From the similar character of the remains, we conclude the original inhabitants to be of the same race of people as those we have already described, but what was the exact relation between them we can not tell, but we think a study of the ruins will only confirm the general truth of the traditions of the Pueblo tribes. In any one tradition there is doubtless much that is distorted. One form in which the traditions find expression is: “That they proceeded from the north-west to the upper waters of the Rio Colorado. There they divided, portions ascended by the San Juan, cañon De Chelly, or the more easterly branches of that stream towards the center of New Mexico. Others, passing over the waters of the Rio Verde (see map), descended its valley to the Rio Gila.”29
One hundred and fifty miles southwest of Zuñi we notice the Verde River flowing into the Rio Salado, and the latter into the Gila. Besides those streams, there are other smaller ones, not marked on the map.30 Mr. Bandelier found near the cañon del Tule an improvement on the irrigating ditches, that was a lining of concrete; and in this section also was noticed the ruins of both pueblos and the small houses. Near Ft. Apache he found the ruins of the largest villages discovered in Arizona, but we have no details of it. The valley of the Rio Verde and Salado seems to have been a favorite resort.
As early as 1854 attention was called to ruins in the Rio Verde. Mr. Leroux reported to Mr. Whipple that the “river banks were covered with ruins of stone houses and regular fortifications, which appeared to have been the work of civilized men, but had not been occupied for centuries. They were built upon the most fertile tracts of the valley, where were signs of acequias (irrigating ditches) and of cultivation. The walls were of solid masonry, of rectangular form, some twenty or thirty paces in length, were of solid masonry, and yet remaining ten or fifteen feet in height. The buildings were of two stories, with small apertures or loop-holes for defence, when besieged.”31
Mr. Bandelier confirms this account as to the number of ruins. The entire valley of the Verde is filled with ruins of every description. From the account of the valley itself, we can see how well suited it was to the needs of village Indians. Mr. Leroux speaks in high praise of its fertility. Wood, water, and grass were abundant. In the neighborhood of Fort Reno Mr. Bandelier discovered a new architectural feature of great interest to us. This is a raised platform, on which the buildings were supported. This raised platform is a very important feature, as we shall learn in the ruins of Mexico and Central America. We have already seen how it was employed by the Mound Builders.
In other words, the detached houses are seen to form villages, with a central stronghold, and the tendency is observed to raise an artificial foundation for this central house, which draws into itself the surrounding houses. This is but another modification of the same idea which, in other sections of this area developed into the communal pueblo. Near Tempe a still more significant arrangement was noticed. Here was a four-sided platform, three hundred and forty feet long by two hundred and eighty feet wide, and five feet high, supported a second platform measuring two hundred and forty by two hundred feet, and six feet high. Elevated platforms, as a general rule, were not very distinct. Mr. Bandelier thinks that, owing to the peculiar drainage of the country, these artificial foundations were required to preserve the buildings from being swept away by a sudden torrent. The settlement of the sedentary tribes in this region cluster on the triangle formed by the Rio Verde, Salado, and Gila Rivers. “This is a warm region, with a scanty rainfall, and but little timber, and the soil is very fertile when irrigated, and two crops a year can be readily raised. Mr. Bandelier regards it as exceedingly well adapted to the wants of a horticultural people, and even traces in it some resemblance to Lower Egypt.”
A very celebrated ruin on the Gila River gives us a fair idea of what this central stronghold of the village cluster, sometimes supported on a raised foundation, was like. This cut is a view of the principal ruin in this section, which, however, is only a portion of an extensive settlement, covering some five acres in all. The building is not very large, only fifty by forty feet, and four stories, of ten feet each, in height, with a possibility that the central portion of the building rose ten feet higher. The walls are built of adobe, five feet thick at the base, but tapering slightly at the top.
This house was surrounded by a court-yard which inclosed about two acres. Shapeless mounds, presumably the ruins of houses, are to be seen in various parts of this inclosure. “If the ground plan of this great house,” says Mr. Bandelier, “with its surroundings of minor edifices, courts and inclosures is placed by the side of the ground plan of other typical ruins, the resemblance is almost perfect except in materials used.” This settlement was separated into two divisions. In one place was noticed a large elliptical tank with heavy embankments, nearly eight feet deep.
As to other ruins on the Gila, Mr. Bartlett tells us: “One thing is evident, that at some former period the valley of the Gila was densely populated. The ruined buildings, the irrigating canals, and the vast quantities of pottery of a superior quality, show, that while they were an agricultural people, they were much in advance of the present semi-civilized tribes of the Gila.” Speaking of the ruins of the Gila east of the San Pedro River, Emory says: “Whenever the mountains did not infringe too closely on the river and shut out the valley, they were seen in great abundance, enough, I should think, to indicate a former population of at least one hundred thousand; and in one place there is a long wide valley, twenty miles in length, much of which is covered with the ruins of buildings and broken pottery. Most of these outlines are rectangular, and vary from forty to fifty feet to two hundred by four hundred feet.”32