They would obviously never have settled there had they always had to contend with these savage tribes. It needs no great skill to read the story of the dispersion of these old people from the ruins we have described; the many watch-towers, which were also used as fortresses or citadels in which to find protection, testifying to the need of increased watchfulness. The cave-houses and cliff-fortresses, cunningly hidden away to escape detection, or so placed as to defy the assault of their enemies, show to what desperate straits they were driven; and imagination only can picture the despair that must have filled their hearts when the hour of final defeat came, and they must have realized that even these shifts would not allow them to stay in the lands of their fathers. That this is the explanation of these ruins, we will cite the legendary stories given by an old man among the Moquis concerning some ruins in the cañon of the McElmo, just over the line in Utah. At this point the cañon widens out considerably, and in the center of the valley is still standing a portion of the old mesa, once filling the entire valley. It is now a mass of dark red sandstone, about one hundred feet high, and three hundred feet around, seamed and cracked, and gradually disappearing, as the rock has gone all around it. The top of this rock is covered with the ruins of some building; there are also ruins at the base and all around the immediate vicinity. There were watch towers and estufas, showing that this was a place of great interest. Battle Rock, McElmo Cañon.