(July 4, 1852)
...A ride of a mile brought us to the table-land, when we made
for a large mound or heap which arose from the plain. In
crossing the bottom we passed many irrigating canals; and along
the base of the plateau was one from twenty to twenty-five feet
wide, and from four to five feet deep, formed by cutting down
the bank—a very easy mode of construction, and which produced
a canal much more substantial than if carried across the
bottom...On reaching the great pile, I found it to be the
remains of an adobe edifice from two hundred to two hundred and
twenty-five feet in length, by from sixty to eighty feet wide,
its sides facing the cardinal points. Portions of the wall were
visible in only two places, one near the summit, at the south
end, where, from the height of the pile, it must have originally
been three or four stories high; and the other at the northern
extremity, on the western side...From the summit of the
principle heap, which is elevated from twenty to twenty-five
feet above the plain, there may be seen in all directions
similar heaps; and about a mile to the east, I noticed a long
range of them running north and south, which the Indians said
were of similar character to that on which we stood.
