Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-02-10
.v.r,.s ef Prod. Hayden In the
D' Far West.

n logicsa ~ renort which will soon be pub
ps,eu The following Is the substance~of
- aiscoveries:
lie -. Mo De Chiefly, for . distance Of
.h.hirty-nye miles above its mouth, Is
spou.red-and the wash for the bed of
70 eA CAM n IL perfectly dry the greater por-
the ~ 70 me wear, cuts from wall rock to wall
Ton " "a TreGuently-that IL is impossible to
Tos.I M Il, except In the bed, and that IL
- ,ortueus and rocky IN places that II
20 "a he difficult IL not impossible. Making
9a,aur TO the right, the iirst opening into
ass,,on was reached ten miles above In
.be ~ interesting and extensive ruin was
hsie .rhich was so well preserved that il
iouaa 10 have been vacated less than a
&C. - wears, and so near like the work
q saship and manner OF building of the
q hlaasnt Moquis, that it would not be diff
g ~ n imagine them lurking among the de-
Il Gu Ted rooms. This ruin was situated in a
-, raye-iike bench or mesa, running along
p- ,are Of perpendicular bluff, some dfty
~ ~. above its base, and total length Of
LIZ 800 yards. The town was irregularly
- conpactly built, conforming to the rock
4 which II was placed, the rooms arranged
y single row mostof the way, but at either
"A bunchiBg up to two or three deep A
nd plan shows seventy-fye rooms with
&c little irregular "eubby holes" with
"a length of 54S feet. A few yards fur
80, 70 the right are half dozen buildings.
S.,srps and reservoirs yet remain perfect
ssaugh TO show their purpose. In the GEN.
=, n the mass was a well-preserved circular
,asrtment little below the general level OF
,5eothers that was probably an estyfa. The
II roat corrals were inside, between the houses
M the bluff. Digging beneath the debris,
Il .gyeral pieces of finely preserved pottery
4 rcre found, the same finely ornamented, and
& glazed ware of which the fragments are so
II universally scattered over the whole coun-
,ry. Beneath the center Of the town there
q sas found in one group some whole jars Of
about two gallons capacity each, OF the gray
4 indented ware, but they were too fragile to
transport upon pack-mules. Besides the
pottery, many stone implements and arrow
H points were unearthed. Another detour to
The right, this time over an elevated plateau
Of white sandstone, across which was drifted
great dunes OF white sand, brought the party
10 the famous so-called diamond fields Of
Arizona, about which there was such an e1-
element In 1872. Lingering on Its
bare rcd plain, upon which the sun
buat with redoubled intensity, only
long enough 70 gather about a pint OF
garnets, which were Of excellent quality aud
very abundant, camp was made at the foot
OF side canon which came In from the west,
and was known as the Canon Bonito Chi
quito Another group OF ruins occurred
here, not in q large town but In scattered
houses up and down the De Chiefly and
Bonito marked feature was great reser-
voirs in which there was, even now, abund-
ant and excellent water. Two three miles
below in the canon OF the main stream was
weli-preserved two-story house, standing
upon bench elevated fifty feet above the
valley, and overhung by great roof of rock
that effectually shielded II from the storms.
Near by was great natural reservoir 1lled
with good water. Another five or six miles
and the canon Of the DE Chiefly opened out
into a great valley, from one to three miles
In width, and extending up to the foot OF the
great canon near Fort Defiance. Twenty
i've TO thirty-five miles above the Bonito are
some peculiar table rocks and monuments
that form notable land marks. The ruins
are now scarce, only few being met with In
the caves at the side Of the valley. The bot
tom lands bear the impress ofycry numerous
ruins, adobe very likely, that are now almost
entirely obliterated, and would hardly be
noticed were II not for the broken pottery.
At the head Of the valley Of the De Chiefly,
the trail turned off to the southwest just
above the upper edge OF the great white
mesa. Taking only two others, Mr.. Barber
and Lee the guide, and sending the remain
der of the train back some fifty miles where
there was suitable grazing, Mr.. Jackson con-
tinued over TO the Moquis Pueblos, seventy
five miles distant, with only the Photographic
apparatus and supplies for five days. Tequa
was reached by noon OF the following day.
As these Pueblos have been SO frequently
described and illustrated, the party spent
only two days and a half among the six
most easterly towns, viz: Tequa, Se-chuIn-
e.wsy, Moqui, Moo-shar-nen, Shong-a-pabwe
and she.paw-a-we. Photographs OF each OF
these we're made, and numerous sketches,
Illustrating their habits, dress and occupa-
tons collections of recent and ancient pot
terry and tools, and other objects OF interest,
were made. The comparison between the
workmanship of the northern town builders
and these Moquis was very much in favor OF
the former The highest perfection was
reached IN the cliff houses OF the Rio Maucos,
where some of the houses were maryels OF
finish and durability; and then, travelling
toward the Moquis, there Is gradual merg-
ing Of one style into the other, from the
comparatively crude buildings now inhab-
tied.
Retracing their steps to the San Juan, at
the mouth Of the DE Chiefly, the party now
travelled toward the Sierra Abajo, up
stream known as EPSON Creek, from the
water which Is found at its head tasting and
operating like that OF salt The usual In
definite ruins which occur on low lands con-
tinued up this valley over thirty miles.
To the west was a labyrinth Of canons run
ming off into those of the Great Colorado, an
examination OF some of which discovered
many cave and cliff houses and towns, all OF
tile same general type as the Others. The
ruins gradually diminished as they APP
preached the Sierra Abajo, and several days
spent In the examination Of the canon and
plateaus about II and the Sierra la Sal failed
TO bring to light any more evidence OF their
occupation.
Nearly opposite the Sierra Abajo or Blue
Mountains, as they are locally known,
heads the great canons and valleys OF the
Montezuma, which empties into the San
Juan. Here the bottom of the eanons have
once supported q very thickly-settled com
mnnity There is almost continuous
series of ruins for distance OF twenty-five
miles. This, In one canon only, and all
the others contain numerous remains. chiefly
In cliff houses and towns. In the main
canon first spoken OF are two ruins notable
Tor the size of the stones employed In their
construction. In one, built upon small
isolated table land In the middle OF the val
ley, are stones set upon end, six feet In
length by eighteen inches square, and rang
Ing along the walls a distance Of twenty-five
or thirty yards. Another case Is where
stones seven feet In heighth faboye ground)
and twenty inches square, are standing per-
pendicularly about five feet apart, and form
one side Of wall inclcsing the ruins OF a
large, important building. Throughout the
canon every available defensive point has
been utilized and are now covered with the
remains Of heavy walls and large blocks OF
houses- Another singular feature was the
number OF holes cut Into the perpcndicular
lower wall ~ tha .annu for fLe purunga ~