The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-08-05

the only suggestion Of either q reser-
voir or food cache found on any of the
intrenched hills, but at the foot Of the
great Alimita mountain there were the
remains OF an ancient conduit or irri.
eating ditch that. after skirting the
base Of the hill for a mile or more, dis
appeared in the drifting sand and tum-
bled rock heaps OF the open country.
Half a mile west OF the great hill Of
Alimita Is q smaller cone known to the
Mexicans as Trincherita. or the little
intrenched one. 1t too, has q number
Of terraces and some "house circles"
but 1t seems chiefly to have served a.
a natural art gallery for all the tribes Of
the region. From half way UP Its slope
to the summit 1t is mass Of picture
writings, Clipped into the black vol
canic powders with the flint and obsi-
dian tools Of the natives. Some OF the
drawings are evidently recent, Of the
past decade or two. These are all the
familiar animal figures Of the Apaches.
looking like the flrst rude drawings on
a schoolboy's slate. But the older carv-
ings, some Of them all but weathered
out, are the work OF a more cultivated
race. They consist Of highly eonven-
tlOHduZCu dulIIldl lOIUuS ouu ub6T
hieroglyphics, much like the ancient
Aztec and the Maza inscriptions Of
Yucatan. Photographs and drawings
were made Of the most striking Of these
for future comparison and study.
NO ARROwHEADs.
The strangest feature Of these strange
hills, however, was that although we
snopt do vo In CON 70 ,, q pu nyo,. <bnvp Frov,,
end to end, not once did we find single
arrowhead. There was imcortd stone
in plenty, varieties found nowhere I'm
place" in the vicinity, and there were
evidences that this stone had been
wrought. for there were many piles of
spawls and splinters. But Of finished
,spearheads, save a broken white quartz
spearhead at Caborca, we found not
one. Neither was there q single vessel
of pottery nor a piece Of baked clay big
ger than ones hand. But Of minute
pottery fragments there was an in
credible amount. The ground for yards
in some places was covered almost an
inch deep with pottery chips and
spawls of worked stone which might
have been gathered up by the CARLOAD.
There were also a few hammer stones,
stone mortars and pestles, but all more
or less injured. 1t looks as though
either in the general exodus Of the
rightful owners they have swept off
every implement of any value to them,
or else the mountain had been looted
by the victors and by the wandering
tribes that have since passed over It.
As to the evacuation Of the whole
group Of terraced hills, there would seem
little question that 1t was by force Of
necessity In the face Of savage and
pitlless foe. Through many Of the
broad valleys over which we passed
there were ancient village sites, even
more ancient perhaps, than the aerial
houses on the noun tains. 1t is possible
or even probable that the peacefully in
clined tribe Of Indians, similar In many
respects to the PueblOs Of today, and
skilled In irrigation, as Is shown by the
ruins Of numerous bitches made these
plains their home and there cultivated
their crops. Driven to seek a more Sc
cure retreat by the inroads Of the Apa-
ches, Seri, or some other fierce tribe of
nomads, they probably maintained
themselves for q time in their system
idence and the caprice Of the enemy to
get some small return out Of their
crops, which they still planted in the
valleys below. But pushed finally to
extremity, either by continual persecu-
tion, or some general, sweeping raid of
the enemy. they seem to have forsaken
the broad valleys of Sonora and vanish
ed.
Whittier? Perhaps 1t was to the north,
to become hardy. desert rowing tribe,
like the Papage, moving from tempor-
allie with the shifting rainfall. and
wringlng subsistence from from ma
ture where the sand lizard had strug-
gle for existence. Or perhaps 1t was to
the south, to seek q miserable exis-
tence among the most inaccessible
cliffs in the wild mountains Of SOUTH
western Mexico.
1t Is more than likely that the Seri
themselves, were they in q commune
cative mood, which they are not could
throw some interesting light on the
passing Of the Terrace Builders.