The Coolidge examiner., 1930-07-04

AT RUINS
(By IRWIN HAYDEN
Continued from last week.

we dCcSpt6u MS OlI6I. OIl lilc W dg
he guided us to a grave.
There IN the desert is a ciedre
space an Indian burial ground lie5
This particular grave is surroGhde.-
by a fence built of ocotilla stalk"
or stems: and at the four points
are narrow gateways, open, with
two hoops, about like cryquet hoops
in size. at the bottom. Coyotes VIII
not go through these gateway ),
over such hoops, it is said; aid
there was no evidence that they
had ever done so.
The story of the grave is this: =
medicine man of great power lies
buried there. In his lifetime he
was able to control the winds. bring
the rains, cure the sick. the halt
and the blind at least so he
claimed. When his time came h
bade his people clothe him, deac.
in his best raiment and carry him
on their shoulders to his grave.
there to bury him in sitting posture
with his head not more than three
feet below the surface of the soil.
No box was to encase mis- body
Sitting there, with head so near the
surface. he assured the people that
whenever they needed him, they
should come to his grave and tel
him their needs; his ears would
hear them, as always, and he would
administer to them. | suppose thai
the gateways at the four points OF
the compass are for him to use IL
his goings and comings.
Serving After Death
Our friend told us the story. He
denied belief in such things, but /
suspect that he, as we ourselves.
appreciated true worth Of the mat
ter. To me, at least. there is some
thing splendid about the thought 0i
that M Ldicine man, there in the des
ert, Drawing the assaults of the Cos
otes in order that he may serve his
people.
There is a cross over his head.
We left Coolidge at o'clock Of 4
rainy morning on April Fools de-
The rain ceased and we saw SOutL-
ern Arizona at it's best, with billO%y
white clouds in her turquoise ski
and her vegetation washed dh4
fresh and sparkling in the morning
sun. Then late in the afternoon "
stood on the roof of the Ellis build-
ing in Phoenix, waiting for some
blue-prints of the ground-plan OF
our compound and We're Over
whelmed by the beauty and spleH-
dor of the surrounding country.
Phoenix lay beneath us, a city OF
trees; and beyond were farm-iaIGs
and beyond them mountains which,
in color and arrangement rivaled
Maxfield Parrish at his best. in
deed, l was quite sure that Max
field Parrish got his inspiration
from these very mountains.
And today, as we dlove across
the destrt, we saw the yellow bloom
of the creosote bush, the gorgeous
blossoms of a species of cactus II
pinks and reds and colols ~
known to me. The ocotilias are
tipped with crimson spikes; deser'
hollyhocks are in bloom. ana along
the old Hunt highway from Chan-
dler to Florence gold IN popples
spread their petals, yainly, perhaps,
SO far as humans are Concerned, fol
II seems that few pass that way
nowadays.
Kill RattlesnaKes
On that neglected and supei eised- ii
pike we found rattlesnake; We
stopped to photograph It and louht
another. perhaps its mate. Happy
lack made two exposures OF the
nair side by side, as they lay
stunned by a smart blow across IL
hack with a light stick. We Kill L
and skinned them and found botn
Of them rather lat One had Sc'e-i
rattles. Neither showed any fight
and both were disinclined even -
rattle at us. | suspect we killed
them needlessly; they were not
harming us.
Our Indian friend took US to ste
a site called by the Pimas
Reservoirs" or 1.-TWO Tanks, ABOUT
20 miles from Chandler. These So
os;,ed tanks lie in the center o.
What seems to ME to be dry lake
# is certainly a very level strelc4
of desert.
The two tanks or reservoirs %
wbatever they originally were, are
about 12O PAGES in diameter ana
consist of circular or ovate MOUNDS
surrounding a basin; the mounLs 1,
are open at the north and south
ends: or maybe the northwest ahu
southeast ends, for | had no com
mass viii me. III they are the rulns
IF ranks or artificial resel l's
their basins have been 1liled vi
silt urtil all their water stolins
capacity has been lost.
Many Potsherds
One of the interesting features OF
ncth of these tanks is the unDe'
Iievable number of potsherds which
cover so great an area OF the sur
faces OF the mounds surrounding
the basins.
The potsherds are mostly pia-2
sberds and a very few black-oi
white and polychrome. TheJ are
almost all very small, hardly u,
s,ze of half a dollar; in spots the!
literally cover the surface OF "a
soil
soweone or some persons lave
ding tesS.holes i'll the mounds ana 4
seems that the potsherds are an =,
+bo ga face. Our friend, PlInd