Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. [Illustration: Montezuma's Castle, the ruined cliff dwelling on Beaver Creek between the Coconino and Prescott National Forests, Arizona] THROUGH OUR UNKNOWN SOUTHWEST THE WONDERLAND OF THE UNITED STATES--LITTLE KNOWN AND UNAPPRECIATED--THE HOME OF THE CLIFF DWELLER AND THE HOPI, THE FOREST RANGER AND THE NAVAJO,--THE LURE OF THE PAINTED DESERT BY AGNES C. LAUT Author of _The Conquest of the Great Northwest_, _Lords of the North_ and _Freebooters of the Wilderness_ NEW YORK McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY 1913 COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY MCBRIDE, NAST & CO. _Second Printing October, 1913_ _Published May, 1913_ CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION i I THE NATIONAL FORESTS 1 II NATIONAL FORESTS OF THE SOUTHWEST 22 III THROUGH THE PECOS FORESTS 44 IV THE CITY OF THE DEAD 60 V THE ENCHANTED MESA OF ACOMA 78 VI ACROSS THE PAINTED DESERT 100 VII ACROSS THE PAINTED DESERT (_continued_) 116 VIII GRAND CANYON AND THE PETRIFIED FORESTS 137 IX THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE OF SANTA FE 153 X THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE (_continued_) 169 XI TAOS, THE PROMISED LAND 183 XII TAOS, THE MOST ANCIENT CITY IN AMERICA 196 XIII SAN ANTONIO, THE CAIRO OF AMERICA 214 XIV CASA GRANDE AND THE GILA 226 XV SAN XAVIER DEL BAC MISSION 251 THE ILLUSTRATIONS Cliff dwelling ruins, known as Montezuma Castle, _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE South House of Frijoles Canyon ii Indian woman making pottery xii Indian girl of Isleta, N. M. xx One way of entering the desert 4 In the Coconino Forest of Arizona 14 Forest ranger fighting a ground fire with his blanket 22 Pueblo boys at play 34 Chili peppers drying outside pueblo dwelling 46 Los Pueblos, Taos, N. M. 56 Entrance to a cliff dwelling 64 Ruins of Frijoles Canyon 74 A Hopi wooing 80 A Hopi weaver 86 A shy little Hopi maid 92 At the water hole on the outskirts of Laguna 96 A handsome Navajo boy 106