Fig. 11.—Ground plan of ruin A, Hill Canyon, Utah.
The two large buildings near Taylor’s lower ranch, ruins A and B, are typical of the first group, the most conspicuous of which, ruin A, is shown in the accompanying figures ([pl. 7, b], [pl. 8, a]). This ruin stands on the point of a high cliff, inaccessible except on the west side. Although the special features of the masonry are somewhat obscured by fallen sections, and the form ([fig. 5]) is hidden, it is a circular enclosure about 25 feet in diameter, its wall being about 13 feet high, at the highest point. Between this high outer wall ([fig. 11]) and that of the inner circle, there are remains of a banquette or bench, surrounding the chamber very much broken down. The lower stones are much larger than the upper, similar in this respect to the walls of certain cliff dwellings. The circular room and bench once covered the point of the mesa, and is separated from the plateau by a deep fissure worn in the rock outside the wall on that side. The height of the highest wall is 20 feet, and the bench around the circular portion averages 3 feet high. In thickness the walls vary from 1 to 3 feet. On the second ledge, or outcrop of hard rock below the summit of the cliff, on which ruin A stands, there is a fine example of the dug-out type of habitation, several of which occur in the sides of this canyon. The roof of this type of dug-out is formed by a flat slab of rock projecting horizontally from the cliff and forming the protection for a chamber excavated in the soft rock below. In some instances these dugouts have rudely constructed lateral and front walls but none of them has more than one room. They appear to have been inhabited rooms but may at times have served for shelter.[18]
Ruin B
Fig. 12.—Ground plan of ruin B.
Ruin B (pls. [7], [8], b) is a better preserved example of the tower type and is on a ridge considerably lower than that on which ruin A stands extending at right angles. It occupies a narrow space from the rim of Hill Canyon on one side to a rim of a tributary canyon, blocking the passageway along the surface of the ridge to its point. This structure ([fig. 12]) would appear to be structurally not unlike ruin A, but with the wall smaller. There is a raised bench on the south side, the tower itself being a semi-circular chamber annexed to the north side, which extends from one canyon rim to another. The breadth of this semi-circular room is 10 feet. The longest dimension is 31 feet and the average height of its wall is 4 feet. The top of the wall, throughout, is unevenly broken down, the part adjoining the bench being the best preserved. The structure suggests a fort, for it would not be possible to pass between this obstructing ruin without entering it through a circular doorway, the walls of which still stand on the east side. There is no passage between the wall and the mesa edge.
Long Mesa Ruin
Fig. 13.—Ground plan of towers on Long Mesa.
On the flat top of a long and narrow mesa (pl. 9, [a], [b]) rising about 200 feet from the middle of Hill Creek Canyon a few miles above Taylor’s ranch, there is a cluster of three circular ruins, whose walls are composed of well constructed masonry, now much dilapidated. The surface of this plateau, near the end looking down the canyon, is partitioned off from the remainder by a low transverse wall, extending from one side to the other. This wall was built advantageously for defense and apparently designed to prevent passage of foes from the upper end of the plateau into the area where the circular rooms are situated. About midway in its length it has a passageway, the jambs of which are still visible. Three circular ruins ([fig. 13]) make up the cluster on the lower end of the mesa, each averaging about 15 feet in diameter, all constructed of low walls of stones dressed into proper shape. These buildings are not connected but separated by intervals. The tops of the walls for several feet have fallen, exposing interiors which are almost completely filled with stones and rubble.