part of the ledge was walled up to a height of about 15 feet, the lower part of the wall closing the cleft being pierced by a narrow tunnel. Through this tunnel a man may creep on hands and knees from the cliff dwelling to the south part of the ledge, which affords a footing, with a precipice to the left and the cliff to the right, for about 100 paces. The ledge here terminates in the perpendicular wall of the canyon. The ruined walls of a strong tower, built to cut off approach on this side, may still be traced. At the north end of the ruin the foundation gave the builders considerable trouble, but the difficulties were skillfully overcome. A supporting wall was erected on a lower ledge, to form a stable foundation for the outer wall of the upper rooms, where the higher ledge was too narrow or too rough for building purposes.

South of the rooms fronted by this wall is a small open court, bounded at the back by a few very regular and well-preserved walls which rise to the roof of the cave. The poles supporting the floors of these upper-story rooms project about 2 feet to provide support for a balcony. Split poles, laid parallel with the front wall, were covered at right angles with rods of cedar bast and generously plastered with clay to form the floor of the balcony, which served as a means of outside communication between the rooms of the upper story. A low, thick parapet wall built on the edge of the precipice encloses the outer side of the northern court.

The funds for the excavation and repair of Balcony House in 1911 were largely furnished by the Colorado Cliff Dwellers Society, an organization founded and directed by Mrs. Gilbert McClurg, of Colorado Springs, Colo., for the original purpose of stimulating interest in legislation for the preservation and protection of the prehistoric remains of the Mesa Verde, which led to the creation of this national park in 1906.

SQUARE TOWER HOUSE

Square Tower House is situated in an eastern spur of Navajo Canyon nearly opposite a great bluff called Echo Cliff. An ancient approach to the ruin was from the canyon rim. It was used by the natives, but is almost impassable for white visitors. Foot holes for ascent and descent had been cut by the Indians in the cliff at a point south of the ruin which enabled them to reach the level on which the ruin is situated. Along the top of the talus there runs to the ruins a pathway which splits into an upper and a lower branch. The former, hugging the cliff, passes through the “Eye of the Needle”; the latter is lower down on the cliff.

The Square Tower House cave is shallow, its rear perpendicular, with roof slightly overhanging. At the extreme eastern end of the ruin the vertical face of the cliff suddenly turns at right angles, forming an angle in which, high above the main ruin, there still remain walls of rooms. To these rooms, which are tucked away just under the canyon rim, with only their front walls visible, the name “Crow’s Nest” is given. One end of a log, extending from a wall of one of these rooms, rests in a hole cut in the side of the cliff, a well-known method of cliff-house construction.

Some rooms in Square Tower House were devoted to secular, others to ceremonial purposes. The former have angular corners; the latter are circular. The rectangular rooms were constructed above ground; the circular were subterranean. These rooms do not differ radically from those of Spruce Tree House and other cliff dwellings. They have similar windows, door openings, and supports of balconies. There is little difference in the size of the stones used in the masonry at different heights. The absence of a cave recess in the rear of the building is significant, as it allowed the cliff to be used as the back wall of the rooms.

Square Tower House measures about 138 feet from its eastern to its western end. There are no streets or passageways as at Spruce Tree House and Cliff Palace, and no open spaces except on the kiva roofs. The rooms are continuous and compactly constructed. Excepting the spaces above the kivas, the walls are united from one end of the cave to the other. The foundations of the secular rooms are constructed on two levels, an upper and a lower. These rooms occupy the intervals between the kivas, never in front of them.

THE TOWER

The tower is, of course, the most conspicuous as well as the most interesting architectural feature of the ruin, being visible for a long distance as one approaches Square Tower House. Its foundation rests on a large boulder situated in the eastern section of the cave floor. This tower has three walls constructed of masonry, the fourth being the perpendicular rear wall of the cave. The masonry of the tower stands about 35 feet above the foundation, but the foundation boulder on which it stands increases its height over 5 feet.

On a projecting rock on the west side above the tower is the wall of a small, inaccessible room which may have been used as a lookout or as an eagle house.

The lowest story of the tower is entered from plaza B, and on the east side there are three openings, situated one over another, indicating the first, second, and third stories, but on the south side of the tower there are only two doorways. The roof of the lowest room is practically intact, showing good workmanship, but about half of its floor is destroyed. The upper walls of the second-story room have the original plaster, reddish dado below and white above. Although the third and fourth stories are destitute of floors, they are plastered.

KIVAS

Some of the best preserved circular ceremonial chambers (kivas) in the Southwest are to be seen in Square Tower House. The majority of the kivas belong to the pure type, distinguished by mural pilasters supporting a vaulted roof.

Kiva A is particularly instructive on account of the good preservation of its roof. Its greatest diameter is 13 feet 6 inches; or, measuring inside the banquettes, 11 feet 1 inch. The interior is well plastered with many layers of brown plaster. The pilasters are six in number, one of which is double. Two depressions are visible in the smooth floor, in addition to a fireplace and a sipapû. These suggest ends of a ladder, but no remains of a ladder were found in the room.

Kiva B is the largest ceremonial chamber in Square Tower House, measuring 16 feet 9 inches in diameter over all. This kiva is not only one of the best preserved, but also one of the most instructive in Square Tower House, since half of the roof, with the original cribbing, is still in place, extending completely around the periphery. It has six pilasters and as many banquettes. Where the plaster had not fallen, it was found to have several layers.