CHAPTER VII. THE ANCIENT PUEBLOS AND CLIFF-DWELLERS. Casas Grandes of Chihuahua — Ruins in the Casas Grandes and Janos Valleys — Casa Grande of the Rio Gila — Ruins in the Gila Valley — Also in the Valley of the Rio Salado — Ruins in the Cañon of the Colorado — In the Valley of the Colorado Chiquito — Pueblos of the Zuñi River — Zuñi and the “Seven Cities of Cibola” — “El Moro” — Pueblos of the Chaco Valley — Cliff-Dwellers — Mr. Jackson’s Discoveries in the Valley of the Rio San Juan — Cliff Houses of the Rio Mancos — Cliff-Dwellings on the McElmo — Traditional Origin and Fate of the Cliff-Dwellers — Ancestors of the Moquis — Remarkable Discoveries by Mr. Holmes — The Seven Moqui Towns — The Montezuma Legend. In the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, and in our Territories of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and the State of Colorado, a class of remains are found, wholly unlike those of the Mayas, Nahuas, or Mound-builders, though in some instances they are associated with earthworks resembling those of the latter race. The style of architecture is unlike that of any other people on either continent, and though varying considerably in its individual examples, still present certain marked and general features which leave little room for doubt that the peoples of the Pueblos and the Cliffs were the same. The earliest discovered of this class of remains are known as the Casas Grandes, situated at about half a mile from the modern town of the same name, in the fertile valley of the Casas Grandes or San Migual River in Northern Chihuahua. These ruins have often been described second-hand and their nature is well-known to persons interested in this field of inquiry. Of the above-named class of descriptions, the latest and best is by Mr. Bancroft, who has added a bibliographical apparatus to his account.[439] We will, therefore, confine our discussion of this group of remains to the essential facts as given by Mr. J. R. Bartlett, whose account of his researches is quite full and satisfactory.[440] These facts we will give as briefly as possible, preferring to devote our space to the new material composing the latter part of the chapter. Several of the early writers refer to the Casas Grandes as one of the Aztec stations; but a little intelligent study of the characteristics of the ruins, especially in the light of recent explorations in the Territories, is likely to dissipate such an opinion. The first examination of the ruins of which any reliable record is left, was by Sr. Escudero, in 1819, published in his _Noticias Estadísticas del Estado de Chihuahua_. A contributor to the _Album Mexicano_ (tom. i, pp. 374–5) furnished a good account of the ruins as he found them in 1842. None of the hasty sketches subsequently made by several writers are worth a reference until we come to the excellent description written by Mr.