cut represents a view
of these ruins. The river valley is here about two miles wide, and is
said to be very fertile. Mr. Bartlett thinks there is no richer valley
to be found from Texas to California. This valley was once the seat of a
considerable population. Mounds are here found in considerable numbers.
Over two thousand are estimated as occurring in a section of country
sixty miles long by thirty in width.<22> We wish we knew more about
the mounds. They are said to contain pottery, stone axes, and other
implements. It is possible, then, that these mounds are ruins of
separate houses. At any rate, such are the only kind of ruins noticed in
the upper part of this same valley by Mr. Bandelier.

Illustration of Casas Grandes.----------------

The ruins in question are undoubtedly those of a rich and prosperous
pueblo. They are so placed as to command a very extensive view. The
river valley is cut through a plain, and has precipitous sides about
twenty-five feet in height. The ruins in question are found partly in
the bottoms and partly on the upper and more sterile plateau. The walls
were made of adobe, and in consequence of their long exposure to the
elements are very far gone in ruins; so much so that Mr. Bartlett was
unable to make out the plan. But enough was seen to show that this was
a pueblo much like the structure already described. They properly belong
to the Arizona group of ruins.

We are told they face the cardinal points, and consist of fallen and
erect walls. The portions still standing are from fifty to sixty feet
high, or rather were that height in 1851. It is doubtful whether any
thing more than a mound of adobe mud now marks the spot. The walls were
highest in the center of the mass. At the distance of a few miles was a
hill said to be fortified. But the descriptions of it are conflicting.
Some represent it as crowned with a stone-built fortress two or three
stories high. Others more reasonable, represent it as the site of a
watch-tower, or sentry station, and that at regular intervals on the
slope of the hill are lines of stone, with heaps of loose stones at
their extremities.<23> Probably the same fate overtook the tribes of
this valley as did the sedentary tribes of the North. They would not
willingly abandon a place so well suited to their needs. The presence of
an invading foe, cruel and vindictive, alone accounts for this group of
ruins.

In Sinaloa we have no very definite account of