| Show I 1 I 1 I 1 THE illas interesting of a ITs I 1 I 1 to tile the calicas calicos 11 ju ill mon lez illila valley having decided to break away fro from m the humdrum routine of every d daiy y lire we wi on tile jay of july I 1 loada our bed fill and three provisions pro visions promiscuously into three and blurted for tile the montezuma Montez valley ti distant litant to lo the lower run or aztec aziel spring some thirty nilam RUINS the ruins ruing or of southwestern colorato colorado are remarkable for their great ege extent and numbers and while wis e are jogging along towards the I 1 Montc Montez nini uina ruins a short sketch if lh tha malcos agricultural culm will perhaps por not bo be out ot lit lattice tice they chiy commence at the extreme upper end of tile valley anti and extend down fur a distance of at least six they show very great ago age all flint now marks tile site of it la IS 8 low jow mound of debriscoe of rock I 1 pieced of burned mud and mortar alad broken pottery nut not losa less than oil 0 hundred of tho ilia debris debria mounds wro counted lit in a 11 stance of lour four miles iloni life lie liou best part or of the I 1 ao 10 alt valley hey tho the part which now la is bell being 9 cultivated at onu one clump clui rii or of meso ruins nut not lotia less than forty detato or millstones call bo be counted nearly ull all broken only two having been boand whole aliby Me roused corn annd other food substances the tit 0 usual S itono stono wag a boulder two feet long by onu one WILIO wide and six to ton tell inches thick tile grinding i was wadene done with it a otono stono or of similar character four inches wl wide Is liy by elgh eight long and inch chilk this wits moved buck back lilt forth lengthwise ortho of tho larger stone until it drouve was formed from froit five to lo ten tell inches wide deeper in tha ilia nil dIle ali in lit fit tile the ands lit in some lu 0 8 this groove was worn orn down to tile cepl it of eight In inches cheif showing allowing long use these anti and tile fact of finding largo quantities corn SUK aug bosted tho the njma nama agricultural in contradistinction to tile tho montezuma ruin which aera were probably occupied by tt a stock ragging ns in but very N few if any metate stones can be found and besides tho the infrequency ofrain of iraln anti tile tho or running water hiiter vi iter these would better tit lit the lie country fur for stock the following at libles have been to from ruins alie most moat or of which can bo be seen in collection tier lien nine little whole pieces of pottery two tu lactate stones atones with grinders gritu lera oue one head benu three stone axes various chipped flint implements implement tho the larger part arrow of ox ex cellena tais montezuma MONT iZUMA qs now for the valley vi land of 11 wo we reached iff asua pria alie old mitchell Ml place about ten the spring breaks out from under the lie rocks tit at the ha right hand of mo iii I 1 c elmo creek it 11 stream which jj dry boht t of tile year quantities of excellent eel len t choke cherries grow hero here and were vero by ilia little folks a as well as us larger children A velin vela of 0 coal crops out sailie three hundred yards above the spring find and our that first ruin Is built alil utmost lost a bove the spring on an a baro bare rock it was a circular building twenty eight feet lu in diameter with balls civo feet fael aupart the space between was tit til vidad into small rooms or bins bills one of which it lins arbeen been cleaned out mid hall measures measure four feet by five A portion ot of the tha wall Is IN still standing to a height of seven feet anti shows good masonry work ahe outer layers of stone are dressed to tile the curvature re ortho of the building we vo alil ill not take toiuo to excavate here find round found no relics of interest we left about three for the lower clump of bf ruins known us as aztec springs s tit at which place we arrived in tile alie evening the water here Is not very goud good anti and tile the spring la Is probably try dry it portion of the sum summer nier hero wo we chirped for the flight thesa thes 3 ruins are quite extensive and cover an all area of three or four acres which was once closely packed with build lugs abo building alvas about ninety feet long by sixty feet fael wide the mound fortner by the debris Is 14 near twelve feet high elih it a portion of ortho tile north wall standing to tile top tito tho outer layer of if this wall la Is laid with dressed stony three houri houm of hard work with sith pick and shovel wits was n quiren to penetrate this wall which was nearly four fret feet thick anti and laid in mortar no open space wits was lound found inside it being completely filled with tile the sli odthe of alie upper s stories tor les rock mortar broko broke cedar umbers timbers etc we wa did not dot have line ahrie to get eel down to ill the a consequently round found no relies relics at 10 we started bacz taking a moro more northerly anti and circuitous route to visit the last and what proved the most interesting ruin I 1 in it the valley it was waa sundown when wo we readied reached it vo no living water I 1 h 3 known here nearer than twelve or firnem miles we ve had hauled water fur for our own use find tho the recent rains lind bad left enough in the dry washes for our stock alobe RUIN S there are quite a number of roans scattered around liere here but tho the two hundred roomed house Is tile the principal oue ofie ilia and ull all that it 1 11 ut dutary f ary to describe the debris of tho the fillen fallen walls walla of this building forms forma a mound feet long by 00 90 feet wide and 18 feet highland chand ll stands elands out on in the level valley calfa halfa mile allo from the surround ing hills portions or of the outer and walli flooring and oiling ceiling timbers timber can lie bo seen cropping out jut all debris mound but chatis what la still better tAo roomi whole tile ceiling or upper floor having been baen S so 0 well c 11 preserved bj a hard black glazed coating pro probably probably bibly formed forine I 1 by that it still supports its lin fin niease load of eight feet of rock and mortar which la Is no doubt tho the fillen fallen wt walla lesof of two at least two stories it preserved rooms making three stories in nil all two circular cular Ir tie lie presson pres sons some 20 feet in n diameter murk mark the tha site of two circular room w which aich wire fere probably used as council ro roomy ollis A building containing over rooms in it southwestern colorado built perhaps por haps ig 1000 or more years a UKO go is 13 no annall curiosity and one wl I 1 I 1 worthy of the artion that this building contain cont lined e I 1 over rozim boonas may seem a little Iner odiLle lut but figures wont lie he well proceed to inea gure the a debris e mound its bedore stated is 11 II lo 20 0 by 90 feet wo we will deduct it tin fiel feet all around for rubbish that ha hua OIL beyond tile walts walls this thia leaves ui ii at the original size 0 of f tile the structure reducing to equart reet fiet wo we have square ire feet being the space occupied by the building buil diD tho file two preserved ervid rooms ine asuro respectively ua and and 8 deot feet high the walli walk avera average go tivo five feet in thickness tito hie average r pace I taken up by one room with its 19 proportion of wall would be exio feet e to DO square feet now if we I 1 livido tile tho occupied by the lie 1 building by the paco occupied by one roum room no will have hae tile nuin flow bor ber or of rooms in ili the firby story seven feet divided by 90 00 la is 77 this rives gives us 77 rooms root tig but the tha two round rooms occupied a equal to about ten tell quiro aquaro roomi this leaves us ui 67 rooms on oil each huor floor ex C elusive of ilia two round dooin i tito tho eight or 01 nine feet of wall rubbish re roiling sting ng on tho the lower room proves the building to have at least leas t been three stories high this gives glea us tho the bum total 63 two hund re it luid and one buo rooms exclusive or af t the he round rooms enough Lii ouli out cropping walls cin call lio lie seen blen to show that tile the wai divided into rooms something near tho ilia dimensions g ivan I 1 V 11 the iho door wads were twenty inches wide by three feet high and placed half wa way y fro from life hour floor to the ceiling cel ling there la Is also nil fin open opening ing in the oiling ceiling or upper floors fl jor connecting with the different storied quito a number of arrow points showing excellent workmanship III were found here and cl other t be r chipped elluta aud leads beada but our limited time did not adsitt 0 of f any excavations and at ten oc loli we e I 1 star stared td but neward tills this roomed house la Is situated lit at tile head of tile Montc ift vat ley li and Is about fifteen miles in it a north ft eat con ras frum the Is mancos lancos tile tho rock used in tile iho C I 1 1 ls of tile building were t assorted r a oer Liver half it talle mile and I 1 here eliere their water bakr supply came from la Is a ques lun C III VEITS |
