The plateaus of Tusayan are generally diversified by canyons and buttes, whose precipitous sides break down into long ranges of rocky talus and sandy foothills. The arid character of this district is especially pronounced about the margin of the plateau. In the immediate vicinity of the villages there are large areas that do not support a blade of grass, where barren rocks outcrop through drifts of sand or lie piled in confusion at the bases of the cliffs. The canyons that break through the margins of these mesas often have a remarkable similarity of appearance, and the consequent monotony is extremely embarrassing to the traveler, the absence of running water and clearly defined drainage confusing his sense of direction.
The occasional springs which furnish scanty water supply to the inhabitants of this region are found generally at great distances apart, and there are usually but few natural indications of their location. They often occur in obscure nooks in the canyons, reached by tortuous trails winding through the talus and foothills, or as small seeps at the foot of some mesa. The convergence of numerous Navajo trails, however, furnishes some guide to these rare water sources.
The series of promontories upon which the Tusayan villages are built are exceptionally rich in these seeps and springs. About the base of
the “First Mesa” ([Fig. 1]), within a distance of 4 or 5 miles from the villages located upon it, there are at least five places where water can be obtained. One of these is a mere surface reservoir, but the others appear to be permanent springs. The quantity of water, however, is so small that it produces no impression on the arid and sterile effect of the surroundings, except in its immediate vicinity. Here small patches of green, standing out in strong relief against their sandy back-grounds, mark the position of clusters of low, stunted peach trees that have obtained a foothold on the steep sand dunes.
Fig. 1. View of the First Mesa.
In the open plains surrounding the mesa rim (6,000 feet above the sea), are seen broad stretches of dusty sage brush and prickly greasewood. Where the plain rises toward the base of the mesa a scattered growth of scrub cedar and piñon begins to appear. But little of this latter growth is seen in the immediate vicinity of the villages; it is, however, the characteristic vegetation of the mesas, while, in still higher altitudes, toward the San Juan, open forests of timber are met with. This latter country seems scarcely to have come within the ancient builder’s province; possibly on account of its coldness in winter and for the reason that it is open to the incursions of warlike hunting tribes. Sage brush and greasewood grow abundantly near the villages, and these curious gnarled and twisted shrubs furnish the principal fuel of the Tusayan.
Occasionally grassy levels are seen that for a few weeks in early summer are richly carpeted with multitudes of delicate wild flowers. The beauty of these patches of gleaming color is enhanced by contrast with the forbidding and rugged character of the surroundings; but in a very short time these blossoms disappear from the arid and parched desert
that they have temporarily beautified. These beds of bloom are not seen in the immediate vicinity of the present villages, but are unexpectedly met with in portions of the neighboring mesas and canyons.