Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1882-03-23


ladders. but in their place trunks Of
trees IN which notches had been cut.
and the Indians climbed by inserting
the big toes in the notches. When the
Indians ten. ybu Of the Step Devil
they say that he has on each big toe an
enormous nail and that As he climbs the
tree trunk lie uses this TO gouge the
notch cut by splitting off the part on
which the toe rests. The story is evi-
IDENTIFY an Indian one, although altered
by Mexicans TO suit the change in the
means of going up and down the shaft.
THE MADRE D'oRo.
A story about which there is fas-
cination which il is impossible to resist
when you hear men tell it is that Of the
Home of the Gold" Somewhere in
Southwestern New Mexico, in the Sierra
Madrc, il is said there is wonderful
valley. Small, inclosed by high, rocky
walls, and accessible only through a Sc
cret passage, which is known 10 but few,
is this extraordinary place. 1t is about
ten acres in extent, has running through
it stream which waters it thoroughly
and makes il a perfect paradise, with
its exquisite flowers and beautiful trees.
In il are thousands Of birds of the most
brilliant plumage. Running across it
is ledge of pure gold about thirty
feet wide, which glistens in the sunlight
like great golden belt. The stream
crosses this ledge, and rs it runs, muir
murs around blocks of yellow metal As
other streams do among the pebbles.
This ledge of gold is supposed TO be
solid gold and TO run down into the CEN
ter of the earth. The legend is of In
dian origin. and around il clusters a
number of Indian stories in which the
name Of the Inflated Montezuma occurs
frequently. The descendants of the
Aztecs believe firmly that the time will
come when Montezuma will return and
free them from the domination of the de-
scendants of the Conquistodores. They
believe that the money necessary for this
work will he taken from Madre dOro.
The secret of the entrance into the
valley is supposed to be carefully guarded
by Il tribe of Indians living near il, and
among them it is only communicated TO
the eldest men amid the solemn cere-
monies of the medicine lodge. Having
such story to work upon, there is little
wonder that the vivid imagination of
the MeNicans should have built upon it
tales of men who have found this Won
derful place. One is that Il certain Jose
Alvarez, who, wandering through the
mountains in search for game, saw the
valley from the top of one of the walls.
Finding that he could not hope TO enter
il by climbing down. he took up his
abode with the Indians who guard the
canyon leading into it, The daughter
of the chief fell in love with him and be-
trayed the secret to him. Exactly how
she found it ont they do not tell. Hav-
ing beeen shown the entrance. Jose
went in and would possibly have got
away with some of the gold had he not
weighted himself down TO such AN eN-
tent that he could not get up the declivi
" at the lower end of the passage. He
was discovered and the Indians sacri-
feed HIM ON the golden ledge with all
of the terrible ceremonies of the old
Aztec religion. The girl. in despair at
losing him, threw herself from the high
of prospectors have spent months of toll
irving 10 lind the Madre d orc, but, it is
scarcely necessary TO say, with no result.
Miners in the quartz mines believe
that the rats-there are thousands of
them in mines that are being worked
can tell when an earthquake or cave in
the walls of the mine is coming. They
claim that before anything of the kind
occurs the rats will be seen trying to
crowd into the cages or buckets. as the
case may be, in which the ore is hoisted
10 the surface. There is similar be-
lief about the cockroaches. which are
said to crawl up the shaft before an ac-
cident happens.