WALPI RUINS.
In the case of the pueblo of Walpi, a portion of whose people seem to
have been the first comers in this region, a number of changes of sites
have taken place, at least one of which has occurred within the historic
period. Of the various sites occupied one is pointed out north of the
gap on the first mesa. At the present time this site is only a low mound
of sand-covered d?bris with no standing fragment of wall visible. The
present condition of this early Walpi is illustrated in Fig. 2. In the
absence of foundation walls or other definite lines, the character of
the site is expressed by the contour lines that define its relief.
Another of the sites occupied by the Walpi is said to have been in the
open valley separating the first from the second mesa, but here no trace
of the remains of a stone village has been discovered. This traditional
location is referred to by Mr. Stephen in his account of Walpi. The last
site occupied previous to the present one on the mesa summit was on a
lower bench of the first mesa promontory at its southern extremity. Here
the houses are said to have been distributed over quite a large area,
and occasional fragments of masonry are still seen at widely separated
points; but the ground plan can not now be traced. This was the site of
a Spanish mission, and some of the Tusayan point out the position
formerly occupied by mission buildings, but no architectural evidence of
such structures is visible.
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