Rock-Inscriptions—Utah.
About half a mile west of Golden City, Jefferson County, Colorado, Mr Berthoud reports to the Smithsonian Institution the existence of some ancient remains, at the junction of two ravines. They consist of a central mound of granitic sand not over twelve inches high, with traces of five or six shallow pits about it; all surrounded by traces of a wall consisting of a circle of moss-covered rough stones partially imbedded in the soil. South of the central mound is also a saucer-shaped pit, measuring twelve feet in width and from fifteen to eighteen inches in depth. At this point buffalo-bones and fragments of antlers are plentiful, and pieces of flint with plates of mica have also been discovered.[XII-38] Mr Farnham speaks of a ruined city covering an area of one mile by three fourths of a mile, with streets crossing at right angles, buildings of rough trap rock in cement, a mound in the centre, and much glazed pottery—all this on the north bank of the Colorado, four hundred miles up the river, and as likely to be in the territory of Colorado as anywhere.[XII-39] Mr Foster quotes from a Denver newspaper a report of large granite blocks, of the nature of 'dolmens' standing in an upright position, on the summit of the Snowy Range;[XII-40] and Taylor had heard through the newspapers of pyramids and bridges in this territory.[XII-41]
There remain to be described in this part of the country only the remains of aboriginal structures in the south-western corner of Colorado and the south-eastern corner of Utah, remains which, although made known to the world only through a three or four days' exploration by a party of three men, are of the greatest interest and importance. They are found in the valleys or cañons of the rivers Mancos and McElmo, northern tributaries of the San Juan, on the southern tributaries of which river are the ruins, already described, of the Chaco and Chelly cañons.
JACKSON'S EXPEDITION.
In September, 1874, Mr W. H. Jackson and Mr Ingersoll, connected with the United States Geological and Geographical Survey party, guided by Capt. John Moss, an old resident perfectly familiar with the country and its natives, descended both the cañons referred to, for the express purpose of examining ancient structures reported to exist there. Notwithstanding the brief duration of their exploration, as they understood their business and had a photographic apparatus along, their accounts are extremely complete and satisfactory. Mr Ingersoll published an account of the trip in the New York Tribune of Nov. 3, 1874; and Mr Jackson in the Bulletin of the Survey, printed by government.[XII-42] The latter account was accompanied by fourteen illustrations, and Prof. J. V. Hayden, Geologist in charge of the Survey, has had the kindness to furnish me also with the original photographs made during the expedition.
The Rio Mancos rises in the Sierra La Plata, and flows south-westward, at first through a park-like valley, then cuts a deep cañon through the Mesa Verde, and finally traverses an open plain to join the San Juan. In the valley between the mountains and the mesa, there are abundant shapeless mounds of débris, which on examination are found to represent blocks of square buildings and circular enclosures all of adobe, very similar apparently to what we have seen in the Salado valley of Arizona. There is another resemblance to the southern remains in the shape of indented and painted pottery, strewn in great abundance about every mound, in fragments rarely larger than a dollar,—not a greenback, but a silver dollar, the former being no standard for archæological comparisons. I shall make no further mention of pottery; the reader may understand that in this whole region, as in Arizona and New Mexico, it is found in great quantities about every ruin that is to be mentioned.
RIO DE LOS MANCOS.
The cañon through the Mesa Verde is on an average two hundred yards wide, and from six hundred to a thousand feet deep, with sides presenting, as Mr Jackson says, "a succession of benches, one above the other, and connected by the steep slopes of the talus. Side-cañons penetrate the mesa, and ramify it in every direction, always presenting a perpendicular face, so that it is only at very rare intervals that the top can be reached." Mr Ingersoll says: "Imagine East River a thousand or twelve hundred feet deep, and drained dry, the piers and slips on both sides made of red sandstone, and extending down to that depth, and yourself at the bottom, gazing up for human habitations far above you. In such a picture you would have a tolerable idea of this Cañon of the Rio Mancos." For four or five miles after entering the cañon, the shapeless heaps of adobe débris were of frequent occurrence on the banks of the stream. The general characteristic was "a central mass considerably higher and more massive than the surrounding lines of subdivided squares. Small buildings, not more than eight feet square, were often found standing alone apparently." The high central portion suggests a terraced structure like the Casa Grande of the Gila. One of the buildings on the bottom, measuring eight by ten feet, was of sandstone blocks, about seven by twelve inches, and four inches thick, laid in what seemed to be adobe mortar. Somewhat further down the adobe ruins were found often on projecting benches, or promontories of the cliff, some fifty feet above the stream. Here they were circular, with a depression in the centre, and generally in pairs. Cave-like crevices along the seams were often walled up in front, so as to enclose a space sometimes twelve feet long, but oftener forming "cupboard-like inclosures of about the size of a bushel-basket." A small square, formed by rough stone slabs, set up endways in the earth, was also noticed.