First Mesa, 1879 or 1881 (albumen print)

View (looking southward from Tewa pueblo) of Sichomovi pueblo (in the middle distance) and Walpi pueblo (in the far distance). These Hopi settlements, built on First Mesa, appear to run together but are in fact separate and distinct, with the interior court of Tewa (and crops drying on a roof) prominent in the foreground. According to an original note by James Stevenson (prepared circa 1885), the 'mesa is about 700 feet above the surrounding plain, and is only reached by narrow pathways, only one of which is passable for horses and burros. The mesa is composed of solid sandstone and its summit embraces an area of about one–half mile, narrowing as it extends to the location of W[a]lpi. Between W[a]lpi and the other two villages [Tewa and Sichomovi] the mesa diminishes to a width of ten feet over which all communication with W[a]lpi must be had. The constant travel over this mesa has worn paths to the depth of several inches in the solid rock.'