RUINS IN HEMLOCK CANYON
Hemlock Canyon, north of the road from Gallup to Crown Point, has the general features of other canyons in this neighborhood. At its mouth there are fertile fields, and a good spring which a Navaho has appropriated by building a hogan and fencing off the entrance. About a half mile from this spring following the right bank of the arroyo, which rarely contains water, there is a house ([pl. 11, a]) built in a recess of the cliff about 10 feet above small scrub trees which here grow in abundance. Its foundation is about 6 feet long, and the wall is slightly curved and well constructed, showing a doorway shaped like the letter T. This house is not regarded as a dwelling, for it is too small for a family, and no household implements have been found within the enclosure. It belongs rather to a type of cave-house called “ledge rooms,” many examples of which occur near larger dwellings. It was probably a storeroom, although possibly a retreat where priests retired to pray for rain, as was once the custom among the Hopi. The people to whom this house belonged probably dwelt near their farms a short distance from the base of the cliff. There is a similar room known to have been constructed by Navahos a few feet off the road from Gallup to Crown Point, which is still used for a granary, indicating the probable use of the small building here described.