Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1876 — Prof. Hayden’s Report. [ARTICLE]

Prof. Hayden’s Report.

Prof. Hayden, of the Government Geological Survey in the far West, haa prepared his report, which will soon be published. The following is the substance of his discoveries; , “Ths Rto De Chelly, for a distance of about thirty-five milea above itr mouth, is so canoneo-wand the wash for the bed of the stream la perfectly dry the greater portion of the year, cuts from wall-rock to wallrock so frequently—that it Is Impossible to travel Up it, ertf pt In the bed, and that Is so tortuous and roeky in pistes that it would be difficult if not Impossible. Making a detonate the right, the first opening into the canon was reached ten miles abnve. In here an interesting and extensive ruin was found which was so well preserved that it seemed to have been vacated less than a score of years; and so near like the workmanship and msfaher of building of the present Moquis, that it Would not be difficult to imagine them lurking among the deserted rooms. This ruin was situated In a long cave-Uke bench or mesa, running along the face of a perpendicular bluff, some fifty feet above ita base, and a total length of nearly 800 yards. The town was irregularly but compactly built, conforming to the rock on which it was placed, the rooms arranged In a single row most of the way, but at either cud bunching up to two or three deep. A ground plan shows seventy-five rodms with many little irregular *- cubby holes,” with a total length ofMB feet A few yards further to the right are a halt doxen buildings. Cisterns and reservoir* yet remain perfect enough to show their purpose. In the center of the mass was a well-preserved circular apartment a little below the general level of the others, that was probably ari estufa. The goat corrals were inside, between the houses and the bluff. Digging beneath the debris, several pieces of finely-preserved pottery Wdrie found, the same finely ornamented, find glazed ware of which the fragments are so universally scattered over the.whole country. Beneath the eenter of the town there was found in one group some whole jars of about two gallons capacity eaeh, Of the gray indented ware, but tltey were too fragile to trauiUOTt-Tiptm pack-mtfle«:-"Wciffl?rlKr pottery, many Btone Implements and arrowSoints were unearthed. Another detour to le right, this time over an elevated plateau of white sandstone, across which was drifted great dunes of white sand/brengtli the party to the famous so-called diamond fields of Arizona, about which there was such an excitement in 1872. Lingering on Ito bare red plain, upon which the sun bsat with redoubled intensity, only long enough to gather about a pint of garnets, which were of excellent quality and very abundant, camp was made at the foot of a side canon which came in from the west, and was known as the Canon Bonito Chiquito. Another group of ruins occurred here, not in a targe town but in scattered houses up and down the De Chelly and Bonito. A marced feature was great reservoirs in which there was, even now, abundant and excellent water. Two or three miles below in the canon of the main stream was a well-preserved two-story house, standing upon a bench elevated fifty feet above the valley, and overhung by a great roof of rock that effectually shielded it from the storms. Near by was a great natural reservoir filled with good water. Another five or six ’ miles and the canon of the De Chelly opened out into a great valley, from one to three miles in width, and extending up to the foot of the great canon near Fort Defiance. Twentyfive to thirty-five miles above the Bonito are some peculiar table rocks and monuments that form notable land-marks. The ruins are now scarce, only a few.beingmet with in the caves at the side of the valley. The bottom lands bear the impress of very numerous ruins, adobe very likely, that are now almost entirely obliterated, arid would hardly be noticed were It not for the broken pottery. At the heartjsf the valley of the De Chelly. the trail turned off to the southwest just above the upper edge of the great white mesa. Taking only two others, Mr. Barber and Lee'the guide, and sending the remainder of the train back Borne fifty miles whers there WM suitable grazing, Mr. Jackson continued over to the Moquis Pueblos, seventyfive miles distant, with only the photographic apparatus and supplies for five days. Tequa was reached by noon as the’ following day. As these Pueblos have been so frequently described and illustrated, the party spent only two days and a half among the six most easterly towns, viz.: Tequa, Se-chum-e-way, Moqui, Moo-shar-nen, Shong-a-pabwe and She-paw-a-we. Photographs of each of these were mads, arid numerous sketches, illustrating thrir habits,'dress and oceupal tloris, collections of 'recent and ancient pottery and tools, and other objects of interest, were made. The comparison between the workmanship of the northern town builders and these Moquis was very much in favor of the former. The highest perfection was reached in the cliff houses of the RioMaucos; where some of the houses were marvels of finish and durability; and then, traveling toward the Moquis, there is a gradual merging of one style into the other, from the neatly-cut rock and correct angle to the comparatively crude buildings now inhabited. Retracing their steps to the San Juan, at the mouth of the De Chelly, the party now traveled toward the Sierra Abajo, up a stream known as Epsom Creek, from ths water which is found at its head tasting and operating like that of salt. The usual indefinite ruins which occur bn low lands continued up this valley over thirty miles. To the west was a labyrinth of canons rum ning off into those of the Great Colorado, an examination of some of which discovered many cave and cliff houses and towns, all of the same general type as the others. The ruins gradually diminished as they approached the Sierra Abajo, and several days spent in .the examination of the canon and plateaus about it and the Sierra la Sal failed to bring to light any more evidence of their occupation.

Neatly opposite the Sierra Abajo or Blue Mountains, as they are locally known, heads th® great canons ’ and valleys of the Montezuma, which empties Into the San Juan. Here the bottom of the canons have once supported a very thickly-settled community. There is almost a continuous series of ruins for a- distance of twenty-five miles. This, in one canon only, and all the others contain numerous remains, chiefly in cliff-houses and towns. In the main canon first spoken of are two ruins notable for the size of the stones employed in their construction. In one, built upon ’ a small Isolated table land In the middle of the valley, are stones set upon end, six feet in length by eighteen inches square, and ranging along the walls a distance of twenty-five or thirty yards.’’ Another case Is where stones seven feet in heighth (above ground) and twenty inches square, are standing perpendicularly about five feet apart, ana form one side of a wall ineloshig the mins of a large, important building. Throughout the canon every available defensive point has been utilized and are now covered with the remains of heavy walls and large blocks of houses. Another singular feature was thp number of holes cpt into the perpendicular lower wall of the canon for the purpose of ascending the rock, holes just large enough to give a hand and foot-hold, and leading; either to some walled-up cave or to a building erected above. < Some of these steps ascended the nearly perpendicular face yf the rock for 150 or 20Q feet. On exposed surfaces, disintegration has almost entirely wontherqd?away tie holes, while on more protected surfaces they are deep enough to still answer their original purpose. The main Western branch of the Montezuma contains the greater number and more important rhins of all the northern tributaries of the San Juan, west of the Bib Maucbs Water was found in a few pool» near its head and lower down running along, in a small stream, • distance of two or three miles, when it sank again. The bottoms are rich, and the present Indians, Utes, who occupy the couutries, raise good crops of corn without irrigation. The result of this trip was the collection of a large number of utensils, both,modern and ancient, stone arrow and spear points, knives and axes, photographs, especially illustrative of the most important ruins, and numerous sketches of everything of note, which will be brought out in detail In the regular publication of the survey. According to calculation the forests of years longer, if nothing is done to renew the natural resources. The leather business of the United States represents a working capital of $70,000,000. A