The Arizona sentinel., 1895-11-30
YUM A. RIZONA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30,
The Ruined Gila Cities.

the ruins Of the cl1tf dwellings, IT.
 northern Arizona and southern Col
 orado, but there are comparatively y few persons outside ot Arizona and New Mexico who know that in southern Arizona there is a field far more interesting and of wid. range So eminent authority as Major J. w. Powell, recently of the United States Geological Survey, is quoted in support of this statement. Con
 servative estimates put the popula- tion of the Gila country at fully 100000 when it was at it's height.
 The Gila remains have been but little explored because of the inac- feasibility of the region, the intol- erable dry heat during quarter of each year, and the total lack of water where it is needed. The min ing prospectors who have tramped for years over all the mountains and through every valley in the Territory have given no heed to this part of the Gila co6ntry, be- cause, no water being there, it would te useless to attempt to de- velop mine even on good surface indications. An expedition under Frank Cushing did some work near Los Muertos, which is known in the Southwest as the Pompeii of Ari- zona, but with the breaking down of his health the enterprise came to an end. The area of the country in which the remains of a prehis- toric people are found in some 300 squares miles. It extends from the junction of the Gila and Colo rado Rivers eastward to the Super stition Mountains, and from Phoe- nix on the north almost to the Mexican line. Near Casa Grande the most extensive Indian remains are to be found.
 The country is a rum from one end to the other. All parts of it bear unmistakable evidences of irri- gation canals several hundred miles long and built with exactness and skill, and of cities of 3G,0OO and 10000 population. One can walk for miles and find every foot of the sandy surface more or lesss mixed with pieces of broken pottery. The paint is still on them, and is not in the least faded, though it has lain exposed for ages. In the locality of Mesa City and Tempe an overflow from the Grla at some distant period washed against the ruins until they crumbled and were spread out level with the country. Back ten miles from the Gila River the ground is higher, and was once the site of a city. Portions of the wall by which it was protected are still standing; more than twenty feet in thickness Inside are the mound like ruins of the houses, which, being less durable, have crumbled. The buildings must have been very large, for in some instances the mounds are 300 feet in length by 200 in width and 20 in height. The space inclosed by the wall is about fifty miles by three. Much of the country is very little higher than the present bed of the Gila, and at one time branch of that stream must have flowed into s basin and formed a natural re- servoir. There was a rise of about ten feet greater at one point be- tween the basin and the river, and the sandstone fortnation shows un- mistakable signs of having been cut by artificial means, perhaps with the idea of assisting the en- trance of the water by enlarging the passage. Five canals lead out of the basin, all on the south and
 west, which confirms the belief that it was once Q reservoir formed chiefly by natural causes, and used to store water against the periods of drought. The prehistoric city is laid out north and south, at
 least, in a majority of instances the
 streets run to the cardinal points The walls seem to vary a little from this rule; Tn fact, are crooked in places, as if they might have
 been constructed for the support ot ba, tions or towers. This city al q
 the one containing an old fort
 further down the river are the only
 mes in which the writer ever found
 any evidence of preparation for war