ary of the Ramon Vigil Grant and the Guages Canyon, on the Pajarito Plateau, N. Mex., and to collect specimens for the use of the Commercial Museum, of Philadelphia, Pa., which institution collaborates with the School of American Archæology in this research work. Permit was granted on May 20, 1915, to the Smithsonian Institution to make archæological reconnoissance of and, if deemed practicable, to conduct excavations and gather specimens on the public domain in Millard, Beaver, Iron, and Boxelder Counties, Utah, such collections to be permanently deposited in the United States National Museum.

On June 5, 1915, permit was granted Prof. Livingston Farrand, president of the University of Colorado, to prosecute archæological research on public lands under administration of the Interior Department in San Juan and Rio Arriba Counties, N. Mex., and in a strip of country 15 miles in width crossing Montezuma, La Plata, and Archuleta Counties (not, however, within the boundaries of Mesa Verde National Park), and to collect specimens. This work is in the nature of continuation of research under similar permit issued in 1914 covering territory contiguous to the above.

On June 10, 1915, permit was granted the University of Arizona, at Tucson, Ariz., to prosecute archæological research within the territory south and west of Navajo Mountain and in the Sagi Canyons in northern Arizona, east of the Colorado River, and to collect specimens for use of the university, such work to be conducted under personal supervision of Prof. Byron Cummings (formerly of the University of Utah), and the territory within which explorations take place not to overlap that covered by the above permit to Prof. Kidder. Permit was granted on July 26, 1915, to Mr. Charles H. Robinson to gather archæological specimens on the public domain within the so-called "Spanish Diggings", country, located east of the Platte River, in Converse, Niobrara, Platte, and Goshen Counties, Wyo., during August, 1915, such collections to be permanently deposited, one-half in the McLean County (Ill.) Historical Society Museum, Bloomington, Ill., and one-half in the Illinois State Natural Historical Museum, at Springfield, Ill.

On August 17, 1915, authority was granted Dr. R. B. Earle to collect not exceeding 100 pounds of specimens of silicified wood from the Fossil Forest of Arizona (Petrified Forest National Monument) for the museum of New York University, and similar quantity for the museum of Hunter College.

DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT.

This extraordinary mass of igneous rock, known as the Devils Tower, is one of the most conspicuous and notable features in the Black Hills region, and has been known and utilized, doubtless, from time immemorial by the aborigines of the plains and mountains, for the American Indian of the last century was found to be directing his course to and from the hunt and foray by reference to this lofty pile. In their turn the white pioneers of civilization, in their exploration of the great Northwest, which began with the expedition of the Verendryes, pathfinders of the French Colonies of Canada, in 1742, utilized the tower as a landmark, and still later the military 8161°-INT 1915-VOL 1-67

expeditions into the Sioux and Crow Indian country during the Indian wars of the last century carried on operations within sight of the Devils Tower or directed their march by the aid of its ever-present beacon, for the tower is visible in some directions in that practically cloudless region for nearly 100 miles.

The tower is a steep-sided shaft rising 600 feet above a rounded ridge of sedimentary rocks, about 600 feet high, on the west bank of the Belle Fourche River. Its nearly flat top is elliptical in outline, with a diameter varying from 60 to 100 feet. Its sides are strongly fluted by the great columns of igneous rock, and are nearly perpendicular, except near the top, where there is some rounding, and near

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyo., embracing sec. 7 and the N. NE. 1, the NE NW., and lot No. 1, sec. 18, T. 53 N., R. 65 W.; the E. sec. 12 and the N. NE sec. 13, T. 53 N., R. 66 W., sixth principal meridian; created September 24, 1906.

the bottom, where there is considerable outward flare. The base merges into a talus of huge masses of broken columns lying on a plat form of the lower buff sandstone of the Sundance geologic forma tion. Ascent can be made by the general public to the top of the base which surrounds the tower proper; it is not possible, however, for ascent of the tower to be made. The tower has been scaled in the past by means of special apparatus, but only at considerable risk. The great columns of which the tower consists are mostly pentagonal in shape, but some are four or six sided. The average diameter is 6 feet, and in general the columns taper slightly toward the top. In places several columns unite in their upper portions to form a large fluted column. The columns slope inward toward the top. They are not much jointed, but are marked horizontally by faint ridges or swellings, which give the rock some appearance of bedding,

especially toward the top of the tower. In the lower quarter or third of the tower the columns bend outward and merge rapidly into massive rock, which toward the base shows but little trace of columnar structure. This massive rock circles the tower as a bench, extending out for 30 to 40 feet. On the southwest face the long columns curve outward over the massive, basal portion and lie nearly horizontal. The rugged pile of talus extends high up the lower slopes of the massive bench at the base of the tower and also far down the adjoining slopes of sedimentary rocks.

The nearest settlement to this national monument is Tower, in Crook County, Wyo., which is reached by stage from Moorcroft, Wyo., a distance of 32 miles. Moorcroft is on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway. The tower may also be reached by conveyance from Hulett, Wyo., which in turn is reached by stage from Aladdin, the western terminus of the Wyoming & Missouri River Railway.

MONTEZUMA CASTLE NATIONAL MONUMENT.

This national monument is situated in the northeastern part of Yavapai County, Ariz., and contains an assemblage of cliff dwellings, from the principal of which, known as Montezuma's Castle, this monument is named. This structure is of very great interest not only because of its picturesqueness but for ethnological and other scientific reasons. It is strictly a cliff dwelling, with the added importance that it is also a communal house. Although very small as compared with the great ruins of Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelley, Mesa Verde, the Mancos, and other localities of the Southwest, it is so unique in location and structural design and so perfectly preserved that it may be said to have no equal in the United States.

The character of the material used in the Verde cliff ruins, adobe, rubble, and a soft calcareous stone, has rendered the progress of disintegration and ruin somewhat rapid, though many centuries must have elapsed since the passing of the race. The Mojave Apache Indians, who occupied the valley at the advent of the white men, have no tradition respecting the existence of the people who formerly occupied this region. Montezuma's Castle, it is stated, is the only single perfect specimen and type of the architectural skill of the prehistoric cliff dwellers of this valley.

The monument embraces a prehistoric cliff-dwelling ruin of unusual size situated in a niche or cavity in the face of a vertical cliff 175 feet in height. The formation exposed along the face of the cliff is a compact tufa or volcanic ash. About half way up the cliff there is a bed of soft, unconsolidated tufa which has suffered considerable erosion, leaving irregular-shaped cavities. The bed of soft material is overlain by a harder formation which has withstood erosion and thus formed an overhanging sheltering reef.

The cliff-dwelling ruin known as Montezuma's Castle is situated in one of these cavities, the foundation being about 80 feet above the base of the cliff. The unique position and size of the ruin give it the appearance of an ancient castle and doubtless accounts for the present name. Access to the castle or ruin is made from the base of the cliff by means of four wooden ladders placed against the face of the cliff and anchored thereto with iron pins.