayajos, who dwell in the mountains to
the northeast Of them, are in the habit
of sweeping down upon them every two
or three years, and driving off their stock
At such times they gather up all that
is movable from their farms, and fly for
refuge to their mountain stronghold
Here their enemies dare not follow them.
When a stranger approaches, they ap-
pear on the top of the rocks and houses,
watching his movements. One of their
villages, at which Captain Walker stayed
for several days, is over 600 yards long
The houses are mostly built of stone and
mortar; some of adobe They are very
snug and comfortable, and many of them
are two and three stories high
The inhabitants are considerably ad-
vanced in some Of the arts and manufac-
ture excellent woollen clothing, blankets,
leather, basket work and pottery. I'm
ike most of the Indian tribes in this
country, the women work within doors,
the men perform all the farm and out
door labor. As race they are lighter
in color than the Digger Indians of CAL
ifornia indeed the women are tolerably
fair, In consequence of not being so dis
posed to the sun. The Moquis cultivate
the plain by day and retire to their vii
lagos on the mountain at night. They
irrigate their lands by means of the small
streams running out Of the side of the
mountains. Sometimes when it fails to
snow on the mountains in winter, their
crops are bad For this season, they
always keep two or three years provis-
Ion laid up for fear Of famine Altogeth-
er, they are a most extraordinary peo-
pie, far in advance Of any other abort
gines yet discovered on this continent
They have never had any intercourse
with the whites, and of course their civ
nization originates with themselves"