“The walls of these houses are built in the usual manner, and average about a foot in thickness.
“The upper house seems to be in a rather unfinished state, looking as if stone and mortar had run short. And when one considers that these materials must have been brought from far below by means of ropes, or carried in small quantities up the dangerous stairway, the only wonder is that it was ever brought to its present degree of finish.”
Triple-Walled Tower on the McElmo.
The ruins of a triple-walled tower with fourteen sectional apartments between the outer and second walls were examined near the McElmo. One of these sectional apartments was still standing to the height of twelve feet.
We have already referred to the group of ruins at Aztec Springs near the divide between the McElmo and the lower Mancos tributaries. “These ruins,” says Mr. Holmes, “form the most imposing pile of masonry yet found in Colorado. The whole group covers an area of about four hundred and eighty thousand square feet, and has an average depth of from three to four feet.” The accompanying plan, with the measurements and dimensions indicated upon it, precludes the necessity of a detailed description.
RUINS at
AZTEC SPRING
SOUTH WEST COLORADO
W. H. Holmes
The walls are twenty-six inches thick, and in some cases are built double. The whole resembles in plan one of the ruined pueblos of the Chaco, with the addition that it was designed to be an impregnable fortress.
The plate from Mr. Jackson’s memoir shows specimens of pottery collected during his explorations among the cliff-dwellings. The pieces a and b are of modern make, and were obtained among the Moquis of Tegua. The ware and finish of both these vessels are far inferior as compared with the ancient fragments.