he old and time-worn
structures we have hitherto described along the river valleys and open
plains, as at Aztec Springs. These structures plainly show that at
the time they were built the people were subject to an invasion from a
stronger foe, one before whose approach they had to fly for protection
to the almost inaccessible cliffs.

They would obviously never have settled there had they always had to
contend with these savage tribes. It needs no great skill to read the
story of the dispersion of these old people from the ruins we have
described; the many watch-towers, which were also used as fortresses
or citadels in which to find protection, testifying to the need of
increased watchfulness. The cave-houses and cliff-fortresses, cunningly
hidden away to escape detection, or so placed as to defy the assault
of their enemies, show to what desperate straits they were driven; and
imagination only can picture the despair that must have filled their
hearts when the hour of final defeat came, and they must have realized
that even these shifts would not allow them to stay in the lands of
their fathers.

That this is the explanation of these ruins, we will cite the legendary
stories given by an old man among the Moquis concerning some ruins in
the canyon of the McElmo, just over the line in Utah. At this point the
canyon widens out considerably, and in the center of the valley is still
standing a portion of the old mesa, once filling the entire valley. It
is now a mass of dark red sandstone, about one hundred feet high,
and three hundred feet around, seamed and cracked, and gradually
disappearing, as the rock has gone all around it. The top of this rock
is covered with the ruins of some building; there are also ruins at the
base and all around the immediate vicinity. There were watch towers and
estufas, showing that this was a place of great interest.

Illustration of Battle Rock, McElmo Canyon.----------

The story is as follows: "Formerly the aborigines inhabited all this
country as far east as the headwaters of the San Juan, as far north as
the Rio Dolores, west some distance into Utah, and south and south-west
throughout Arizona, and on down into Mexico. They had lived there from
time immemorial, since the earth was a small island, which augmented
as its inhabitants multiplied. They cultivated the valley, fashioned
whatever utensils and tools they needed very neatly and handsomely out
of clay, and wood, and stone