FEWKES] RUINS ON WALNUT CREEK 209 Oaks and Willows, keei)ing this mountain on the right, a fairly clear

trail continues to a deserted ranch,

marked by

a ruined stonechim-

ney and

acorral, at the

head

of

Burro

Creek. Here, atthe terminus of all

wagon

^roads,

among

magnificent pines, is a pool of water;

beyond, the traveler

may

^continue

^on

^{horseback to the Big}

^Burro

(pi.94), one ^of thelarge canyons of this region.

Following Bill Williams River

westward

to its junction with the Colorado,

no

ruins

on

^hilltops were seen

by

Wlieeler's party, but at

Yampai

Spring, near the former river, the lower side of a liigh shelving rock forms, according to Whijjple's report, a cave the walls ofwliich are

"covered"

with pictographs.

The

formerhabitations^of the

Walnut

Creek aborigineswere doubt-

less constructed after the

manner

of jacales,supported

by

stone or

adobe

foundations, a

common

^{feature of}

^most

of the ruins herein described.

Entrance

^to these inclosures

must have

been ^difficult, as the doorway's

no doubt

were guartletl

and many

^{of the pas-}

sages were devious, a defensive

measure

quite

commonly adopted

in the palisaded houses of the tribes bordering the Colorado River.

The

Indians along tliisriver,

mentioned by Don

JoseCortez in 1799 as theCajuenche

and

theTalliguamays (Quigj'uma), erect their huts in the

form

of

an encampment,

inclosing

them

with a stockade.

According ^to the.same author, the Cuabajai (Serranos), another

tribe, built their

towns

^("rancherias"⁾ in the

form

ofgreat squares, each provided with

two

gates, one ^at the eastern, the other at the western end; here sentinels stood.

The

dwellings consisted ^of huts constructed of limbs oftrees.

A

^{tyjjical ruin of the}

^Walnut

^{Creek ^'alley is} thus referred to

by

Wliipple (op. cit., pt. 1, p. 93):

'

Lieutenant Ives and Doctor Kennerly to-day ascended a peak 300 or 400 feet high,thelastin the ridge that bnunds and overlooks the valley of Pueblo [Walnut]

Creek, some3 milesbelowcamp, and found upon the topanirregular fortification of stone, the broken wallsof which were8 or 10 feet high. Several apartments could bedistinctly traced, with crumblingdivisionsabout 5 feet thick. From thence to thepueblo,uponthe gravellyslopesthatlieslightlyelevatedabove thebottomlands ofthecreek, thereare,ashas beforebeennoted, vast quantitiesofpottery,and what appeartobedimtracesofthe foundationsofadobewalls.' It wouldseem,therefore, that inancient times there existed here alargesettlement,and thatthe inhabitants wereobliged to defend themselves bystrong worksagainst attacks fromapowerful

enemy-

No

^excavation

was

attempted

by

the authorin the

Walnut

Creek region buthis attention

was drawn

to

human

bones that

had been

>Animportantobservation, asmostof the dwellingswerebuilton^stoneswhich formedtheirfounda- tions. Theadobewallsandthe postsandwattlingsupporlingthemhavenowdisappeared, thefounda^

tion stones beingallthatremainofthe IniildinKS.—J.W,F.

2The"oldchief" toldAlarconof greathousesofstoneinhabitedbyawarlikerace. Th^isepeoplewere saidto livenearamountainand towearlong robessewed withneedlesofdeer bone. Their fieldsof maize weresmall.

—

^J.W,F.

20903° —28

ETH—

12 14

210

ANTIQUITIES OF

THE VEKDE AND WALNUT CREEK

^[eth.axn. 28

found in the ruins

on

the river terrace above Mr. Ainsworth's ranch

and

in the neighborhood of ilr. Peter ^larx's house. Although, as is

commonly

tlie case, thefragments ofskeletonsare locally supposed to

have

belonged to giants, the few bones

examined by

the author were of the

same

size

and had

^tlie

same

general characters as those foundelsewhereinthe Southwest. Rings^ofstones indicating

human

burials are

prominent

just outside the ^fort

above

Mr. Shook'shouse

and

in tlie gi-avel of the river terrace not far

from

the residence of Mr. Ainswortli.

Fort below Aztec Pass

A

short distance

from

Mr. William Johnson's ranch house

on

the road to Drew's ranch,

on

the ^riglit bank, rises a steep hUl, 100 feet high,

on which

issituated the best-preservedfort in the

Walnut Creek

region. This is probably the

"pueblo" mentioned by

Whipple, pos- sibly one of the structures that gave the

name

Pueblo

Creek

^to the

O 5

lO ¹⁵

zo ^o reET

P^IG,05.Groundplanof fortbelow AztecPass.

stream

now

called

Walnut

Creek.

The

fort

commands

a view

up and

tlown the valley

from

Aztec Pass to thefortnear Shook'sranch, anilbeyond.

The accompanjang

illustrations (pis. 95-97)

show

the present ap- pearanceof this fort

and

the steepnessof the hUl

from

theside

toward Walnut

Creek;

on

account of the trees

on

the

summit

the ruin is

almostinvisible.

The

walls are oriented east

and

west ^(fig. 65), the northern

and

southern sides

bemg

the longer.

Although

seemingly rectangidar in outline, the northern side,

measurmg

(inside) 80 feet in length, is 5 feetlonger than thesouthern side.

The

eastern

and

western sides are respectively 30

and

25 feet in length.

The

average thickness ^of the walls ^is 4 feet

and

their height 6 feet.

At

presentthe walls are in almostthe

same

condition as

when

con- structed.

Except

at the northeastern

and

northwestern corners.

o z

UJ

O

I-

O

cn

BUREAU OFAMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 96

^^^

FORT BELOW AZTEC

PASS

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 97

FORT BELOW AZTEC

PASS

BUREAUOFAMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE98

NEAR AINSWORTH'SRANCH

NEAR AINSWORTH'S RANCH

«^«^^i<?»>^^^S?^;

ON MARX'SRANCH