ruin on the Gila River gives us a fair idea of what
this central stronghold of the village cluster, sometimes supported on a
raised foundation, was like. This cut is a view of the principal ruin
in this section, which, however, is only a portion of an extensive
settlement, covering some five acres in all. The building is not very
large, only fifty by forty feet, and four stories, of ten feet each, in
height, with a possibility that the central portion of the building rose
ten feet higher. The walls are built of adobe, five feet thick at the
base, but tapering slightly at the top.

Illustration of Casa Grandee, on the Gila.----------

This house was surrounded by a court-yard which inclosed about two
acres. Shapeless mounds, presumably the ruins of houses, are to be seen
in various parts of this inclosure. "If the ground plan of this great
house," says Mr. Bandelier, "with its surroundings of minor edifices,
courts and inclosures is placed by the side of the ground plan of other
typical ruins, the resemblance is almost perfect except in materials
used." This settlement was separated into two divisions. In one place
was noticed a large elliptical tank with heavy embankments, nearly eight
feet deep.

As to other ruins on the Gila, Mr. Bartlett tells us: "One thing is
evident, that at some former period the valley of the Gila was densely
populated. The ruined buildings, the irrigating canals, and the vast
quantities of pottery of a superior quality, show, that while they
were an agricultural people, they were much in advance of the present
semi-civilized tribes of the Gila." Speaking of the ruins of the Gila
east of the San Pedro River, Emory says: "Whenever the mountains did
not infringe too closely on the river and shut out the valley, they were
seen in great abundance, enough, I should think, to indicate a former
population of at least one hundred thousand; and in one place there is a
long wide valley, twenty miles in length, much of which is covered with
the ruins of buildings and broken pottery. Most of these outlines are
rectangular, and vary from forty to fifty feet to two hundred by four
hundred feet."<32>

It is, however, necessary to be very cautious in judging population
by the number of ancient ruins. Prehistoric people were naturally of a
roving disposition. The multitude of ruins in Western New York is not
regarded as evidence of dense population, but they were occasioned by
the known customs of the In